ACCIDENTALLY FACTUAL

Sen. Blackburn’s Staff Says She ‘Misspoke’ When She Called Biden ‘President-Elect’

She also called Kamala Harris “vice president-elect” during a live interview.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) failed to hold the Republican party line late Friday when she referred to Joe Biden as the president-elect while speaking to ABC—and her staff took the unusual step of issuing a statement late Friday saying she misspoke when stating a fact. Blackburn originally said, “I have not spoken with the president-elect. We did have the vice president come to the floor, the vice president-elect come to the floor this week to cast a vote. I was presiding at the time. Didn’t get to speak with her.” Then Blackburn’s staff said in a statement, “She simply misspoke—it’s nothing more.” The Washington Post contacted all 53 Republican senators about Trump’s attempts to overturn the election result and published their results on the same day Blackburn made her faux pas. Only three senators—Mitt Romney (R-UT), Ben Sasse (R-NE), and Susan Collins (R-ME)—provided comments that substantively addressed the issue.