Cindy McCain says late husband would have wanted country to ‘move on’ from election

Cindy McCain, wife of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain (R), said Friday that her husband would have wanted the country to “move on” from the election and accept the results, following President Trump and his allies’ repeated refusal to label former Vice President Joe Biden as the president-elect. 

“He [John McCain] would be telling these people, ‘It is time that we move on. It’s time that we heal, it’s time that we support our President-elect,’” Cindy McCain told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota. 

Every major news outlet last week projected Biden as the winner of the 2020 election, although Trump has since refused to concede, repeating since-disputed claims that there were widespread cases of voter fraud and irregularities in key battleground states. 

Cindy McCain, who previously endorsed Biden during his campaign and is now part of his transition team, said Friday that her late husband would “also encourage the GSA [General Services Administration] to release the funds so that he [Biden] can get on with his transition team.” 

Cindy McCain: “It’s time that we support our President-elect and also encourage the GSA to release the funds so that he can get on with his transition team.” pic.twitter.com/zPqzHuZhgl

— The Hill (@thehill) November 13, 2020

GSA Administrator Emily Murphy, a Trump appointee, has refused to sign paperwork releasing Biden’s $6.3 million share of nearly $10 million in transition resources and giving his team access to agency officials and information.

The Washington Post reported Monday that staff members at multiple federal agencies have been instructed to not cooperate with Biden’s transition team until the election result is confirmed by the GSA. 

In a call with reporters Monday, Biden transition officials said Murphy’s decision is blocking the transition team from State Department-facilitated calls with foreign leaders and access to secure facilities where they can review classified information, among other services traditionally granted during a presidential transition. 

The Biden team reportedly added in the call that it is evaluating its legal options should the Trump administration continue to prevent a peaceful transition.

Cindy McCain on Friday also said that her husband, who passed away in 2018 after suffering from a malignant brain tumor, “was one that stood for the deep honor and democratic process that this country represents,” adding that the war veteran “would not be happy” with the fact that “somehow there are people that might just want to undermine the process.” 

On Monday, two days after The Associated Press and other major news outlets reported that Biden was expected to win the election, Cindy McCain told CNN’s Anderson Cooper, “I think my husband would be very pleased,” with the outcome. 

“We were good friends with the Bidens,” she added. “And I just know he is looking down and going, ‘You did the right thing.'”

When officially announcing her endorsement of Biden in September, Cindy McCain tweeted, “My husband John lived by a code: country first. We are Republicans, yes, but Americans foremost. There’s only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is @JoeBiden.”