Dominic Raab forensically questioned over his lukewarm stance on Biden

UK foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has courted controversy by appearing to extend a hesitant welcome to the US president-elect Joe Biden.

In his initial tweet on the US election, Raab appeared to side with the incumbent, Donald Trump, by advising people to be “patient” and to give the process “sufficient time” to reach a “conclusion”.  

— Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) November 4, 2020 ">http://

We need to be patient and wait and see who wins the US election. Important the process is given sufficient time to reach a conclusion. We have full confidence in the checks and balances of the US system to produce a result. (1/2)

— Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) November 4, 2020

Even when it was clear that Biden had prevailed in the race, Raab saw fit to write that “processes are still playing out”, before congratulating the Democratic Party contender.  

— Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) November 7, 2020 ">http://

(1/2) While some of the processes are still playing out, it is now clear @JoeBiden has won. Congratulations to the President-elect & @KamalaHarris on their historic victory, which saw them win more votes than any candidates in US history.

— Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) November 7, 2020

Talking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday program, Raab denied he was fuelling “conspiracists” in his half-hearted congratulatory tweet to Biden.

“No, I think that’s a very partisan skew on it. The reality is we want to respect the integrity and processes in place”, Raab protested.

“It is not for us to start adjudicating on the appeals, claims and counter-claims [in the US election]”, Raab added.

However, after being pressed numerous times by Sophy Ridge as to whether all votes should be counted in a democratic election, Raab conceded ground by saying “in principle, yes, of course”.

— Sophy Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) November 8, 2020 ">http://

Should all votes be counted in a democratic election, as people called to in the #USelection ?

"I'm not going to get drawn in" says @DominicRaab and accuses @SophyRidgeSky of dragging him into questions about recounts and appeals - before conceding "yes, in principle". #Ridge pic.twitter.com/6qPIRx956w

— Sophy Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) November 8, 2020

When questioned as to why he had not said that originally (in his tweets), Raab made the following defensive statement: “Because what you’re really trying to do is to drag me into the legal claims about whether or not all the votes have properly been counted when you look at the mail votes, the votes in person and the claims that have been made, for example, about the posting of military ballots – so I just don’t want to get sucked into that”.

The foreign secretary’s initial reluctance to accept Trump’s defeat has fueled speculation about the future course of US-UK relations in the Biden era.

Above all, there are worries that the Tory government in London and the Biden administration could potentially clash on the post-Brexit trade deal (with the European Union) and more broadly the nature and extent of the UK’s relationship with the EU.

Unlike Trump, Biden has never been a supporter of Brexit and by extension the UK’s estrangement from EU institutions and policies.

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