Democrat Sen. Chris Coons says Republicans are privately congratulating Joe Biden, but that they can't admit it publicly yet

 Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said that Republican lawmakers were privately telling him that they accept the results of the election but cannot admit it publicly.

Coons made the comments Tuesday to CNN's Alisyn Camerota after she questioned him about Republican lawmakers who were publicly denying the results of the election announced by the mainstream media.

"What are they telling you behind the scenes?" Camerota asked.

"Um, bluntly," Coons laughed, "that they accept that. I mean, they call me to say, you know, 'Congratulations, please convey my well wishes to the president-elect, but I can't say that publicly yet.'"

"Wow," responded CNN host John Berman.

"These are conversations best kept private," Coons added.

"OK, and when will they be able to say that publicly?" Camerota asked.

"Uh, my, my job here I think, is to continue to urge them privately to do the right thing," Coons responded. "And to help the president accept reality and to help their caucus stand up publicly, because frankly the transition is going to be chaotic at best if it doesn't get moving very soon. It should be under way already."

Coons criticized Republican leaders for dragging on the process and claimed that there were no credible allegations of voter fraud that would result in a change of the presidential election results. He said that only four Republicans in the Senate had accepted the results so far and that he hoped more this week would do so publicly in order to prevent any further damage to the transition effort.

President Donald Trump has claimed that he won the election and that Democrats have used voter fraud to steal the election from him. He has begun a campaign of lawsuits in order to challenge the voting counts in several battleground states.

"I am confident, in the end, 71 days from now, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be sworn in at the Capitol I can see from where I'm standing, as the next president and the vice president of the United States. Our challenge as a nation is just how chaotic, and unpredictable and destructive this period will be," Coons concluded.