President lauds Operation Warp Speed success but says New York will have to wait for vaccine
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump broke his eight day silence with an update on Operation Warp Speed, the project to distribute a vaccine when it is approved by the Food & Drug Administration.
The Rose Garden briefing comes on the day that most networks finally called Georgia for Joe Biden and North Carolina for the president, putting the electoral college votes at 306 to 232 in favour of the Democrat.
In a slight verbal stumble, the president came close to acknowledging that the administration may be in its last days. No formal statement was made regarding the election result. He did not answer any questions.
Trump is being tipped to announce a fresh presidential run in 2024 as he continues to refuse to acknowledge his election defeat to Mr Biden, now president-elect and preparing for government as Mr Trump fires out conspiracy theories in angry tweets from the Oval Office.
The president has meanwhile been branded an “elixir of racial anxiety” by his predecessor, Barack Obama, in an advanced extract from the latter’s new memoir A Promised Land, reflecting on the toxic political undercurrent the former real estate mogul and reality TV star was able to capitalise on to win the White House in 2016.
Mr Obama has also made his first remarks on the current undemocratic impasse in Washington, telling Scott Pelley on 60 Minutes that the Republican Party is “humouring” the incumbent in his delusional rejection of the outcome and taking the country down “a dangerous path”.
• Read more: Follow live updates in our dedicated election liveblog
Twitter censors more ‘disputed’ Trump tweets
The president is keeping those Silicon Valley moderators busy by refusing to desist from posting unsubstantiated nonsense.
Here’s a handy qualifier on Pennsylvania from Indy Voices regular Andrew Feinberg.
In apparent scheduling mistake, Eric Trump’s rallying cry comes a week late
Donald Trump’s second oldest son, Eric, apparently can’t let the election go, tweeting out a rallying call to Minnesota to get out and vote — a week after the polls closed.
The tweet, likely supposed to be scheduled for last Tuesday, was deleted less than an hour after it was posted, but not before drawing ridicule online.
Oliver O’Connell reports:
Eric Trump tweets to Minnesota to ‘get out and vote’ seven days after the election
‘When you schedule the tweet but it’s already after dad lost,' quipped one Twitter user
More than 30 former GOP members of Congress call on Trump to concede
A group of more than 30 former Republican members of Congress has called on Donald Trump to accept the results of the 2020 election and concede to president-elect Joe Biden.
The former lawmakers argue that the Trump campaign’s pursuit of legal challenges and allegations of fraud are undermining confidence in American democracy.
In a statement, the group says: “As former Republican members of Congress who swore an oath to the Constitution, we believe the statements by President Trump alleging fraud in the election are efforts to undermine the legitimacy of the election and are unacceptable.”
"Every vote should be counted and the final outcome accepted by the participants because public confidence in the outcome of our elections is a bedrock of our democracy," the statement continues. "Going forward it is our hope the nation will, regardless of party or persuasion, recognise that president-elect Joe Biden has won this election.”
The Independent’s Oliver O’Connell reports.
More than 30 former GOP members of Congress call on Trump to concede
Group call ‘unacceptable’ efforts by Trump to undermine legitimacy of election
GOP presses ahead after election with Russia probe review
President Donald Trump may have lost his bid for reelection, but that hasn’t stopped Senate Republicans from pressing forward with their politically charged probe of the FBI’s Russia investigation.
The latest burst of activity came Tuesday when the GOP-led Senate Judiciary Committee grilled former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe about an investigation that was begun even before the 2016 presidential election.
The hearing made clear that the election results have not cooled the Republican determination to continue congressional investigations that have been cheered on by Trump, who tweeted an attack on McCabe just minutes after the hearing began. Though most congressional Republicans haven't acknowledged Trump’s loss, the Russia probe and similar political inquiries in line with Trump's interests give them continued lines of attack if they keep control of the Senate with Democrat Joe Biden in the White House.
GOP presses ahead after election with Russia probe review
President Donald Trump may have lost his bid for reelection, but that hasn’t stopped Senate Republicans from pressing forward with their politically charged probe of the FBI’s Russia investigation
BREAKING: Boris Johnson and Joe Biden discuss climate change and democracy in first phone call
Prime minister Boris Johnson has spoken by phone with Joe Biden to congratulate him on his victory in the US presidential election.
“I just spoke to Joe Biden to congratulate him on his election,” said Mr Johnson.
“I look forward to strengthening the partnership between our countries and to working with him on our shared priorities – from tackling climate change, to promoting democracy and building back better from the pandemic.”
The Independent’s Andrew Woodcock reports.
Boris Johnson and Joe Biden discuss climate change and democracy in first phone call
Prime minister Boris Johnson has spoken by phone with Joe Biden to congratulate him on his victory in the US presidential election.
Trump's name spotted in Johnson's Biden congratulations
Keen-eyed political observers on Tuesday noticed an unusual feature in a tweet from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson congratulating US President-elect Joe Biden on his election victory: the ghost of an alternative message congratulating Donald Trump.
The words “Trump” and “second term” could be seen faintly in the background of the message, which was sent Saturday from the prime minister’s Twitter account shortly after Biden was declared the winner of the US presidential election.
The British government blamed a technical glitch.
“As you’d expect, two statements were prepared in advance for the outcome of this closely contested election,” the government said. “A technical error meant that parts of the alternative message were embedded in the background of the graphic.”
The message sent by Johnson on Saturday said: “Congratulations to Joe Biden on his election as president of the United States and to Kamala Harris on her historic achievement. The US is our most important ally and I look forward to working closely together on our shared priorities, from climate change to trade and security.” - AP
In unrelated news, Trump chimes in on Pennsylvania leadership
Anything else happening in Pennsylvania these days?
Watch: Joe Biden’s sister trash talks Trump, says her brother will run for second term
"He's never going to see Donald Trump again," said Biden’s sister Valerie Biden Owens.
Joe Biden’s sister says that the projected president-elect would run for a second term, as speculation begins on how long the 77-year-old would remain in office.
Mr Biden will be 78 when taking office in 2021, and the first Octogenarian president if he wins and begins a second term at age 82. He would be 86 if he left office after two full terms.
Even before the election results are formally certified and the 46th president is sworn in, the Democrats are facing questions on whether Mr Biden would step aside for the projected vice president-elect, Kamala Harris, to assume the top job before the 2024 election.
Read more about Biden’s next moves.
Joe Biden’s sister says he will run for second term
He would be the first Octogenarian president if he wins and begins in 2024 at age 82
Ivanka Trump goes quiet on voter fraud claims as Donald Jr makes baseless conspiracies his brand
The first family has been seemingly divided over Donald Trump’s refusal to concede in the 2020 US elections to President-elect Joe Biden.
His son, Donald Trump Jr, has leaned into his father’s lies and anti-Democratic conspiracy theories about the electoral process, as reports say his daughter, Ivanka Trump, has urged him to concede — while apparently considering her own political future.
Ms Trump, who quickly displayed her own political ambitions following her father’s 2016 election despite not having any government experience, has mostly stayed silent on the administration’s baseless allegations of mass voter fraud.
She posted a single tweet about the issue after Election Day, as her father began ramping up his false claims surrounding mail-in voting and ballot counting, writing three days later: “Every legally cast vote should be counted. Every illegally cast vote should not.”
The Independent’s Chris Riotta reports.
Ivanka Trump goes quiet on voter fraud claims as Donald Jr makes baseless conspiracies his brand
As the first daughter seemingly avoids the issue of her father’s lies, her brothers are leaning into the baseless conspiracies surrounding the 2020 presidential election
BREAKING: Supreme Court seems likely to keep Obamacare intact in blow for Trump
The Affordable Care Act appears likely to survive a challenge at the US Supreme Court, where Donald Trump and Republican allies have bet on dismantling the landmark healthcare legislation that has insured millions of Americans following its passage under his predecessor Barack Obama.
Several justices on the nation’s high court, including members of its now-conservative majority, signalled that they would not support a constitutional challenge to the law over its individual mandate, after Congress agreed to remove a tax penalty for Americans who do not obtain insurance in 2017.
Justices appeared to suggest that the mandate was not severable from law,
“It does seem fairly clear that the proper remedy would be to sever the mandate and leave the rest of the act in place," conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee, told plaintiffs. "The question to you obviously is, how do you get around those precedents on severability, which seem on point here?”
The Independent’s Alex Woodward is following the story as it unfolds.
Supreme Court seems likely to keep Obamacare intact in blow for Trump
The Affordable Care Act appears likely to survive a challenge at the US Supreme Court, where Donald Trump and Republican allies have bet on dismantling the landmark healthcare legislation that has insured millions of Americans following its passage under his predecessor Barack Obama.
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