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
Trump in 2016 said ‘badly defeated’ Democrats were demanding recounts to ‘fill up their coffers’
Why is it that every single sentence this man has ever uttered comes back to haunt him?
Gino Spocchia examines the latest example.
Trump in 2016 said ‘badly defeated’ Democrats were demanding recounts to ‘fill up their coffers’
President’s campaign is fundraising for recount effort, despite attacks on rivals in previous election for doing the same
In Georgia: ‘No credible examples’ of voter fraud
Geoff Duncan, Georgia’s lieutenant governor, has said there no examples of widespread voter fraud or irregularities found in the state, following president Donald Trump’s claims about the legitimacy of the electoral process in the Peach State.
Mr Duncan, a Republican, told CNN on Monday that “we’ve not had any sort of credible incidents raised to our level" and that officials had not seen any credible examples of systemic election fraud, despite Mr Trump’s claims.
Joe Biden, the Democratic president elect, leads Mr Trump by more than 10,000 votes in the state, which announced on Friday that it would stage a recount of all ballots, to ensure “integrity”.
‘Lawn and order’
Philadelphia’s now infamous political campaign venue and garden centre car park, the Four Seasons Total Landscaping company (and not the Four Seasons hotel around the corner) was the setting for the Trump campaign’s final press conference before Joe Biden was declared the winner of Tuesday’s vote.
Fittingly, the 28-year-old landscaping firm has now released a line of merchandise in mockery of the president’s apparent organisational slip-up, with t-shirts and other items stamped with the Trump-like “lawn and order” catchphrase.
Ending your tenure in a car park, rather than a similarly named hotel venue, is some fall for a president who once declared himself to be the candidate of “law and order”.
…and in case you missed those events on Saturday, here’s Richard Hall’s report on the day Donald Trump’s presidency came crashing down.
I saw Trump’s presidency come crashing down at Four Seasons Total Landscaping
The Trump presidency ended in the parking lot of a landscaping company next to an adult bookstore. Richard Hall was there
Stephen King says Trump a 'miserable self-entitled f***er’
From the man who compared Donald Trump to an uncle whose family needed to consider “how to gently take away his car keys,” comes further criticism of the president - this time centred on his failure to accept election defeat - and it is equally as damning.
Mr King, responding to Mr Trump’s remarks last week. wrote on Twitter: “You lost, you miserable self-entitled infantile f***er. Concede and get the hell out.”
Annabel Nugent reports:
Stephen King labels Trump a ‘miserable self-entitled f***er’ as he refuses to concede
Trump was declared the loser of the US election on Saturday (7 November)
Trump schedule for Monday empty as Biden holding meetings, receiving briefings and making a speech
The president’s to-do list is looking pretty barren (Barron?) as the victor takes charge.
It now appears he won’t even be taking part in his own grievance rallies.
Here’s Tom Embury-Dennis on Trump channelling Alan Partridge bored at the Linton Travel Tavern.
Trump schedule for Monday empty as Biden to hold meetings, briefing and a speech
US president’s light timetable comes after weekend in which he played golf on consecutive days
British peer sparks outrage after calling Kamala Harris ‘the Indian’
Lord John Kilclooney, a former deputy leader of Northern Ireland’s Ulster Unionist Party, made the racially-charged comment on Twitter while musing about the US presidency.
Sigh... It’s going to be a long life.
Tom Embury-Dennis has this report.
British peer sparks outrage after calling Kamala Harris ‘the Indian’
Lord John Kilclooney has a history of insulting people of Indian heritage
Nebraska televangelist laughs maniacally at media for calling US election for Biden
Yeah what could be more ridiculous than a candidate winning the popular vote with more ballots than any American ever before him and tying up a majority in the Electoral College with states to spare?
Oh wait, that’s not only not at all ridiculous and it’s also precisely what happened.
Gino Spocchia has this on Kenneth Copeland, one more Magavangelist in denial.
Kenneth Copeland laughs maniacally at media for calling US election for Biden
Television evangelist who claimed Covid-19 would vanish with ‘wind of God’, mocks media and president-elect
Covid vaccine distribution will begin within 24 hours of approval, says US Army
The US Army general in charge of the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed says that the distribution of a coronavirus vaccine could begin within a day of approval.
During an interview with CBS News’ 60 Minutes on Sunday, General Gustave Perna was asked how quickly a vaccine could start to be delivered to Americans.
“Within 24 hours,” he replied, confirming that they are ready to go if the vaccine is approved tomorrow by the Food & Drug Administration.
The general confirmed that doses of the vaccine are already stockpiled but would not confirm a number, just that the stockpile will keep growing in advance of “D-Day”.
Oliver O’Connell has more.
Covid vaccine distribution will begin within 24 hours of approval, says US Army
Stockpiles of vaccine, needles, syringes, and alcohol swabs are ready to begin roll out
Ben Carson tests positive for coronavirus
The secretary for housing and urban development attended the White House election night party alongside most of the senior members of the administration.
Ben Carson tests positive for Covid after attending White House election party
Ben Carson has become the latest Trump administration official to test positive for Covid-19.
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