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Networks call Georgia for Biden as security officials say vote was ‘secure’

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As Donald Trump continues to refuse conceding the 2020 presidential race to Joe Biden, the president-elect was said to have spoken with Senate Republicans who have begun to admit he should at least receive intelligence briefings that have so far been denied. 

On Friday afternoon most networks called Georgia for Mr Biden and North Carolina for Mr Trump bringing their respective electoral college vote totals to 306 to 232.

US federal and state cybersecurity officials, meanwhile, have delivered a direct rebuke to Donald Trump, who continues to allege irregularities and widespread fraud without evidence. 

Chris Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said the 3 November vote was “the most secure in history" in a report published Thursday, and added that Americans should trust the result. His agency had not find any evidence of ballots being lost, deleted or altered, he said. 

Melania Trump backs husband’s claims of voter fraud

Melania Trump has broken her silence on Twitter in the wake of Joe Biden’s election victory, backing Donald Trump’s unfounded claims of electoral fraud, Louise Hall writes. 

“The American people deserve fair elections. Every legal — not illegal — vote should be counted. We must protect our democracy with complete transparency,” the first lady tweeted on Sunday.

More to come…

Chris Riotta9 November 2020 04:45

More: Melania Trump breaks silence backing husband’s unfounded claims of voter fraud

Louise Hall writes: All six of the president’s tweets in the two threads were flagged within an hour of their publication by the platform. Four of the tweets show a warning which reads “this claim about election fraud is disputed” while the other two displayed: “Learn how voting by mail is safe and secure".

Louise Hall writes: All six of the president’s tweets in the two threads were flagged within an hour of their publication by the platform. Four of the tweets show a warning which reads “this claim about election fraud is disputed” while the other two displayed: “Learn how voting by mail is safe and secure".

Melania Trump breaks silence backing husband’s unfounded claims of voter fraud

‘Every legal — not illegal — vote should be counted’

Chris Riotta9 November 2020 05:05

Joe Biden’s moves suggest he will not wait for a Trump concession that might not come

John Bennett writes: President-elect Joe Biden is not waiting on Donald Trump to concede the election, moving ahead with an agenda that includes assembling his own coronavirus task force and addressing the climate crisis.

Mr Biden is expected to formally announce his Covid-19 group on Monday after attending church services on Sunday and then retreating to his Wilmington, Delaware, home to get deeper into transition planning. The White House is not expected to begin cooperating with the Biden team, as is custom once a sitting president has conceded a loss.

Biden’s moves suggest he will not wait for a Trump concession that might not come

President golfs and raises money for legal fees as he presses ahead with legal challenges in several swing states 

Chris Riotta9 November 2020 05:25

Romney predicts Trump will eventually ‘accept the inevitable’ that Biden won election

John Bennett writes: Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said Donald Trump, despite having a "relaxed relationship with the truth", will eventually "accept the inevitable" — that Joe Biden is the president-elect.

"The president doesn't have a choice. People think, 'Can we remove him from office?' You don't have to remove him from office," Mr Romney said on CNN. "If he does not win on a legitimate basis, he ceases to be the president when Joe Biden is sworn in."

“You’re not gonna change the nature of President Trump in these last days, apparently, of his presidency,” he said. “He is who he is. And he has a relatively relaxed relationship with the truth and so he’s gonna keep on fighting until the very end.”

Romney predicts Trump will eventually 'accept the inevitable' that Biden won election

Romney says country should ‘get behind’ president-elect but GOP leaders have not congratulated him

Chris Riotta9 November 2020 05:45

Daily Guidance for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris

From the wires: On Monday, November 9, in the morning, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will receive a briefing in Wilmington, Delaware from the transition COVID-19 advisory board, which will include a photo spray.

After, President-elect Biden will deliver remarks on his plans to beat COVID-19 and build our economy back better, which will be pooled press.

In the afternoon, President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris will hold briefings with transition advisors.

Chris Riotta9 November 2020 06:05

ICYMI: Trump reportedly set to hit the road with campaign-like rallies

President Donald Trump is taking his temper tantrum on the road.

After losing in his re-election bid to President-elect Joe Biden, new reports indicate Mr Trump will be holding campaign-like rallies in states across the country while battling the electoral process in the courts.

The president will display alleged obituaries of deceased voters and claim ballots were cast in their names during the 2020 US elections, Axios reported on Sunday, just before Mr Trump was set to give his first TV interview since losing the election.

Mr Trump’s false claims of mass voter fraud, particularly surrounding mail-in voting, have no basis in fact or reality, according to a vast pool of data and research that has systematically proven mail-in voting to be safe from fraud and cheating. 

Here’s my latest.

Trump to reportedly take his false claims of voter fraud on the road

The president will deliver his message of misinformation to voters across the country while battling in the courts, according to a new report

Chris Riotta9 November 2020 06:25

ICYMI: Turmoil over whether Trump should concede at the White House

Reports have painted a picture of a White House in turmoil following President Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020 US elections.

It remained unclear how Mr Trump has responded to conversations about his concession, or if Mr Meadow was successful in encouraging the president to consider eventually conceding to Mr Biden. It was reported Mr Meadows tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, before news broke projecting Mr Biden as the official winner of the 2020 elections.

Some of the president’s legal advisers have released public statements of support for the president in his legal battles, including Jenna Ellis, a hired counsel for the Trump campaign who tweeted on Sunday: “I just spoke with President Trump and told him I love him and am so proud of him for standing firm for the rule of law, the Constitution, and our American system. Every legal vote must be counted fairly and accurately, regardless of the outcome.”

Chris Riotta9 November 2020 06:45

Biden to convene Covid-19 task force today

Joe Biden is to meet with a Covid-19 advisory team today as he ramps up transition planning.

Coronavirus is one of the four main issues he and Kamala Harris have pledged to focus on first.

The Covid-19 panel is led by former surgeon general Vivek Murthy and David Kessler, the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner.

Donald Trump has no public events scheduled for Monday, and he has not spoken in public since Thursday.

As part of a public campaign to cast doubt on the election results, he is planning to hold rallies to build support for his baseless claims that the vote was stolen from him, campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said.

Jon Sharman9 November 2020 07:15

Trump busily tweeting overnight

Donald Trump tweeted a series of video clips over the last few hours. He was clearly up late.

They are extended clips from Fox News’ coverage of the election results - but the partisan opinion stuff, not the news. One of the videos is of Steve Hilton, formerly the “blue-sky-thinking” adviser to David Cameron, Britain’s ex-PM.

At least two of the clips echo the president’s own tweets on this subject, complaining that the election has been called in favour of Joe Biden by the news media. This happens every election and is based on projections of how votes still to be counted will fall.

In Mr Trump’s 2016 victory, the Associated Press called the election in his favour at 2.29am Eastern Time on 9 November. 

Jon Sharman9 November 2020 07:36

Trump campaign caught sharing fake newspaper cover on election result

In an attempt to undermine media projections of Joe Biden as the new president-elect, a top aide to Donald Trump has tweeted a doctored front-page headline of The Washington Times, writes Namita Singh.

The Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh shared a picture of the conservative publication with its splash headline reading "President Gore,” a reference to former vice-president Al Gore’s race against George W Bush in 2000.  

Trump campaign caught sharing fake newspaper cover on election result

In a now-deleted tweet, Tim Murtaugh attempted to mock the media for projecting Joe Biden as president-elect by sharing a doctored headline declaring ‘President Gore’ in 2000

Jon Sharman9 November 2020 08:01

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