Networks call Georgia for Biden as security officials say vote was ‘secure’
Follow the latest updates
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.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.
Twitter flags another Trump claim of rigged election’
Another flagged tweet, and another presidential claim of an election alleged to be “rigged”.
That is, of course, despite no widespread evidence.
Democrats sneak House majority
These aren’t the results House Democrats — or even Republicans — expected coming into election day, with Democrats predicted to bolster their majority by 10 to 20 seats. But, in the end, it was Republicans who were able to flip at least seven districts, with the possibility of adding more.
Nonetheless, House Democrats celebrated on Tuesday as the party’s retention of control was confirmed.
“We have the gavel, we have the gavel,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who will likely retain her position as the House leader of the party, after she won her own re-election in California.
Griffin Connolly and Namita Singh report:
Democrats cling on to House majority: ‘We have the gavel’
Democrats held enough seats in the suburbs to retain their House majority
Biden says Trump an ‘embarrassment’
Joe Biden brushed off both Donald Trump’s refusal to concede defeat in the presidential election and Republican lawmakers’ refusal to call him the next commander-in-chief, calling the incumbent an “embarrassment” in a speech from Delaware on Tuesday.
“We are already beginning the transition. We are well underway," the president-elect said, as he sought to press-on with his preparation for office.
John T Bennett reports:
Biden calls Trump’s refusal to acknowledge election result an ‘embarrassment’
President-elect smiles when vowing to take control of government on 20 January
John McCain 'would be very pleased' at Biden's win
Cindy McCain has said that her husband, the late Republican senator for Arizona, John McCain, would have been “very pleased” with Joe Biden’s win over Donald Trump last week.
She told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Monday that "I just know he is looking down and going, 'You did the right thing.'"
Her comments came three days after Mr Biden’s projected win over Mr Trump, who has still to concede the election, and as Republicans in Congress continued to deny Mr Biden had become president-elect.
Mr Trump had attacked Mr McCain in the past, saying that he didn't consider the Republican senator to be a war hero because he was captured on duty, as a prisoner of war.
Ms McCain endorsed the Democratic nominee, Mr Biden, for president before Tuesday’s vote, following appearances at the party’s convention, and position on the presidential transition advisory board.
Nearly 80 per cent of Americans say Biden won White House
Nearly 80 per cent of Americans, including more than half of Republicans, have said they recognise President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of last week’s election, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
It comes as Donald Trump refuses to concede the race, after most media organisations called it for the Democrat on Saturday after his leads in critical battleground states became largely insurmountable - even with recounts.
The snap poll suggests that many Americans have not paid too much attention to the Republican president and baseless claims of a “rigged” election, for which there is no evidence.
Nearly 80 per cent of Americans believe Biden won election, poll shows
Only 3 per cent of respondents consider Trump the winner
Trump trolled by ‘Loser.com’
Donald Trump is being trolled online as the website “Loser.com” now redirects to his Wikipedia page.
The site began linking to the president’s page on Monday after his Democrat rival Joe Biden was announced as president-elect at the weekend.
The loser.com domain name has reportedly been registered to comedian Brian Connelly since the early 1990s, and has been used to target other celebrities and politicians over the years, including former US president Barack Obama, 2000 presidential candidate Al Gore, who lost to George Bush, and American rapper Kayne West.
Chiara Giordano reports:
Loser.com redirects to Trump’s Wikipedia page
President trolled after rival Biden secures 290 electoral college votes
Trump will exhaust all legal options, say sources
Sources close to the president have told ABC News the he intends to pursue every legal option available to him, in order to prolong any concession to Joe Biden, who was projected to have won the 2020 presidential race on Saturday.
Family members and personal aides were reported to have said in private that there is no path forward at this point, while judges have largely ridiculed Trump campaign lawsuits over alleged election “fraud” as meritless - and presented with no evidence.
Still, his campaign said on Tuesday it would file a lawsuit to stop the battleground state of Michigan from certifying its election results, after a similar case was filed in Pennsylvania on Monday.
Both lawsuits will request that election results are not confirmed until it can be verified that votes were cast "lawfully", despite no evidence of so-called “unlawful” votes.
One campaign aide told ABC News that "We are spending our final days answering prank calls and don't know if we will have jobs by next week," amid uncertainty about how long Trump campaign staffers will be employed for.
House Democrats look for new campaign leader
While Democrats secured another majority in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Republicans were able to flip several seats in states from California to Florida, leaving some Democrats to question what went wrong.
According to CNN, Cheri Bustos will not run again as chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, following the elections last week.
Tony Cárdenas and Sean Patrick Maloney will now bid for the role, and hope to unite the party down-ballot before the 2022 midterm elections.
Rep. Cárdenas said in an interview that Democrats fell behind with digital campaigning, as suggested by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this week, and suggested that the "defund the police" slogan had been used by Republicans to eradicate Democrat support with certain voters.
Biden vote lead at 5 million
Joe Biden’s lead in the popular vote has now surpassed five million, according to the latest figures from the count, even as president Donald Trump continues to refuse to concede the election.
All major media outlets have now called the election in Mr Biden’s favour, with current projections giving him 290 electoral college votes compared to 214 for the Republican incumbent.
Biden’s lead in popular vote now more than 5 million
A large margin of victory in the popular vote does not necessarily guarantee a path to the White House
How the election was called
Donald Trump’s refusal to concede election defeat was labelled an “embarrassment” by Joe Biden, who most media organisations declared as the winner of last weeks election on Saturday.
But, with the Republican president and his allies falsely claiming election “fraud”, and at the same time denying that media outlets “get to decide” election winners (as Rudy Giuliani complained), you might be wondering how these decisions are made…
Here’s an explainer:
How do the media announce the election results and what if it’s wrong?
Fifty-one separate elections — one in each state and one in Washington, DC
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments