Networks call Georgia for Biden as security officials say vote was ‘secure’
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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.
Arizona attorney general says Biden likely will win Arizona
The Associated Press, which The Independent follows, and Fox News projected Arizona, which holds 15 electoral votes, would go to Joe Biden on Election Night. But questions have remained if those projections would stand because absentee ballots have diminished Mr Biden’s lead over Donald Trump instead of extending it.
But Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, told Fox Business on Wednesday that the projection would likely stand.
“There’s less than 50,000 votes to count and the president would have to get about 65% of them to win Arizona. So it does appear that Joe Biden will win Arizona," he said.
Mr Biden’s holds a lead of about 14,000 votes in the battleground state.
How Biden won: The voters and demographic shifts key to unseating Trump
What the president-elect’s path to victory reveals about Democratic voters, writes Alex Woodward
How Biden won: The voters and demographic shifts key to unseating Trump
What the president-elect’s path to victory reveals about Democratic voters
Opinion: A note to all the champagne socialists who don’t think Biden is ideologically pure enough
While it’s true the president-elect is far from an ideal progressive, the view that we shouldn’t celebrate the end of Trump’s presidency is one only privileged people can afford to have, writes Jean Lee.
Opinion: A note to all the champagne socialists who don’t think Biden is ideologically pure enough
While it’s true the president-elect is far from an ideal progressive, the view that we shouldn’t celebrate the end of Trump’s presidency is one only privileged people can afford to have
Biden could select chief of staff as soon as tomorrow
President-elect Joe Biden has hit the ground running since the announcement on Saturday that he was the projected winner of the 2020 election.
Already Mr Biden has formed a transition administration, created his own Covid-19 task force, and spoken with world leaders about the future of the Untied States with its world allies.
It was revealed on Wednesday that Mr Biden could announce his chief of staff as early as Thursday, according to CNN.
Ron Klain, who served as Mr Biden’s chief of staff in the Obama administration, was among one of the top contenders for the high-level position within the Biden administration.
QAnon falls silent after election day
The QAnon movement’s “leader”, Q, has gone silent following Donald Trump’s loss in last week’s presidential election, as some users have expressed skepticism about the mysterious account’s claims.
The QAnon movement, whose followers claim a deep state is plotting against Mr Trump, has been identified by the FBI as an extremist group and accounts dedicated to it have been banned by both Facebook and Twitter.
Followers of the right-wing conspiracy theory also claim that Mr Trump is leading the fight against a deep-state cabal of Satan-worshipping paedophiles, partly run by the Democratic Party, who are involved in a global child sex trafficking ring.
James Crump reports:
Retiring Republican senator refuses to acknowledge Biden’s election win
Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, who is retiring in 2022, refused to acknowledge that Joe Biden has won the 2020 election on Wednesday despite projections showing he earned more than 270 electoral votes.
“I think we're going to adjudicate several disputes. That's all part of this process. It'll be done soon enough, and I think the outcome will be clear,” Mr Toomey said, when The Washington Post's Robert Costa asked the senator if he considered Mr Biden the president-elect.
He did say, though, that it appeared Mr Biden would be certified as president-elect “relatively soon”.
When asked about the future of a Mr Biden’s cabinet if the Republicans were to keep control of the Senate, Mr Toomey said it would be an “ongoing discussion".
"I think people who are well outside of the political mainstream don’t belong in really important senior-level cabinet type posts, and that’s why that’ll be an ongoing discussion, I think, between a Republican Senate, and, Joe Biden should he, in fact, get sworn in as president,” he said.
Australia’s prime minster congratulates Biden on election win
Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia revealed he held a phone call with President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday following the news he was projected to win the 2020 election.
In a tweet, Mr Morrison said he called to congratulate Mr Biden and speak about “our deep and enduring alliance” between Australia and the United States.
“There are no greater friends and no greater allies than Australia and the US," Mr Morrison wrote.
“I look forward to strengthening even further our deep and enduring alliance, and to working with him closely as we face the world’s many challenges together,” he added.
His full tweet here:
Trump White House election party becomes super-spreader
Donald Trump hosted an election party on the eve of the presidential race in the White House, in the hope of celebrating a second term.
The party, held in the East Room with minimal mask wearing or social distancing, has now instead turned into a suspected coronavirus super-spreader event with at least five attendees thus far testing positive for the novel virus.
Healy Baumgardner, a former Trump campaign aide and private equity adviser, has become the latest to test positive for Covid-19 after attending the event on 3 November, a Bloomberg reporter revealed.
She joins a growing list of Trump allies who have now tested positive for the virus since the event.
Full report:
Trump White House election party becomes super-spreader event
At least five people, including chief of staff Mark Meadows, have since tested positive
Opinion: My immigrant parents love Donald Trump. It’s important you understand why
My early childhood was spent in the Soviet Union. When my parents brought me to America, I didn’t see what they saw, writes Jessie Kanzer.
My immigrant parents love Donald Trump. It’s important you understand why
My early childhood was spent in the Soviet Union. When my parents brought me to America, I didn’t see what they saw
Where does Biden’s lead stand in key battleground states?
Votes are still coming in from states across America as volunteers finish tabulating the absentee ballots that were mailed in by voters.
On Wednesday, Mr Biden’s lead grew in Pennsylvania and he now leads Donald Trump by more than 50,000 votes, surpassing the 0.5 per cent automatic recount marker.
His leads by about 14,000 in Georgia, a state that will enter into a by-hand recount.
In Arizona, Mr Biden’s has narrowly hung onto his lead so far by about 13,000 votes. His lead in Nevada stands at more than 36,000 votes.
One of Mr Biden’s largest leads in a key battleground state comes from Michigan with more than 150,000-vote difference between himself and Mr Trump. This wide margin has not stopped the Trump campaign from calling for a recount in Michigan.
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