Election 2024 live updates: Trump begins transition as Republicans expected to win House

Racist text messages have been sent to people across several states stating that they’ve been “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.”

People in North and South Carolina received the messages, which identified individuals by their name and stated that they would be forced into slavery, according to WCNC. The texts came a day after Election Day.

The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James said people in the Empire State were also targeteted.

“The racist text messages targeting New Yorkers, including middle school, high school, and college students, are disgusting and unacceptable,” she said in a statement. “I unequivocally condemn any attempt to intimidate or threaten New Yorkers and their families. I encourage anyone in New York who has received an anonymous, threatening text message to report it to my office.”

Special Counsel Jack Smith told a federal judge on Friday that he may have a decision by December 2 on how to resolve the criminal case looking at Trump’s role in the Capitol riot.

Smith requested that Judge Tanya Chutkan remove all upcoming deadlines to allow his office to look at how to progress as Trump’s prepares to retake the White House in January.

The prosecutors wrote in a filing that “As a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, the defendant is expected to be certified as President-elect on January 6, 2025, and inaugurated on January 20, 2025.”

They added: “The Government respectfully requests that the Court vacate the remaining deadlines in the pretrial schedule to afford the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.”

“By December 2, 2024, the Government will file a status report or otherwise inform the Court of the result of its deliberations,” they said.

Fox News hosts Dana Perino and Greg Gutfeld joked that prosecutors in Donald Trump’s criminal cases should get the death penalty.

With the Justice Department in talks with special counsel Jack Smith about dropping two of the federal cases he is overseeing against Trump, The Five panelists had some back-and-forth about what should happen to those who sought the president-elect behind bars.

“Dana… a lot of the people that were on this and wanted it so badly, how are they going to survive? Do you think they need therapy,” Gutfeld asked Perino on Thursday’s show.

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The Justice Department unsealed criminal charges Friday in a thwarted Iranian plot to kill President-elect Donald Trump before this week’s presidential election.

A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan alleges that an unnamed official in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard instructed a contact this past September to put together a plan to surveil and ultimately kill Trump.

If the man, identified as Farjad Shakeri, was unable to create a plan by then, the complaint said, the official told him Iran would pause its plan until after the presidential election because the official believed Trump would lose and it would be easier to assassinate him then, the complaint said.

Shakeri told the FBI he didn’t plan to propose a plan to murder Trump within the seven days the official had requested, according to the complaint.

The plot, with the charges unsealed just days after Trump’s defeat of Democrat Kamala Harris, reflects what federal officials have described as ongoing efforts by Iran to target U.S. government officials, including Trump, on U.S. soil.

Trump took to Truth Social on Friday to say that he has “no intention” of selling shares in his social media company.

“There are fake, untrue, and probably illegal rumors and/or statements made by, perhaps, market manipulators or short sellers, that I am interested in selling shares of Truth,” he wrote. “THOSE RUMORS OR STATEMENTS ARE FALSE. I HAVE NO INTENTION OF SELLING!”

He added: “I hereby request that the people who have set off these fake rumors or statements, and who may have done so in the past, be immediately investigated by the appropriate authorities. Truth is an important part of our historic win, and I deeply believe in it. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Tim Walz’s daughter expressed her anger over her father and Kamala Harris’ failed bid for the White House.

Hope Walz stated America “does not deserve Kamala Harris” as she shared her thoughts on President-elect Donald Trump’s historic win.

In a video posted on TikTok on Thursday (7 November), she said: “That woman should go live her best life wherever she wants, doing whatever she wants, because we don’t deserve her at this point.

“These people have to live in their own skin, as in JD Vance and Donald Trump have to be JD Vance and Donald Trump and that is not a punishment I’d wish upon anybody but those two individuals.”

The combined support of celebrities such as George Clooney, Taylor Swift, Beyonce and more couldn’t help Kamala Harris secure the presidency in Tuesday’s election.

A stream of A-listers from Hollywood and the music world all threw their weight behind the Democrat during the bitterly-fought campaign, in the hope that their millions of supporters and followers would move the needle.

But not even the endorsement of Swift seemed to make any difference. Nor did the backing of Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, or Ariana Grande. Harrison Ford warned of the threat to democracy to no avail.

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The lawsuit of Republican Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick challenging provisional ballots in Philadelphia has been thrown out.

It’s a win for incumbent Democrat Bob Casey as he tries to catch up to McCormick.

The Associated Press has called the race for the Republican but Casey hasn’t conceded while he waits for thousands of ballots to be counted, including military/overseas and contested provisional ballots.