Trump speech: Fox refuses to air official address as ex-president demands ‘reparations’ from China

Republican US Sen Roy Blunt said he “can’t really analyse” whether Trump believes his own election lies.

“And of course, he had the ability to go to court and prove whether that election was fair or not,” he told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.

And of course, those cases were largely dismissed or withdrawn.

“So we move forward and we continue to move forward,” Mr Blunt said.

“There are plenty of things for Republicans to be talking about besides the election process itself,” he said. “He could be incredibly helpful in 2022 if he gets focused on 2022 and the differences in the two political parties.”

The White House press briefing room will return to 100 per cent capacity on Monday after more than a year of physical distancing guidelines from the coronavirus pandemic.

Press secretary Jen Psaki told CNN that “frankly, returning the briefing is something that sends a message to the world that we’re not afraid to engage.”

“We’re not afraid,” she said. “We believe in the free press.”

She did not commit to adding more formal news conferences to Joe Biden’s agenda – he has held only one since taking office but has answered shouted questions after remarks or among groups of reporters during events.

“He takes questions several times a week” and “is always, almost always, open to have that engagement with reporters, and I expect that will continue to be the case,” she said.

Snopes has debunked the viral claim that Trump wore his pants back to front during his remarks in North Carolina on Saturday. There was even a hashtag: TrumpPants.

Lincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt has warned that Trump’s words“will surely kill again” and he condemned the “profoundly stupid media coverage around the demise of the Trump blog”.

He derided the idea that his election loss, “social media bans and inability to sustain a blog are evidence of his decline, irrelevance and diminishment” and people who believe that “so long as no one speaks his name out loud, no problem.”

“These people are fools and their delusions are dangerous for the survival of American democracy,” he said. “We are at an hour that requires people to wake up. Trump is powerful and he is a clear and PRESENT danger to our democratic society and national stability.”

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm warns that the US faces threats from “malicious actors” targeting critical parts of the nation’s power grid.

“I think that there are very malign actors who are trying even as we speak,” she told CNN on Sunday. “There are thousands of attacks on all aspects of the energy sector and the private sector generally.”

We’re closing today’s live coverage. Stay tuned with The Independent.