Summary
That’s all from us for today. Here’s a recap from me and Joan E Greve:
- Joe Biden moved forward with his transition, as Donald Trump still refuses to concede that he lost the presidential election. The president-elect named longtime adviser Ron Klain as his chief of staff last night, and Biden’s transition team said he spoke to Pope Francis this morning.
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A growing number of Republicans are calling for Biden to start receiving classified briefings. Presidents-elect usually have access to classified briefings after being declared the winner of the election, but the Trump administration has refused to acknowledge Biden’s victory. “Our adversaries aren’t going to wait for you to catch up to take action,” said Marco Rubio, the Republican chairman of the Senate intelligence committee.
- The Department of Homeland Security cybersecurity agency said the 2020 election “was the most secure in American history”. Contradicting messages from Trump and his allies, the agency said “there is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised”.
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November is on track to be the worst month of the pandemic so far in the US. Several mayors and governors are announcing new restrictions, including Chicago’s Lori Lightfoot, who announced a stay-at-home advisory starting Monday.
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Another 709,000 Americans submitted new claims for unemployment benefits last week, marking a decrease from a week earlier. But economists warn that unemployment numbers remain alarmingly high eight months into the pandemic, and the most recent surge in infections could do further harm to the US economy.
- Corey Lewandowski, an outside adviser to Trump, tested positive for coronavirus. Lewandowski has been in Philadelphia in recent days, contesting Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania, where the Democrat currently leads by more than 50,000 votes. Several other Trump advisers, including White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, have tested positive since last week.
Follow the Guardian’s live coronavirus coverage here:
Another top Pentagon official has resigned, CNN reports.
Alexis Ross, the chief of staff to the secretary of defense, is now among several defense officials to leave since Trump fired defense secretary Mark Esper.
The deputy chief of staff to the secretary of defense has resigned, a US defense official told CNN on Thursday, becoming the latest official to depart the Pentagon amid a purge that began Monday when President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
Alexis Ross has resigned, the official said, joining now-former chief of staff Jen Stewart and the top Pentagon officials overseeing policy and intelligence, all three of whom had submitted their resignations Tuesday.The flurry of changes within the department in recent days has put officials inside the Pentagon on edge and fueled a growing sense of alarm among military and civilian officials, who are concerned about what could come next. The moves will likely only add to the sense of chaos within the Pentagon following Trump’s firing of Esper by tweet.Stewart was replaced by Kash Patel, who most recently served as senior director for counterterrorism at the White House National Security Council and is seen as much more ideological and closely linked to Trump.
Democrats have raised alarm over the extreme, Trump-loyalist Republicans that the president has installed at the Pentagon as he continues to stall the process of transferring power to a Biden administration.
Read more background here:
Supreme court justice Samuel Alito, speaking at the conservative Federalist Society convention, said that the Obergefell decision, which affirmed the right to same-sex marriage, has led to the censorship of those who believe that marriage should be heterosexual.
Mark Joseph Stern of Slate reports:
Yikes. Alito condemns Obergefell, the same-sex marriage decision, and says it has led to censorship of people who believe marriage is “a union of one man and one woman.” Says freedom of speech is “falling out of favor in some circles.”
— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) November 13, 2020
Obergefell is one of the landmark cases that civil rights advocates fear will be reversed now that Trump appointee Amy Coney Barrett has clinched a conservative majority.
More background here:
Updated
Ankita Rao reports:
Despite the fact that the president-elect, Joe Biden, leads in the popular vote by at least 5 million people, and despite the fact that he has significant leads in five key states, Donald Trump has baselessly claimed that the election is rigged against him.
He’s weaponizing those claims to undermine the election results, to cast doubt on the democratic process, and to try to convince the American people that he is the true winner.
These are his tactics:
Litigation: The Trump campaign has lodged a slew of baseless lawsuits in swing states, with claims that range from “dead people voted” to “ballots that arrived late are being counted”. So far, as our reporter Sam Levine wrote this week, judges have ruled against the campaign in almost every instance, citing a lack of evidence.
Undermining the media: Trump and his supporters are even railing against Fox News because it called the election for Biden.
Federal investigation: William Barr, the attorney general, has authorized federal prosecutors to investigate election irregularities, an unprecedented move that prompted the head of the justice department’s election crimes unit to step down.
Calling on enablers: Trump is relying on figures such as Ken Starr; the lieutenant governor in Texas; and J Christian Adams, a former justice department official, to continue their crusade against so-called voter fraud.
Can Trump stage a coup?
Not really. Though the lawsuits continue, and the US supreme court has a conservative majority, it’s very unlikely that Trump can manipulate the levers of democracy and the safeguards in place.
As Sam Levine has written, there is a long-shot legal theory, floated by Republicans before the election, that Republican-friendly legislatures in places like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania could ignore the popular vote in their states and appoint their own electors. Federal law allows legislatures to do this if states have “failed to make a choice” by the day the electoral college meets. But there is no evidence of systemic fraud or wrongdoing in any state, and Biden’s commanding margins in these places make it clear that the states have in fact made a choice. More on that here.
Read more, and sign up for the Fight to Vote newsletter:
President scheduled to receive Operation Warp Speed briefing
Operation Warp Speed is a Trump administration program to pursue Covid-19 vaccines and therapeutics.
After several days with an empty schedule, amid reports that Trump has been disengaged from the day-to-day work of governing, even as coronavirus cases climb, the president’s public schedule says he will receive a briefing on vaccines and treatments tomorrow, which will be closed to press.
Trump, who downplayed the coronavirus crisis in the lead-up to election day, has since largely refrained from weighing in on the latest surge in cases across the US. He has “fumed” that Pfizer announced progress in its vaccine trials after the election, the AP reports, citing an anonymous White House official. Ahead of the election, the president had promised a vaccine by election day, or soon after – presenting a timeline that public health experts said was unrealistic.
Updated
What will Mike Pence do next after Trump’s election loss?
Across the street from the British embassy, with its red telephone box and Winston Churchill statue, in Washington DC is the residence of the US-vice president. It has its own basketball court, on which Mike Pence reportedly installed a logo from the 1986 film Hoosiers starring Gene Hackman about small-town Indiana sports.
Fortunately, the Washington Post noted a couple of years ago, the logo is removable.
Pence, a former governor of Indiana, and his wife, Karen, will be packing their bags and moving out of the residence in January to make way for America’s first female vice-president, Senator Kamala Harris of California, and her husband Doug Emhoff.
Said to have nurtured ambitions for the presidency since he was 16, Pence must now decide what to do with the rest of his life. Among the 61-year-old’s options: a return to his roots in conservative talk radio as a way to remain relevant in his party.
“I think he would want to stay involved in Republican politics and probably in a more conventional way than the president,” said Michael D’Antonio, co-author of The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence. “So he could be a broadcaster, and there’ll be lots of opportunity for that, but he would be nicer than Trump.
Read more:
Joe Biden said he will raise the number of refugees that the US will admit annually to 125,000.
During a video he recorded for the Jesuit Refugee Service 40th anniversary virtual celebration, Biden said:
The United States has long stood as a beacon of hope for the downtrodden and the oppressed, a leader of resettling refugees in our humanitarian response.
I promise, as president, I will reclaim that proud legacy for our country. The Biden-Harris administration will restore America’s historic role in protecting the vulnerable and defending the rights of refugees everywhere and raising our annual refugee admission target to 125,000.
Joe Biden says in taped remarks to the Jesuit Refugee Service tonight that he will raise the refugee admissions cap to 125,000 -- higher than it's been in a couple decades. Just doesn't say when https://t.co/eBrhpqrWbg
— Michelle Hackman (@MHackman) November 13, 2020
In October, the Trump administration capped the number of refugees the US will admit over the next financial year at 15,000. It is the lowest cap the US has set since the 1980 Refugee Act took effect.
Opinion: Republicans aren’t conceding. And Democrats are bringing a knife to a gun fight
The recent HBO film 537 Votes, about the Florida 2000 election mess, offers one overarching message: Democrats’ refusal to sound a clear alarm about the slow-motion heist in process ultimately let the election be stolen.
In that debacle, Democrats seemed to think things would break their way with well-honed arguments inside the cloistered confines of the legal system – they never understood how public-facing politics can play a role in what ended up being a pivotal political brawl outside the courtroom.
Twenty years later, the lesson of the Bush-Gore debacle isn’t being heeded
Now, 20 years later, the lesson of that debacle isn’t being heeded. Donald Trump and his cronies are quite clearly waging a public-facing campaign designed to create the conditions to pull off a coup in the electoral college process.
This is a full-scale emergency – and yet the Democratic strategy seems to be to try to pretend it isn’t happening, in hopes that norms win out, even though nothing at all is normal.
In the week since the election, Donald Trump and his Republican allies have waged a public campaign to call the election results into question – not just in the courtroom, but in the public’s mind. Their lawsuits and Attorney General William Barr’s recent memo are designed as much to to generate headlines as they are to win rulings and initiate prosecutions. Their tweets asserting fraud, and their high-profile promises of financial reward for evidence of fraud, are all designed to do the same thing.
Most ominously of all, Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Arizona are already insinuating the results may be fraudulent, even though they haven’t produced any evidence of widespread fraud.
Read more from David Sirota, a Guardian US columnist and an award-winning investigative journalist:
Joe Biden advised against Osama bin Laden raid, Barack Obama writes
Joe Biden advised Barack Obama to wait to order the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, the former president writes in his new memoir.
“Joe weighed in against the raid,” Obama writes in A Promised Land, about discussion of the Navy Seals mission, which he ordered to go ahead as intended in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on the night of 1-2 May 2011.
Obama’s book will be published on Tuesday. Guardian US has seen a copy. Obama writes that his vice-president, who will follow him to the White House in January, immediately supported his decision to proceed with the Bin Laden raid.
Whether Biden advised against the raid has been a contentious issue in US politics. During this year’s election, Republican attack ads claimed Biden opposed taking Bin Laden out altogether.
Biden has said that during group discussion of whether to order the raid, he advised Obama to take more time, saying: “Don’t go.” He has also said he subsequently told Obama to “follow your instincts”.
In his memoir, Obama echoes the accounts of other senior aides present in the White House Situation Room nine years ago who have said Biden counseled caution.
Like the defense secretary, Robert Gates, Obama writes, Biden was concerned about “the enormous consequences of failure” and counseled that the president “should defer any decision until the intelligence community was more certain that bin Laden was in the compound”.
In the event, a Navy Seal team flew from Afghanistan to Pakistan and shot dead the al-Qaida leader, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.
“As had been true in every major decision I’d made as president,” Obama writes, “I appreciated Joe’s willingness to buck the prevailing mood and ask tough questions, often in the interest of giving me the space I needed for my own internal deliberations.”
Read more:
In a preview of an upcoming interview with 60 Minutes, Barack Obama said Republicans who are humoring Donald Trump’s refusal to accept loss are on “a dangerous path”.
“The president doesn’t like to lose and never admits loss,” Obama said.
“I’m more troubled by the fact that other Republican officials who clearly know better are going along with this, are humoring him in this fashion,” he said. “It is one more step in delegitimizing not just the incoming Biden administration, but democracy generally. And that’s a dangerous path.”
Barack Obama tells Scott Pelley Republicans who “go along with” the President’s claims of election fraud put democracy on “a dangerous path.”
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) November 12, 2020
The former president appears in his first interview about his new book “A Promised Land,” Sunday on 60 Minutes. https://t.co/S7MEAx3F8j pic.twitter.com/CRx6XkT0Na
Updated
DHS cybersecurity agency: 2020 election 'was the most secure in American history'
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) – a part of the Department of Homeland Security – said the 2020 election “was the most secure in American history”.
In a joint statement with several other agencies, CISA assistant director Bob Kolasky said: “When states have close elections, many will recount ballots. All of the states with close results in the 2020 presidential race have paper records of each vote, allowing the ability to go back and count each ballot if necessary ... This process allows for the identification and correction of any mistakes or errors.”
“There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised,” the statement reads.
Donald Trump and his Republican allies have continued to spread misinformation and sow doubt on the integrity of the US election system. His campaign has continued to pursue longshot litigation to challenge vote counts, even as it is clear that there is no evidence of widespread voting irregularities.
Updated
Donald Trump’s attacks on the credibility of Joe Biden’s election win through meritless lawsuits could undermine Americans’ trust in voting and could pose an immediate threat to the security and safety of the country, experts have warned.
Trump’s campaign has unleashed a stream of lawsuits in states key to Biden’s electoral college win, none of which are expected to affect the outcome of the election.
The US attorney general, William Barr, has authorized the Department of Justice to investigate voting irregularities, in a highly unorthodox move, and Republican state representatives in Pennsylvania are calling for an audit of the election, though they have no evidence of fraud.
University of Southern California (USC) law professor Franita Tolson said she was concerned that these actions, which would not change the trajectory of the election, were meant to call into question the legitimacy of the result.
“What does that do to our democracy as we play out this process? What does it do to the belief in the system when 70 million people think the election was stolen,” Tolson said, referring to the popular vote total for Trump. “To me that’s the danger of this narrative, that’s the danger of this litigation.”
Top election officials in every state, representing both political parties, told the New York Times there was no evidence that fraud or other irregularities played a role in the outcome of the race. A coalition of hundreds of journalists from more than 150 newsrooms also found no major problems, in ProPublica’s collaborative election monitoring project Electionland.
Read more:
Coronavirus cases in Texas are continuing to climb at a rapid clip.
Yesterday, Texas was the first state in the US to surpass 1m cases as a state. As the weather gets cooler, residents are increasingly likely to engage in indoor gatherings, epidemiologists say.
El Paso, which is one of the hardest-hit areas, has hired mobile morgues to hold the dead.
#COVID19TX Update: New cases steadily increasing. Hospitalizations and fatalities likely to rise higher. Texas is in a serious fight with #COVID19.
— Texas DSHS (@TexasDSHS) November 12, 2020
In the last 7 days #Texas averaged:
⬆️7,225 new cases per day
⬆️6,287 current hospitalizations
⬆️99 new fatalities reported per day pic.twitter.com/hqOglJ7n57
*This post has been corrected to say that Texas was the first to surpass 1m cases.
Updated
In Illinois, Democratic congresswoman Lauren Underwood has won re-election – but her Republican opponent, following in the footsteps of the president, has refused to concede.
The AP declared Underwood the winner earlier today. She’s leading her opponent by half a percentage point – with some mail-in ballots still outstanding.
It’s official -- we won! I’m so honored to continue to represent our community’s values in Congress. Thank you for all of your support. pic.twitter.com/ArOPb0hBRu
— Lauren Underwood (@LaurenUnderwood) November 12, 2020
But her opponent Jim Oberweis, the chairman of the popular ice cream chain Oberweis Dairy, is not planning to concede, according to WBEZ:
When asked whether Oberweis was planning to concede, the GOP candidate’s campaign manager said “not at all” shortly after The Associated Press called the race for Underwood. Earlier in the week, spokesperson Travis Akin told WBEZ a recount was imminent.
In a written statement, Akin said the campaign is “committed to exploring all legal options,” and that the Associated Press’ call “does not change anything in this race from a legal standpoint,” saying there are still votes that have yet to be counted and certified.
Updated
The Guardian’s Vivian Ho reports:
California is nearing a grim milestone in its battle against the coronavirus, as the state looks set to become the second in the US to surpass 1 million cases of Covid-19.
Following a period in which new infections dipped and sectors began to cautiously reopen, the state of nearly 40m residents has recently joined the rest of the country in a surge that was predicted to come with the flu season.
With 991,609 total cases, California saw nearly 7,000 cases in the past 24 hours, with a 7-day test positivity rate at 5%. Hospitalizations have increased by nearly a third in the past 14 days, with intensive care hospitalizations going up by 29.6%. The state is averaging 44 deaths a day; in total more than 18,000 people have died from the virus.
Just one month ago, the state was reporting daily numbers below 3,000 and a positivity rate of 2.5%.
“Obviously, it’s sobering, these numbers,” said Gavin Newsom, California’s governor.
Texas passed 1 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus earlier this week.
Read more:
Chicago mayor issues 30-day stay-at-home advisory
Weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday, Chicago’s mayor, Lori Lightfoot, issued a 30-day advisory asking residents to stay at home, avoid unnecessary travel and avoid gatherings of more than 10 people.
“While this is tough — this whole year has been tough — you must cancel the normal Thanksgiving plans,” Lightfoot said. “If we continue on the path we’re on and you, me, and others don’t step up and do more ... we could see at least a thousand more Chicagoans die.”
The advisory takes effect Monday morning.
EFFECTIVE MONDAY: I'm issuing a Stay-at-Home Advisory asking all Chicagoans to only leave their homes for essential needs, including work and school. More info ➡️ https://t.co/zDpEmEUk6c. #ProtectChicago pic.twitter.com/DAjuqfuRPP
— Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) November 12, 2020
Updated
November on track to be worst month of pandemic so far in US as cases surge
Miranda Bryant reports:
November is on track to be the worst month of the pandemic so far in the US as new cases and hospitalizations continue to surge to record highs.
There were 143,231 new cases and 2,005 deaths in the US on Wednesday, according to figures recorded by Johns Hopkins University. It marked the ninth consecutive day of cases topping 100,000 and a new record for daily cases.
It comes after the country recorded more than a million cases in the first 10 days of November.
Total cases in the US have now reached over 10.3m and 241,910 people have died, the highest totals in the world.
Health experts have in part put the increase down to incoming cold weather driving people indoors and frustration with public health precautions such as masks.
Dr Anthony Fauci, America’s top infectious disease expert, said America can slow the spread by “doubling down” on precautions such as mask-wearing, avoiding crowds, keeping activities outdoors and social distancing – and that if people do so a national lockdown could be avoided.
“We would like to stay away from that [a national lockdown] because there is no appetite for locking down in the American public. But I believe that we can do it without a lockdown, I really do,” he told ABC on Thursday morning.
Read more:
French president Emanuel Macron says Biden will “make our planet great again”.
Biden has promised to rejoin the Paris climate agreement, which Trump pulled the US out of on 4 November.
That the US will soon rejoin 194 countries and the European Union who are signatories to the agreement “is proof that we had to stand firm against all the headwinds”, Macron said in an online summit hosted by the French government, Reuters reports.
“‘Make our planet great again’ is a possibility, not just in words but also in deed,” Macron said.
Updated
Today so far
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague Maanvi Singh will take over for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- Joe Biden moved forward with his transition, as Donald Trump still refuses to concede that he lost the presidential election. The president-elect named longtime adviser Ron Klain as his chief of staff last night, and Biden’s transition team said he spoke to Pope Francis this morning.
- A growing number of Republicans are calling for Biden to start receiving classified briefings. Presidents-elect usually have access to classified briefings after being declared the winner of the election, but the Trump administration has refused to acknowledge Biden’s victory. “Our adversaries aren’t going to wait for you to catch up to take action,” said Marco Rubio, the Republican chairman of the Senate intelligence committee.
- House speaker Nancy Pelosi called on Republican lawmakers to accept the results of the presidential election. During a press conference on Capitol Hill today, the Democratic speaker emphasized the need to pass another coronavirus relief bill, saying, “Stop the circus and get to work on what really matters to the American people.”
- Another 709,000 Americans submitted new claims for unemployment benefits last week, marking a decrease from a week earlier. But economists warn that unemployment numbers remain alarmingly high eight months into the pandemic, and the most recent surge in infections could do further harm to the US economy.
- Corey Lewandowski, an outside adviser to Trump, tested positive for coronavirus. Lewandowski has been in Philadelphia in recent days, contesting Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania, where the Democrat currently leads by more than 50,000 votes. Several other Trump advisers, including White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, have tested positive since last week.
Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Updated
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees that Steve Bannon, a former adviser to Donald Trump, had not violated the social media platform’s policies enough to justify suspending him, according to a recording obtained by Reuters.
“We have specific rules around how many times you need to violate certain policies before we will deactivate your account completely,” Zuckerberg said. “While the offenses here, I think, came close to crossing that line, they clearly did not cross the line.”
As a reminder, Bannon suggested in a video last week that FBI Director Christopher Wray and Dr Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, should be beheaded for being disloyal to Trump.
Facebook removed the video but did not take down Bannon’s page. Twitter banned Bannon over the video.
Don Young, the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives, has tested positive for coronavirus.
Young, a Republican of Alaska, said in a tweet, “I have tested positive for COVID-19. I am feeling strong, following proper protocols, working from home in Alaska, and ask for privacy at this time. May God Bless Alaska.”
I have tested positive for COVID-19. I am feeling strong, following proper protocols, working from home in Alaska, and ask for privacy at this time. May God Bless Alaska.
— Rep. Don Young (@repdonyoung) November 12, 2020
Young won his 25th term in the House last week, securing 57% of the vote in his Alaska district as of now, with many ballots still left to be counted.
Young, who is 87, was first elected to the House in a special election in 1973. Given his age, he is considered to be at higher risk of becoming severely ill with coronavirus.
Senator Tim Kaine, the 2016 Democratic vice-presidential nominee, called on his Republican colleagues to acknowledge Donald Trump has lost the presidential race.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) sends a message to President Trump on how to concede by reflecting on the 2016 election, when he served as Hillary Clinton’s running mate. pic.twitter.com/BDpaYWVyoG
— The Recount (@therecount) November 12, 2020
The Virginia Democrat accused Trump of “acting like a spoiled child,” saying the president was threatening American democracy for the sake of his own ego.
Kaine noted Hillary Clinton conceded in the 2016 race shortly after media outlets called the race for Trump.
“I watched Secretary Clinton struggle with the war between her personal feelings and her earnest search for what was right for the country,” Kaine said.
Kaine argued it was up to Republicans to dispute the president’s baseless claims of election fraud and allow Biden to move forward with the transition process.
The president signed an executive order blocking Americans from investing in a group of Chinese companies, which the Trump administration says are supporting China’s military.
Trump’s order asserts that “the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is increasingly exploiting United States capital to resource and to enable the development and modernization of its military, intelligence, and other security apparatuses”.
The 31 Chinese companies named by the order include state-run shipbuilding and construction companies, as well as technology companies.
The order comes as Trump has sought to blame Beijing for the coronavirus pandemic and limit China’s economic reach in the US through executive action.
Updated
Donald Trump has been seriously considering running for president again in 2024, but he has given less thought to how he might use his final two months in office, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal reports:
Mr. Trump hasn’t discussed what elements of his policy agenda he wants to execute before leaving office, White House officials said. One official said there has been little formal planning on what needs to get done in the final months of the Trump administration. Some aides have begun compiling a list of regulations and other measures that can be completed before Inauguration Day, another official said.
Officials said they expect negotiations with lawmakers about the next round of coronavirus relief legislation will resume at some point. Some White House policy aides are also discussing potential executive orders on a range of issues, such as banning banks from refusing to lend to fossil-fuel companies, officials said.
White House adviser Stephen Miller and other officials are also rushing to complete a series of immigration regulations and rules that would make it tougher to win asylum and appeal a deportation order and effectively eliminate the H-1B visa lottery, which would largely shut off the program for recent college graduates, administration officials said. The Biden administration could seek to reverse the rules but it would take time and would likely prompt a fresh round of legal challenges. ...
Asked what policy matters Mr. Trump might focus on over the next 70 days, another official said, ‘Not a lot.’ The official said it has been difficult to shift the president’s attention away from the election.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described Max Rose as a “great colleague and friend”, after her fellow freshman Democrat conceded to his Republican challenger.
.@MaxRose4NY has been a great colleague & friend, despite all our differences.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 12, 2020
He was relentlessly attacked for attending a community event after the murder of George Floyd.
Max used his election night speech to bravely declare why it was the right thing to do.
Watch it ⬇️ https://t.co/LhWvBxv9lf
The progressive congresswoman acknowledged she and Rose had many ideological differences, but she added, “He was relentlessly attacked for attending a community event after the murder of George Floyd. Max used his election night speech to bravely declare why it was the right thing to do.”
In his election night speech, Rose defended his decision to participate in a Black Lives Matter march, saying, “If we are going to unite this country then we must listen when a community is hurting.”
Updated
Congressman Max Rose, a freshman Democrat from New York, has conceded to Republican challenger Nicole Malliotakis.
The race has not yet been called by the AP, but Rose said he did not believe the outstanding ballots would allow him to close the gap between him and Malliotakis.
Representing #NY11 has been the honor of my life. On behalf of Leigh, Miles and myself: thank you for this privilege. I love Staten Island and Brooklyn. This is our home. No matter the challenges we face, I will be fighting with you.
— Max Rose (@MaxRose4NY) November 12, 2020
“I have called to congratulate Congresswoman-elect Malliotakis on her win and concede the race. I promise every resident of the 11th congressional district that we will ensure a smooth transition,” Rose said in a statement.
The freshman congressman reflected on the police killing of George Floyd in May, saying the country was briefly united in its desire for change after Floyd’s death.
“For a brief moment, we didn’t see each other as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans in pain, searching for a way to heal,” Rose said. “Our politics tore at that common purpose, but it is not lost.”
If Rose’s defeat is confirmed by the AP, Republicans will have gained seven seats in the House so far, significantly chipping away at Democrats’ majority.
Updated
Joe Biden spoke with House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer today, the president-elect’s transition team said in a press release.
“They discussed the urgent need for the Congress to come together in the lame duck session on a bipartisan basis to pass a bill that provides resources to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, relief for working families and small businesses, support for state and local governments trying to keep frontline workers on the payroll, expanded unemployment insurance, and affordable health care for millions of families,” the Biden team said.
Speaking at a press conference today, Pelosi and Schumer encouraged their Republican colleagues to accept the results of the presidential election and shift their focus to a coronavirus relief package.
However, negotiations between congressional Democratic leadership and the White House remain stalled, and Senate Republicans seem very resistant to the idea of passing another massive relief package.
Unless Democrats can flip control of the Senate by winning both Georgia runoff races in January, Biden may find it extremely difficult to pass anything but a targeted relief bill.
Updated
Cindy McCain, the widow of the late Republican senator John McCain, released a statement congratulating Joe Biden on his victory in the presidential election and in Arizona specifically.
Congrats to @JoeBiden for carrying my home state of Arizona. I am so proud of Arizonans for showing up in record numbers to make their voices heard. Thank you to the election workers who ensured a fair and honest process. Let’s get to work!https://t.co/ePhuwhVX40
— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) November 12, 2020
“I am so proud of the voters in Arizona. We turned out in record numbers, through vote by mail, same day drop off ballots and voting in person on Election Day,” McCain said.
McCain, who endorsed Biden’s presidential bid, specifically pushed back against Donald Trump and his allies’ baseless claims of election fraud in Arizona.
“This was a hard fought election but now that the votes are counted, it is time to do the work of uniting our state and our country. Arizona has a long history of conducting its elections honestly and with integrity, and 2020 was no exception. Arizonans should not be trying to cast doubt on the legitimate outcome of this race,” McCain said.
McCain expressed empathy with those mourning Trump’s loss, but she cited her husband’s concession to Barack Obama in 2008 as an example of the path forward.
“I remember John’s example in 2008 of accepting the decision of the voters and moving on to the next challenge,” McCain said. “So I hope all Arizonans and Americans will join me in congratulating President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris.”
Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, is quarantining after his wife tested positive for coronavirus, as the state conducts a hand recount of all ballots cast in the presidential race.
Local ABC affiliate WSB-TV reports:
Tricia Raffensperger tested positive for the coronavirus after returning from traveling. Raffensperger and his staff have all gone in for testing.
Raffensperger mostly recently made an appearance at a news conference in front of the Capitol Wednesday, where he announced that Georgia would conduct a by-hand recount.
Raffensperger was surrounded by county election officials and other people involved with the recount, as well as reporters.
The secretary of state was supposed to appear at a press conference this afternoon to discuss the recount, but a spokesperson took his place.
As of now, Joe Biden leads Donald Trump by about 14,000 votes in Georgia.
Some Senate Republicans say Biden should receive classified briefings
A number of Senate Republicans now say Joe Biden should receive classified briefings, even as the Trump administration refuses to acknowledge Biden’s victory in the presidential election.
“Our adversaries aren’t going to wait for you to catch up to take action,” said Marco Rubio, the Republican chairman of the Senate intelligence committee.
But Rubio still expressed support for Donald Trump, who continues to peddle baseless accusations of election fraud. “Giving them access to additional information doesn’t prejudice the president’s electoral claims,” Rubio said.
Senators Lindsey Graham, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, John Thune, Ron Johnson and Chuck Grassley have also said they believe Biden should begin receiving classified briefings.
The comments underscore the delicate balance Republicans are trying to strike, as they refuse to acknowledge Biden as the president-elect but try to prepare for the incoming administration.
Updated
Arizona’s Republican attorney general, Mark Brnovich, has defended the state’s election process against accusations of fraud from the Trump campaign - even as the president on Thursday inaccurately claimed that he will win the state “easily” - when Joe Biden was called as the winner days ago, in a historic flip for the Democrats.
“It does appear that Joe Biden will win Arizona,” Brnovich said on Fox Business last night. “There is no evidence, there are no facts that would lead anyone to believe that the election results would change,” he said, as the Hill reported.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) discusses the election lawsuits in Arizona pic.twitter.com/2UWrgUcPWP
— Neil Cavuto (@TeamCavuto) November 11, 2020
The Hill went on to say: Brnovich was asked by host Neil Cavuto about recent disputes over voting currently being argued in Arizona, including one in which a Trump campaign attorney claimed to have evidence that votes in Maricopa County had been “incorrectly rejected” and requested that the evidence be sealed.
Election officials’ attorneys successfully argued to leave the evidence unsealed because the public “has a right to know how flimsy Plaintiffs’ evidence actually is,” according to the Arizona Republic.
Brnovich dismissed the lawsuit as inconsequential saying, “We are literally talking about less than 200 votes that are in question and doubt. So the reality is, even if it was possible that those votes flipped, those 200 votes, I do not think it will make a difference in Arizona just because of the numbers.”
“On election night, if you looked at the numbers — and a lot of people that are really good at politics and polling here had said that it was possible for the president to come back,” said Brnovich. He stated that the reality of the election is that Trump’s chances of making a comeback in the votes was “highly unlikely” given the amount of ballots left and the percentage he would need in order to make any gains.
According to Brnovich, there are less than 50,000 votes left to be counted and the president would need to get 65 percent of those to win Arizona.
“My point is this, Neil, is that we need to deal in facts and evidence,” said Brnovich. “If there is a problem or you think there is a potential problem, the answer is, you don’t wait until it’s done to file a lawsuit. If you have problems with people on the voter rolls, you know, other issues, you need to address those problems prospectively instead of reactively.”
None of that stopped Trump tweeted this morning:
From 200,000 votes to less than 10,000 votes. If we can audit the total votes cast, we will easily win Arizona also! https://t.co/3eZHjdZL98
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2020
Updated
Pope blesses president-elect
Joe Biden spoke with Pope Francis on Thursday, and Biden thanked him for his “blessing and congratulations,” his transition team said in a statement.
Biden told the pope he wanted to work together on issues including caring for the poor, addressing climate change, and welcoming immigrants and refugees.
As my Guardian colleague Harriet Sherwood wrote earlier this week: For only the second time in US history, a Catholic will occupy the White House when Joe Biden is sworn in as the country’s 46th president. A man of profound faith, he has pledged to restore the “soul of the nation” after four years of rancor.
Catholic bishops in the US were quick to congratulate the president-elect, acknowledging that he will be only the second president to be a Catholic, John F Kennedy being the first.
“At this moment in American history, Catholics have a special duty to be peacemakers, to promote fraternity and mutual trust, and to pray for a renewed spirit of true patriotism in our country,” said José Gomez, archbishop of Los Angeles and president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Biden’s Catholicism is at the core of his life and is likely to shape the way he governs as president.
Harriet also noted that: At his side will be a vice-president who, as well as being the first woman of colour to hold the position, comes from a family that has embraced the Baptist church, Hinduism and Judaism.
Today so far
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- Joe Biden moved forward with his transition, as Donald Trump still refuses to concede that he lost the presidential election. The president-elect named longtime adviser Ron Klain as his chief of staff last night, and Biden spoke to Pope Francis this morning.
- House speaker Nancy Pelosi called on Republican lawmakers to accept the results of the presidential election. During a press conference on Capitol Hill today, the Democratic speaker emphasized the need to pass another coronavirus relief bill, saying, “Stop the circus and get to work on what really matters to the American people.”
- Another 709,000 Americans submitted new claims for unemployment benefits last week, marking a decrease from a week earlier. But economists warn that unemployment numbers remain alarmingly high eight months into the pandemic, and the most recent surge in infections could do further harm to the US economy.
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy defended two Republican congresswomen-elect who support the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory.
House Minority Leader McCarthy on two GOP QAnon-believers who won House races: "Give them an opportunity before you claim what you believe they have done, and what they will do." pic.twitter.com/zmoU8516qZ
— The Recount (@therecount) November 12, 2020
McCarthy said of Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, “Our party is very diverse, and you mentioned two people who will join our party, and both of them have denounced QAnon.”
That is not true. Greene has said QAnon does not reflect what her priorities will be as a congresswoman, and Boebert has said she is not a follower of QAnon, but neither of them have flat-out denounced the conspiracy theory.
McCarthy also told reporters, “Give them an opportunity before you claim what you believe they have done, and what they will do.”
Those comments are quite different from what McCarthy said in August, when he was asked about Greene. At the time, he told Fox News, “There is no place for QAnon in the Republican Party. I do not support it and the candidate you talked about has denounced it.”
(Again, Greene has never flat-out denounced QAnon.)
Corey Lewandowski tests positive for coronavirus - report
Corey Lewandowski, one of Donald Trump’s external advisers, tested positive for coronavirus yesterday, according to the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman.
NEW - Corey Lewandowski, Trump adviser who's been working on efforts to bring lawsuits alleging illegal election activity in specific states, tested positive for COVID yesterday per a person briefed. Lewandowski had been in Philly for days and believes he contracted it there.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 12, 2020
Lewandowski has been in Philadelphia in recent days, contesting Joe Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania, and he reportedly believes he contracted the virus there. (Biden currently leads in Pennsylvania by more than 50,000 votes.)
Several of the president’s senior advisers, including White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and housing and urban development secretary Ben Carson, have tested positive in the past week.
Lewandowski, like Meadows and Carson, attended an election night party at the White House, but it’s unclear if that’s where he contracted the virus, given it happened over a week ago now.
Dr Anthony Fauci bemoaned the politicization of science in the US, as the country experiences a surge in coronavirus infections.
“We’ve never seen the polarization,” Fauci said, while speaking at a webinar hosted by the British think tank Chatham House. “It isn’t just an anti-science feeling. It’s almost an aggressive push against science.”
Fauci added, “Let the science and let the evidence guide you. Always stick with the science, stay away from politics.”
Earlier this week, president-elect Joe Biden strongly urged Americans to wear face masks, saying the decision should not be political.
“I implore you, wear a mask,” Biden said. “Do it for yourself. Do it for your neighbor. A mask is not a political statement, but it is a good way to start pulling country together.”
Chuck Grassley, the most senior Senate Republican, said he believed Joe Biden should receive classified briefings now that he is president-elect.
“I would think - especially on classified briefings - the answer is yes,” the Iowa Republican told CNN.
New - Sen. Chuck Grassley, who is the most senior Republican in the Senate, told me that President-elect Joe Biden should have access to classified briefings to prepare for the transition.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 12, 2020
“I would think - especially on classified briefings - the answer is yes,” Grassley said.
Presidents-elect usually have access to classified briefings during their transition, but Biden has not received them because Trump administration officials refuse to recognize his victory in the election.
Asked whether he believed Biden should have access to classified briefings, House minority leader Kevin McCarthy said today, “He’s not president right now. Don’t know if he’ll be president January 20, but whoever is will get the information.”
Fact-check: Biden will be the president on January 20 because he has won more than the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.
Donald Trump’s attacks on the credibility of Joe Biden’s election win through meritless lawsuits could undermine Americans’ trust in voting and could pose an immediate threat to the security and safety of the country, experts have warned.
Trump’s campaign has unleashed a stream of lawsuits in states key to Biden’s electoral college win, none of which are expected to affect the outcome of the election.
The US attorney general, William Barr, has authorized the Department of Justice to investigate voting irregularities, in a highly unorthodox move, and Republican state representatives in Pennsylvania are calling for an audit of the election, though they have no evidence of fraud.
University of Southern California (USC) law professor Franita Tolson said she was concerned that these actions, which would not change the trajectory of the election, were meant to call into question the legitimacy of the result.
“What does that do to our democracy as we play out this process? What does it do to the belief in the system when 70 million people think the election was stolen,” Tolson said, referring to the popular vote total for Trump. “To me that’s the danger of this narrative, that’s the danger of this litigation.”
Donald Trump does not plan to publicly acknowledge his loss in the presidential election until after the Georgia recount ends on November 20, according to CNN’s Dana Bash.
New: As of now, do not expect the President to make any public moves acknowledging his loss until at least after the Georgia recount ends November 20th, per a source with knowledge.
— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) November 12, 2020
As of now, Joe Biden leads in Georgia by about 14,000 votes, so it seems virtually impossible for Trump to win the state.
More importantly, even if Biden were to lose Georgia (which is highly unlikely), the president-elect would still have more than the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.
Mike DeWine, the Republican governor of Ohio, acknowledged that Joe Biden had won the presidential election while speaking to CNN this morning.
JUST NOW: "Joe Biden is the President-elect."
— John Berman (@JohnBerman) November 12, 2020
Those words from Republican @GovMikeDeWine of Ohio. @NewDay pic.twitter.com/SUUpC43Hou
DeWine emphasized Donald Trump and his team had “every right” to pursue legal challenges in battleground states, but the governor accepted the reality of the results.
“I think that we need to consider the former vice-president as the president-elect,” DeWine said. “Joe Biden is the president-elect.”
This should not be noteworthy five days after Biden was declared the winner of the presidential election by every major news outlet.
However, many Republicans -- including the president -- have refused to acknowledge Biden’s victory and have instead continued to push baseless claims of election fraud.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted the results of the presidential election proved Joe Biden had a “mandate” to pursue his agenda.
“What Joe Biden got in this election was a mandate,” Pelosi said during a press conference on Capitol Hill.
Republicans have contradicted that assertion, pointing to their gains in the House. Although more than a dozen races remain uncalled, Democrats are projected to have the slimmest House majority since World War II.
But Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer insisted Biden’s victory signaled the American people had embraced his proposals on responding to the coronavirus pandemic, including passing another massive relief bill.
“The Donald Trump approach was repudiated,” Schumer said. “The Joe Biden approach was embraced, and that’s why we think there’s a better chance to get a bill in the lame duck.”
Coronavirus relief negotiations between congressional Democrats and the White House remain stalled, so it is very unclear whether a relief bill can pass before Biden’s inauguration.
Criticizing her Republican colleagues, Pelosi said, “It’s like the house is burning down, and they refuse to throw water on it.”
Pelosi to Republicans: 'Stop the circus' and start working on coronavirus relief
House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer held a press conference on Capitol Hill, calling on Republican lawmakers to accept the results of the presidential election.
Speaker Pelosi says Republicans are "engaged in an absurd circus right now, refusing to accept reality." pic.twitter.com/wdrj4xjdSQ
— The Recount (@therecount) November 12, 2020
The Democratic speaker accused Republicans of being “engaged in an absurd circus right now refusing to accept reality.”
Pelosi emphasized the need to pass another coronavirus relief bill, saying, “Stop the circus and get to work on what really matters to the American people.”
Schumer put it even more plainly, telling reporters, “The election is over. It wasn’t close. President Trump lost.” The Senate leader added, “Senate Republicans, stop denying reality ... and start focusing on Covid.”
Schumer also argued Republicans were defending the president’s refusal to concede for “no other reason but fear of Donald Trump.”
Updated
Across the street from the British embassy, with its red telephone box and Winston Churchill statue, in Washington DC is the residence of the US-vice president. It has its own basketball court, on which Mike Pence reportedly installed a logo from the 1986 film Hoosiers starring Gene Hackman about small town Indiana sports.
Fortunately, the Washington Post noted a couple of years ago, the logo is removable.
Pence, a former governor of Indiana, and his wife, Karen, will be packing their bags and moving out of the residence in January to make way for America’s first female vice-president, Senator Kamala Harris of California, and her husband Doug Emhoff.
Said to have nurtured ambitions for the presidency since he was 16, Pence must now decide what to do with the rest of his life. Among the 61-year-old’s options: a return to his roots in conservative talk radio as a way to remain relevant in his party.
“I think he would want to stay involved in Republican politics and probably in a more conventional way than the president,” said Michael D’Antonio, co-author of The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence. “So he could be a broadcaster, and there’ll be lots of opportunity for that, but he would be nicer than Trump.
“When he was on the radio in Indiana, he called himself ‘Rush Limbaugh on decaf’. There is a lot of potential in that identity for him.”
Even though Donald Trump has not yet conceded that he lost the presidential election, a number of world leaders have already congratulated Joe Biden on his victory.
The Biden campaign said that the president-elect spoke to the leaders of Australia, Japan, and South Korea last night.
Shortly after he was declared the winner of the presidential race, Biden spoke to the leaders of Canada, the UK, Ireland, Germany and France.
Here are some reactions from global leaders after speaking with the US president-elect:
US reports 709,000 new unemployment claims last week
Another 709,000 Americans submitted new claims for unemployment benefits last week, marking a decrease of about 48,000 claims from a week earlier.
Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims
— US Labor Department (@USDOL) November 12, 2020
Initial claims were 709,000 for the week ending 11/7 (-48,000).
Insured unemployment was 6,786,000 for the week ending 10/31 (-436,000).https://t.co/ys7Eg5LKAW
The figure marks the lowest number of new claims since March, signaling the US job market may be slowly healing.
But economists warn that the number of new unemployment claims remains alarmingly high eight months into the coronavirus pandemic.
There are also concerns that the US economy will decline in the coming weeks, as coronavirus infections surge and Americans become more cautious about leaving their homes.
The US set another single-day record for new infections yesterday, confirming 144,133 cases. Another 1,893 Americans died of coronavirus yesterday as well.
Fauci says lockdown should not be necessary because of vaccines: 'Help is really on the way'
Dr Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said he did not believe a national lockdown would be necessary because of the development of coronavirus vaccines.
Pfizer announced earlier this week that its vaccine was 90% effective, and Fauci said he expected a vaccine to be widely available to the American public by April or May.
"Help is really on the way."
— ABC News (@ABC) November 12, 2020
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top expert on infectious diseases, tells @RobinRoberts "the cavalry is coming here. Vaccines are going to have a major positive impact." https://t.co/qUE4SHuFxa pic.twitter.com/ZWGoM0hvTN
When asked by ABC News’ Robin Roberts whether the country was headed toward a national lockdown, Fauci said he would like to “stay away from that” because “there is no appetite for locking down.”
Fauci added, “I believe that we can do it without a lockdown. I really do.”
Robins also asked Fauci, who has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, what he would say to those suffering “Covid fatigue.”
Fauci replied, “Help is really on the way. ... The cavalry is coming here. Vaccines are going to have a major positive impact.”
Fauci’s comments come as the country sets new records in coronavirus infections. According to Johns Hopkins University, the US confirmed 144,133 new cases yesterday, breaking the single-day record set the day before.
Kayleigh McEnany, the outgoing White House press secretary, raised many eyebrows this morning, when she tried to distance herself from her own job during a Fox News interview.
Although McEnany works for the White House, she has recently been speaking to the media in her “personal capacity” as an adviser to Donald Trump’s reelection campaign.
When Fox News asked her whether Joe Biden would soon receive access to intelligence briefings, McEnany replied, “That would be a question more for the White House.”
WAIT. When asked about whether Joe Biden will receive access to intelligence briefings, Kayleigh McEnany says, “That would be a question more for the White House."
— The Recount (@therecount) November 12, 2020
Kayleigh McEnany IS the WH Press Secretary, though she is appearing on FOX as a Trump 2020 adviser. pic.twitter.com/34gfs72fzE
That answer is rather remarkable, considering McEnany is the top spokesperson for the White House. It should also be noted that McEnany has previously deflected questions at White House press briefings by referring them to the Trump campaign.
Political reporters immediately expressed outrage that McEnany, who makes a government salary of $183,000 a year, was refusing to speak for the White House, when that is the top requirement of her job.
Let me get this straight:
— Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) November 12, 2020
The White House press secretary, whose salary is paid by American taxpayers, referring questions to the White House as she conducts an interview with Fox News from the Trump campaign office. https://t.co/2fuy0nZB2C
Wait, what?! White House Press Sec, who recieves a six figure tax-payer salary for that job, deferred a question about intelligence briefings for @JoeBiden & @KamalaHarris to the White House (?!) during an appearance on FOX News where she appeared as a "Trump campaign advisor."
— Paula Reid (@PaulaReidCBS) November 12, 2020
Biden pushes forward with picking team as Trump refuses to concede
Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.
It has been nine days since election day and five days since Joe Biden was declared the winner of the presidential race, but Donald Trump has still not conceded that he lost.
However, the president’s refusal to accept reality is not stopping the president-elect from moving forward with his transition to the White House.
Ron Klain’s deep, varied experience and capacity to work with people all across the political spectrum is precisely what I need in a White House chief of staff as we confront this moment of crisis and bring our country together again. https://t.co/s4XlAgMrxf
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 12, 2020
Biden announced last night that he had chosen Ron Klain, a longtime adviser who served as the “Ebola tsar” under Barack Obama, as his chief of staff.
More staff announcements are expected in the days and weeks ahead, as Biden prepares for his inauguration on 20 January.
But Biden’s determination to treat this like a normal presidential transition is clashing with Trump’s strategy to cast doubt upon the integrity of the election by peddling baseless claims of fraud.
Trump’s advisers are privately acknowledging his lawsuits in battleground states are unlikely to go anywhere and that Trump will have to leave office in January.
But until the president accepts that reality, his refusal to concede will continue to be an international sideshow as the country tries to move forward.
Updated
