Category Archives: Republicans

Nancy Pelosi tells Republicans to ‘stop the circus’ as Trump still refuses to concede – live

Posted on by

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.

Related: Soul of the nation: how Joe Biden's faith will shape his presidency

Here’s where the day stands so far:

Continue reading...

Nancy Pelosi accuses Republicans of ‘refusing to accept reality’ over election result – video

Posted on by

The 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.

Pelosi emphasised the need to pass another coronavirus relief bill, saying: 'Stop the circus and get to work on what really matters to the American people'

Continue reading...

Billionaire Trump donors contract Covid-19 after downplaying risks

Posted on by

Liz and Richard Uihlein, owners of the Uline packaging company, made the announcement in a message to employees

Two of Donald Trump’s billionaire donors have contracted Covid-19 months after downplaying the risk of the disease to their employees.

Richard and Liz Uihlein, conservative megadonors who own the Uline packaging company based in Wisconsin and are two of the Republican party’s most significant financial backers, told employees on Wednesday that they had contracted the disease after being “around people with Covid”.

Continue reading...

Bernie Sanders says Republicans are afraid to stand up to Trump following election loss – video

Posted on by

Democratic senator Bernie Sanders says members of the Republican party are afraid to stand up to Donald Trump as he continues his refusal to concede the result of last week's presidential election. Speaking on CNN, Sanders said his Senate colleagues on the Republican side are not 'idiots', but there's an intimidation factor from Trump that is preventing members from speaking up. 'They understand Trump has lost,' Sanders said. 'But one of the other things we should all be nervous about and fearful about is the degree to which Trump intimidates and scares the hell out of Republican members of Congress. They are afraid to stand up to him'

Continue reading...

One week on: how Trump handled losing the US election – video report

Posted on by

From making baseless claims of voter fraud to false declarations of victory, Donald Trump has been criticised for undermining democracy through his refusal to concede the US election. Joe Biden became the president-elect after several days of vote counting, and when the race was called for the former vice-president, Trump sent out several angry tweets – without any evidence – alleging vote count irregularities and is still yet to speak out publicly or call Biden to acknowledge the result

Continue reading...

Trump under growing pressure to accept election defeat – US politics live

Posted on by

Some of Donald Trump’s advisers now say he will likely never concede that he lost the presidential race, according to NBC News.

NBC reports:

‘Do not expect him to concede,’ one top aide said. More likely, the aide said, ‘he’ll say something like, ‘We can’t trust the results, but I’m not contesting them.’’

Another adviser said that after the legal battles and recounts, the closest the president is likely to get to a concession is, ‘he’ll acknowledge the results and that we’ll never know how accurate they are.’

Joe Biden’s lead in Pennsylvania has now surpassed 50,000, after the latest batch of ballots from Allegheny county were posted.

As of this afternoon, Biden leads Donald Trump in Pennsylvania by 50,483, or 0.7% of the total vote in the state.

Continue reading...

‘An embarrassment’: Biden responds to Trump’s refusal to concede election – video

Posted on by

President-elect Joe Biden says Donald Trump's refusal to concede the presidential election is 'an embarrassment'. Biden was outlining plans for the transition period before he takes office in January 2020 when he was asked what he would say to Americans anxious over Trump's refusal to concede and what it would mean for the country. "Well, I just think it's an embarrassment, quite frankly," Biden said. "I think it will not help the president's legacy." Biden has promised to "get right to work" despite alarm over whether there would be a smooth transition of power


Continue reading...

Can Joe Biden and Kamala Harris unite America after Trump – video explainer

Posted on by

When Joe Biden formally takes over the presidency in January he will face some of the greatest crises to hit the US in recent history: a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 Americans, a devastated economy, a rapidly overheating climate and a deeply fractured nation.

The Guardian's Lauren Gambino looks at how Biden and the vice-president-elect, Kamala Harris, plan to 'heal' the country after four years of Trumpism – and the challenges they will face with the prospect of having to navigate these times without a majority in the Senate

Continue reading...

‘Whoa’: Fox News cuts off Kayleigh McEnany for ‘illegal votes’ spiel – video

Posted on by

Fox News has cut away from a briefing held by the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, during which she repeated Donald Trump’s refusal to accept defeat in the presidential election and doubled down on allegations of voter fraud, for which there is scant if any evidence.

Speaking to media on Monday night in a 'personal capacity' during what she said was a campaign event at the Republican National Committee headquarters, McEnany said Republicans want 'every legal vote to be counted, and every illegal vote to be discarded', prompting the conservative Fox News network to stop broadcasting the briefing.

The Trump campaign and Republicans have brought numerous lawsuits alleging election irregularities. Judges have already tossed out cases in Georgia and Michigan

Continue reading...

Donald Trump fires defense secretary Mark Esper – US politics live

Posted on by

Another adviser to Donald Trump has reportedly tested positive for coronavirus, amid an apparent outbreak among the president’s team.

According to Bloomberg News, David Bossie has now tested positive for the virus.

BREAKING: Trump outside adviser David Bossie tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday, sources tell me.

Susan Collins has become one of the few Republican lawmakers to congratulate Joe Biden on his victory in the presidential election.

“First, I would offer my congratulations to President-elect Biden on his apparent victory – he loves this country, and I wish him every success. Presidential transitions are important, and the President-elect and the Vice-President-elect should be given every opportunity to ensure that they are ready to govern on January 20th,” Collins said in a new statement.

My statement on the 2020 Presidential election results: pic.twitter.com/8NY1WpaJpC

Continue reading...

Goodbye Trump, hello Biden: how America is waving goodbye to a shocking, shameful era

Posted on by

Trump’s brutal policies and spread of misinformation have divided the US. Uniting the country will be Biden’s biggest task

As the result was finally called, the end of his presidency confirmed, Donald Trump teed off on a crisp, autumnal Saturday afternoon at his private golf club in Virginia.

The president was in the midst of a four-day mission to spread baseless misinformation about election integrity in an attempt to subvert US democracy.

Continue reading...

Will Trump accept defeat and leave the White House? Yes, experts say

Posted on by

President may try to use his power to push for more conservative court appointments or environmental deregulations

Donald Trump may never concede that he legitimately lost the 2020 election and the US presidency.

That in itself will probably not matter too much, but he may use his final months in office before Joe Biden takes office in January, 2021 to push the divisive politics that have become his calling card. He may even boycott Biden’s inauguration ceremony.

Continue reading...

Republicans back Trump challenge to Biden election victory

Posted on by

Donald Trump’s resolve not to accept the result of the presidential election appeared unshaken on Sunday, as he continued to promote conspiracy theories about the vote, with little outward sign that anyone in his inner circle was prepared to talk him into conceding.

Related: Who will tell Trump to go? Not Melania or Jared, reports say

Continue reading...

Who will tell Trump to go? Not Melania or Jared, reports say

Posted on by

Confusion reigns as accounts of attempts to talk president into conceding to Joe Biden are swiftly shot down

As Donald Trump spent Sunday morning visiting one of his golf clubs and doubling down on bogus election fraud claims, conflicting reports emerged about whether the president’s family and top advisers were advising him to admit defeat.

Related: Joe Biden gets to work as president-elect while Trump refuses to concede

Continue reading...

Biden and Harris release first public schedule as they begin transition – US election live

Posted on by

Here are some details on the reaction to Biden’s win in Fiji, Papua New Guinea and other Pacific nations, from Ben Doherty, the Guardian’s Pacific editor:

Joe Biden’s presidential ascension had not even been settled when Fiji’s forthright prime minister was already urging greater US action on climate change from the incoming American leader.

Related: Pacific nations herald Biden presidency amid hope for action on climate emergency

There are a number of troubling statistics out today on the current state of Covid-19 in the US, the most urgent crisis Biden will inherit. Reuters has published an analysis of where things stand in the worsening pandemic in America, as the country nears 10m cases, becoming the first nation in the world to surpass that figure. Some specifics from the news agency’s report:

Related: Coronavirus live news: US nears 10m cases as global infections pass 50m

Continue reading...

Wrecking ball: the damage Trump could do while still president until January

Posted on by

The next 11 weeks could be the most dangerous in US history, some analysts believe, with a vengeful and fearful lame duck incumbent

Some of the mayhem that will follow Donald Trump losing the presidential election is already known. The US exited the Paris climate agreement on Wednesday regardless. The coronavirus pandemic that has already claimed almost a quarter of a million lives in America will worsen. Trump has hinted he will attempt to fire Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading expert in infectious diseases.

Continue reading...

Mary Trump on the end of Uncle Donald: all he has now is breaking things

Posted on by

The president will be having ‘meltdowns upon meltdowns’, according to his niece, who sees poetic justice in the lies and cheating now coming back to bite him

This is how the most colossal and fragile ego on the planet deals with losing the US election: he does not deal with it at all.

Continue reading...

‘Spread the faith’: Biden and Harris victory speeches offer message of unity – video highlights

Posted on by

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have offered a message of unity as the pair spoke following their election victory. Harris, who will be the first woman to be vice-president, paid tribute to her mother. For Biden, his speech was an opportunity to offer an olive branch to his political rivals after nearly four years of division under Donald Trump

Continue reading...

‘It’s not over’: Trump supporters protest Biden victory in swing states

Posted on by

People gathered in capitals of Pennsylvania and Michigan claim ballot fraud and condemn media

As word came on Saturday that the election had been called for Joe Biden, hundreds of supporters of the defeated president began amassing at Pennsylvania’s state capitol building in Harrisburg to protest.

It was a split-screen simulcast of America’s intensified political division, as Donald Trump’s defeat was jubilantly celebrated 130 miles east in Philadelphia, and in cities around the country.

Continue reading...

US election live: Joe Biden wins and says ‘It’s time for America to unite’

Posted on by

Georgia’s Secretary of State has tweeted that that county of Fulton had “discovered an issue involving reporting from their work” on Friday.

Brad Raffensperger said officials will rescan the “work”, which I assume he means ballots, although the tweet is fairly vague.

Fulton has discovered an issue involving reporting from their work on Fri. Officials are at State Farm Arena to rescan that work. I have a monitor & investigators onsite. Also sent Dep. SOS as well to oversee the process to make sure to secure the vote and protect all legal votes

The Guardian’s Libby Brooks reports from Glasgow:

Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris following the US Presidential election.

Continue reading...