‘Democracy works’: Biden addresses nation as vote count shows him on brink of victory – live

A campaign aide has also tested positive, Bloomberg reports. CNN and NBC have also confirmed the Meadows has contracted Covid-19.

Worth noting that Mark Meadows was at the election night party at the White House Tuesday that hundreds of people attended. Officials said everyone would be tested beforehand.

Mark Meadows has tested positive for coronavirus, according to reporters from Bloomberg news.

BREAKING: Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has the coronavirus. Meadows informed a close circle of advisers after the election.

Story by me, @tylerpager and @MarioDParker out soon.

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Cindy McCain confident Joe Biden will claim Arizona on way to election win – video

Cindy McCain, the widow of late Arizona senator and 2008 Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, has backed Joe Biden to win the state of Arizona on his way to sealing the 2020 US election. Arizona, a Republican stronghold, was called in Joe Biden's favour by a number of news organisations on election night. McCain, despite her links to the Republican party, had previously campaigned for Biden in her home state

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Armed Trump supporters gather outside vote count centre in Arizona – video

Supporters of Donald Trump, some of whom are armed, have continued to mass outside an election counting centre in Phoenix on Friday, as Joe Biden's lead narrows slightly in the state of Arizona. The Trump campaign is angry that the state was called for Biden by media organisations including Fox News and Associated Press, despite thousands of ballots still to be counted. Biden led by around 29,000 on Friday night, down from 47,000, but is still expected by most observers to win.

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Senator Lindsey Graham backs Trump, echoing baseless claims of election fraud – video

Republican senator Lindsey Graham has defended the Trump campaign's baseless claim of irregularities during the election, saying the president's team deserves the opportunity to make the case. "Democracy depends upon fair elections. President Trump's team is going to have a chance to make a case regarding voting irregularities," he said. "I'm going to stand with President Trump." Graham's comments come as presidential candidate Joe Biden took a lead over Trump in battleground Pennsylvania and Georgia, as ballots continue to be counted

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When Donald Trump is peddling outrageous lies, where is the line between reporting and enabling? | Katharine Murphy

Trump has accelerated the drift towards post-truth, and the media is shackled to that acceleration

We’ve all been transfixed by the American election, glued to CNN or our preferred network or live blog of choice, constantly refreshing our social media feeds, cursing Nate Silver – demonstrating that global anxiety is the glue of 2020.

At the time of filing, the vote count is grinding on, and my purpose is not to get into winners and losers and the consequences. Here, I want to step back and look at some propositions that are uncomfortable for a person in my position to look at.

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Philadelphia mayor tells Trump to accept he lost – video

Jim Kenney tells a press conference that Donald Trump should 'put his big boy pants on', acknowledge his defeat and congratulate Joe Biden as the winner of the US presidential election. It could take several days to complete the count in Philadelphia, but Biden has so far won 81% of the votes. Around 40,000 are still to be counted. Trump has continued to tweet baseless allegations of voter fraud

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US election week 2020: the good, bad and ridiculous moments

From Lizzo reaching for the stars – and stripes – in a powerful Instagram post to Kayleigh McEnany’s false claim about Pennsylvania, here’s what went down this week

The US election saw more than 150 million Americans cast their ballots, some by mail, some waiting in long lines, and then endure a tense wait. There were bound to be quirky moments, some inspiring, some cringeworthy, some simply absurd. Here we pick the good, the bad and the ridiculous.

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Trump, McCain, Bush and Carter: different reactions to bad election results – video

Speeches from candidates conceding defeat in past US elections have been resurfacing after Donald Trump’s latest address as the 2020 result looms. Speaking from the White House on Thursday, Trump falsely referred to legally cast mail-in ballots as illegitimate, and made unsubstantiated claims that pollsters got results ‘knowingly wrong’ and that the election was being stolen

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‘What a spectacle!’: US adversaries revel in post-election chaos

From Iran to Venezuela to Russia, once-chided national leaders enjoy the sight of US democracy in action

Rivals and enemies of the US have come together to revel in the messiest US election in a generation, mocking the delay in vote processing and Donald Trump’s claims of electoral fraud in barely veiled criticisms of Washington’s political activism abroad.

“What a spectacle!” crowed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “One says this is the most fraudulent election in US history. Who says that? The president who is currently in office.”

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Steve Bannon banned by Twitter for calling for Fauci beheading

Former Trump adviser falls foul of Twitter rules with ‘heads on pikes’ comments

Twitter has banned the account of the former Donald Trump adviser and surrogate Steve Bannon after he called for the beheading of Dr Anthony Fauci and the FBI director, Christopher Wray, and the posting of their heads outside the White House as a “warning”.

Speaking on his podcast, the War Room, which was distributed in video form on a number of social media outlets, the far-right provocateur appeared to endorse violence against Wray and the US’s most senior infectious diseases expert.

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‘You can’t stop the revolution’: rival protesters converge in Philadelphia – video

Vote counting is continuing in Pennsylvania as duelling protest groups gathered throughout the day outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center in the centre of Philadelphia. The battleground state received 358,257 mail-in ballots and the count has resulted in the vote gap narrowing between Joe Biden and Donald Trump

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Trump repeats baseless election fraud claims as Biden calls for calm – video report

Donald Trump has claimed, without evidence, 'If you count the legal votes, I easily win', declaring victory again in a presidential election where votes are still being counted. Trump's comments come after rival Joe Biden urged Americans to stay calm as the result remains unconfirmed. In remarks made at the White House, Trump falsely referred to legally-cast mail-in ballots as illegitimate, and made unsubstantiated claims pollsters got results 'knowingly wrong' and the election is being stolen


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US election 2020: will Donald Trump accept the result?

Joe Biden was still leading Donald Trump in the tense race to the critical 270 electoral votes as counting continued in key states. Jonathan Freedland describes an election that has provided one clear message: the US remains divided

Joe Biden is tantalisingly close to securing the presidency, as votes continue to be counted in key states after an election with a record turnout and record numbers of postal votes. Donald Trump, watching his grip on the presidency being eroded, has threatened legal action, recounts, and even a halt to all ballot counting.

The Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland tells Rachel Humphreys that the president set the tone for a disputed election result with an extraordinary statement in the White House on election night, and has continued to question the legitimacy of the process.

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Trump may have broken his own record for most dangerous lies in one speech | David Smith

In 16 minutes, the liar-in-chief offered a downright dishonest take on the election that risked inciting violence

It seemed like a desperate last stand from a fearful strongman who can feel power slipping inexorably away.

The US president on Thursday returned to the White House briefing room, scene of past triumphs such as that time he proposed bleach as a cure for coronavirus and that other time he condemned QAnon with the words “They like me”.

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MSNBC cuts away from Trump’s address after he again falsely declares election victory – video

MSNBC anchor Brian Williams stopped broadcasting Donald Trump's remarks after the US president falsely claimed 'If you count the legal votes, I easily win'. The anchor's interruption came less than a minute into Trump's news conference, with Williams saying, 'Here we are again in the unusual position of not only interrupting the president of the United States but correcting the president of the United States'

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US election 2020: Joe Biden holds lead over Donald Trump in tense wait for results – live

The Guardian’s Nina Lakhani reports from Northampton county:

Allegany county, home to Pennsylvania’s second biggest city of Pittsburgh, has paused all counting until tomorrow morning due to a legal challenge over 29,000 ballots.

We are also getting some more numbers from Nevada’s rural counties, and Joe Biden’s lead has shrunk slightly to about 11,500 votes.

Lyon, too, not moving dial much.

Shows you disproportionate impact of Clark.

Lyon and Elko are two of larger rural counties.

Biden by 11.5K

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‘Every vote counts’: peaceful protests spread as election goes down to wire – video

'Count the vote' demonstrators gathered in cities across the US after Donald Trump falsely claimed victory in the presidential election and sued to halt vote-counting in crucial battleground states. Demonstrations took place from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, with some ending in clashes with police. Meanwhile, Trump supporters attempted to halt ballot-counting in Michigan as Joe Biden looked set to overtake Trump in the state vote

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Protesters gather outside election centre in Phoenix as Biden’s Arizona ‘win’ challenged – video

Supporters of Donald Trump gathered outside the Maricopa County Elections Department, chanting 'count the votes' after Joe Biden was named victor in the state by a number of news organisations. Media, including Fox News and the Associated Press, called the state in Biden's favour, but Trump has been narrowing the gap. Maricopa county, Arizona's most populous and a conservative stronghold, has been the focus of attention as the overall election results remains in the balance

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The US election and what a Biden win would mean for Australia

Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump still have paths to victory in the US election but the contest is narrowing substantially. In this episode of Full Story, Guardian Australia editor Lenore Taylor and Simon Jackman from the US Studies Centre discuss what’s unfolding and what a Biden presidency would mean for Australia

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