The US Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, has won re-election in Kentucky, despite Democrat Amy McGrath’s long-shot bid to unseat him. In a victory speech, McConnell, who won his seventh term, said: “This is no time to tear down statues of our founders and heroes. This is the time to follow their example.”
Continue reading...Category Archives: US Politics
Excitement, anticipation, despair: the best pictures of US election night
Scenes from across the United States as voters headed to the polls and Joe Biden and Donald Trump faced off in a tense presidential election
Continue reading...No matters what happens tonight, here are reasons to be hopeful | Rev William Barber, Sarah Smarsh, Cori Bush, Sara Amora, Nikayla Jefferson
Ahead of the election result writers highlight the political positives at a crucial juncture in US history
As the world watches US election results come in, many people are anxious that national polls which have shown Joe Biden with a sizable lead for months will once again be shattered by a last-minute comeback from Donald Trump..
Continue reading...‘Hope over fear’: Joe Biden pledges to bring unity to US in campaign speech – video
Joe Biden has vowed to unite the US, as the Democratic hopeful outlined how he would be different to Donald Trump if he were to win the presidential election. Biden was speaking at a campaign event in Philadelphia hours before voting closes
Unusual voting locations: US election day in pictures
After a record-breaking early voting turnout, Americans head to the polls in the strangest locations to cast their vote in the 2020 presidential election
Continue reading...‘Losing is never easy,’ Trump says hours before voting ends – video
Donald Trump told reporters losing was ‘never easy’ for him and he had not yet written an acceptance or concession speech hours before the end of voting in the US election.
Trump added there was ‘tremendous unity’ during a stop at the Republican national committee in Arlington, Virginia, where he was thanking staff
Continue reading...Could Donald Trump refuse to accept defeat in US presidential election?
Trump has repeatedly refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power – uncertainty over result will put that to the test
As the US prepared for a Joe Biden or a Donald Trump victory, Americans were forced to consider an extraordinary scenario in which Trump loses, but refuses to concede.
Continue reading...US election day 2020: voters stream to the polls to elect the next president – live updates
- According to the US elections project, 98m Americans have already voted
- Sign up for First Thing - our US morning newsletter
America is waking up to go to the polls today in an election campaign that has in some senses been very volatile, but also, as far as polling numbers are concerned, very stable.
Joe Biden has held a solid lead in the national polls for month. But as we saw in 2016, it isn’t getting the most votes that decides who ends up in the White House – Hillary Clinton polled 2.86m more than Donald Trump. We all know what happened next.
Related: US braces for historic election amid fears democracy is in danger
We don’t want to neglect mention of the celebrities who joined the campaign trail yesterday – that might be illegal?
At Donald Trump’s final rally of the evening, in Michigan, the president called the rapper Lil’ Pump onstage, incorrectly referring to him as “Lil’ Pimp”. We included footage of that moment earlier in the blog, check it out.
Just performed GLORY with my brother @JohnLegend at the Final @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris Rally on Election Eve in Philadelphia. Vote tomorrow. Let’s make history. pic.twitter.com/u3AzzxqZMc
Continue reading...Supreme court to hear Obamacare case that may lead to 20m losing insurance
Court will hear a case a week after election day that could result in the law being overturned – or only one provision eliminated
For more than a decade, Republicans have sought to destroy the signature achievement of the Obama administration – the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.
Exactly one week after election day, they might succeed.
Continue reading...US election 2020: Trump again defends supporters who harassed Biden campaign bus – live
- FBI confirmed yesterday it was investigating the highway incident
- Biden holds lead over Trump in Pennsylvania
- Trump threatens to fire Fauci after US election
- Kamala Harris campaigns in Texas in bid to flip state
- Sign up for Fight to Vote – our weekly US election newsletter
Donald Trump’s speech in North Carolina has focused on gripes about his polling numbers, the press and social media.
The president complained that Twitter’s trending topics are always “boring” and focused on him, instead of exciting things like “scandals” and “affairs.”
Joe Biden is closing his presidential campaign in much the same manner that he started it: by arguing this election represents a “battle for the soul of the nation.”
“The character of America is literally on the ballot,” the Democratic nominee said at his drive-in rally in Cleveland. “It’s time to take back our democracy.”
Continue reading...Which swing states could decide the US election? – video explainer
Joe Biden is leading Donald Trump in the national polls for the presidential election, but that doesn’t guarantee the Democratic candidate victory. Hillary Clinton also had a clear lead over Trump in the polls for almost the entire 2016 campaign and ended up losing in the electoral college.
Because the presidential voting system assigns each state a number of electoral college votes, which go to the state’s victor regardless of the margin of victory (with the exception of Nebraska and Maine), a handful of swing states will probably decide the election and be targeted heavily by campaigners.
The Guardian’s Lauren Gambino examines how the race is developing in the areas that could decide the election
Continue reading...Positively shocking: Trump’s boasts of help from Sean Connery fall apart
President claimed Bond actor helped him get planning permission for Scottish resort
It was less licence to kill and more dramatic licence. Donald Trump’s claim that the late Sean Connery assisted him in getting planning applications passed in Scotland fell apart quickly on Sunday when the chair of the planning committee said the James Bond star was not involved.
In a series of tweets, two days prior to the US election, Trump paid tribute to Connery, saying he was “highly regarded and respected in Scotland and beyond”. It was announced on Saturday the James Bond actor had died aged 90.
Continue reading...North Carolina police pepper spray protesters at get-out-the-vote march
- ‘We are fed up with this kind of treatment in Alamance county’
- Police claim protesters blocked roadway without authorization
North Carolina police pepper sprayed and arrested attendees at a get-out-the vote rally because participants blocked the roadway without authorization, authorities said on Saturday.
The “I Am Change” march to the polls was organized by the Reverend Greg Drumwright and began as a march from a local church to the courthouse. Drumwright said the group was permitted to stand in the square outside the Alamance county courthouse and was escorted through the streets by the police. He also said that the group had “no intention” of having the rally in the street.
Continue reading...‘A whole lot of hurt’: Fauci angers Trump White House with dark Covid outlook
- Top expert says Biden taking pandemic ‘seriously’
- Spokesman for president accuses doctor of political bias
- Swing-state health workers organize in bid to beat Trump
The US is “in for a whole lot of hurt” under the coronavirus pandemic, senior public health expert Anthony Fauci said, predicting a winter of 100,000 or more cases a day and a rising death toll.
Related: Wisconsin battles rapid rise in Covid cases amid partisan disputes over safety
Continue reading...Trump finds unlikely backers in prominent pro-democracy Asian figures
Hong Kong tycoon and dissidents praise US president’s hardline approach towards China but others dispute its authenticity
Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong media tycoon and one of the most prominent pro-democracy figures in the city, waded into the US election in its final days, with an enthusiastic endorsement of the incumbent in his Apple Daily newspaper.
“I find a stronger sense of security in [Donald] Trump,” he wrote in an editorial that praised the US president for his “hardline” approach to Beijing.
Continue reading...‘The numbers floored me’: hunger in Pennsylvania hits highest level since pandemic’s start
Demand for food aid surges in state and across country, with 54m potentially facing hunger by year’s end
Charles Bennicoff hasn’t worked since last winter. He’s an experienced landscape gardener but the mom-and-pop business he worked for in Allentown, Pennsylvania, cut its staff after losing most of their contracts during the pandemic.
Continue reading...Trump has gone a long way toward hindering democracy in other countries
The president has questioned American democracy for four years, creating challenges abroad
The last time a Republican won the popular vote for president, the winning candidate declared that the spread of democracy was central to American security.
“It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world,” said George W Bush in his second inaugural address in 2005.
Continue reading...Joe Biden: from a campaign that almost collapsed to fighting Trump for the presidency
The former vice-president lost the first three primaries but victory in South Carolina set him up as the alternative – and antithesis – to Trump
Just days before one of the most extraordinary presidential elections in US history, the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, finds himself flush with cash, polling ahead of Donald Trump in state and national polls, and on a bold last-minute campaign offensive in parts of the country his Republican opponent won in 2016, and would usually be able to depend on for support.
Continue reading...Biden campaign says Trump supporters tried to force bus off highway
- President appears to praise threats from his own supporters
- Biden campaign says bus was nearly forced off road
Trucks with Trump signs and flags surrounded a Biden campaign bus on a Texas highway on Friday and attempted to slow the vehicle down and run it off the road, the Biden campaign said on Saturday.
Several video clips posted on social media by both Biden and Trump supporters showed the trucks surrounding the bus. The trucks then tried to slow the bus down and run it off the road before staff called 911, according to the Biden campaign.
Continue reading...US sets world record for coronavirus cases in 24 hours
- Daily caseload of 100,233 surpasses tally set in India last month
- Study links Trump rallies to 30,000 cases and 700 deaths
The US has set a world record for coronavirus cases in 24 hours, according to one count with just over 100,000 new infections recorded.
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