Category Archives: US News

Keep on digging: Trump team holds press conference at suburban garden centre

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Rudy Giuliani details strategy in the car park of Four Seasons Total Landscaping, a suspected mixup with Four Seasons hotel in Philadelphia

Donald Trump’s bid to hang on to the White House is promising to end in farce if his campaign’s choice of venue for a crucial press conference is anything to go by.

On Saturday morning, as Trump played golf and continued to baselessly accuse the Democrats of stealing the election for Joe Biden, he announced, in a Tweet since deleted, that there would be a “Big press conference” at the Four Seasons in Philadelphia.

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

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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

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With humility and empathy, Biden speech seeks to make America sane again | David Smith’s sketch

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Sketch: In his victory speech, the president-elect proved himself the right person at the right time for an ailing country

Joe Biden ran jauntily on to the stage, wearing a black face mask but suddenly looking several years younger. Looking, in fact, like millions of Americans felt, with burdens to bear but a spring in his step.

The new US president-elect offered a Saturday night speech that did not brag or name call, did not demonise immigrants and people of colour, did not send TV networks and social media into meltdown and did not murder the English language.

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

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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.

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Mexico’s president won’t congratulate Biden on election win until legal challenges over

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Andrés Manuel López Obrador will wait for courts to rule on Trump lawsuits in bid to avoid friction

Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, said on Saturday he would not congratulate a winner of the US presidential election until legal challenges are concluded, in an apparent bid to avoid friction with Washington during the transition.

Democrat Joe Biden won the election on Saturday after a victory in the battleground state of Pennsylvania put him over the threshold of 270 electoral college votes.

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‘We must restore the soul of America’: Joe Biden’s victory speech in full – video

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President-elect Joe Biden promised to 'restore the soul of America' as he declared victory in front of a crowd of supporters on Saturday night in his home town of Wilmington. 'I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide but unify, who doesn't see red states or blue states but who only sees the United States.'

Addressing Trump supporters, Biden said he understood their disappointment because he had lost before. But now, 'let’s give each other a chance', he said. Biden and Kamala Harris hardly mentioned Donald Trump directly in their speeches – instead, they focused on the challenges ahead, including tackling the coronavirus pandemic

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‘You chose truth’: Kamala Harris’s historic victory speech in full – video

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Kamala Harris, the first Black woman and first South Asian American woman to become vice-president-elect, began her victory speech by quoting the late congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis, who said, 'Democracy is not a state, it is an act.'

A century after women won the right to vote, Harris, wearing suffragette white, spoke about her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris. 'When she came here from India, at the age of 19, she maybe didn’t quite imagine this moment. But she believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible,' she said.

Joe Biden was declared the president-elect after the AP announced he had won Pennsylvania and its 20 electoral votes, putting him over the threshold of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House and beat Donald Trump

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Bernie Sanders offers congratulations to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris – video

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Bernie Sanders, the progressive senator of Vermont who put up a strong challenge to Joe Biden in the Democratic primaries before helping him campaign, has offered congratulations to the president-elect and his running mate, Kamala Harris. Sanders called this election the most important in modern American history

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

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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.

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Scott Morrison congratulates Joe Biden on US election win and flags Australian visit in 2021

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Morrison’s predecessor, Malcolm Turnbull, welcomed the defeat of Donald Trump by tweeting ‘what a relief’

Scott Morrison has signalled he would invite Joe Biden to visit Australia for the 70th anniversary of the Anzus treaty in 2021 as he congratulated the Democrat for winning the US presidential election.

Morrison told reporters that Canberra would continue to deal with the Trump administration during the transition period but looked forward to working with Biden from January.

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From the editor of Guardian US: a fresh start for America | John Mulholland

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The American people have disavowed four years of a thuggish presidency. But now the real work begins

Joe Biden is the next president of the United States – and Kamala Harris has made history, becoming the first woman, and the first woman of color, to be elected vice-president. The pair shattered previous records, winning more votes in the presidential race than any candidates in American history.

Related: 'You're fired!': New York, Trump's home town, celebrates his election defeat

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Who will fill Kamala Harris’s Senate seat in California?

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The state’s governor will appoint a replacement for Harris now she has been elected vice-president. Who’s in the frame?

With Kamala Harris officially headed to the White House, a fresh political battle in her home state of California looms: who will fill her US Senate seat?

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

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First, the world mocked the chaos, then the congratulations flowed in

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After the tortuous last few days, Joe Biden’s election has been welcomed by leaders keen to renew relations with the US

Fiji’s prime minister got in first, gambling on congratulating Joe Biden before the presidential election had been called, slipping in a plea for action on climate change.

But once the result was official, congratulations came pouring in from around the world. Donald Trump’s allies, critics and reluctant partners had all been following the vote counting, weighing up the impact of a radical change of direction expected from Washington under Biden.

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Biden’s win marks the end of Trump’s war on democracy and truth

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Americans across the country took to the streets to celebrate the end of Trump’s presidency while triumph likely to be welcomed by international allies

Joe Biden has been elected the 46th US president, signalling a return to political norms in America after four years of raucous populism and administrative turmoil under Donald Trump.

Related: Ever resilient, Joe Biden finally grasps his chance to lead America

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‘Don’t be ridiculous’: Rudy Giuliani learns about Biden win from reporters – video

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Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's personal attorney, was holding a press conference baselessly disputing the legitimacy of the US presidential election when news filtered through that Joe Biden had been declared the winner. 

'Who was it called by?' Giuliani asked, referring to the broadcast news networks. 'All of them,' replied a reporter. The former New York City mayor insisted the result could not be called until the Trump campaign's legal challenges had gone to court.


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‘I can’t stop crying’: joyful celebrations erupt in US as Joe Biden beats Trump

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Expressions of joy and happiness break out across America after Pennsylvania went to Biden, handing him the presidency

As news broke that Joe Biden had defeated Donald Trump in the race for the White House, cities across the US saw wild celebrations from supporters of the Democratic nominee for president.

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

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The path to Joe Biden’s victory: five days in five minutes – video highlights

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President-elect Joe Biden has thanked the American people for their support after winning the US presidential election against Donald Trump. From razor-thin margins, record voter turnout and protests via false claims of victory and Joe and Kamala Harris's congratulatory call - here's the story of how the presidency was won

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CNN’s Van Jones weeps after Biden’s win: ‘It’s easier to be a parent this morning’

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TV pundit moved to tears by election result and says: ‘This is vindication for a lot of people who have really suffered’

One of the most emotive responses to the announcement of Joe Biden becoming the new US president came from CNN political correspondent Van Jones. CNN was the first of the TV networks to call the election for Biden and moments after they did so the anchor, Anderson Cooper, asked Jones for his thoughts.

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

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After Trump: first shots fired in battle for Republican party’s future

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Emboldened by the president’s election defeat, some Republican leaders are speaking out as others vie for the Trumpist mantle

For four years he commanded their unflinching loyalty. They protected him from impeachment, tacitly approved as children at the border were prised from their parents and placed in cages, and looked the other way as peacefully protesting Americans were gassed for a photo opportunity.

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