US presidential election & covid-19 restrictions today: Trump vs Biden results, marches, stimulus | Updates
US election and covid-19 live: 15 November 2020
News summary:
Electoral college votes (270 needed to win)
Joe Biden: 306
Donald Trump: 232
US covid-19 cases: 10.9 million
US covid-19 deaths: 245,600 (Source: JHU)
- After seemingly coming the closest yet to accepting election defeat in a tweet saying Joe Biden "won", Donald Trump later insists: "I concede NOTHING!"
- Several thousand protesters (and counter-protesters) gathered in Washington DC to support Trump in his refusal to accept election esult under #MarchforTrump
- In first public appearance since losing election Friday, Trump spoke at the Rose Garden on Operation Warp Speed, and almost acknowledged a future Biden administration
- Major networks NYT, CNN and Reuters call Biden to win Georgia. AP to wait to call Georgia until after the recount
Browse the latest stories on the US election:
A South Dakota nurse on Trumpsim's effect on covid patients
South Dakota saw 1,855 new cases yesterday. An emergency room nurse posted today a harrowing account of coronavirus deniers who make her job even more challenging.
"I have a night off from the hospital. As I’m on my couch with my dog I can’t help but think of the Covid patients the last few days. The ones that stick out are those who still don’t believe the virus is real.
The ones who scream at you for a magic medicine and that Joe Biden is going to ruin the USA. All while gasping for breath on 100% Vapotherm.
They tell you there must be another reason they are sick. They call you names and ask why you have to wear all that “stuff” because they don’t have COViD because it’s not real. Yes. This really happens.
And I can’t stop thinking about it. These people really think this isn’t going to happen to them. And then they stop yelling at you when they get intubated. It’s like a fucking horror movie that never ends. There’s no credits that roll. You just go back and do it all over again."
On the divided Democratic party
The Guardian takes a look at divisions in the Democrats, as Biden prepares to take the reins.
Lauren Gambino writes; Democrats face a reckoning, four years in the making, after an election that accomplished their mission but did little to resolve urgent questions about the party’s political future and serious internal divisions.
Moderates argue that Biden’s success, which included reclaiming three states in the rust belt Trump won in 2016 and expanding the map to sun belt battlegrounds, was evidence that a moderate who rejected liberal appeals was best positioned to build a winning coalition.
And the progressives blamed unexpected losses on an embrace of “status quo centrism” that failed to capture voters’ imagination and faulted moderate candidates for not developing strong enough brands and digital strategies to withstand inevitable attacks.
Obama on the state of the nation
In an interview with the BBC, Barack Obama says America faces a huge task in reversing a divisive conspiracy culture.
Inauguration day and Joe Biden's transition explained
When does the handover of power begin, and what's different about this year?
Read the full story:
Mayor of New York confirms schools to remain open for now
But urges residents not to become complacent or give in to pandemic fatigue, as this weekend the city has averaged almost 1,000 new cases per day.
Americans discuss responsible, pandemic friendly Thanksgiving plans
Some discuss cancelling Thanksgiving and even moving Christmas to July in light of worsening daily coronavirus cases and deaths all over the US.
"So we'll be around for another holiday season"
Obama on taking cabinet role: 'Michelle would leave me'
In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, two days ahead of publication of his memoir, A Promised Land, Barack Obama confirmed that he would not take a position in Joe Biden’s cabinet if the president-elect offered it – because if he did, he fears, Michelle Obama would leave him.
He detailed the toll his role as president took on his wife's own ambitions as a lawyer.
#TrumpConceded trending on Twitter
But then again, so is "I concede nothing". Clear as mud.
To recap; after seemingly coming even closer still to accepting election defeat in a tweet today saying Joe Biden "won", Donald Trump later insists: "I concede NOTHING!"
Donal Trump's Twitter feed does not make Joe Biden president or not president, the American people did that.
Full Ron Klain interview on Joe Biden transition to White House
Watch as Biden's new chief of staff explain to NBC how the first week of transition has gone for Biden's dedicated team.
From Georgia and want to vote in runoffs?
Here's where to sort out your mail in ballot courtesy of Stacey Abrams. Safety first!
20 arrested in light clashes at Million Maga March DC
The Guardian' video shows a summary of the day Saturday when several thousand protesters and counter protesters gathering in Washington DC to dispute the presidential election result.
No major violence broke out but 20 were arrested in clashes.
Ron Klain pushes Trump on a deadline to start Biden transition
Ron Klain, Joe Biden’s incoming White House chief of staff, has said the federal government needs to sign off on transition team efforts this week so that Biden can receive national security briefings and address covid-19.
While it seems like January 20th is a long way away, if you're looking to mount a response to a global health crisis, economic crisis, climate crisis and a fractured society at home, every waking hour counts for Biden's smooth transition.
“What we really want to see this week ... is the General Services Administration issue that ascertainment,” Klain told NBC’s Meet the Press.
Cuomo delivers remarks in New York on covid-19
Governor Cuomo urges renewed trust in federal government to aide effectiveness of vaccine when it comes.
Strangely talking in the past tense, he emphasised that coronavirus has killed twice as many black people as white people in America. With the second wave of infections in full swing, this is most certainly a present tense issue.
NY Gov. Cuomo may sue Trump admin. over covid vaccine access
Andrew Cuomo is planning to sue the Trump administration over the distribution of the covid-19 vaccine, alleging that the president’s plan discriminates against Black and minority communities. Cuomo says the federal plan is too reliant on healthcare providers that some Black and brown people do not have easy access to.
“If the Trump administration does not change this plan and does not provide an equitable vaccine process, we will enforce our legal rights,” Cuomo said on Sunday. “We will bring legal action to protect New Yorkers.”
Black and Latino people have experienced much higher death rates that white people from Covid-19. “Those are ugly facts,” Cuomo said. “We must have the courage to face it and admit it.” He added that he wanted to see the vaccine available in places such as churches and community centres.
“Any plan that intentionally burdens communities of colour to hinder access to the vaccine deprives those communities of equal protection under the law,” said Cuomo. “We need to make special efforts for the vaccine to reach the underserved Black, Brown and poor communities. The private market alone will not do it.”
Second stimulus check: can Trump approve it now?
Despite his unfounded claims to the contrary, Donald Trump will be leaving the White House in January, but he could yet play a pivotal role in a coronavirus relief package.
Full story:
Trump: "I concede NOTHING!"
Having earlier posted a tweet in which he said President-elect Joe Biden had “won” the election, Donald Trump has again taken to Twitter to insist he has not accepted defeat in the election.
"He only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA," Trump said of Biden, in a tweet in which the president continued his baseless claims of widespread electoral fraud. "I concede NOTHING! We have a long way to go. This was a RIGGED ELECTION!"
Prosecutors ask Barr to rescind memo on US vote counting irregularities - Washington Post
US prosecutors are asking Attorney General William Barr to rescind a memo issued earlier this week that instructed them to publicly investigate "substantial" allegations of vote counting irregularities, saying they have not seen the unusual activity, the Washington Post reported on Friday.
The 16 assistant US attorneys specially assigned to monitor the presidential election this month also said Barr's Monday memorandum had thrust prosecutors into partisan politics and that the policy change was not based in fact, according to the Post, which saw a copy of the letter.
(Reuters)
"No excuse" for not socially distancing, wearing a mask - Dr Fauci
Dr Anthony Fauci, the US’ top infectious disease expert, has said there is "no excuse" for not wearing a mask and socially distancing as the country battles to bring down world-record daily rises in coronavirus cases.
"Everybody’s got to do it," Dr Fauci told anchor Jake Tapper on CNN’s State of the Union. "There’s no excuse not to do that right now. Because we know that can turn things around. That’s the tool we have."
He continued: “We have good news with regard to the vaccine, so there is light at the end of the tunnel, help is coming and that should, I believe, motivate people to just say we are going to double down and do this uniformly. Those are the tools we have right now. And they do work. We can get this to plateau to come down."
"People are worn out, but we’ve got to hang in there a bit longer, particularly as we get into the holiday season and the late fall and winter months."
Asked when he expected daily life to return to something approaching normality in the US, Dr Fauci said the answer was dependent on enough Americans agreeing to be vaccinated, and added that the roll-out of vaccines should not mean people give up on other safety measures such as mask-wearing.
"It depends on a number of factors. For example, we have [good progress on] vaccines now, the first that came out was highly effective, I anticipate that the second one would be comparable. That’s great, but we have to get people to take the vaccine.
"We could start getting things back to relative normal as we get into the second or third quarter of the year. But we’ve got to get the vaccines to be deployed and we can’t abandon fundamental public health measures."
Dr Fauci also cautioned that the roll-out of a vaccine will not bring the pandemic to an end overnight. "It’s not going be a light switch," he said.
(Photo: Al Drago/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo)
Where does Biden stand on $1,200 stimulus checks?
Congress has been urged to pass a coronavirus relief bill - which would potentially feature a second stimulus check - but a deal before US President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in appears to be unlikely.
If Americans have to wait until after Biden takes office, here's what we can expect from the 77-year-old when it comes to relief legislation and stimulus checks:
"He won": Trump starting to accept defeat?
Donald Trump has offered the closest thing yet to a concession of defeat to Joe Biden, using the phrase "he won" in a tweet in which he continued to spout false claims that the outcome of this month's US presidential election was altered by widespread electoral fraud.
"He won because the Election was Rigged," Trump said. "NO VOTE WATCHERS OR OBSERVERS allowed, vote tabulated by a Radical Left privately owned company, Dominion, with a bad reputation & bum equipment that couldn’t even qualify for Texas (which I won by a lot!), the Fake & Silent Media, & more!"
Holding up of transition "the most unpatriotic thing Trump can do"
Blocking the transition by refusing to concede defeat in the US election is "the most unpatriotic thing Trump can do on his way out of office", says CNN national security analyst Samantha Vinograd.
"The Biden team is doing everything they can to prepare for the transition despite the constraints Donald Trump is placing on them," Vinograd told CNN anchor Abby Phillip.
“[But] there are certain things they can't do, absent the US General Services Administration ascertaining Biden is the winner."
"This is an all-hands-on-deck scenario"
Amid world-record spikes in coronavirus cases in the US, CNN analyst Dr Abdul El-Sayed has urged Americans to minimise Thanksgiving gatherings to avoid infections surging even further after the holiday period.
"It may mean that we have to forgo the kind of social interactions that the holidays bring with them" said Dr El-Sayed, adding that government authorities should also consider greater coronavirus restrictions than those currently being implemented. "When it comes to the spikes that we have seen, our politics have just not been there," he said.
He concluded: "This is an all-hands-on-deck scenario, and we’ve got to treat it that way."
Following the announcement that a Pfizer vaccine has been found to be 90% effective in human trials, Dr El-Sayed said he expected people in the US who do not belong to at-risk groups to be vaccinated by mid-to-late 2021. "The most likely times I have seen are starting into the summer months and next fall," he said.
California urges new arrivals to quarantine
A woman at the Saint Cornelius Catholic Church in Long Beach, California, places a candle representing people who lost their lives during the coronavirus pandemic, during a non-denominational memorial service to provide a space for community members who have lost loved ones.
After California passed one million coronavirus cases a travel advisory was issued on Friday urging a two-week quarantine for those arriving from other states or countries.
(Photo by Apu GOMES / AFP)
“I feel badly about restaurants losing business
“And I feel it’s almost a neighbourly obligation to keep neighbourhood restaurants afloat.
“Even though I can cook at home, several nights a week I go out for takeout purely to support those places,”
A member of the Proud Boys and supporter of US President Donald Trump gestures with a white power hand symbol as thousands participate in a 'Stop the Steal' protest near the US Capitol building
Trump on Twitter
Of course, these latest tweets are not particularly new, and we have been keeping an eye on the reaction by the defeated president following the election.
Trump on Twitter
A more concerning tweet followed from Trump.
Maintaining baseless claims over fraud is, of course, dangerous, irresponsible and a threat to national security, but stoking up further violence is another thing completely.
We are so used to US presidents trying to calm tensions, resolve conflicts and appeal to the better nature of all Americans, that this behaviour can only be described as unpresidential.
Trump on Twitter
The now lame duck president has been rather active over the last 24 hours on his favourite social media release vehicle.
First up was a shout out to his lawyer who is pushing the case against the election. As we continue to point out, however, after multiple attempts, the arguments being made for widespread voter fraud are being thrown out of court.
Donald Trump and admitting defeat
It's now over a week since the US presidential election was called for Joe Biden but the incumbent president continues to make baseless claims of voter fraud.
Will he give a concession speech? How does the process normally work? What happens if he doesn't?
Will Gittens takes a look...
Protest footage from DC
More footage is being shared of some of the more violent clashes from Saturday night's protests in the capital.
Warning: contains strong language and violence
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