The electoral college has confirmed Joe Biden's victory in state by state voting in the United States. This has now closed all doors on Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the result the 2020 US Presidential election.

US Election 2020: Joe Biden wins by getting 306 electoral college votes

US Election 2020: Electoral college formalises Joe Biden's victory

US&nbsp;Attorney General William Barr will step down next week, he said on Monday, shortly after the Electoral College confirmed President Donald Trump`s loss to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden. 
 
Barr, who had angered Trump by not supporting his incorrect claims that the Nov. 3 election result had been tainted by widespread fraud, said he would leave office on Dec. 23, a little less than a month before Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20. 
 
Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen will take over as acting attorney general after Barr`s departure, Trump said. 
 
"Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job!" Trump said of Barr on Twitter. 
 
A White House official told Reuters that Barr resigned on his own accord. 
 
Trump lashed out at Barr on Twitter over the weekend after the Wall Street Journal reported that Barr knew earlier this year about an investigation into Biden`s son Hunter`s taxes. 
 
Trump retweeted a comment from radio host Todd Starnes saying Barr should be fired for not disclosing the probe during the campaign. "A big disappointment!" Trump said in his tweet. 
 
Barr`s fate in the waning days of the Trump administration had been in question since he said earlier this month that a Justice Department investigation had found no sign of major fraud in the election, contradicting Trump`s claims. 
 
Trump`s legal team accused Barr of failing to conduct a proper inquiry into the allegations. 
 
Barr`s resignation letter was released shortly after he briefed the president about the Justice Department`s review into the Trump campaign`s voter fraud claims. In it, Barr pledged the allegations "would continue to be pursued." 
 
The White House official said Barr`s meeting with Trump was amicable. 
 
In the letter, Barr also praised what he called Trump`s historic record, saying he had helped boost the economy, strengthen the military and curb illegal immigration. 
 
"I am proud to have played a role in the many successes and unprecedented achievements you have delivered for the American people," Barr wrote. 
 
Biden beat Trump by 306 to 232 votes in the state-by-state Electoral College that chooses the president, as well as by more than 7 million ballots in the popular vote. 
 
Despite that, Trump has refused to concede and continues to promote his baseless voting fraud allegations, which have been repeatedly rejected by state and federal officials. 
 
Trump has pursued a series of legal challenges in numerous states, but he has not managed to prevail in any of them. 
 
Last week, the US&nbsp;Supreme Court rejected a long-shot lawsuit by Texas that was backed by Trump and a number of other states seeking to throw out voting results in four states, dealing what is seen as the fatal blow in his quest to undo his election loss. 
 
CORE TRUMP SUPPORTER 
 
Barr has long been a staunch Trump ally, drawing scorn from Democrats and many of the department`s own career prosecutors who have accused him of putting Trump`s personal interests ahead of those of the country. 
 
"William Barr was willing to do the President’s bidding on every front but one. Barr refused to play along with President Trump’s nonsensical claims to have won the election," Democratic House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said in a statement. 
 
"Whomever Joe Biden chooses as the new Attorney General will have a tremendous amount of work to do to repair the integrity of the Department of Justice," Nadler added. 
 
Prior to the 2020 election, Barr repeated Trump`s unfounded claims that mail-in ballots could be subject to fraud, and he also intervened in several high-profile criminal cases in ways that benefited Trump`s political allies such as Michael Flynn and Roger Stone. 
 
In May 2019, Barr tapped federal prosecutor John Durham to investigate Obama-era intelligence and law enforcement officials for possible crimes in connection with their early stage probe into whether Trump`s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with the Russian government. 
 
On Dec. 1, Barr disclosed he had elevated Durham to the role of special counsel in October so that he could continue his criminal investigation - a move that will make it politically difficult for Biden to remove him from the post until the probe has concluded. 
 
Noah Bookbinder, a former federal prosecutor who is now executive director for the progressive advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, said on Monday that Barr "has done tremendous damage to the Department of Justice and to the American people`s very faith in our justice system. 
 
"It is beyond ironic that Barr seems to have been pushed out for not going quite far enough to abuse his position for Trump`s benefit, however unconscionably far he did go," Bookbinder`s statement said. "The reason may be ridiculous, but good riddance.”

US Attorney General William Barr will step down next week, he said on Monday, shortly after the Electoral College confirmed President Donald Trump`s loss to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden.

US Attorney General William Barr will step down next week, he said on Monday, shortly after the Electoral College confirmed President Donald Trump`s loss to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden. Barr, who had angered Trump by not supporting his incorrect claims that the Nov. 3 election result had been tainted by widespread fraud, said he would leave office on Dec. 23, a little less than a month before Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20. Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen will take over as acting attorney general after Barr`s departure, Trump said. "Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job!" Trump said of Barr on Twitter. A White House official told Reuters that Barr resigned on his own accord. Trump lashed out at Barr on Twitter over the weekend after the Wall Street Journal reported that Barr knew earlier this year about an investigation into Biden`s son Hunter`s taxes. Trump retweeted a comment from radio host Todd Starnes saying Barr should be fired for not disclosing the probe during the campaign. "A big disappointment!" Trump said in his tweet. Barr`s fate in the waning days of the Trump administration had been in question since he said earlier this month that a Justice Department investigation had found no sign of major fraud in the election, contradicting Trump`s claims. Trump`s legal team accused Barr of failing to conduct a proper inquiry into the allegations. Barr`s resignation letter was released shortly after he briefed the president about the Justice Department`s review into the Trump campaign`s voter fraud claims. In it, Barr pledged the allegations "would continue to be pursued." The White House official said Barr`s meeting with Trump was amicable. In the letter, Barr also praised what he called Trump`s historic record, saying he had helped boost the economy, strengthen the military and curb illegal immigration. "I am proud to have played a role in the many successes and unprecedented achievements you have delivered for the American people," Barr wrote. Biden beat Trump by 306 to 232 votes in the state-by-state Electoral College that chooses the president, as well as by more than 7 million ballots in the popular vote. Despite that, Trump has refused to concede and continues to promote his baseless voting fraud allegations, which have been repeatedly rejected by state and federal officials. Trump has pursued a series of legal challenges in numerous states, but he has not managed to prevail in any of them. Last week, the US Supreme Court rejected a long-shot lawsuit by Texas that was backed by Trump and a number of other states seeking to throw out voting results in four states, dealing what is seen as the fatal blow in his quest to undo his election loss. CORE TRUMP SUPPORTER Barr has long been a staunch Trump ally, drawing scorn from Democrats and many of the department`s own career prosecutors who have accused him of putting Trump`s personal interests ahead of those of the country. "William Barr was willing to do the President’s bidding on every front but one. Barr refused to play along with President Trump’s nonsensical claims to have won the election," Democratic House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said in a statement. "Whomever Joe Biden chooses as the new Attorney General will have a tremendous amount of work to do to repair the integrity of the Department of Justice," Nadler added. Prior to the 2020 election, Barr repeated Trump`s unfounded claims that mail-in ballots could be subject to fraud, and he also intervened in several high-profile criminal cases in ways that benefited Trump`s political allies such as Michael Flynn and Roger Stone. In May 2019, Barr tapped federal prosecutor John Durham to investigate Obama-era intelligence and law enforcement officials for possible crimes in connection with their early stage probe into whether Trump`s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with the Russian government. On Dec. 1, Barr disclosed he had elevated Durham to the role of special counsel in October so that he could continue his criminal investigation - a move that will make it politically difficult for Biden to remove him from the post until the probe has concluded. Noah Bookbinder, a former federal prosecutor who is now executive director for the progressive advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, said on Monday that Barr "has done tremendous damage to the Department of Justice and to the American people`s very faith in our justice system. "It is beyond ironic that Barr seems to have been pushed out for not going quite far enough to abuse his position for Trump`s benefit, however unconscionably far he did go," Bookbinder`s statement said. "The reason may be ridiculous, but good riddance.”

US Attorney General Barr steps down as Trump election defeat confirmed

Russian President Vladimir Putin has finally congratulated Joe Biden for victory in US Election 2020. Putin's message came after electoral college confirmed Biden's win.

Russian President Vladimir Putin finally congratulates Joe Biden for victory in US Election 2020

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated US President-elect Joe Biden for his victory in the US presidential election, the Kremlin announced on Tuesday. This comes in the aftermath of the state-by-state counting in the Electoral College vote which decides the winner in US presidential elections.

Earlier, the Kremlin had said that it would wait for the officials results to be announced before congratulating anybody, breaking from global tradition. A few days after the election (November 3), it became clear that Biden had won the presidency.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/putin-said-to-have-2-identical-offices-1-in-moscow-the-other-at-the-beach-349812" hreflang="en">Putin said to have 2 identical offices: 1 in Moscow, the other at the beach</a>

"For my part, I am ready for interaction and contact with you," Putin was cited as saying by the Kremlin in a statement.

"Putin wished the president-elect every success and expressed confidence that Russia and the United States, which have a special responsibility for global security and stability, could, despite their differences, really help to solve the many problems and challenges facing the world," the Kremlin said.

President-elect Joe Biden criticised Donald Trump on Monday after emerging victorious in the Electoral College. Biden said that the Republican and his allies attempted to constitution and the “will of the people” by not accepting the results.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/navalny-poisoning-putin-critic-survived-the-second-assassination-attempt-349605" hreflang="en">Navalny poisoning: Putin critic survived the second assassination attempt</a>

"It's a position so extreme we've never seen it before. A position that refused to respect the will of the people refused to respect the rule of law, and refused to honour our constitution," Biden said in a speech after emerging victorious in the Electoral College.

"The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago. And we now know nothing, not even a pandemic or an abuse of power can extinguish that," Biden said.

"It is my sincere hope we never again see anyone subjected to the kind of threats and abuse we saw in this election," Biden added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated US President-elect Joe Biden for his victory in the US presidential election, the Kremlin announced on Tuesday. This comes in the aftermath of the state-by-state counting in the Electoral College vote which decides the winner in US presidential elections.

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated US President-elect Joe Biden for his victory in the US presidential election, the Kremlin announced on Tuesday. This comes in the aftermath of the state-by-state counting in the Electoral College vote which decides the winner in US presidential elections. Earlier, the Kremlin had said that it would wait for the officials results to be announced before congratulating anybody, breaking from global tradition. A few days after the election (November 3), it became clear that Biden had won the presidency. Also read: Putin said to have 2 identical offices: 1 in Moscow, the other at the beach "For my part, I am ready for interaction and contact with you," Putin was cited as saying by the Kremlin in a statement. "Putin wished the president-elect every success and expressed confidence that Russia and the United States, which have a special responsibility for global security and stability, could, despite their differences, really help to solve the many problems and challenges facing the world," the Kremlin said. President-elect Joe Biden criticised Donald Trump on Monday after emerging victorious in the Electoral College. Biden said that the Republican and his allies attempted to constitution and the “will of the people” by not accepting the results. Also read: Navalny poisoning: Putin critic survived the second assassination attempt "It's a position so extreme we've never seen it before. A position that refused to respect the will of the people refused to respect the rule of law, and refused to honour our constitution," Biden said in a speech after emerging victorious in the Electoral College. "The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago. And we now know nothing, not even a pandemic or an abuse of power can extinguish that," Biden said. "It is my sincere hope we never again see anyone subjected to the kind of threats and abuse we saw in this election," Biden added.

Putin finally congratulates Joe Biden on election win, says ready for 'collaboration'

Joe Biden's march to the White House -- overshadowed by President Donald Trump's frantic attempts to overturn the US election -- is to be formalized Monday when the Electoral College meets to confirm the Democrat's win.

Electors in all 50 states were meeting to cast their votes in a tradition that has long been considered mostly a formality for confirming the will of the people expressed at the polls.

But this year the somewhat arcane procedure is at the center of an unprecedented -- and many warn dangerous -- challenge to the credibility of US democracy led by Trump.

Also read|<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-pence-among-top-us-officials-to-be-offered-covid-19-vaccine-on-priority-report-349600">&nbsp;Trump, Pence among top US officials to be offered COVID-19 vaccine on priority: Report</a>

Soundly beaten by Biden on November 3, Trump continues to claim, without evidence, that he was the real winner. Court after court has turned down his team's claims of election fraud around the country and last Friday the Supreme Court dealt a final legal blow when it threw out an appeal lodged by Trump allies from Texas and other Republican-led states.

Based on the already legally certified state-by-state vote tallies, the Electoral College representatives are expected to vote by 306 to 232 in favor of Biden over Trump -- a process expected to take much of Monday.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/trump-vows-to-reject-defense-bill-passed-by-veto-proof-majority-349569" hreflang="en">Trump vows to reject defense bill passed by veto-proof majority</a>

This will draw a thick line under a contest that saw Biden make Trump a rare one-term president after campaigning on a message of vanquishing the Covid-19 pandemic, healing bitter political division and restoring traditional US diplomacy on the world stage.

Biden, who has largely avoided responding to Trump's conspiracy theories, announced he would deliver an address in the evening dedicated to "the strength and resilience" of US democracy.

Disinformation

Until now, a majority of Republicans in Congress have either backed Trump's claims or at least turned a blind eye, with many refusing to call Biden the president-elect.

Also read|<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/misogynistic-op-ed-urging-incoming-first-lady-jill-biden-to-drop-dr-stirs-a-furore-on-social-media-349673">&nbsp;'Misogynistic' op-ed urging incoming First Lady Jill Biden to drop 'Dr.' stirs a furore on social media</a>

Disinformation spearheaded by the president and spread by popular commentators on Fox News and new conspiracy theory-mongering outlets like Newsmax means that many Americans have all but given up faith in their own institutions.

Polls show that as few as one in four Republican voters accept the election results.

Thousands of Trump supporters, including members of far-right groups, protested in Washington at the weekend, fighting with counter-protesters. The threat of violence required that extraordinary security measures be established for the Electoral College meetings in several states, including Arizona and Michigan, The New York Times reported.

Also read|&nbsp;Trump rescinds plan for White House staff to be quickly vaccinated

Meanwhile, Stephen Miller, a senior Trump advisor, told Fox News on Monday that an "alternate slate of electors" had been created to send its own results to Congress.

"We have more than enough time to right the wrong of this fraudulent election result and certify Donald Trump as the winner of the election," Miller said, without explaining the idea of a shadow Electoral College.

Trump was also still at it on Monday, tweeting more accusations with no basis in reality.

"Swing States that have found massive VOTER FRAUD, which is all of them, CANNOT LEGALLY CERTIFY these votes as complete &amp; correct without committing a severely punishable crime," he said.

The legal Electoral College vote, however, will leave the Trump train almost no place left to go.

Only one big formality remains before Biden's inauguration on January 20, when Congress, presided over by Vice President Mike Pence, opens up and counts the electoral votes on January 6.

Despite rumblings that Trump allies may seek to turn this largely ceremonial event into another battlefront against the election results, it seems clear that support for continued theatrics is steadily ebbing.

In the latest sign of a shifting tide, the staunchly Trump-supporting editorial board of The Wall Street Journal told Trump on Monday that his time is up.

"President Trump's legal challenges have run their course, and he and the rest of the Republican Party can help the country and themselves by acknowledging the result and moving on," the editorial said.

No one expects Trump to refuse to leave the White House. However, there is no indication he will ever agree to concede, let alone bow to tradition by inviting Biden to the White House for a friendly chat.

Asked on Fox News this weekend whether he would even attend Biden's inauguration, Trump answered: "I don't want to talk about that."

Joe Biden's march to the White House -- overshadowed by President Donald Trump's frantic attempts to overturn the US election -- is to be formalized Monday when the Electoral College meets to confirm the Democrat's win.

Joe Biden's march to the White House -- overshadowed by President Donald Trump's frantic attempts to overturn the US election -- is to be formalized Monday when the Electoral College meets to confirm the Democrat's win. Electors in all 50 states were meeting to cast their votes in a tradition that has long been considered mostly a formality for confirming the will of the people expressed at the polls. But this year the somewhat arcane procedure is at the center of an unprecedented -- and many warn dangerous -- challenge to the credibility of US democracy led by Trump. Also read| Trump, Pence among top US officials to be offered COVID-19 vaccine on priority: Report Soundly beaten by Biden on November 3, Trump continues to claim, without evidence, that he was the real winner. Court after court has turned down his team's claims of election fraud around the country and last Friday the Supreme Court dealt a final legal blow when it threw out an appeal lodged by Trump allies from Texas and other Republican-led states. Based on the already legally certified state-by-state vote tallies, the Electoral College representatives are expected to vote by 306 to 232 in favor of Biden over Trump -- a process expected to take much of Monday. Also read: Trump vows to reject defense bill passed by veto-proof majority This will draw a thick line under a contest that saw Biden make Trump a rare one-term president after campaigning on a message of vanquishing the Covid-19 pandemic, healing bitter political division and restoring traditional US diplomacy on the world stage. Biden, who has largely avoided responding to Trump's conspiracy theories, announced he would deliver an address in the evening dedicated to "the strength and resilience" of US democracy. Disinformation Until now, a majority of Republicans in Congress have either backed Trump's claims or at least turned a blind eye, with many refusing to call Biden the president-elect. Also read| 'Misogynistic' op-ed urging incoming First Lady Jill Biden to drop 'Dr.' stirs a furore on social media Disinformation spearheaded by the president and spread by popular commentators on Fox News and new conspiracy theory-mongering outlets like Newsmax means that many Americans have all but given up faith in their own institutions. Polls show that as few as one in four Republican voters accept the election results. Thousands of Trump supporters, including members of far-right groups, protested in Washington at the weekend, fighting with counter-protesters. The threat of violence required that extraordinary security measures be established for the Electoral College meetings in several states, including Arizona and Michigan, The New York Times reported. Also read| Trump rescinds plan for White House staff to be quickly vaccinated Meanwhile, Stephen Miller, a senior Trump advisor, told Fox News on Monday that an "alternate slate of electors" had been created to send its own results to Congress. "We have more than enough time to right the wrong of this fraudulent election result and certify Donald Trump as the winner of the election," Miller said, without explaining the idea of a shadow Electoral College. Trump was also still at it on Monday, tweeting more accusations with no basis in reality. "Swing States that have found massive VOTER FRAUD, which is all of them, CANNOT LEGALLY CERTIFY these votes as complete & correct without committing a severely punishable crime," he said. The legal Electoral College vote, however, will leave the Trump train almost no place left to go. Only one big formality remains before Biden's inauguration on January 20, when Congress, presided over by Vice President Mike Pence, opens up and counts the electoral votes on January 6. Despite rumblings that Trump allies may seek to turn this largely ceremonial event into another battlefront against the election results, it seems clear that support for continued theatrics is steadily ebbing. In the latest sign of a shifting tide, the staunchly Trump-supporting editorial board of The Wall Street Journal told Trump on Monday that his time is up. "President Trump's legal challenges have run their course, and he and the rest of the Republican Party can help the country and themselves by acknowledging the result and moving on," the editorial said. No one expects Trump to refuse to leave the White House. However, there is no indication he will ever agree to concede, let alone bow to tradition by inviting Biden to the White House for a friendly chat. Asked on Fox News this weekend whether he would even attend Biden's inauguration, Trump answered: "I don't want to talk about that."

US Electoral College to formalize Joe Biden's win

Twitter Inc had "inadvertently" limited engagements for a brief period on US President Donald Trump's tweets with "disputed" labels but later reversed its action.

Some users on the social media platform had noticed earlier on Saturday that the ability to like, re-tweet or reply to Trump's tweets with a "disputed" label was not working.

To this end, a Twitter spokesman told Reuters in an emailed statement on Saturday: "We inadvertently took action to limit engagements on the labeled Tweet you referenced. This action has been reversed."

The development was earlier reported by The Verge and The Hill.

Twitter has recently added multiple warnings and labels to tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account of the president, including many that have made unfounded allegations of voting fraud in the US elections.

Trump also made such tweets on Saturday, including one in which he falsely claimed that he won the election in a "landslide" in "legal votes". Twitter flagged them with a label saying: "This claim about election fraud is disputed".

The social media platform first hid one of his tweets behind a "public interest" label in May when the president violated the company's policy against glorifying violence.

Trump will be subject to the same Twitter rules as any other user when President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20, the social media company said last month.

Twitter places "public interest" notices on some rule-breaking tweets from "world leaders" that would otherwise be removed.

(with inputs)

Twitter Inc had "inadvertently" limited engagements for a brief period on US President Donald Trump's tweets with "disputed" labels but later reversed its action.

Twitter Inc had "inadvertently" limited engagements for a brief period on US President Donald Trump's tweets with "disputed" labels but later reversed its action. Some users on the social media platform had noticed earlier on Saturday that the ability to like, re-tweet or reply to Trump's tweets with a "disputed" label was not working. To this end, a Twitter spokesman told Reuters in an emailed statement on Saturday: "We inadvertently took action to limit engagements on the labeled Tweet you referenced. This action has been reversed." The development was earlier reported by The Verge and The Hill. Twitter has recently added multiple warnings and labels to tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account of the president, including many that have made unfounded allegations of voting fraud in the US elections. Trump also made such tweets on Saturday, including one in which he falsely claimed that he won the election in a "landslide" in "legal votes". Twitter flagged them with a label saying: "This claim about election fraud is disputed". The social media platform first hid one of his tweets behind a "public interest" label in May when the president violated the company's policy against glorifying violence. Trump will be subject to the same Twitter rules as any other user when President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20, the social media company said last month. Twitter places "public interest" notices on some rule-breaking tweets from "world leaders" that would otherwise be removed. (with inputs)

Twitter says it inadvertently limited engagements on Trump's flagged tweets

The Supreme Court repudiation of President Donald Trump’s desperate bid for a second term not only shredded his effort to overturn the will of voters: It also was a blunt rebuke to Republican leaders in Congress and the states that were willing to damage American democracy by embracing a partisan power grab over a free and fair election.

The court’s decision on Friday night, an inflection point after weeks of legal flailing by Trump and ahead of the Electoral College vote for President-elect Joe Biden on Monday, leaves the president’s party in an extraordinary position. Through their explicit endorsements or complicity of silence, much of the GOP leadership now shares responsibility for the quixotic attempt to ignore the nation’s founding principles and engineer a different verdict from the one voters cast in November.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-supreme-court-dismisses-trumps-bid-to-overturn-election-result-349183" hreflang="en">US Supreme Court dismisses Trump's bid to overturn election result</a>

Many regular Republicans supported this effort, too — a sign that Trump has not just bent the party to his will, but pressed a mainstay of American politics for nearly two centuries into the service of overturning an election outcome and assaulting public faith in the electoral system. The GOP sought to undo the vote by such spurious means that the Supreme Court quickly rejected the argument.

Even some Republican leaders delivered a withering assessment of the 126 GOP House members and 18 attorneys general who chose to side with Trump over the democratic process, by backing a lawsuit that asked the Supreme Court to throw out some 20 million votes in four key states that cemented the president’s loss.

“The act itself by the 126 members of the United States House of Representatives, is an affront to the country,” said Michael Steele, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee. “It’s an offense to the Constitution and it leaves an indelible stain that will be hard for these 126 members to wipe off their political skin for a long time to come.”

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/five-reasons-why-donald-trump-should-not-be-considered-as-a-useless-president-349181" hreflang="en">Five reasons why Donald Trump should not be considered as a useless president</a>

Speaking on CNN on Friday, Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, a Republican, said, “What happened with the Supreme Court, that’s kind of it, where they’ve kind of exhausted all the legal challenges; we’ve got to move on.” It was time, he said, for Congress to “actually do something for the American people, surrounding the vaccines, surrounding COVID.”

With direct buy-in from senior officials like Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., the president’s effort required the party to promote false theory upon unsubstantiated claim upon outright lie about unproved, widespread fraud — in an election that Republican and Democratic election officials agreed was notably smooth given the challenges of the pandemic.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-17-states-back-texas-bid-to-overturn-us-election-result-at-supreme-court-348692" hreflang="en">Trump, 17 states back Texas bid to overturn US election result at Supreme Court</a>

And it meant that Republican leaders now stand for a new notion: that the final decisions of voters can be challenged without a basis in fact if the results are not to the liking of the losing side, running counter to decades of work by the United States to convince developing nations that peaceful transfers of power are key to any freely elected government’s credibility.

“From a global perspective this certainly looks like many of the cases we’ve seen around the world where an incumbent tries to hold onto power," said Michael Abramowitz, president of Freedom House, a Washington-based group that promotes democracy abroad with support from both parties.

Following the court decision, one of the 126 House Republicans who backed the lawsuit, Rep. Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, said that the court’s decision meant the end of Trump’s efforts and “closed the books on challenges to the 2020 election results.”

Democrats took heart in the court’s decision in the case filed by the Republican attorney general of Texas, one of several dozen that judges have soundly rejected on legal or factual bases, even if more lawsuits are certain to come ahead of Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

“Our democracy has withstood Donald Trump for four years,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., ranking member of the Senate Rules Committee, which oversees election law. “It can withstand these baseless lawsuits for four more weeks.”

But civil rights attorneys saw the potential for long-lasting damage outside of the legal realm where the Republican efforts — and the lie that Biden’s win was the result of widespread fraud — have so definitively failed.

Republican state legislators across the country are already contemplating new laws to make voting harder, as they continue to falsely portray the expansion and ease of mail-in voting during the pandemic as nefarious. Many of them view this year’s expanded voting ranks as bad for their party, despite Republican successes further down the ballot. Their consideration of new voting restrictions amounts to an ongoing attack on the integrity of the voting system, involving still more false and debunked claims.

“There is an anti-democratic virus that has spread in mainstream Republicanism, among mainstream Republican elected officials,” said Dale Ho, director of the Voting Rights Project at the ACLU. “And that loss of faith in the machinery of democracy is a much bigger problem than any individual lawsuit.”

Indeed, after the Supreme Court’s ruling, the Texas Republican Party effectively called for secession by red states whose attorneys general joined in the Texas suit.

“Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the Constitution,” a statement from its chairman, Allen West, read. It followed an observation Rush Limbaugh made earlier in the week, when he said, “I actually think that we’re trending toward secession.”

The talk of secession came during a week in which election officials across the country, from both political parties, said they had become the subjects of menacing threats of violence, including to family members, for standing by Biden’s victory.

A website of unknown provenance that caught the attention of law enforcement appeared to promote a hit list of mostly Republican officials who had resisted Trump’s demands to overturn an election he lost, listing their personal information and imposing red cross hairs over their pictures.

Trump made it clear that the Supreme Court decision would not slow a post-campaign campaign, the futility of which has dampened neither its ferocity nor its pertinacity. On Twitter, Trump on Saturday called it a “disgraceful miscarriage of justice” and wrote “WE HAVE JUST BEGUN TO FIGHT!!!”

Hours before the court made its decision public the Trump campaign released two ads repeating debunked allegations, indicating it would continue to pressure elected Republican officials to somehow reverse Trump’s political fate. “Demand an honest election and an honest count, contact your legislators today,” one ad exhorted. (The campaign claimed that the ads would begin airing on cable television on Saturday morning, but at least one ad tracking firm said they had not seen any reservations made as of Friday night.)

The Supreme Court repudiation of President Donald Trump’s desperate bid for a second term not only shredded his effort to overturn the will of voters: It also was a blunt rebuke to Republican leaders in Congress and the states that were willing to damage American democracy by embracing a partisan power grab over a free and fair election.

The Supreme Court repudiation of President Donald Trump’s desperate bid for a second term not only shredded his effort to overturn the will of voters: It also was a blunt rebuke to Republican leaders in Congress and the states that were willing to damage American democracy by embracing a partisan power grab over a free and fair election. The court’s decision on Friday night, an inflection point after weeks of legal flailing by Trump and ahead of the Electoral College vote for President-elect Joe Biden on Monday, leaves the president’s party in an extraordinary position. Through their explicit endorsements or complicity of silence, much of the GOP leadership now shares responsibility for the quixotic attempt to ignore the nation’s founding principles and engineer a different verdict from the one voters cast in November. Also read| US Supreme Court dismisses Trump's bid to overturn election result Many regular Republicans supported this effort, too — a sign that Trump has not just bent the party to his will, but pressed a mainstay of American politics for nearly two centuries into the service of overturning an election outcome and assaulting public faith in the electoral system. The GOP sought to undo the vote by such spurious means that the Supreme Court quickly rejected the argument. Even some Republican leaders delivered a withering assessment of the 126 GOP House members and 18 attorneys general who chose to side with Trump over the democratic process, by backing a lawsuit that asked the Supreme Court to throw out some 20 million votes in four key states that cemented the president’s loss. “The act itself by the 126 members of the United States House of Representatives, is an affront to the country,” said Michael Steele, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee. “It’s an offense to the Constitution and it leaves an indelible stain that will be hard for these 126 members to wipe off their political skin for a long time to come.” Also read| Five reasons why Donald Trump should not be considered as a useless president Speaking on CNN on Friday, Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, a Republican, said, “What happened with the Supreme Court, that’s kind of it, where they’ve kind of exhausted all the legal challenges; we’ve got to move on.” It was time, he said, for Congress to “actually do something for the American people, surrounding the vaccines, surrounding COVID.” With direct buy-in from senior officials like Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., the president’s effort required the party to promote false theory upon unsubstantiated claim upon outright lie about unproved, widespread fraud — in an election that Republican and Democratic election officials agreed was notably smooth given the challenges of the pandemic. Also read| Trump, 17 states back Texas bid to overturn US election result at Supreme Court And it meant that Republican leaders now stand for a new notion: that the final decisions of voters can be challenged without a basis in fact if the results are not to the liking of the losing side, running counter to decades of work by the United States to convince developing nations that peaceful transfers of power are key to any freely elected government’s credibility. “From a global perspective this certainly looks like many of the cases we’ve seen around the world where an incumbent tries to hold onto power," said Michael Abramowitz, president of Freedom House, a Washington-based group that promotes democracy abroad with support from both parties. Following the court decision, one of the 126 House Republicans who backed the lawsuit, Rep. Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, said that the court’s decision meant the end of Trump’s efforts and “closed the books on challenges to the 2020 election results.” Democrats took heart in the court’s decision in the case filed by the Republican attorney general of Texas, one of several dozen that judges have soundly rejected on legal or factual bases, even if more lawsuits are certain to come ahead of Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20. “Our democracy has withstood Donald Trump for four years,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., ranking member of the Senate Rules Committee, which oversees election law. “It can withstand these baseless lawsuits for four more weeks.” But civil rights attorneys saw the potential for long-lasting damage outside of the legal realm where the Republican efforts — and the lie that Biden’s win was the result of widespread fraud — have so definitively failed. Republican state legislators across the country are already contemplating new laws to make voting harder, as they continue to falsely portray the expansion and ease of mail-in voting during the pandemic as nefarious. Many of them view this year’s expanded voting ranks as bad for their party, despite Republican successes further down the ballot. Their consideration of new voting restrictions amounts to an ongoing attack on the integrity of the voting system, involving still more false and debunked claims. “There is an anti-democratic virus that has spread in mainstream Republicanism, among mainstream Republican elected officials,” said Dale Ho, director of the Voting Rights Project at the ACLU. “And that loss of faith in the machinery of democracy is a much bigger problem than any individual lawsuit.” Indeed, after the Supreme Court’s ruling, the Texas Republican Party effectively called for secession by red states whose attorneys general joined in the Texas suit. “Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the Constitution,” a statement from its chairman, Allen West, read. It followed an observation Rush Limbaugh made earlier in the week, when he said, “I actually think that we’re trending toward secession.” The talk of secession came during a week in which election officials across the country, from both political parties, said they had become the subjects of menacing threats of violence, including to family members, for standing by Biden’s victory. A website of unknown provenance that caught the attention of law enforcement appeared to promote a hit list of mostly Republican officials who had resisted Trump’s demands to overturn an election he lost, listing their personal information and imposing red cross hairs over their pictures. Trump made it clear that the Supreme Court decision would not slow a post-campaign campaign, the futility of which has dampened neither its ferocity nor its pertinacity. On Twitter, Trump on Saturday called it a “disgraceful miscarriage of justice” and wrote “WE HAVE JUST BEGUN TO FIGHT!!!” Hours before the court made its decision public the Trump campaign released two ads repeating debunked allegations, indicating it would continue to pressure elected Republican officials to somehow reverse Trump’s political fate. “Demand an honest election and an honest count, contact your legislators today,” one ad exhorted. (The campaign claimed that the ads would begin airing on cable television on Saturday morning, but at least one ad tracking firm said they had not seen any reservations made as of Friday night.)

‘An indelible stain’: How the GOP tried to topple a pillar of democracy

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a> on Sunday repeated his pledge to veto a sweeping defense budget bill, which US lawmakers passed by margins that would allow them to override the president's rejection.

With just weeks remaining in the White House, Trump has criticized the $740.5 billion measure in part because it does not abolish a law granting social media firms liability protection for third-party content on their platforms.

Trump has said social media giants like Facebook and Google are biased against him.

He has also voiced disapproval of the bill's language calling for renaming US military bases that honor commanders from the pro-slavery South in the Civil War.

In a short, all-caps Twitter message, Trump said, "The biggest winner of our new defense bill is China. I will veto!"

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THE BIGGEST WINNER OF OUR NEW DEFENSE BILL IS CHINA!. I WILL VETO!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1338149139205550086?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The legislation was approved with well beyond the two-thirds "super-majority" needed to overcome a veto: 84-13 in the Republican-led Senate, and 335-78 in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.

Presuming Trump follows through on his pledge, the legislation would be sent back to Congress where lawmakers would have to approve it by a two-thirds majority to override the president.

The defense bill was a particular priority for some Republicans.

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Republican Senator Jim Inhofe, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, called it "the most important bill of the year."&nbsp;

The bill also mandates that the president slap sanctions on Turkey within 30 days for its acquisition of a Russian-made missile defense system. Trump has resisted such punishments against Turkey and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Donald Trump on Sunday repeated his pledge to veto a sweeping defense budget bill, which US lawmakers passed by margins that would allow them to override the president's rejection.

Donald Trump on Sunday repeated his pledge to veto a sweeping defense budget bill, which US lawmakers passed by margins that would allow them to override the president's rejection. With just weeks remaining in the White House, Trump has criticized the $740.5 billion measure in part because it does not abolish a law granting social media firms liability protection for third-party content on their platforms. Trump has said social media giants like Facebook and Google are biased against him. He has also voiced disapproval of the bill's language calling for renaming US military bases that honor commanders from the pro-slavery South in the Civil War. In a short, all-caps Twitter message, Trump said, "The biggest winner of our new defense bill is China. I will veto!" THE BIGGEST WINNER OF OUR NEW DEFENSE BILL IS CHINA!. I WILL VETO! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2020 × The legislation was approved with well beyond the two-thirds "super-majority" needed to overcome a veto: 84-13 in the Republican-led Senate, and 335-78 in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. Presuming Trump follows through on his pledge, the legislation would be sent back to Congress where lawmakers would have to approve it by a two-thirds majority to override the president. The defense bill was a particular priority for some Republicans. × Republican Senator Jim Inhofe, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, called it "the most important bill of the year." The bill also mandates that the president slap sanctions on Turkey within 30 days for its acquisition of a Russian-made missile defense system. Trump has resisted such punishments against Turkey and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Trump vows to reject defense bill passed by veto-proof majority

Conservative groups continued to protest across the United States on Saturday, as tensions rose in downtown Washington after dark as scores of pro-Trump "Proud Boys" protesters and "Antifa" counterprotesters faced off.

The campaigners have been alleging without evidence that President-elect Joe Biden stole the US election.

Organisers of Stop The Steal, linked to pro-Trump operative Roger Stone, and church groups urged supporters to participate in "Jericho Marches" and prayer rallies.

Trump's supporters carrying flags and signs made their way in small knots toward Congress and the Supreme Court through downtown Washington, which was closed to traffic by police vehicles and dump trucks.

Only few of the marchers wore masks, despite soaring COVID-19 deaths and cases, defying a mayoral directive for them to be worn outside. Several thousand people rallied in Washington, fewer than during a similar protest last month.

As some in the crowd echoed far right conspiracy theories about the election, a truck-pulled trailer flew Trump 2020 flags and a sign reading "Trump Unity" while blaring the country song "God Bless the USA."

Around 200 members of the Proud Boys, a violent far right group, had joined the marches earlier on Saturday near the Trump hotel. Many wore combat fatigues and ballistic vests, carried helmets and flashed hand signals used by white nationalists.

The two groups shouted insults at each other across a street near McPherson Square and some set off fireworks, but police kept them apart, according to a Reuters reporter on the scene.

Police pepper-sprayed at least two counter-protesters before the Proud Boys left the area and regrouped several blocks away.

Protests were also planned in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona, where Trump's campaign has sought to overturn vote counts.

More than 50 federal and state court rulings have upheld Biden's victory. The US Supreme Court on Friday rejected a long-shot lawsuit filed by Texas and backed by Trump seeking to throw out voting results in four states.

General Mike Flynn, Trump's former national security advisor, spoke in his first public address since Trump pardoned him on Nov. 24.

"My charge to you is to go back to where you are from" and make demands, Flynn told the crowd, without being more specific. The US Constitution is "not about collective liberty it is about individual liberties, and they designed it that way," he said.

Trump has refused to concede defeat, alleging without evidence that he was denied victory by massive fraud. On his way to Andrews Air Force Base and then the Army-Navy football game in New York, Trump made three passes in the Marine One helicopter over the cheering protesters.

Some protesters referenced the Biblical miracle of the battle of Jericho, in which the walls of the city crumbled after soldiers and priests blowing horns marched around it.

Conservative groups continued to protest across the United States on Saturday, as tensions rose in downtown Washington after dark as scores of pro-Trump "Proud Boys" protesters and "Antifa" counterprotesters faced off.

Conservative groups continued to protest across the United States on Saturday, as tensions rose in downtown Washington after dark as scores of pro-Trump "Proud Boys" protesters and "Antifa" counterprotesters faced off. The campaigners have been alleging without evidence that President-elect Joe Biden stole the US election. Organisers of Stop The Steal, linked to pro-Trump operative Roger Stone, and church groups urged supporters to participate in "Jericho Marches" and prayer rallies. Trump's supporters carrying flags and signs made their way in small knots toward Congress and the Supreme Court through downtown Washington, which was closed to traffic by police vehicles and dump trucks. Only few of the marchers wore masks, despite soaring COVID-19 deaths and cases, defying a mayoral directive for them to be worn outside. Several thousand people rallied in Washington, fewer than during a similar protest last month. As some in the crowd echoed far right conspiracy theories about the election, a truck-pulled trailer flew Trump 2020 flags and a sign reading "Trump Unity" while blaring the country song "God Bless the USA." Around 200 members of the Proud Boys, a violent far right group, had joined the marches earlier on Saturday near the Trump hotel. Many wore combat fatigues and ballistic vests, carried helmets and flashed hand signals used by white nationalists. The two groups shouted insults at each other across a street near McPherson Square and some set off fireworks, but police kept them apart, according to a Reuters reporter on the scene. Police pepper-sprayed at least two counter-protesters before the Proud Boys left the area and regrouped several blocks away. Protests were also planned in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona, where Trump's campaign has sought to overturn vote counts. More than 50 federal and state court rulings have upheld Biden's victory. The US Supreme Court on Friday rejected a long-shot lawsuit filed by Texas and backed by Trump seeking to throw out voting results in four states. General Mike Flynn, Trump's former national security advisor, spoke in his first public address since Trump pardoned him on Nov. 24. "My charge to you is to go back to where you are from" and make demands, Flynn told the crowd, without being more specific. The US Constitution is "not about collective liberty it is about individual liberties, and they designed it that way," he said. Trump has refused to concede defeat, alleging without evidence that he was denied victory by massive fraud. On his way to Andrews Air Force Base and then the Army-Navy football game in New York, Trump made three passes in the Marine One helicopter over the cheering protesters. Some protesters referenced the Biblical miracle of the battle of Jericho, in which the walls of the city crumbled after soldiers and priests blowing horns marched around it.

Tensions rise in Washington as pro-Trump protesters continue to decry his loss

A day after President Donald Trump’s stinging defeat in the Supreme Court, Republicans around the country seemed to be having trouble finding the right words.

The bellicose statements from some quarters that had characterized the postelection period — claims of switched and missing votes, a “rigged” election and even threats of secession from Texas Republicans after the ruling on Friday — had given way to something resembling muted resignation and an acceptance of the inevitable.

Many were completely silent, even in the face of a tweet from Trump himself in which he vowed, “WE HAVE JUST BEGUN TO FIGHT!!”

Of 17 Republican attorneys general who had endorsed the case, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, none agreed to be interviewed by The New York Times. Paxton, who had issued a statement calling the decision “unfortunate,” did not respond to a request for comment.

Other attorneys general who issued statements mostly seemed to acknowledge that all legal avenues had been exhausted in efforts to overturn the election results.

Mike Hunter, the Oklahoma attorney general, saw the end of the road. “The Supreme Court has ruled. The Electoral College is going to meet Monday. We’ve got to accept the results,” Hunter said in a Facebook interview in Oklahoma City. “We need to play the hand we’re dealt.”

A statement by Wayne Stenehjem, the North Dakota attorney general, echoed that. “It now appears that all reasonably arguable legal challenges have been exhausted, and the members of the Electoral College will meet across the country on Monday.”

Derek Schmidt, the Kansas attorney general, summed it up with a statement saying, “It is time to put this election behind us.”

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican who had disagreed with the decision by his state’s attorney general to join the case, said there was no viable path forward for Trump.

“The electoral votes should be cast on Monday, and all indications are that Joe Biden will be the president-elect at that time,” Hutchinson said in a telephone interview, urging the country to move on. “It’s the tradition of our country and the history of our democracy that we do move on beyond that hard-fought election and we unite and we recognize the president-elect’s leadership.”

Hutchinson said he believed the effort led by Texas was based on a flawed legal theory, a view shared by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who had been among the first in her party to congratulate the president-elect on his victory. She called the court’s ruling “an unsurprising affirmation of the principle that one state cannot tell another state how to run its elections.”

On Capitol Hill, the response was particularly muted among the 126 House Republicans who signed onto an extraordinary amicus brief backing the suit. Aides to Reps. Kevin McCarthy of California and Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the party’s top leaders in the House, had no comment. And questions and requests for comments sent to the office of more than two dozen top congressional Republicans on Saturday were either declined or ignored.

Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, who assembled the House’s friend of the court brief, merely posted a quote on Twitter from John Quincy Adams, implying he had done what he could: “Duty is ours, results are God’s.”

Just one lawmaker who signed on, Rep. Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, appeared newly ready to accept the president’s road had run out.

In a statement, he called the Texas suit “the best and likely last opportunity” to get the Supreme Court to rule on the election, and said the court’s decision “closed the books on the challenges to the 2020 election results.”

“The casting of electoral votes will end a hotly contested election, and we should come together as Americans to work together for the future of our country,” Westerman said, adding that Biden would be the president-elect by Monday.

Others, like Reps. Jodey Arrington of Texas and Ken Buck of Colorado, stressed that the court had not actually rejected the case based on its merits and insinuated, vaguely, that those claims could still have their day in court. But even as they pledged a continued fight, it was clear their options were dwindling.

Speaking on Fox News, Buck called for congressional hearings on election security and while discussing a pair of Senate runoffs in Georgia, indicated obliquely that he believed Biden would be president.

Another ally of the president, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, raised the prospect of using a normally perfunctory joint session of Congress on Jan. 6 to challenge the electoral results, though most lawmakers agree that path is very likely futile.

If anything, the brushback from the Supreme Court served to highlight the divisions running through the president’s party more than a month after Election Day.

“At some point, we have to be that nation of laws,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said on Fox, as he sought to instill confidence among fellow Republicans that the election had been decided fairly, and in Biden’s favor.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., was harsher, warning his party on Twitter against excesses like the secession talk thrown around on Friday by Texas GOP chairman Allen West or any further efforts by Republicans to stoke false hopes among their voters.

“I want to be clear: the Supreme Court is not the deep state,” Kinzinger wrote in one tweet. “The case had no merit and was dispatched 9-0. There was no win here. Complaining and bellyaching is not a manly trait, it’s actually sad. Real men accept a loss with grace.”

A day after President Donald Trump’s stinging defeat in the Supreme Court, Republicans around the country seemed to be having trouble finding the right words. The bellicose statements from some quarters that had characterized the postelection period — claims of switched and missing votes, a “rigged” election and even threats of secession from Texas Republicans after the ruling on Friday — had given way to something resembling muted resignation and an acceptance of the inevitable.

A day after President Donald Trump’s stinging defeat in the Supreme Court, Republicans around the country seemed to be having trouble finding the right words. The bellicose statements from some quarters that had characterized the postelection period — claims of switched and missing votes, a “rigged” election and even threats of secession from Texas Republicans after the ruling on Friday — had given way to something resembling muted resignation and an acceptance of the inevitable. Many were completely silent, even in the face of a tweet from Trump himself in which he vowed, “WE HAVE JUST BEGUN TO FIGHT!!” Of 17 Republican attorneys general who had endorsed the case, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, none agreed to be interviewed by The New York Times. Paxton, who had issued a statement calling the decision “unfortunate,” did not respond to a request for comment. Other attorneys general who issued statements mostly seemed to acknowledge that all legal avenues had been exhausted in efforts to overturn the election results. Mike Hunter, the Oklahoma attorney general, saw the end of the road. “The Supreme Court has ruled. The Electoral College is going to meet Monday. We’ve got to accept the results,” Hunter said in a Facebook interview in Oklahoma City. “We need to play the hand we’re dealt.” A statement by Wayne Stenehjem, the North Dakota attorney general, echoed that. “It now appears that all reasonably arguable legal challenges have been exhausted, and the members of the Electoral College will meet across the country on Monday.” Derek Schmidt, the Kansas attorney general, summed it up with a statement saying, “It is time to put this election behind us.” Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican who had disagreed with the decision by his state’s attorney general to join the case, said there was no viable path forward for Trump. “The electoral votes should be cast on Monday, and all indications are that Joe Biden will be the president-elect at that time,” Hutchinson said in a telephone interview, urging the country to move on. “It’s the tradition of our country and the history of our democracy that we do move on beyond that hard-fought election and we unite and we recognize the president-elect’s leadership.” Hutchinson said he believed the effort led by Texas was based on a flawed legal theory, a view shared by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who had been among the first in her party to congratulate the president-elect on his victory. She called the court’s ruling “an unsurprising affirmation of the principle that one state cannot tell another state how to run its elections.” On Capitol Hill, the response was particularly muted among the 126 House Republicans who signed onto an extraordinary amicus brief backing the suit. Aides to Reps. Kevin McCarthy of California and Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the party’s top leaders in the House, had no comment. And questions and requests for comments sent to the office of more than two dozen top congressional Republicans on Saturday were either declined or ignored. Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, who assembled the House’s friend of the court brief, merely posted a quote on Twitter from John Quincy Adams, implying he had done what he could: “Duty is ours, results are God’s.” Just one lawmaker who signed on, Rep. Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, appeared newly ready to accept the president’s road had run out. In a statement, he called the Texas suit “the best and likely last opportunity” to get the Supreme Court to rule on the election, and said the court’s decision “closed the books on the challenges to the 2020 election results.” “The casting of electoral votes will end a hotly contested election, and we should come together as Americans to work together for the future of our country,” Westerman said, adding that Biden would be the president-elect by Monday. Others, like Reps. Jodey Arrington of Texas and Ken Buck of Colorado, stressed that the court had not actually rejected the case based on its merits and insinuated, vaguely, that those claims could still have their day in court. But even as they pledged a continued fight, it was clear their options were dwindling. Speaking on Fox News, Buck called for congressional hearings on election security and while discussing a pair of Senate runoffs in Georgia, indicated obliquely that he believed Biden would be president. Another ally of the president, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, raised the prospect of using a normally perfunctory joint session of Congress on Jan. 6 to challenge the electoral results, though most lawmakers agree that path is very likely futile. If anything, the brushback from the Supreme Court served to highlight the divisions running through the president’s party more than a month after Election Day. “At some point, we have to be that nation of laws,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said on Fox, as he sought to instill confidence among fellow Republicans that the election had been decided fairly, and in Biden’s favor. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., was harsher, warning his party on Twitter against excesses like the secession talk thrown around on Friday by Texas GOP chairman Allen West or any further efforts by Republicans to stoke false hopes among their voters. “I want to be clear: the Supreme Court is not the deep state,” Kinzinger wrote in one tweet. “The case had no merit and was dispatched 9-0. There was no win here. Complaining and bellyaching is not a manly trait, it’s actually sad. Real men accept a loss with grace.”

Republicans find themselves speechless following a Supreme Court defeat

Four people were stabbed and one shot as rallies backing&nbsp;President Donald Trump's baseless claims of election fraud led to clashes in major US cities on Saturday.

Scuffles broke out in many places between rally-goers and counter-protesters who turned up to criticize the president, who lost the November 3 election to Democrat Joe Biden but is yet to concede.

Washington State Police said in a tweet late Saturday that a shooting had taken place after clashes near the capitol building in Olympia, and that a suspect had been detained.

In the US capital, DC Fire and EMS Department communications chief Doug Buchanan told AFP that four people had been stabbed and were now hospitalized "with serious injuries." The New York Times reported that 23 had been arrested throughout the day.

There was no indication of whether any of the victims had been involved in the protests, on either side of the divide.

The day had begun with a festive atmosphere as thousands of red-hatted protesters filled Washington's streets to support the president, undeterred by the US Supreme Court's rejection on Friday of what may have been his last chance to overturn the results.

Similar events took place in Olympia, Atlanta and St. Paul, Minnesota, as well as in smaller towns in Nebraska, Alabama and elsewhere.

Demonstrators at the DC rally -- noticeably smaller than a similar protest last month -- told AFP they were steadfast in their support for the embattled president.

"We're not gonna give up," said Luke Wilson, a sixty-something protester who had come all the way from the western state of Idaho.

"I believe there is a big injustice being done to the American people," added Dell Quick, a regular at Trump's political rallies, as he brandished a flag defending gun rights.

Protesters offered no shortage of explanations for the poll results, even though they have been affirmed by state election officials -- several of them Republican -- and by judges in several key states.

Every state has now certified the results, giving Biden 306 votes in the Electoral College to Trump's 232. Electors are to formally cast their votes Monday.

But protesters insisted, as Trump has repeatedly, that there was widespread fraud in the election.

Some pointed to "foreign interference," others to software that allegedly erased millions of votes for the president -- but not those for other Republican candidates on the same ballots.&nbsp;

Quick told AFP that "there's no way possible" that Biden won.

Susan Bowman, a 62-year-old from Hampton, Virginia, said "this is not a banana republic. We need to fix the election."

Those who addressed the crowd included Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser who was recently pardoned by the president after admitting that he lied to the FBI over alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.

- 'Stolen' election -

Dozens of court cases alleging fraud or contesting the result have been decided -- virtually all in Biden's favor, with some judges offering stinging criticism of the lack of evidence.

But that was not enough for 47-year-old Darlene Denton, who wore a "Trump 2024" badge on her sweatshirt.

"Nobody wants to hear evidence, nobody wants to hear cases, everything just gets thrown out," said Denton, who had come from Tennessee to support a president she said had given "a voice to the people."

Trump, in stark defiance of the clear result and of US tradition, has refused to concede to Biden.

"Wow! Thousands of people forming in Washington (D.C.) for Stop the Steal," he tweeted early Saturday. "Didn't know about this, but I'll be seeing them!"

Not long afterward, his helicopter lifted off from the White House grounds and passed over the crowd -- many singing the US national anthem -- as Trump headed to New York to attend the annual Army-Navy football game.

Among the protesters, members of the far-right militia group the Proud Boys were clearly visible -- in their signature black-and-yellow outfits, some wearing bulletproof vests -- and they often drew cheers from others in the crowd.

Some blocks away, supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement held their own, much smaller, rally, chanting "Nazis out!"

Police, some in riot gear, used their bodies and bicycles to keep the groups apart. There was also at least one clash between police and counter-protesters.

Four people were stabbed and one shot as rallies backing President Donald Trump's baseless claims of election fraud led to clashes in major US cities on Saturday.

Four people were stabbed and one shot as rallies backing President Donald Trump's baseless claims of election fraud led to clashes in major US cities on Saturday. Scuffles broke out in many places between rally-goers and counter-protesters who turned up to criticize the president, who lost the November 3 election to Democrat Joe Biden but is yet to concede. Washington State Police said in a tweet late Saturday that a shooting had taken place after clashes near the capitol building in Olympia, and that a suspect had been detained. In the US capital, DC Fire and EMS Department communications chief Doug Buchanan told AFP that four people had been stabbed and were now hospitalized "with serious injuries." The New York Times reported that 23 had been arrested throughout the day. There was no indication of whether any of the victims had been involved in the protests, on either side of the divide. The day had begun with a festive atmosphere as thousands of red-hatted protesters filled Washington's streets to support the president, undeterred by the US Supreme Court's rejection on Friday of what may have been his last chance to overturn the results. Similar events took place in Olympia, Atlanta and St. Paul, Minnesota, as well as in smaller towns in Nebraska, Alabama and elsewhere. Demonstrators at the DC rally -- noticeably smaller than a similar protest last month -- told AFP they were steadfast in their support for the embattled president. "We're not gonna give up," said Luke Wilson, a sixty-something protester who had come all the way from the western state of Idaho. "I believe there is a big injustice being done to the American people," added Dell Quick, a regular at Trump's political rallies, as he brandished a flag defending gun rights. Protesters offered no shortage of explanations for the poll results, even though they have been affirmed by state election officials -- several of them Republican -- and by judges in several key states. Every state has now certified the results, giving Biden 306 votes in the Electoral College to Trump's 232. Electors are to formally cast their votes Monday. But protesters insisted, as Trump has repeatedly, that there was widespread fraud in the election. Some pointed to "foreign interference," others to software that allegedly erased millions of votes for the president -- but not those for other Republican candidates on the same ballots. Quick told AFP that "there's no way possible" that Biden won. Susan Bowman, a 62-year-old from Hampton, Virginia, said "this is not a banana republic. We need to fix the election." Those who addressed the crowd included Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser who was recently pardoned by the president after admitting that he lied to the FBI over alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. - 'Stolen' election - Dozens of court cases alleging fraud or contesting the result have been decided -- virtually all in Biden's favor, with some judges offering stinging criticism of the lack of evidence. But that was not enough for 47-year-old Darlene Denton, who wore a "Trump 2024" badge on her sweatshirt. "Nobody wants to hear evidence, nobody wants to hear cases, everything just gets thrown out," said Denton, who had come from Tennessee to support a president she said had given "a voice to the people." Trump, in stark defiance of the clear result and of US tradition, has refused to concede to Biden. "Wow! Thousands of people forming in Washington (D.C.) for Stop the Steal," he tweeted early Saturday. "Didn't know about this, but I'll be seeing them!" Not long afterward, his helicopter lifted off from the White House grounds and passed over the crowd -- many singing the US national anthem -- as Trump headed to New York to attend the annual Army-Navy football game. Among the protesters, members of the far-right militia group the Proud Boys were clearly visible -- in their signature black-and-yellow outfits, some wearing bulletproof vests -- and they often drew cheers from others in the crowd. Some blocks away, supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement held their own, much smaller, rally, chanting "Nazis out!" Police, some in riot gear, used their bodies and bicycles to keep the groups apart. There was also at least one clash between police and counter-protesters.

Four stabbed and one shot after pro-Trump rallies

Donald Trump's supporters take to streets for another 'Million MAGA March'

US authorities on Friday carried out their 10th execution of the year, the last in a series of capital punishments that President Donald Trump's administration has carried out before he leaves office.

Alfred Bourgeois, a Black man sentenced to death for the murder of his two-year-old daughter, was executed by lethal injection at a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.

"Bourgeois was pronounced deceased at 8:21 pm Eastern Standard Time by the Vigo County Coroner," the federal prison said in a statement.

The execution occurred a day after another convicted prisoner, Brandon Bernard, was also executed in Terre Haute.

Following a paternity test, Bourgeois, a 55-year-old former truck driver, took temporary custody of his daughter and brought her on a trucking route for part of the summer of 2002.

He severely abused her and eventually smashed her skull on the windshield.

Since the crime took place on a military base where he was making a delivery, he was tried in federal court and sentenced to death in 2004.&nbsp;

He remained on death row, with the United States having suspended federal executions beginning in 2003, in particular because of questions over the legality of drugs used in injections.

Trump however restarted federal executions in July -- even though states still using capital punishment have delayed theirs due to the dangers posed to prison staff and witnesses by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Seven federal executions occurred before the November 3 election that Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden, who is due to be sworn in on January 20 despite the outgoing president's refusal to concede.

Biden has pledged to work with Congress to bring an end to federal executions.

For 131 years, outgoing presidents traditionally suspended federal executions during the transition period.

But the Trump administration had announced six executions between November and January, including Bourgeois.

His lawyers had asked the US Supreme Court to intervene, saying he suffers from a mental disability.

"The jury that sentenced Mr Bourgeois to death never learned that he was a person with intellectual disability because his trial lawyers did not present the evidence that was available to them," said his new lawyer Victor Abreu.

After the execution, his legal team issued a statement saying that "tonight, the United States killed a man with intellectual disability in spite of clear directives from the US Supreme Court and federal laws that prohibited it."&nbsp;

Bourgeois was the 17th person executed in the United States in 2020, a historic low linked to the suspensions at the state level.

He was the 10th executed at the federal level, the highest in more than a century.

US authorities on Friday carried out their 10th execution of the year, the last in a series of capital punishments that President Donald Trump's administration has carried out before he leaves office.

US authorities on Friday carried out their 10th execution of the year, the last in a series of capital punishments that President Donald Trump's administration has carried out before he leaves office. Alfred Bourgeois, a Black man sentenced to death for the murder of his two-year-old daughter, was executed by lethal injection at a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. "Bourgeois was pronounced deceased at 8:21 pm Eastern Standard Time by the Vigo County Coroner," the federal prison said in a statement. The execution occurred a day after another convicted prisoner, Brandon Bernard, was also executed in Terre Haute. Following a paternity test, Bourgeois, a 55-year-old former truck driver, took temporary custody of his daughter and brought her on a trucking route for part of the summer of 2002. He severely abused her and eventually smashed her skull on the windshield. Since the crime took place on a military base where he was making a delivery, he was tried in federal court and sentenced to death in 2004. He remained on death row, with the United States having suspended federal executions beginning in 2003, in particular because of questions over the legality of drugs used in injections. Trump however restarted federal executions in July -- even though states still using capital punishment have delayed theirs due to the dangers posed to prison staff and witnesses by the Covid-19 pandemic. Seven federal executions occurred before the November 3 election that Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden, who is due to be sworn in on January 20 despite the outgoing president's refusal to concede. Biden has pledged to work with Congress to bring an end to federal executions. For 131 years, outgoing presidents traditionally suspended federal executions during the transition period. But the Trump administration had announced six executions between November and January, including Bourgeois. His lawyers had asked the US Supreme Court to intervene, saying he suffers from a mental disability. "The jury that sentenced Mr Bourgeois to death never learned that he was a person with intellectual disability because his trial lawyers did not present the evidence that was available to them," said his new lawyer Victor Abreu. After the execution, his legal team issued a statement saying that "tonight, the United States killed a man with intellectual disability in spite of clear directives from the US Supreme Court and federal laws that prohibited it." Bourgeois was the 17th person executed in the United States in 2020, a historic low linked to the suspensions at the state level. He was the 10th executed at the federal level, the highest in more than a century.

US executes another inmate before Trump leaves office

The US Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a bid by Texas to overturn the results of the presidential election, which Republican Donald Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden, in a fresh setback for the outgoing president.

The longshot suit lodged late Tuesday against four states key in the November 3 vote -- Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- challenged Biden's victory in each jurisdiction.&nbsp;

The justices in a brief order rejected the bid by Texas to file the extraordinary challenge targetting Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin directly with the Supreme Court, as is allowed in some instances of litigation between states under a legal doctrine called "original jurisdiction."

The order said Texas did not have a legal standing to bring the claim.

"Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections," the court said in the unsigned order.

The case was filed on Tuesday by the Republican attorney general of Texas, a Trump ally, against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Republican president on Wednesday filed a motion to intervene and become a plaintiff.

It was backed by 106 Republican lawmakers and 17 state attorneys general.

Texas had asked the justices to throw out the election results in the four states. Biden won all four states. Trump had won them in the 2016 election.

Biden spokesman Mike Gwin said the ruling was "no surprise."

"Dozens of judges, election officials from both parties, and Trump's own Attorney General have dismissed his baseless attempts to deny that he lost the election," he said.

Texas alleged that the results in the other four states were "unconstitutional" because of their heavy use of "fraud-prone" mail-in votes during the coronavirus pandemic. It offered no proof of significant fraud, and didn't challenge the use of mailed ballots in states Trump won.

The suit cited numerous alleged examples of potential fraud already rejected by lower courts.

Trump's campaign and his allies already had lost in numerous lawsuits in state and federal courts challenging the election results. Trump has falsely claimed he won the November 3 election and has made baseless allegations of widespread voting fraud and a system "rigged" against him.&nbsp;

State election officials have said they have found no evidence of such fraud. Lawyers for Trump and his allies have failed to present evidence in court of the type of fraud he has alleged.

On Tuesday the Supreme Court also refused his bid to overturn his loss in Pennsylvania.&nbsp;

Trump had hoped that the high court, whose bench he has tipped solidly to the right, would intervene in his favour.

In 2000, the Supreme Court halted a recount in Florida, where George W Bush was only 537 votes ahead of Democrat Al Gore, allowing the Republican to win the election.

The lawsuit came as all 50 states plus Washington, DC have formally certified their vote tallies, opening the way to convene the Electoral College.

Biden, in the November 3 vote, snagged 51.3 percent of the ballots compared to Trump's 46.9 percent, a seven million vote margin.&nbsp;

The Electoral College is set to affirm Biden's win on December 14, and he will be sworn in on January 20.

(with inputs from agencies)

The US Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a bid by Texas to overturn the results of the presidential election, which Republican Donald Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden, in a fresh setback for the outgoing president.

The US Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a bid by Texas to overturn the results of the presidential election, which Republican Donald Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden, in a fresh setback for the outgoing president. The longshot suit lodged late Tuesday against four states key in the November 3 vote -- Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- challenged Biden's victory in each jurisdiction. The justices in a brief order rejected the bid by Texas to file the extraordinary challenge targetting Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin directly with the Supreme Court, as is allowed in some instances of litigation between states under a legal doctrine called "original jurisdiction." The order said Texas did not have a legal standing to bring the claim. "Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections," the court said in the unsigned order. The case was filed on Tuesday by the Republican attorney general of Texas, a Trump ally, against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Republican president on Wednesday filed a motion to intervene and become a plaintiff. It was backed by 106 Republican lawmakers and 17 state attorneys general. Texas had asked the justices to throw out the election results in the four states. Biden won all four states. Trump had won them in the 2016 election. Biden spokesman Mike Gwin said the ruling was "no surprise." "Dozens of judges, election officials from both parties, and Trump's own Attorney General have dismissed his baseless attempts to deny that he lost the election," he said. Texas alleged that the results in the other four states were "unconstitutional" because of their heavy use of "fraud-prone" mail-in votes during the coronavirus pandemic. It offered no proof of significant fraud, and didn't challenge the use of mailed ballots in states Trump won. The suit cited numerous alleged examples of potential fraud already rejected by lower courts. Trump's campaign and his allies already had lost in numerous lawsuits in state and federal courts challenging the election results. Trump has falsely claimed he won the November 3 election and has made baseless allegations of widespread voting fraud and a system "rigged" against him. State election officials have said they have found no evidence of such fraud. Lawyers for Trump and his allies have failed to present evidence in court of the type of fraud he has alleged. On Tuesday the Supreme Court also refused his bid to overturn his loss in Pennsylvania. Trump had hoped that the high court, whose bench he has tipped solidly to the right, would intervene in his favour. In 2000, the Supreme Court halted a recount in Florida, where George W Bush was only 537 votes ahead of Democrat Al Gore, allowing the Republican to win the election. The lawsuit came as all 50 states plus Washington, DC have formally certified their vote tallies, opening the way to convene the Electoral College. Biden, in the November 3 vote, snagged 51.3 percent of the ballots compared to Trump's 46.9 percent, a seven million vote margin. The Electoral College is set to affirm Biden's win on December 14, and he will be sworn in on January 20. (with inputs from agencies)

US Supreme Court dismisses Trump's bid to overturn election result

US President Donald Trump lashed out at US Supreme Court after it dealt what is perceived as a final and fatal blow to his claims of fraud in US Presidential Election 2020. US Supreme Court rejected lawsuit by Texas and other states that demanded&nbsp;throwing out of election results in four states. Trump called the decision a 'legal disgrace'.

"The Supreme Court really let us down. No Wisdom, No Courage!" wrote Trump, adding in a later Tweet, "It is a legal disgrace, an embarrassment to the USA!!!"

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“We’ve not gotten any court to judge this (the vote) on its merit.” <a href="https://twitter.com/DanPatrick?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DanPatrick</a> of Texas. It is a legal disgrace, an embarrassment to the USA!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1337634953211817984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

The decision by US Supreme Court has cleared way for US electoral college to cast its votes and formally certify Joe Biden's victory. The Electoral College will meet on Monday (December 14)

Biden, a Democrat, has amassed 306 votes to Trump's 232 in the state-by-state Electoral College, which allots votes to all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on population.

The four states in question - Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - contributed a combined 62 votes to Biden's total. To win the White House, 270 votes are needed.

Trump is yet to concede the election. Ever since it was certain that Joe Biden had defeated him in presidential elections, Trump has made baseless claims of election fraud without providing any evidence. Even when he suffered number of legal defeats prior to Supreme Court verdict, he was not willing to concede.

Trump's goal had long been for a case to reach the Supreme Court, where he had placed three new justices in his first term and where conservatives hold a 6-3 majority. The lawsuit brought by Texas and supported by 17 other states and more than 100 Republican members of Congress gave him that opportunity.

In the run-up the Nov. 3 election, Trump had pushed for the swift confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, with the publicly stated hope that she could be in a position to help rule on an election challenge.

But Barrett and the two other justices appointed by Trump - Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh - signed onto the court's order derailing the Texas suit without comment.

(With Reuters inputs)

US President Donald Trump lashed out at US Supreme Court after it dealt what is perceived as a final and fatal blow to his claims of fraud in US Presidential Election 2020.

US President Donald Trump lashed out at US Supreme Court after it dealt what is perceived as a final and fatal blow to his claims of fraud in US Presidential Election 2020. US Supreme Court rejected lawsuit by Texas and other states that demanded throwing out of election results in four states. Trump called the decision a 'legal disgrace'. "The Supreme Court really let us down. No Wisdom, No Courage!" wrote Trump, adding in a later Tweet, "It is a legal disgrace, an embarrassment to the USA!!!" “We’ve not gotten any court to judge this (the vote) on its merit.” @DanPatrick of Texas. It is a legal disgrace, an embarrassment to the USA!!! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2020 × The decision by US Supreme Court has cleared way for US electoral college to cast its votes and formally certify Joe Biden's victory. The Electoral College will meet on Monday (December 14) Biden, a Democrat, has amassed 306 votes to Trump's 232 in the state-by-state Electoral College, which allots votes to all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on population. The four states in question - Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - contributed a combined 62 votes to Biden's total. To win the White House, 270 votes are needed. Trump is yet to concede the election. Ever since it was certain that Joe Biden had defeated him in presidential elections, Trump has made baseless claims of election fraud without providing any evidence. Even when he suffered number of legal defeats prior to Supreme Court verdict, he was not willing to concede. Trump's goal had long been for a case to reach the Supreme Court, where he had placed three new justices in his first term and where conservatives hold a 6-3 majority. The lawsuit brought by Texas and supported by 17 other states and more than 100 Republican members of Congress gave him that opportunity. In the run-up the Nov. 3 election, Trump had pushed for the swift confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, with the publicly stated hope that she could be in a position to help rule on an election challenge. But Barrett and the two other justices appointed by Trump - Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh - signed onto the court's order derailing the Texas suit without comment. (With Reuters inputs)

'Legal disgrace', says Trump as US Supreme Court gives final blow to his election fraud claims

US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have been chosen as Time magazine's 2020 "Person of the Year".

The pair made history on November 7 when they beat Donald Trump in a bitter US election. Harris became the country's first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president-elect.

The pair were chosen ahead of three other finalists: frontline health care workers and Anthony Fauci, the racial justice movement, and President Donald Trump who Biden defeated in November's election.

The magazine said: “Together, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris offered restoration and renewal in a single ticket. And America bought what they were selling: after the highest turnout in a century, they racked up 81 million votes and counting, the most in presidential history, topping Trump by some 7 million votes and flipping five battleground states.”

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Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are TIME's 2020 Person of the Year <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TIMEPOY?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TIMEPOY</a> <a href="https://t.co/o97QNlSBrl">https://t.co/o97QNlSBrl</a> <a href="https://t.co/KuoBoebBN4">pic.twitter.com/KuoBoebBN4</a>
— TIME (@TIME) <a href="https://twitter.com/TIME/status/1337243797466603522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2020</a></blockquote>
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"For changing the American story, for showing that the forces of empathy are greater than the furies of division, for sharing a vision of healing in a grieving world, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are TIME's 2020 Person of the Year," wrote Time editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal.

Last year’s winner was climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Time magazine's tradition of singling out an especially influential person started in 1927, launching as Man of the Year. The name was later changed to Person of the Year, which is bestowed on an individual, a group, a movement or an idea that had the most influence in the past year.

US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have been chosen as Time magazine's 2020 "Person of the Year". The pair made history on November 7 when they beat Donald Trump in a bitter US election.

US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have been chosen as Time magazine's 2020 "Person of the Year". The pair made history on November 7 when they beat Donald Trump in a bitter US election. Harris became the country's first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president-elect. The pair were chosen ahead of three other finalists: frontline health care workers and Anthony Fauci, the racial justice movement, and President Donald Trump who Biden defeated in November's election. The magazine said: “Together, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris offered restoration and renewal in a single ticket. And America bought what they were selling: after the highest turnout in a century, they racked up 81 million votes and counting, the most in presidential history, topping Trump by some 7 million votes and flipping five battleground states.” Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are TIME's 2020 Person of the Year #TIMEPOY https://t.co/o97QNlSBrl pic.twitter.com/KuoBoebBN4 — TIME (@TIME) December 11, 2020 × "For changing the American story, for showing that the forces of empathy are greater than the furies of division, for sharing a vision of healing in a grieving world, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are TIME's 2020 Person of the Year," wrote Time editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal. Last year’s winner was climate activist Greta Thunberg. Time magazine's tradition of singling out an especially influential person started in 1927, launching as Man of the Year. The name was later changed to Person of the Year, which is bestowed on an individual, a group, a movement or an idea that had the most influence in the past year.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris named Time 'Person of the Year'

US President-elect Joe Biden announced several administration picks Thursday, including Obama-era officials such as former national security advisor Susan Rice as White House Domestic Policy Council director and ex-chief of staff Denis McDonough as veterans affairs secretary.

The appointments, laid out by Biden's presidential transition team, highlight the diversity which Biden pledged to bring to his cabinet.

"This is the right team for this moment in history, and I know that each of these leaders will hit the ground running on day one to take on the interconnected crises families are facing today," Biden said in a statement.

Rice, who is Black, had been a contender for secretary of state. But she was expected to face intense opposition from Republicans in the Senate confirmation process over her role in the Benghazi crisis of 2012, and that prestigious cabinet position went to close Biden advisor Antony Blinken.

Heading the Domestic Policy Council will assure Rice, 56, gets into the president-elect's White House inner circle and see her influence key elements of Biden's "build back better" agenda amid a surging coronavirus pandemic and strains over racial justice.

But it may be seen as a surprise appointment given her experience in foreign policy.&nbsp;The position, which she tweeted she was "humbled and excited" to take, does not need Senate confirmation.

McDonough, 51, served multiple roles in Barack Obama's administration, including White House chief of staff and deputy national security advisor.

He has been nominated to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, a sprawling government agency tasked with managing a health care network that serves nine million enrolled veterans.&nbsp;

In a tweet, McDonough promised to "represent the voices of all veterans at every level, on every issue, every day."

Biden is scheduled to unveil his new picks at an event in Wilmington, Delaware on Friday.

- Biden to visit Georgia -

Biden has repeatedly stressed that his presidency will not equate to a third Obama term, and yet Thursday's announcement spotlights his close connection with his Democratic predecessor's brain trust.

He named 69-year-old Iowan Tom Vilsack, Obama's secretary of agriculture for two full terms, to the same role, which is seen as central to the coronavirus response as the department helps feed millions of Americans in need.

A tug of war over the agriculture post reportedly developed in recent weeks, with progressive congresswoman Marcia Fudge a leading candidate.

Instead Fudge, 68, was nominated to serve as secretary of housing and urban development, a position whose profile could also rise as the pandemic fuels a potential eviction crisis.

Biden also chose international trade expert Katherine Tai to be the US trade representative.&nbsp;

Tai, currently the chief trade lawyer for the House Ways and Means Committee, would be the first Asian American and first woman of color in the USTR role.

The transition team also confirmed that Biden will travel to Georgia Tuesday to boost two Democratic candidates in tight run-off elections that will determine which party controls the US Senate.

The trip coincides with the start of early voting there next Monday.

The runoffs feature former journalist Jon Ossoff challenging Republican Senator David Perdue, and Raphael Warnock, pastor at one of the most prominent Black churches in America, running to unseat Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler.

Biden narrowly won Georgia in the presidential race. The tight state contest has been challenged by President Donald Trump, who has made repeated accusations that the election was "rigged" and that massive fraud helped Biden win in Georgia and elsewhere.

No evidence has emerged to support such claims.

US President-elect Joe Biden announced several administration picks Thursday, including Obama-era officials such as former national security advisor Susan Rice as White House Domestic Policy Council director and ex-chief of staff Denis McDonough as veterans affairs secretary.

US President-elect Joe Biden announced several administration picks Thursday, including Obama-era officials such as former national security advisor Susan Rice as White House Domestic Policy Council director and ex-chief of staff Denis McDonough as veterans affairs secretary. The appointments, laid out by Biden's presidential transition team, highlight the diversity which Biden pledged to bring to his cabinet. "This is the right team for this moment in history, and I know that each of these leaders will hit the ground running on day one to take on the interconnected crises families are facing today," Biden said in a statement. Rice, who is Black, had been a contender for secretary of state. But she was expected to face intense opposition from Republicans in the Senate confirmation process over her role in the Benghazi crisis of 2012, and that prestigious cabinet position went to close Biden advisor Antony Blinken. Heading the Domestic Policy Council will assure Rice, 56, gets into the president-elect's White House inner circle and see her influence key elements of Biden's "build back better" agenda amid a surging coronavirus pandemic and strains over racial justice. But it may be seen as a surprise appointment given her experience in foreign policy. The position, which she tweeted she was "humbled and excited" to take, does not need Senate confirmation. McDonough, 51, served multiple roles in Barack Obama's administration, including White House chief of staff and deputy national security advisor. He has been nominated to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, a sprawling government agency tasked with managing a health care network that serves nine million enrolled veterans. In a tweet, McDonough promised to "represent the voices of all veterans at every level, on every issue, every day." Biden is scheduled to unveil his new picks at an event in Wilmington, Delaware on Friday. - Biden to visit Georgia - Biden has repeatedly stressed that his presidency will not equate to a third Obama term, and yet Thursday's announcement spotlights his close connection with his Democratic predecessor's brain trust. He named 69-year-old Iowan Tom Vilsack, Obama's secretary of agriculture for two full terms, to the same role, which is seen as central to the coronavirus response as the department helps feed millions of Americans in need. A tug of war over the agriculture post reportedly developed in recent weeks, with progressive congresswoman Marcia Fudge a leading candidate. Instead Fudge, 68, was nominated to serve as secretary of housing and urban development, a position whose profile could also rise as the pandemic fuels a potential eviction crisis. Biden also chose international trade expert Katherine Tai to be the US trade representative. Tai, currently the chief trade lawyer for the House Ways and Means Committee, would be the first Asian American and first woman of color in the USTR role. The transition team also confirmed that Biden will travel to Georgia Tuesday to boost two Democratic candidates in tight run-off elections that will determine which party controls the US Senate. The trip coincides with the start of early voting there next Monday. The runoffs feature former journalist Jon Ossoff challenging Republican Senator David Perdue, and Raphael Warnock, pastor at one of the most prominent Black churches in America, running to unseat Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler. Biden narrowly won Georgia in the presidential race. The tight state contest has been challenged by President Donald Trump, who has made repeated accusations that the election was "rigged" and that massive fraud helped Biden win in Georgia and elsewhere. No evidence has emerged to support such claims.

Biden taps Susan Rice for domestic policy role, other Obama vets

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden is facing pressure from congressional Democrats to cancel student loan debt on a vast scale, quickly and by executive action, a campaign that will be one of the first tests of his relationship with the liberal wing of his party.

Biden has endorsed canceling $10,000 in federal student debt per borrower through legislation, and insisted that chipping away at the $1.7 trillion in loan debt held by more than 43 million borrowers is integral to his economic plan. But Democratic leaders, backed by the party’s left flank, are pressing for up to $50,000 of debt relief per borrower, executed on Day 1 of his presidency.

More than 200 organizations — including the American Federation of Teachers, the NAACP and others that were integral to his campaign — have joined the push.

The Education Department is effectively the country’s largest consumer bank and the primary lender, since 2010, for higher education. It owns student loans totaling $1.4 trillion, so forgiveness of some of that debt would be a rapid injection of cash into the pockets of many people suffering from the economic effects of the pandemic.

“There are a lot of people who came out to vote in this election who frankly did it as their last shot at seeing whether the government can really work for them,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “If we don’t deliver quick relief, it’s going to be very difficult to get them back.”

Many economists, including liberals, say higher education debt forgiveness is an inefficient way to help struggling Americans who face foreclosure, evictions and hunger. The working poor largely are not college graduates — more than 70% of unemployed workers do not have a bachelor’s degree, and 43% did not attend college at all, according to a report by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

While many Black students would benefit greatly from even modest loan forgiveness, debt relief overall would disproportionately benefit middle- to upper-class college graduates of all colors and ethnicities, especially those who attended elite and expensive institutions, and people with lucrative professional credentials like law and medical degrees.

An October analysis by the Brookings Institution found that almost 60% of America’s educational debt is owed by households in the nation’s top 40% of earners, with an annual income of $74,000 or more.

People who go to college “are often from more advantaged backgrounds, and they end up doing very well in the labor market,” said Adam Looney, a former Treasury official who helped write the analysis.

Without a parallel effort to curb tuition growth, one-time debt relief could actually lead to more higher-education debt in the future as students take on larger loans, hoping the government would at some point wipe them clean, a “moral hazard” that often accompanies one-time interventions. And it would be expensive: Canceling even $10,000 per person in debt would eliminate more than $400 billion in government assets, although calculating the true cost to the Treasury is tricky because of student loans’ long repayment time and high default rate.

Looney said canceling $50,000, at a projected cost of $1 trillion, would be “among the largest transfer programs in American history,” on par with decades of targeted spending on programs that exclusively benefit low-income families, such as the $992 billion spent on federal Pell grants since 1972 and the $1.4 trillion spent on welfare since 1975.

If debt relief overall would disproportionately flow to better-off Americans, even modest debt forgiveness would help many financially vulnerable people, especially people of color. Student debt load has tripled since 2006 and eclipsed both credit cards and auto loans as the largest source of household debt outside mortgages, and much of it falls on Black graduates, who owe an average of $7,400 more than their white peers at the time they leave school. Black borrowers also default at higher rates.

College dropouts, especially those who attended for-profit schools, often end up trapped by debt they cannot afford to repay.

“In this moment of national reckoning on racial injustice, the president-elect must cancel all federal student debt on Day 1 of his administration,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., said in a statement. “The president-elect must meet the moment. If he fails to, we will hold him accountable.”

An economic working paper published by the Roosevelt Institute casts debt forgiveness explicitly in racial-justice terms. The total percentage of Black households that would benefit would be greater than white households, and the relative gains for those households’ net worth are far larger, the researchers found. The greatest marginal gains come from canceling the smallest debts; wiping out $20,000 would end student debt for half of all households with loans.

Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate Democratic leader, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in a joint op-ed last week that $50,000 debt cancellations would give “Black and brown families across the country a far better shot at building financial security” and would be the “single most effective executive action available to provide massive stimulus to our economy.”

To truly break the debt cycle, though, forgiveness would need to be paired with policy changes addressing the underlying cause of America’s skyrocketing student debt: affordability.

“The real problem is the cost of higher education,” said Betsy Mayotte, president and founder of the Institute of Student Loan Advisors. “Unless you’re going to solve the problem, forgiveness is just throwing away money.”

Biden’s campaign platform proposed making public universities tuition-free for families making less than $125,000 a year.

“The virus epidemic has accelerated some of the trends that are strangling public higher education,” said Louise Seamster of the University of Iowa and a co-author of the Roosevelt Institute paper. She said a momentous move like debt forgiveness could spur “new ways of thinking.”

“A lot of the debate has gotten stale because we’ve been limited in thinking about the fixes,” she said.

But student debt forgiveness could have serious political implications. In 2009, relief extended by President Barack Obama to homeowners with houses suddenly worth less than their mortgages was the original spark for the Tea Party movement, driven by people who fastidiously paid their home loans and felt left out. The dynamic would almost certainly repeat itself as earlier and later borrowers wondered why they had to pay off their loans.

“I don’t believe any president has the authority to give away hundreds of billions of dollars through the stroke of a pen,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. “And I think doing so is profoundly unfair to the millions of Americans who worked hard to pay down their student debt.”

The legal argument for debt cancellation by executive action hinges on a passage in the Higher Education Act of 1965 that gives the education secretary the power to “compromise, waive or release” federal student loan debts. Schumer and Warren maintain that Biden can broadly use that power, and several lawyers have written analyses backing that view.

But former government lawyers have warned that across-the-board forgiveness would face legal challenges from Republicans. And Biden has never publicly endorsed the idea. Some close to him say he recognizes the risks and consequences of bypassing Congress.

There is more consensus that the $10,000 proposal would reach the most vulnerable borrowers, the estimated 15 million who have low debt under $10,000, often because they did not complete their degrees.

Some experts argue that Biden has other, more progressive options for taming student debt, such as improving existing repayment plans that link borrowers’ loan payments to their incomes.

The government has struggled to get all borrowers who would benefit from income-linked plans enrolled in them, in part because the loan servicers it hired to work with borrowers and collect their payments have not guided people through the complicated process of getting and staying enrolled.

A separate program to forgive the debts of those who work in public-service careers has an even grimmer track record, and a long-standing program to forgive the debts of graduates bilked by their universities — usually for-profit colleges — has been crippled by the Trump administration.

The “benefit of outright cancellation is simplicity,” said Eileen Connor, legal director at the Project on Predatory Student Lending at Harvard Law School, which represents thousands of students defrauded by their colleges and mired in legal fights with the Education Department over loan forgiveness.

“We are facing an unprecedented public health and economic crisis, and we need to use every tool readily available to keep families and the economy afloat,” Connor said.

Biden has continued to push for the passage of legislation that called for some loan forgiveness, named the Heroes Act, that the House passed in the spring.

Student debt holders are “having to make choices between paying their student loan and paying the rent, those kinds of decisions,” Biden said at a news conference last month.

Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 Democrat in the House whose endorsement was key to Biden winning the presidency, said the president-elect should first try legislation. If that fails, Clyburn argued, Biden should use an executive order.

“I sit here in this Congress because of an executive order, the Emancipation Proclamation. Harry Truman used an executive order to integrate the armed services,” Clyburn said.

“Let them sue,” he added. “They’re not the only ones that can employ lawyers.”

Clyburn, who speaks with Biden frequently, said in an interview that he did not think that what Biden proposed during the campaign “goes quite far enough.”

“I’ve got people with $130,000 in student debt. What’s $10,000 going to do for that person?” asked Clyburn, whose legislation to eliminate up to $50,000 would completely cancel student debt for 75% of borrowers.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said he hoped the two parties could find common ground on the issue. He introduced a bipartisan bill that would allow employers to contribute up to $5,250 tax-free to their employees’ student loans, which was included as a temporary provision in the coronavirus relief law this spring.

“There’s no question that student debt is a problem in this country, but simply forgiving student loans is not the answer,” Thune said.

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden is facing pressure from congressional Democrats to cancel student loan debt on a vast scale, quickly and by executive action, a campaign that will be one of the first tests of his relationship with the liberal wing of his party.

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden is facing pressure from congressional Democrats to cancel student loan debt on a vast scale, quickly and by executive action, a campaign that will be one of the first tests of his relationship with the liberal wing of his party. Biden has endorsed canceling $10,000 in federal student debt per borrower through legislation, and insisted that chipping away at the $1.7 trillion in loan debt held by more than 43 million borrowers is integral to his economic plan. But Democratic leaders, backed by the party’s left flank, are pressing for up to $50,000 of debt relief per borrower, executed on Day 1 of his presidency. More than 200 organizations — including the American Federation of Teachers, the NAACP and others that were integral to his campaign — have joined the push. The Education Department is effectively the country’s largest consumer bank and the primary lender, since 2010, for higher education. It owns student loans totaling $1.4 trillion, so forgiveness of some of that debt would be a rapid injection of cash into the pockets of many people suffering from the economic effects of the pandemic. “There are a lot of people who came out to vote in this election who frankly did it as their last shot at seeing whether the government can really work for them,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “If we don’t deliver quick relief, it’s going to be very difficult to get them back.” Many economists, including liberals, say higher education debt forgiveness is an inefficient way to help struggling Americans who face foreclosure, evictions and hunger. The working poor largely are not college graduates — more than 70% of unemployed workers do not have a bachelor’s degree, and 43% did not attend college at all, according to a report by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. While many Black students would benefit greatly from even modest loan forgiveness, debt relief overall would disproportionately benefit middle- to upper-class college graduates of all colors and ethnicities, especially those who attended elite and expensive institutions, and people with lucrative professional credentials like law and medical degrees. An October analysis by the Brookings Institution found that almost 60% of America’s educational debt is owed by households in the nation’s top 40% of earners, with an annual income of $74,000 or more. People who go to college “are often from more advantaged backgrounds, and they end up doing very well in the labor market,” said Adam Looney, a former Treasury official who helped write the analysis. Without a parallel effort to curb tuition growth, one-time debt relief could actually lead to more higher-education debt in the future as students take on larger loans, hoping the government would at some point wipe them clean, a “moral hazard” that often accompanies one-time interventions. And it would be expensive: Canceling even $10,000 per person in debt would eliminate more than $400 billion in government assets, although calculating the true cost to the Treasury is tricky because of student loans’ long repayment time and high default rate. Looney said canceling $50,000, at a projected cost of $1 trillion, would be “among the largest transfer programs in American history,” on par with decades of targeted spending on programs that exclusively benefit low-income families, such as the $992 billion spent on federal Pell grants since 1972 and the $1.4 trillion spent on welfare since 1975. If debt relief overall would disproportionately flow to better-off Americans, even modest debt forgiveness would help many financially vulnerable people, especially people of color. Student debt load has tripled since 2006 and eclipsed both credit cards and auto loans as the largest source of household debt outside mortgages, and much of it falls on Black graduates, who owe an average of $7,400 more than their white peers at the time they leave school. Black borrowers also default at higher rates. College dropouts, especially those who attended for-profit schools, often end up trapped by debt they cannot afford to repay. “In this moment of national reckoning on racial injustice, the president-elect must cancel all federal student debt on Day 1 of his administration,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., said in a statement. “The president-elect must meet the moment. If he fails to, we will hold him accountable.” An economic working paper published by the Roosevelt Institute casts debt forgiveness explicitly in racial-justice terms. The total percentage of Black households that would benefit would be greater than white households, and the relative gains for those households’ net worth are far larger, the researchers found. The greatest marginal gains come from canceling the smallest debts; wiping out $20,000 would end student debt for half of all households with loans. Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate Democratic leader, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in a joint op-ed last week that $50,000 debt cancellations would give “Black and brown families across the country a far better shot at building financial security” and would be the “single most effective executive action available to provide massive stimulus to our economy.” To truly break the debt cycle, though, forgiveness would need to be paired with policy changes addressing the underlying cause of America’s skyrocketing student debt: affordability. “The real problem is the cost of higher education,” said Betsy Mayotte, president and founder of the Institute of Student Loan Advisors. “Unless you’re going to solve the problem, forgiveness is just throwing away money.” Biden’s campaign platform proposed making public universities tuition-free for families making less than $125,000 a year. “The virus epidemic has accelerated some of the trends that are strangling public higher education,” said Louise Seamster of the University of Iowa and a co-author of the Roosevelt Institute paper. She said a momentous move like debt forgiveness could spur “new ways of thinking.” “A lot of the debate has gotten stale because we’ve been limited in thinking about the fixes,” she said. But student debt forgiveness could have serious political implications. In 2009, relief extended by President Barack Obama to homeowners with houses suddenly worth less than their mortgages was the original spark for the Tea Party movement, driven by people who fastidiously paid their home loans and felt left out. The dynamic would almost certainly repeat itself as earlier and later borrowers wondered why they had to pay off their loans. “I don’t believe any president has the authority to give away hundreds of billions of dollars through the stroke of a pen,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. “And I think doing so is profoundly unfair to the millions of Americans who worked hard to pay down their student debt.” The legal argument for debt cancellation by executive action hinges on a passage in the Higher Education Act of 1965 that gives the education secretary the power to “compromise, waive or release” federal student loan debts. Schumer and Warren maintain that Biden can broadly use that power, and several lawyers have written analyses backing that view. But former government lawyers have warned that across-the-board forgiveness would face legal challenges from Republicans. And Biden has never publicly endorsed the idea. Some close to him say he recognizes the risks and consequences of bypassing Congress. There is more consensus that the $10,000 proposal would reach the most vulnerable borrowers, the estimated 15 million who have low debt under $10,000, often because they did not complete their degrees. Some experts argue that Biden has other, more progressive options for taming student debt, such as improving existing repayment plans that link borrowers’ loan payments to their incomes. The government has struggled to get all borrowers who would benefit from income-linked plans enrolled in them, in part because the loan servicers it hired to work with borrowers and collect their payments have not guided people through the complicated process of getting and staying enrolled. A separate program to forgive the debts of those who work in public-service careers has an even grimmer track record, and a long-standing program to forgive the debts of graduates bilked by their universities — usually for-profit colleges — has been crippled by the Trump administration. The “benefit of outright cancellation is simplicity,” said Eileen Connor, legal director at the Project on Predatory Student Lending at Harvard Law School, which represents thousands of students defrauded by their colleges and mired in legal fights with the Education Department over loan forgiveness. “We are facing an unprecedented public health and economic crisis, and we need to use every tool readily available to keep families and the economy afloat,” Connor said. Biden has continued to push for the passage of legislation that called for some loan forgiveness, named the Heroes Act, that the House passed in the spring. Student debt holders are “having to make choices between paying their student loan and paying the rent, those kinds of decisions,” Biden said at a news conference last month. Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 Democrat in the House whose endorsement was key to Biden winning the presidency, said the president-elect should first try legislation. If that fails, Clyburn argued, Biden should use an executive order. “I sit here in this Congress because of an executive order, the Emancipation Proclamation. Harry Truman used an executive order to integrate the armed services,” Clyburn said. “Let them sue,” he added. “They’re not the only ones that can employ lawyers.” Clyburn, who speaks with Biden frequently, said in an interview that he did not think that what Biden proposed during the campaign “goes quite far enough.” “I’ve got people with $130,000 in student debt. What’s $10,000 going to do for that person?” asked Clyburn, whose legislation to eliminate up to $50,000 would completely cancel student debt for 75% of borrowers. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said he hoped the two parties could find common ground on the issue. He introduced a bipartisan bill that would allow employers to contribute up to $5,250 tax-free to their employees’ student loans, which was included as a temporary provision in the coronavirus relief law this spring. “There’s no question that student debt is a problem in this country, but simply forgiving student loans is not the answer,” Thune said.

Student loan cancellation sets up clash between Biden and the Left

If you think only US President Donald Trump can have the honour of high-rise towers being named after him around the world, you might be in for a surprise. President-elect Joe Biden has a municipal swimming pool in Delaware named after him.

Biden has been a US senator for nearly four decades and vice-president under Barack Obama. He's hardly unknown. But his humility strikes a chord with many in his hometown.

His son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015, is buried at Saint Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic church. So are Biden's first wife Neilia and their infant daughter, Naomi, killed in a 1972 car crash.

But there's a self-promotion vibe too, which somehow, if not fully, matches with Trump's.

Take the three most prominent Biden landmarks found in Delaware:

- Joseph R Biden Jr Aquatic Center (the Wilmington swimming pool where he worked as a lifeguard in his youth).

- Joseph R Biden Jr Railroad Station (Wilmington's Amtrak stop, which the soon-to-be 46th president used every day while in the Senate to get back to his family at night).

- And last but not least, the Biden Welcome Centre, a stopoff with toilets and fast food for motorists on the Interstate-95 motorway.

Also, Wilmington -- Biden's hometown -- isn't famous for much. But efforts are underway to revitalise the depressed downtown.

Talking of Trump, he has emblazoned his name in huge capital letters -- often in gold for good measure -- on buildings and swanky properties all the way from Las Vegas to Scotland.

In New York City alone there's Trump Tower, Trump World Tower, Trump Plaza, The Trump Building, Trump Parc, Trump Park Avenue and Trump International Hotel and Tower.

Then there are the Trump books, like "Trump: How to Get Rich," the Trump golf courses, Trump casinos and more.

So enamoured is the Republican with his own name that he has a habit of referring during speeches to "Trump" in the third person, as if standing back to admire himself.

So, in comparison, to say that Biden is grounded in Wilmington is no exaggeration.

But there's surely this vibe -- that reeks of self-promotion. Maybe it comes with being the most important person in the most important country. After all, a president's got to do what he ought to do.

(with inputs)

If you think only US President Donald Trump can have the honour of high-rise towers being named after him around the world, you might be in for a surprise. President-elect Joe Biden has a municipal swimming pool in Delaware named after him.

If you think only US President Donald Trump can have the honour of high-rise towers being named after him around the world, you might be in for a surprise. President-elect Joe Biden has a municipal swimming pool in Delaware named after him. Biden has been a US senator for nearly four decades and vice-president under Barack Obama. He's hardly unknown. But his humility strikes a chord with many in his hometown. His son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015, is buried at Saint Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic church. So are Biden's first wife Neilia and their infant daughter, Naomi, killed in a 1972 car crash. But there's a self-promotion vibe too, which somehow, if not fully, matches with Trump's. Take the three most prominent Biden landmarks found in Delaware: - Joseph R Biden Jr Aquatic Center (the Wilmington swimming pool where he worked as a lifeguard in his youth). - Joseph R Biden Jr Railroad Station (Wilmington's Amtrak stop, which the soon-to-be 46th president used every day while in the Senate to get back to his family at night). - And last but not least, the Biden Welcome Centre, a stopoff with toilets and fast food for motorists on the Interstate-95 motorway. Also, Wilmington -- Biden's hometown -- isn't famous for much. But efforts are underway to revitalise the depressed downtown. Talking of Trump, he has emblazoned his name in huge capital letters -- often in gold for good measure -- on buildings and swanky properties all the way from Las Vegas to Scotland. In New York City alone there's Trump Tower, Trump World Tower, Trump Plaza, The Trump Building, Trump Parc, Trump Park Avenue and Trump International Hotel and Tower. Then there are the Trump books, like "Trump: How to Get Rich," the Trump golf courses, Trump casinos and more. So enamoured is the Republican with his own name that he has a habit of referring during speeches to "Trump" in the third person, as if standing back to admire himself. So, in comparison, to say that Biden is grounded in Wilmington is no exaggeration. But there's surely this vibe -- that reeks of self-promotion. Maybe it comes with being the most important person in the most important country. After all, a president's got to do what he ought to do. (with inputs)

Move over Trump Tower. Think Biden municipal swimming pool now

US President Donald Trump has not conceded the election to Joe Biden, he and Republican Party are receiving setbacks after setbacks in courts across US. He is still no ready to offer evidence and is making baseless claims. And now, it has come to light that US First Lady Melania Trump is quietly making plans for her life after White House as she 'just want to go home'.

Multiple US news outlets have quoted sources who have said these words about Melania Trump. While she agrees with her husband Donald Trump who says that the US elections were rigged and that he's hopeful to continue as president, Melania Trump has reportedly 'tasked an emissary' to discreetly find out what's available for her in budget and staff allocation for her life after White House.

It has also been reported that it may not go down well with her if Donald Trump announces plans to run for president in 2024.

Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-attorneys-office-is-investigating-my-taxes-says-joe-bidens-son-hunter-biden-348707">US attorney's office is investigating my taxes, says Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden</a>

Melania Trump is said to be focussed on her legacy and said to be considering a book though it is likely to be a photo-centric book.

"Mrs. Trump is focused on her role as the first lady. Monday she unveiled her most current effort in preserving the White House by announcing the completion of the tennis pavilion. She also recently unveiled a new piece of art in the newly renovated Rose Garden. Her office just revealed this year`s Christmas decor. Her schedule remains full with her duties as a mother, wife and first lady of the United States," the first lady`s chief of staff Stephanie Grisham told CNN

US President Donald Trump has not conceded the election to Joe Biden, he and Republican Party are receiving setbacks after setbacks in courts across US. He is still no ready to offer evidence and is making baseless claims.

US President Donald Trump has not conceded the election to Joe Biden, he and Republican Party are receiving setbacks after setbacks in courts across US. He is still no ready to offer evidence and is making baseless claims. And now, it has come to light that US First Lady Melania Trump is quietly making plans for her life after White House as she 'just want to go home'. Multiple US news outlets have quoted sources who have said these words about Melania Trump. While she agrees with her husband Donald Trump who says that the US elections were rigged and that he's hopeful to continue as president, Melania Trump has reportedly 'tasked an emissary' to discreetly find out what's available for her in budget and staff allocation for her life after White House. It has also been reported that it may not go down well with her if Donald Trump announces plans to run for president in 2024. Also Read: US attorney's office is investigating my taxes, says Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden Melania Trump is said to be focussed on her legacy and said to be considering a book though it is likely to be a photo-centric book. "Mrs. Trump is focused on her role as the first lady. Monday she unveiled her most current effort in preserving the White House by announcing the completion of the tennis pavilion. She also recently unveiled a new piece of art in the newly renovated Rose Garden. Her office just revealed this year`s Christmas decor. Her schedule remains full with her duties as a mother, wife and first lady of the United States," the first lady`s chief of staff Stephanie Grisham told CNN

US First Lady Melania Trump 'just wants to go home'

In a separate brief, lawyers for 17 states led by Missouri’s Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt also urged the justices to hear the case.

US Election 2020: Donald Trump pins his last hope on Texas lawsuit

President-elect Joe Biden has selected Katherine Tai, the chief trade lawyer for the House Ways and Means Committee, to serve as U.S. trade representative, four sources familiar with the decision said on Wednesday.

Tai, 45, who won the backing of congressional Democrats, labor and business circles in recent weeks, played a key role in negotiating stronger labor provisions with the Trump administration in the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade deal.

If confirmed as Biden`s "trade czar," Tai will play a pivotal role in helping to rebuild ties with key allies, re-energize manufacturing at home and punish Beijing for anti-competitive trade practices.

She would be the first woman of color to hold the job.

Her name surfaced as the leading contender for the job earlier this month, as reported by Reuters.

Biden is expected to formally announce Tai as his top trade negotiator later this week, said one of the sources. A spokesman for the Biden transition declined to comment on the news, which was first reported by Politico.

A Yale and Harvard-educated Chinese American who speaks Mandarin and taught university English for two years in Guangzhou, Tai headed China trade enforcement at the U.S. Trade Representative`s office (USTR) from 2011 to 2014.

In that role, Tai was the main attorney litigating trade violation cases against China before the World Trade Organization, experience that will guide her as she works to hammer out the next phase of a trade agreement with Beijing.

In August, Tai called for a different approach to China from the 2-1/2-year tariff war waged by current trade czar Robert Lighthizer, arguing that the United States needed a better offense than tariffs, which, she said, were largely defensive in nature.

News of her selection was welcomed by Democrats in the House of Representatives and Senate.

Senator Ron Wyden, top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, called Tai "an inspired choice" and urged the Republican-controlled Senate to process her nomination as quickly as possible.

"Ms. Tai has the experience she needs to succeed as USTR, and her record of getting wins for American workers demonstrates she knows how to champion the values that matter to U.S. families," he said in a statement.

David Skillman, a senior associate at the Arnold &amp; Porter law firm who worked closely with Tai when he was chief counsel to the head of the House trade subcommittee, said she would do well leading USTR as it faced coming challenges.

"Katherine has terrific policy chops and great political skills, but more importantly, she’s just unflappable. The next USTR has a very tough road ahead of her, and Katherine has the ability to bring people together to make progress," he said.

President-elect Joe Biden has selected Katherine Tai, the chief trade lawyer for the House Ways and Means Committee, to serve as U.S. trade representative, four sources familiar with the decision said on Wednesday.

President-elect Joe Biden has selected Katherine Tai, the chief trade lawyer for the House Ways and Means Committee, to serve as U.S. trade representative, four sources familiar with the decision said on Wednesday. Tai, 45, who won the backing of congressional Democrats, labor and business circles in recent weeks, played a key role in negotiating stronger labor provisions with the Trump administration in the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade deal. If confirmed as Biden`s "trade czar," Tai will play a pivotal role in helping to rebuild ties with key allies, re-energize manufacturing at home and punish Beijing for anti-competitive trade practices. She would be the first woman of color to hold the job. Her name surfaced as the leading contender for the job earlier this month, as reported by Reuters. Biden is expected to formally announce Tai as his top trade negotiator later this week, said one of the sources. A spokesman for the Biden transition declined to comment on the news, which was first reported by Politico. A Yale and Harvard-educated Chinese American who speaks Mandarin and taught university English for two years in Guangzhou, Tai headed China trade enforcement at the U.S. Trade Representative`s office (USTR) from 2011 to 2014. In that role, Tai was the main attorney litigating trade violation cases against China before the World Trade Organization, experience that will guide her as she works to hammer out the next phase of a trade agreement with Beijing. In August, Tai called for a different approach to China from the 2-1/2-year tariff war waged by current trade czar Robert Lighthizer, arguing that the United States needed a better offense than tariffs, which, she said, were largely defensive in nature. News of her selection was welcomed by Democrats in the House of Representatives and Senate. Senator Ron Wyden, top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, called Tai "an inspired choice" and urged the Republican-controlled Senate to process her nomination as quickly as possible. "Ms. Tai has the experience she needs to succeed as USTR, and her record of getting wins for American workers demonstrates she knows how to champion the values that matter to U.S. families," he said in a statement. David Skillman, a senior associate at the Arnold & Porter law firm who worked closely with Tai when he was chief counsel to the head of the House trade subcommittee, said she would do well leading USTR as it faced coming challenges. "Katherine has terrific policy chops and great political skills, but more importantly, she’s just unflappable. The next USTR has a very tough road ahead of her, and Katherine has the ability to bring people together to make progress," he said.

Biden picks Capitol Hill staffer Tai as US trade 'czar'

Current US President Donald Trump said he was hopful that he would be the next US president on the same day Republican Party's assertion of election fraud was rejected by US Supreme Court. In spite of ample indication of President-elect Joe Biden's victory in US Presidential election 2020, Trump has continued to make unsubstantiated claims of widespread election fraud.

"Hopefully the next administration will be the Trump administration, a continuation -- which has led us to the highest stock markets we've ever had, the best employment numbers we've ever had, a rebuilt military," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday (local time) during a vaccine summit.

Trump was responding to a question on why he did not invite members of the Biden transition team to the meeting, which deliberated on his plans to distribute COVID-19 vaccine in the US.

Trump said because of the "great work" he did, he was "rewarded" with a victory.

On Tuesday itself, Republican Party's attempts to invalidated election results in Pennsylvania were thwarted by US Supreme Court

The lawsuit was brought-in by US congressman Mike Kelly, a Trump ally and other Pennsylvania Republicans. They said that state's 2019 expansion of mail-in voting was illegal under state law.

Trump had won the state in 2016 presidential elections but this time Biden clinched the state by 80,000 votes.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-supreme-court-throws-out-trumps-claim-of-election-fraud-in-pennsylvania-348430">US Supreme Court throws out Trump's claim of election fraud in Pennsylvania</a>

Pennsylvania has already certified election results in favour of US President-elect Joe Biden.

Trump's attempt to invalidate elections results via legal routes has not been successful and he or Republican Party have suffered defeat after defeats in various courts in the US.

(With agency inputs)

Current US President Donald Trump said he was hopful that he would be the next US president on the same day Republican Party's assertion of election fraud was rejected by US Supreme Court.

Current US President Donald Trump said he was hopful that he would be the next US president on the same day Republican Party's assertion of election fraud was rejected by US Supreme Court. In spite of ample indication of President-elect Joe Biden's victory in US Presidential election 2020, Trump has continued to make unsubstantiated claims of widespread election fraud. "Hopefully the next administration will be the Trump administration, a continuation -- which has led us to the highest stock markets we've ever had, the best employment numbers we've ever had, a rebuilt military," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday (local time) during a vaccine summit. Trump was responding to a question on why he did not invite members of the Biden transition team to the meeting, which deliberated on his plans to distribute COVID-19 vaccine in the US. Trump said because of the "great work" he did, he was "rewarded" with a victory. On Tuesday itself, Republican Party's attempts to invalidated election results in Pennsylvania were thwarted by US Supreme Court The lawsuit was brought-in by US congressman Mike Kelly, a Trump ally and other Pennsylvania Republicans. They said that state's 2019 expansion of mail-in voting was illegal under state law. Trump had won the state in 2016 presidential elections but this time Biden clinched the state by 80,000 votes. Also Read | US Supreme Court throws out Trump's claim of election fraud in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania has already certified election results in favour of US President-elect Joe Biden. Trump's attempt to invalidate elections results via legal routes has not been successful and he or Republican Party have suffered defeat after defeats in various courts in the US. (With agency inputs)

Hopeful I'll remain US president, says Trump on same day of legal defeat in US Supreme Court

US Supreme Court gave a blow to Republicans seeking to throw out 2.5 milliion mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania and undo Joe Biden's election victory. The court refused to block the state from formalising Joe Biden's victory there.

The lawsuit was brought-in by US congressman Mike Kelly, a Trump ally and other Pennsylvania Republicans. They said that state's 2019 expansion of mail-in voting was illegal under state law.

Trump had won the state in 2016 presidential elections but this time Biden clinched the state by 80,000 votes.

The Republican plaintiffs argued that the universal, "no-excuse" mail-in ballot program passed by the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania legislature in 2019, enabling voters to cast ballots by mail for any reason, violated the state`s constitution.

Trump`s campaign and his allies have lost in a stream of lawsuits in key states won by Biden, also including Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and others. Judges have rejected sweeping assertions of voting irregularities.

Biden has amassed 306 electoral votes - exceeding the necessary 270 - compared to 232 for Trump in the state-by-state Electoral College that determines the election`s outcome, while also winning the national popular vote by more than 7 million votes.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/hopeful-ill-remain-president-says-trump-on-same-day-of-legal-defeat-in-us-supreme-court-348441">Hopeful I'll remain president, says Trump on same day of legal defeat in US Supreme Court</a>

However, Trump is yet to concede and instead chosen to make baseless allegations about election fraud and has not provided any evidence.

"This election is over. We must continue to stop this circus of `lawsuits` and move forward," Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, wrote on Twitter.

(With Reuters inputs)

US Supreme Court gave a blow to Republicans seeking to throw out 2.5 milliion mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania and undo Joe Biden's election victory. The court refused to block the state from formalising Joe Biden's victory there.

US Supreme Court gave a blow to Republicans seeking to throw out 2.5 milliion mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania and undo Joe Biden's election victory. The court refused to block the state from formalising Joe Biden's victory there. The lawsuit was brought-in by US congressman Mike Kelly, a Trump ally and other Pennsylvania Republicans. They said that state's 2019 expansion of mail-in voting was illegal under state law. Trump had won the state in 2016 presidential elections but this time Biden clinched the state by 80,000 votes. The Republican plaintiffs argued that the universal, "no-excuse" mail-in ballot program passed by the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania legislature in 2019, enabling voters to cast ballots by mail for any reason, violated the state`s constitution. Trump`s campaign and his allies have lost in a stream of lawsuits in key states won by Biden, also including Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and others. Judges have rejected sweeping assertions of voting irregularities. Biden has amassed 306 electoral votes - exceeding the necessary 270 - compared to 232 for Trump in the state-by-state Electoral College that determines the election`s outcome, while also winning the national popular vote by more than 7 million votes. Also Read | Hopeful I'll remain president, says Trump on same day of legal defeat in US Supreme Court However, Trump is yet to concede and instead chosen to make baseless allegations about election fraud and has not provided any evidence. "This election is over. We must continue to stop this circus of `lawsuits` and move forward," Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, wrote on Twitter. (With Reuters inputs)

US Supreme Court throws out Trump's claim of election fraud in Pennsylvania

US president-elect Joe Biden has laid out a plan to fight the coronavirus pandemic during his first 100 days in office -- according to which his first few months will likely be dominated by the pandemic, which is straining hospitals amid a nationwide resurgence.

He has vowed his administration would vaccinate 100 million Americans.

At a briefing in Wilmington, Delaware on Tuesday, Biden said he needed Congress to fully fund delivering vaccines to all corners of the United States.

Getting children back to school will be a national priority in the first 100 days, Biden said.

"In 100 days, we can change the course of the disease and change life in America for the better," said Biden, who takes office on Jan. 20. "Whatever your politics or point of view, mask up for 100 days."

The coronavirus has killed more than 283,000 Americans and caused millions to lose their jobs.

Biden, who formally introduced his public health team on Tuesday, also announced he would nominate retired Army General Lloyd Austin as the country's first Black defence secretary.

He also picked US Representative Marcia Fudge of Ohio to be the second Black woman to lead the Housing and Urban Development Department, and Tom Vilsack, the former agriculture secretary, to fill the same role again, according to news reports on Tuesday.

Biden introduced California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a Latino former congressman, as his nominee for secretary of health and human services. Becerra has a long record of supporting the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.

Jeff Zients, an economic adviser known for his managerial skills, will serve as Biden's coronavirus "czar," overseeing the pandemic response, including the vaccine distribution.

"Help is on the way," Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said after Biden's new healthcare team members introduced themselves. "And it is long overdue."

Trump has so far refused to concede his November 3 election defeat, citing unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud. On Tuesday, Texas filed a lawsuit petitioning the US Supreme Court to throw out the results in four other states in a long-shot bid to help Trump reverse the election's outcome.

The Trump campaign and allies have filed numerous lawsuits seeking to challenge vote counts in multiple states but have met with little success. State officials have said they have found no evidence of widespread fraud.

The rest of Biden's top public health advisors include Dr. Rochelle Walensky, chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, who will run the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who will also be Biden's chief medical adviser on the virus; and Dr. Vivek Murthy, the former surgeon general, who will reprise that role under Biden.

US president-elect Joe Biden has laid out a plan to fight the coronavirus pandemic during his first 100 days in office -- according to which his first few months will likely be dominated by the pandemic, which is straining hospitals amid a nationwide resurgence.

US president-elect Joe Biden has laid out a plan to fight the coronavirus pandemic during his first 100 days in office -- according to which his first few months will likely be dominated by the pandemic, which is straining hospitals amid a nationwide resurgence. He has vowed his administration would vaccinate 100 million Americans. At a briefing in Wilmington, Delaware on Tuesday, Biden said he needed Congress to fully fund delivering vaccines to all corners of the United States. Getting children back to school will be a national priority in the first 100 days, Biden said. "In 100 days, we can change the course of the disease and change life in America for the better," said Biden, who takes office on Jan. 20. "Whatever your politics or point of view, mask up for 100 days." The coronavirus has killed more than 283,000 Americans and caused millions to lose their jobs. Biden, who formally introduced his public health team on Tuesday, also announced he would nominate retired Army General Lloyd Austin as the country's first Black defence secretary. He also picked US Representative Marcia Fudge of Ohio to be the second Black woman to lead the Housing and Urban Development Department, and Tom Vilsack, the former agriculture secretary, to fill the same role again, according to news reports on Tuesday. Biden introduced California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a Latino former congressman, as his nominee for secretary of health and human services. Becerra has a long record of supporting the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. Jeff Zients, an economic adviser known for his managerial skills, will serve as Biden's coronavirus "czar," overseeing the pandemic response, including the vaccine distribution. "Help is on the way," Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said after Biden's new healthcare team members introduced themselves. "And it is long overdue." Trump has so far refused to concede his November 3 election defeat, citing unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud. On Tuesday, Texas filed a lawsuit petitioning the US Supreme Court to throw out the results in four other states in a long-shot bid to help Trump reverse the election's outcome. The Trump campaign and allies have filed numerous lawsuits seeking to challenge vote counts in multiple states but have met with little success. State officials have said they have found no evidence of widespread fraud. The rest of Biden's top public health advisors include Dr. Rochelle Walensky, chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, who will run the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who will also be Biden's chief medical adviser on the virus; and Dr. Vivek Murthy, the former surgeon general, who will reprise that role under Biden.

Biden vows 100 million COVID-19 vaccinations in his first 100 days in office

President-elect Joe Biden has made it clear that his preferred method for dealing with Iran is to find a way back to the nuclear deal the Obama administration concluded in 2015, while bargaining for an extension to some of its key provisions.

“If Iran returns to strict compliance,” Biden wrote in a September op-ed for CNN, “the United States would rejoin the agreement as a starting point for follow-on negotiations.”

The Iranian regime, for its part, has made it clear that, in reaction to last month’s assassination of its nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, it intends to ramp up its production of enriched uranium while threatening to expel international inspectors by early February if the United States doesn’t immediately lift sanctions.

The regime has also ruled out any extensions to the nuclear deal, from which President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018. “It will never be renegotiated,” said Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. “Period.”

There’s a way out of this impasse. The Biden administration should — and, more important, can — bide its time.

Tehran is desperate to have sanctions lifted. In 2016, after the nuclear deal had taken effect, it exported roughly 2.1 million barrels of crude oil a day. In 2020, after the Trump administration imposed sanctions, it exported less than a quarter of that. The inflation rate is running somewhere between 42% and 99%. Protests a year ago, triggered by a rise in fuel prices, led to massive street demonstrations calling for an end to the regime.

The regime’s response to its economic and political crises has been to up the stakes. It wagers that it can provoke a nuclear crisis and then stampede the new administration into giving up its immense economic leverage even before meaningful negotiations begin. Once the main sanctions are lifted, Tehran can concede things it never had a right to withdraw, such as U.N. access to its nuclear facilities under the terms of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, while haggling for things it shouldn’t be allowed to get, such as the lifting of sanctions on an Iranian airline that supports the regime’s proxies.

But Tehran’s escalation is also a bluff. There’s a limit to how far it can go in provoking a nuclear crisis with the United States without risking a confrontation with an enemy that is much closer to home.

In the past six months, explosions in Iran have destroyed large parts of a centrifuge manufacturing facility in Natanz, a secretive military installation at Parchin, a power plant in Isfahan, a missile facility in Khojir and an underground military installation in Tehran, among other places. Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, al-Qaida’s second-highest leader, was gunned down in August in the streets of Tehran. As for Fakhrizadeh, he was not the first Iranian nuclear scientist to meet a violent end and probably won’t be the last.

Nobody has taken responsibility for these attacks, but nobody is in much doubt about their source, either. They reveal an astonishing degree of penetration of the Iranian security complex. If Tehran tries to race toward nuclear breakout, it knows it will encounter a determined and effective challenge. There’s a limit to how far the regime can go with its provocations before those provocations become dangerous to the regime itself.

In short, Tehran’s negotiating position is weak and its options for escalation are limited. (Even its apparent attack last year on Saudi Arabia’s oil installations, while technically impressive, did little permanent damage to the kingdom while accelerating the recent Arab-Israeli rapprochement.) If disputed rumors of the 81-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s ill health prove true, the country would experience its first transfer of real authority since 1989, another tumultuous event for an already unpopular regime.

Contrast this with the Biden administration, which will come into office holding four powerful cards — assuming it chooses to play them. First, it can credibly outsource effective deterrence to Israel without having to bear the immediate risks. Second, it can leverage the military, economic, intelligence and diplomatic resources of an increasingly united Israeli-Arab front. Third, it doesn’t have to impose new sanctions to cripple Iran’s economy. It merely has to enforce the ones already in place.

Finally, there is growing evidence that Iran has long been in breach of its past commitments by hiding hundreds of tons of nuclear equipment and material that should have been disclosed under the terms of the nuclear deal. The Biden administration and its European partners have a right and responsibility to insist that Tehran provide a full accounting of that material as the entry price of negotiations.

There is a road toward a credible and durable deal with Iran that can muster the kind of regional support and bipartisan buy-in the last one lacked. It’s a deal that forces the regime to choose between a nuclear program or a functioning economy, rather than getting both. A Biden administration that has the patience to see through Tehran’s bluster can be rewarded with a lasting diplomatic achievement that a future administration, unlike the last one, will not easily erase.

President-elect Joe Biden has made it clear that his preferred method for dealing with Iran is to find a way back to the nuclear deal the Obama administration concluded in 2015, while bargaining for an extension to some of its key provisions.

President-elect Joe Biden has made it clear that his preferred method for dealing with Iran is to find a way back to the nuclear deal the Obama administration concluded in 2015, while bargaining for an extension to some of its key provisions. “If Iran returns to strict compliance,” Biden wrote in a September op-ed for CNN, “the United States would rejoin the agreement as a starting point for follow-on negotiations.” The Iranian regime, for its part, has made it clear that, in reaction to last month’s assassination of its nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, it intends to ramp up its production of enriched uranium while threatening to expel international inspectors by early February if the United States doesn’t immediately lift sanctions. The regime has also ruled out any extensions to the nuclear deal, from which President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018. “It will never be renegotiated,” said Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. “Period.” There’s a way out of this impasse. The Biden administration should — and, more important, can — bide its time. Tehran is desperate to have sanctions lifted. In 2016, after the nuclear deal had taken effect, it exported roughly 2.1 million barrels of crude oil a day. In 2020, after the Trump administration imposed sanctions, it exported less than a quarter of that. The inflation rate is running somewhere between 42% and 99%. Protests a year ago, triggered by a rise in fuel prices, led to massive street demonstrations calling for an end to the regime. The regime’s response to its economic and political crises has been to up the stakes. It wagers that it can provoke a nuclear crisis and then stampede the new administration into giving up its immense economic leverage even before meaningful negotiations begin. Once the main sanctions are lifted, Tehran can concede things it never had a right to withdraw, such as U.N. access to its nuclear facilities under the terms of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, while haggling for things it shouldn’t be allowed to get, such as the lifting of sanctions on an Iranian airline that supports the regime’s proxies. But Tehran’s escalation is also a bluff. There’s a limit to how far it can go in provoking a nuclear crisis with the United States without risking a confrontation with an enemy that is much closer to home. In the past six months, explosions in Iran have destroyed large parts of a centrifuge manufacturing facility in Natanz, a secretive military installation at Parchin, a power plant in Isfahan, a missile facility in Khojir and an underground military installation in Tehran, among other places. Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, al-Qaida’s second-highest leader, was gunned down in August in the streets of Tehran. As for Fakhrizadeh, he was not the first Iranian nuclear scientist to meet a violent end and probably won’t be the last. Nobody has taken responsibility for these attacks, but nobody is in much doubt about their source, either. They reveal an astonishing degree of penetration of the Iranian security complex. If Tehran tries to race toward nuclear breakout, it knows it will encounter a determined and effective challenge. There’s a limit to how far the regime can go with its provocations before those provocations become dangerous to the regime itself. In short, Tehran’s negotiating position is weak and its options for escalation are limited. (Even its apparent attack last year on Saudi Arabia’s oil installations, while technically impressive, did little permanent damage to the kingdom while accelerating the recent Arab-Israeli rapprochement.) If disputed rumors of the 81-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s ill health prove true, the country would experience its first transfer of real authority since 1989, another tumultuous event for an already unpopular regime. Contrast this with the Biden administration, which will come into office holding four powerful cards — assuming it chooses to play them. First, it can credibly outsource effective deterrence to Israel without having to bear the immediate risks. Second, it can leverage the military, economic, intelligence and diplomatic resources of an increasingly united Israeli-Arab front. Third, it doesn’t have to impose new sanctions to cripple Iran’s economy. It merely has to enforce the ones already in place. Finally, there is growing evidence that Iran has long been in breach of its past commitments by hiding hundreds of tons of nuclear equipment and material that should have been disclosed under the terms of the nuclear deal. The Biden administration and its European partners have a right and responsibility to insist that Tehran provide a full accounting of that material as the entry price of negotiations. There is a road toward a credible and durable deal with Iran that can muster the kind of regional support and bipartisan buy-in the last one lacked. It’s a deal that forces the regime to choose between a nuclear program or a functioning economy, rather than getting both. A Biden administration that has the patience to see through Tehran’s bluster can be rewarded with a lasting diplomatic achievement that a future administration, unlike the last one, will not easily erase.

On Iran, Biden can bide his time

The US Supreme Court denied a last-minute attempt by President Donald Trump’s allies to overturn the election results in Pennsylvania, a blow to the president’s continuing efforts to reverse his loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Scotus denies Trump allies' attempt to overturn results

US President-elect Joe Biden had made a campaign promise to ensure full inclusion in gender equality in his administration. He has now chosen women to fill many key cabinet positions as well as his entire senior communication team includes women.

Joe Biden chose women to fill many key cabinet posts

Days after a high-pitched election all eyes are on the key senate runoffs election in January to decide which party will control the US Senate.

US: All eyes are on Georgia key senate runoffs

Last April, when Rob Flaherty, the digital director for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, told me that the former vice president’s team planned to use feel-good videos and inspirational memes to beat President Donald Trump in a “battle for the soul of the internet,” my first thought was, Good luck with that.

After all, we were talking about the internet, which doesn’t seem to reward anything uplifting or nuanced these days. In addition, Trump is a digital powerhouse, with an enormous and passionate following; a coalition of popular right-wing media outlets boosting his signal; and a flair for saying the kinds of outrageous, attention-grabbing things that are catnip to the algorithms of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. And after I wrote about Biden’s comparatively tiny internet presence last spring, I heard from legions of nervous Democratic strategists who worried that using “heal the nation” messaging against the MAGA meme army was like bringing a pinwheel to a prizefight.

But in the end, the bed-wetters were wrong. Biden won, and despite having many fewer followers and much less engagement on social media than Trump, his campaign raised record amounts of money and ultimately neutralized Trump’s vaunted “Death Star” — the name his erstwhile campaign manager, Brad Parscale, gave to the campaign’s digital operation.

Figuring out whether any particular online strategy decisively moved the needle for Biden is probably impossible. Offline factors, such as Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic and the economic devastation it has caused, undoubtedly played a major role. But since successful campaigns breed imitators, it’s worth looking under the hood of the Biden digital strategy to see what future campaigns might learn from it.

After the election, I spoke with Flaherty, along with more than a dozen other people who worked on the Biden digital team. They told me that while the internet alone didn’t get Biden elected, a few key decisions helped his chances.

1. Lean on Influencers and Validators

In the early days of his campaign, Biden’s team envisioned setting up its own digital media empire. It posted videos to his official YouTube channel, conducted virtual forums and even set up a podcast hosted by Biden, “Here’s the Deal.” But those efforts were marred by technical glitches and lukewarm receptions, and they never came close to rivaling the reach of Trump’s social media machine.

So the campaign pivoted to a different strategy, which involved expanding Biden’s reach by working with social media influencers and “validators,” people who were trusted by the kinds of voters the campaign hoped to reach.

“We were not the biggest megaphone compared to Trump, so we had to help arm any who were,” said Andrew Bleeker, president of Bully Pulpit Interactive, a Democratic strategy firm that worked with the Biden campaign.

One validator at the top of the team’s list was Brené Brown, a popular author and podcast host who speaks and writes about topics like courage and vulnerability. Brown has a devoted following among suburban women — a critical demographic for Biden’s campaign — and when Biden appeared as a guest on her podcast to talk about his own stories of grief and empathy, the campaign viewed it as a coup.

Also high on the list was actor Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson, whose following skews center-right and male. Johnson’s endorsement this fall of Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, created a so-called permission structure for his followers — including some who may have voted for Trump in 2016 — to support Biden, members of the campaign staff told me.

Celebrity endorsements aren’t a new campaign strategy. But Biden’s team also worked with lesser-known influencers, including YouTubers like Liza Koshy, and struck a partnership with a group of creators known as TikTok for Biden, which the campaign paid to promote pro-Biden content on the teen-dominated video app TikTok.

Perhaps the campaign’s most unlikely validator was Fox News. Headlines from the outlet that reflected well on Biden were relatively rare, but the campaign’s tests showed that they were more persuasive to on-the-fence voters than headlines from other outlets. So when they appeared — as they did in October when Fox News covered an endorsement that Biden received from more than 120 Republican former national security and military officials — the campaign paid to promote them on Facebook and other platforms.

“The headlines from the sources that were the most surprising were the ones that had the most impact,” said Rebecca Rinkevich, Biden’s digital rapid response director. “When people saw a Fox News headline endorsing Joe Biden, it made them stop scrolling and think.”

2. Tune Out Twitter and Focus on ‘Facebook Moms’

A frequent criticism of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign was that it was too focused on appealing to the elite, high-information crowd on Twitter instead of paying attention to the much larger group of voters who get their news and information on Facebook. In 2020, Biden’s digital team was committed to avoiding a repeat.

“The whole Biden campaign ethos was, ‘Twitter isn’t real life,’” Flaherty said. “There are risks of running a campaign that is too hyperaware of your own ideological corner.”

As it focused on Facebook, the Biden campaign paid extra attention to “Facebook moms” — women who spend a lot of time sharing cute and uplifting content, and who the campaign believed could be persuaded to vote for Biden with positive messages about his character. Its target audience, Flaherty said, was women “who would go out and share a video of troops coming home or who would follow The Dodo,” a website known for heartwarming animal videos.

One successful clip aimed at this group showed Biden giving his American flag lapel pin to a young boy at a campaign stop. Another video showed Biden, who has talked about overcoming a stutter in his youth, meeting Brayden Harrington, a 13-year-old boy with one. Both were viewed millions of times.

Voters also responded positively to videos in which Biden showed his command of foreign policy. In January, after a U.S. drone strike killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the campaign posted a three-minute Facebook video of Biden explaining the situation. Despite the snoozy title — “Joe Biden Discusses Donald Trump’s Recent Actions in the Middle East” — the video became one of the campaign’s earliest viral successes.

The campaign experimented with lighter fare, putting virtual Biden for President lawn signs in Animal Crossing, the hit Nintendo game, and setting up a custom “Build Back Better” map in Fortnite, the popular battle royale game, in hopes of reaching younger voters. Some of these efforts were more gimmicky than others. But they all reflected the campaign’s decision to take a pro-Biden message to as many corners of the internet as possible.

“Our goal was really to meet people where they were,” said Christian Tom, head of Biden’s digital partnerships team.

3. Build a Facebook Brain Trust

One of the campaign’s goals, Biden staff members told me, was promoting content that increased “social trust” — in other words, avoiding the kind of energizing, divisive fare that Trump has used to great effect.

But Biden’s digital strategy wasn’t all puppies and rainbows. The campaign also joined ranks with a number of popular left-wing Facebook pages, many of which are known for putting out aggressive anti-Trump content.

They called this group the “Rebel Alliance,” a jokey nod to Parscale’s “Death Star,” and it eventually grew to include the proprietors of pages like Occupy Democrats, Call to Activism, The Other 98 Percent and Being Liberal. On the messaging app Signal, the page owners formed a group text that became a kind of rapid-response brain trust for the campaign.

“I had the freedom to go for the jugular,” said Rafael Rivero, a co-founder of Occupy Democrats and Ridin’ With Biden, another big pro-Biden Facebook page.

Rivero, who was paid by the Biden campaign as a consultant, told me that in addition to cross-posting its content on Occupy Democrats, he often offered the campaign advice based on what was performing well on his pages.

During the Republican National Convention, for example, Rivero noticed that a meme posted by Ridin’ With Biden about Trump’s comments on Medicare and Social Security was going viral. He notified the rest of the Rebel Alliance group and recommended that the campaign borrow the message for Biden’s official Twitter account.

“It was sort of a big, distributed message test,” Flaherty said of the Rebel Alliance. “If it was popping through Occupy or any of our other partners, we knew there was heat there.”

These left-wing pages gave the campaign a bigger Facebook audience than it could have reached on its own. But they also allowed Biden to keep most of his messaging positive while still tapping into the anger and outrage many Democratic voters felt.

4. Promote ‘Small-Batch Creators,’ Not Just Slick Commercials

In its internal tests, the Biden campaign found that traditional political ads — professionally produced, slick-looking 30-second spots — were far less effective than impromptu, behind-the-scenes footage and ads that featured regular voters talking directly into their smartphones or webcams about why they were voting for Biden.

“All our testing showed that higher production value was not better,” said Nathaniel Lubin, a Biden campaign consultant. “The things that were realer, more grainy and cheaper to produce were more credible.”

So the campaign commissioned a series of simple, lo-fi ads targeted at key groups of voters, like a series of self-recorded videos by Biden supporters who didn’t vote in 2016, talking about their regrets.

In addition to hiring traditional Democratic ad firms, the campaign also teamed up with what it called “small-batch creators” — lesser-known producers and digital creators, some of whom had little experience making political ads. Among the small-batch creators it hired: Scotty Wagner, a former art school professor from California, who produced a video about young people who supported Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary sharing things they didn’t know about Biden, and Jawanza Tucker, a TikTok creator, who made a video styled after a TikTok meme about why he was voting for Biden.

5. Fight Misinformation, but Pick Your Battles

One of the biggest obstacles the Biden campaign faced was a tsunami of misinformation, much of it amplified by the Trump campaign and its right-wing media allies. There were baseless rumors about Biden’s health, unfounded questions about Harris' citizenship and spurious claims about the business dealings of Biden’s son Hunter.

The campaign formed an in-house effort to combat these rumors, known as the “Malarkey Factory.” But it picked its battles carefully, using data from voter testing to guide its responses.

When the Hunter Biden laptop story emerged, for example, some Democrats — worried that it would be 2020’s version of the Hillary Clinton email story — suggested that the Biden campaign should forcefully denounce it. But the campaign’s testing found that most voters in its key groups couldn’t follow the complexities of the allegations and that it wasn’t changing their opinion of Joe Biden.

“The Hunter Biden conversation was many times larger than the Hillary Clinton email conversation, but it really didn’t stick because people think Joe Biden’s a good guy,” said Bleeker of Bully Pulpit Interactive.

The campaign still responded to the reports, and Biden defended his son on the debate stage. But it stopped short of mounting a full-throated countermessaging campaign.

When it did respond to misinformation, the Biden team tried to address the root of the narrative. After right-wing influencers posted compilation videos of Biden stumbling over his words and appearing forgetful, the campaign surveyed voters to try to figure out whether the attempt to paint him as mentally unfit was resonating. It discovered that the real concern for many people wasn’t Biden’s age or his health, per se, but whether he was an easily manipulated tool of the radical left.

The Biden team identified the voters who were most likely to see those clips and ran a targeted digital ad campaign showing them videos of Biden speaking lucidly at debates and public events.

Flaherty, the campaign digital director, said the campaign’s focus on empathy had informed how it treated misinformation: not as a cynical Trump ploy that was swallowed by credulous dupes but as something that required listening to voters to understand their concerns and worries before fighting back. Ultimately, he said, the campaign’s entire digital strategy — the Malarkey Factory, the TikTok creators and Facebook moms, the Fortnite signs and small-batch creators — was about trying to reach a kinder, gentler version of the internet that it still believed existed.

“It was about, how do we throw the incentives of the internet for a bit of a loop?” he said. “We made a decision early that we were going to be authentically Joe Biden online, even when people were saying that was a trap.”

Last April, when Rob Flaherty, the digital director for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, told me that the former vice president’s team planned to use feel-good videos and inspirational memes to beat President Donald Trump in a “battle for the soul of the internet,” my first thought was, Good luck with that.

Last April, when Rob Flaherty, the digital director for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, told me that the former vice president’s team planned to use feel-good videos and inspirational memes to beat President Donald Trump in a “battle for the soul of the internet,” my first thought was, Good luck with that. After all, we were talking about the internet, which doesn’t seem to reward anything uplifting or nuanced these days. In addition, Trump is a digital powerhouse, with an enormous and passionate following; a coalition of popular right-wing media outlets boosting his signal; and a flair for saying the kinds of outrageous, attention-grabbing things that are catnip to the algorithms of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. And after I wrote about Biden’s comparatively tiny internet presence last spring, I heard from legions of nervous Democratic strategists who worried that using “heal the nation” messaging against the MAGA meme army was like bringing a pinwheel to a prizefight. But in the end, the bed-wetters were wrong. Biden won, and despite having many fewer followers and much less engagement on social media than Trump, his campaign raised record amounts of money and ultimately neutralized Trump’s vaunted “Death Star” — the name his erstwhile campaign manager, Brad Parscale, gave to the campaign’s digital operation. Figuring out whether any particular online strategy decisively moved the needle for Biden is probably impossible. Offline factors, such as Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic and the economic devastation it has caused, undoubtedly played a major role. But since successful campaigns breed imitators, it’s worth looking under the hood of the Biden digital strategy to see what future campaigns might learn from it. After the election, I spoke with Flaherty, along with more than a dozen other people who worked on the Biden digital team. They told me that while the internet alone didn’t get Biden elected, a few key decisions helped his chances. 1. Lean on Influencers and Validators In the early days of his campaign, Biden’s team envisioned setting up its own digital media empire. It posted videos to his official YouTube channel, conducted virtual forums and even set up a podcast hosted by Biden, “Here’s the Deal.” But those efforts were marred by technical glitches and lukewarm receptions, and they never came close to rivaling the reach of Trump’s social media machine. So the campaign pivoted to a different strategy, which involved expanding Biden’s reach by working with social media influencers and “validators,” people who were trusted by the kinds of voters the campaign hoped to reach. “We were not the biggest megaphone compared to Trump, so we had to help arm any who were,” said Andrew Bleeker, president of Bully Pulpit Interactive, a Democratic strategy firm that worked with the Biden campaign. One validator at the top of the team’s list was Brené Brown, a popular author and podcast host who speaks and writes about topics like courage and vulnerability. Brown has a devoted following among suburban women — a critical demographic for Biden’s campaign — and when Biden appeared as a guest on her podcast to talk about his own stories of grief and empathy, the campaign viewed it as a coup. Also high on the list was actor Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson, whose following skews center-right and male. Johnson’s endorsement this fall of Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, created a so-called permission structure for his followers — including some who may have voted for Trump in 2016 — to support Biden, members of the campaign staff told me. Celebrity endorsements aren’t a new campaign strategy. But Biden’s team also worked with lesser-known influencers, including YouTubers like Liza Koshy, and struck a partnership with a group of creators known as TikTok for Biden, which the campaign paid to promote pro-Biden content on the teen-dominated video app TikTok. Perhaps the campaign’s most unlikely validator was Fox News. Headlines from the outlet that reflected well on Biden were relatively rare, but the campaign’s tests showed that they were more persuasive to on-the-fence voters than headlines from other outlets. So when they appeared — as they did in October when Fox News covered an endorsement that Biden received from more than 120 Republican former national security and military officials — the campaign paid to promote them on Facebook and other platforms. “The headlines from the sources that were the most surprising were the ones that had the most impact,” said Rebecca Rinkevich, Biden’s digital rapid response director. “When people saw a Fox News headline endorsing Joe Biden, it made them stop scrolling and think.” 2. Tune Out Twitter and Focus on ‘Facebook Moms’ A frequent criticism of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign was that it was too focused on appealing to the elite, high-information crowd on Twitter instead of paying attention to the much larger group of voters who get their news and information on Facebook. In 2020, Biden’s digital team was committed to avoiding a repeat. “The whole Biden campaign ethos was, ‘Twitter isn’t real life,’” Flaherty said. “There are risks of running a campaign that is too hyperaware of your own ideological corner.” As it focused on Facebook, the Biden campaign paid extra attention to “Facebook moms” — women who spend a lot of time sharing cute and uplifting content, and who the campaign believed could be persuaded to vote for Biden with positive messages about his character. Its target audience, Flaherty said, was women “who would go out and share a video of troops coming home or who would follow The Dodo,” a website known for heartwarming animal videos. One successful clip aimed at this group showed Biden giving his American flag lapel pin to a young boy at a campaign stop. Another video showed Biden, who has talked about overcoming a stutter in his youth, meeting Brayden Harrington, a 13-year-old boy with one. Both were viewed millions of times. Voters also responded positively to videos in which Biden showed his command of foreign policy. In January, after a U.S. drone strike killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the campaign posted a three-minute Facebook video of Biden explaining the situation. Despite the snoozy title — “Joe Biden Discusses Donald Trump’s Recent Actions in the Middle East” — the video became one of the campaign’s earliest viral successes. The campaign experimented with lighter fare, putting virtual Biden for President lawn signs in Animal Crossing, the hit Nintendo game, and setting up a custom “Build Back Better” map in Fortnite, the popular battle royale game, in hopes of reaching younger voters. Some of these efforts were more gimmicky than others. But they all reflected the campaign’s decision to take a pro-Biden message to as many corners of the internet as possible. “Our goal was really to meet people where they were,” said Christian Tom, head of Biden’s digital partnerships team. 3. Build a Facebook Brain Trust One of the campaign’s goals, Biden staff members told me, was promoting content that increased “social trust” — in other words, avoiding the kind of energizing, divisive fare that Trump has used to great effect. But Biden’s digital strategy wasn’t all puppies and rainbows. The campaign also joined ranks with a number of popular left-wing Facebook pages, many of which are known for putting out aggressive anti-Trump content. They called this group the “Rebel Alliance,” a jokey nod to Parscale’s “Death Star,” and it eventually grew to include the proprietors of pages like Occupy Democrats, Call to Activism, The Other 98 Percent and Being Liberal. On the messaging app Signal, the page owners formed a group text that became a kind of rapid-response brain trust for the campaign. “I had the freedom to go for the jugular,” said Rafael Rivero, a co-founder of Occupy Democrats and Ridin’ With Biden, another big pro-Biden Facebook page. Rivero, who was paid by the Biden campaign as a consultant, told me that in addition to cross-posting its content on Occupy Democrats, he often offered the campaign advice based on what was performing well on his pages. During the Republican National Convention, for example, Rivero noticed that a meme posted by Ridin’ With Biden about Trump’s comments on Medicare and Social Security was going viral. He notified the rest of the Rebel Alliance group and recommended that the campaign borrow the message for Biden’s official Twitter account. “It was sort of a big, distributed message test,” Flaherty said of the Rebel Alliance. “If it was popping through Occupy or any of our other partners, we knew there was heat there.” These left-wing pages gave the campaign a bigger Facebook audience than it could have reached on its own. But they also allowed Biden to keep most of his messaging positive while still tapping into the anger and outrage many Democratic voters felt. 4. Promote ‘Small-Batch Creators,’ Not Just Slick Commercials In its internal tests, the Biden campaign found that traditional political ads — professionally produced, slick-looking 30-second spots — were far less effective than impromptu, behind-the-scenes footage and ads that featured regular voters talking directly into their smartphones or webcams about why they were voting for Biden. “All our testing showed that higher production value was not better,” said Nathaniel Lubin, a Biden campaign consultant. “The things that were realer, more grainy and cheaper to produce were more credible.” So the campaign commissioned a series of simple, lo-fi ads targeted at key groups of voters, like a series of self-recorded videos by Biden supporters who didn’t vote in 2016, talking about their regrets. In addition to hiring traditional Democratic ad firms, the campaign also teamed up with what it called “small-batch creators” — lesser-known producers and digital creators, some of whom had little experience making political ads. Among the small-batch creators it hired: Scotty Wagner, a former art school professor from California, who produced a video about young people who supported Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary sharing things they didn’t know about Biden, and Jawanza Tucker, a TikTok creator, who made a video styled after a TikTok meme about why he was voting for Biden. 5. Fight Misinformation, but Pick Your Battles One of the biggest obstacles the Biden campaign faced was a tsunami of misinformation, much of it amplified by the Trump campaign and its right-wing media allies. There were baseless rumors about Biden’s health, unfounded questions about Harris' citizenship and spurious claims about the business dealings of Biden’s son Hunter. The campaign formed an in-house effort to combat these rumors, known as the “Malarkey Factory.” But it picked its battles carefully, using data from voter testing to guide its responses. When the Hunter Biden laptop story emerged, for example, some Democrats — worried that it would be 2020’s version of the Hillary Clinton email story — suggested that the Biden campaign should forcefully denounce it. But the campaign’s testing found that most voters in its key groups couldn’t follow the complexities of the allegations and that it wasn’t changing their opinion of Joe Biden. “The Hunter Biden conversation was many times larger than the Hillary Clinton email conversation, but it really didn’t stick because people think Joe Biden’s a good guy,” said Bleeker of Bully Pulpit Interactive. The campaign still responded to the reports, and Biden defended his son on the debate stage. But it stopped short of mounting a full-throated countermessaging campaign. When it did respond to misinformation, the Biden team tried to address the root of the narrative. After right-wing influencers posted compilation videos of Biden stumbling over his words and appearing forgetful, the campaign surveyed voters to try to figure out whether the attempt to paint him as mentally unfit was resonating. It discovered that the real concern for many people wasn’t Biden’s age or his health, per se, but whether he was an easily manipulated tool of the radical left. The Biden team identified the voters who were most likely to see those clips and ran a targeted digital ad campaign showing them videos of Biden speaking lucidly at debates and public events. Flaherty, the campaign digital director, said the campaign’s focus on empathy had informed how it treated misinformation: not as a cynical Trump ploy that was swallowed by credulous dupes but as something that required listening to voters to understand their concerns and worries before fighting back. Ultimately, he said, the campaign’s entire digital strategy — the Malarkey Factory, the TikTok creators and Facebook moms, the Fortnite signs and small-batch creators — was about trying to reach a kinder, gentler version of the internet that it still believed existed. “It was about, how do we throw the incentives of the internet for a bit of a loop?” he said. “We made a decision early that we were going to be authentically Joe Biden online, even when people were saying that was a trap.”

How Joe Biden’s digital team tamed the MAGA internet

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