Joe Biden quits Queen after attending virtual national security meeting
Washington:
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden will meet with healthcare workers on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis at a virtual event on Wednesday, as outgoing President Donald Trump expands his campaign to overturn the election results.
Trump refused to concede the November 3 election, blocking the smooth transition to a new administration. Biden has pledged to make the pandemic, which has killed more than 247,000 people in the United States and cost millions of their jobs, a top priority when he takes office on January 20.
Biden and his senior advisers said Trump’s challenge could undermine efforts to contain the surge in COVID-19 cases and inhibit planning for vaccine distribution.
This sentiment was echoed on Tuesday by three major U.S. health organizations who addressed the president directly in an open letter, urging him to share critical data on COVID-19 with the Biden team.
“As health care providers for all Americans, we see the suffering that is occurring in our communities as a result of COVID-19 … It is from this frontline human perspective that we urge you to share data and information. reviews as soon as possible. Says the letter, signed by officials of the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association and the American Hospitals Association.
As Biden participates in the virtual roundtable in his home state of Delaware on Wednesday, Trump again has no public events scheduled.
Trump has claimed, without providing any evidence, that he was defrauded of a victory by widespread fraud and he sparked a wave of lawsuits that judges have mostly dismissed.
Biden won the national popular vote by more than 5.6 million votes, or 3.6 percentage points, with some ballots still counted. In the state-by-state electoral college that determines the winner, Biden garnered 306 votes to 232 for Republican Trump.
Shooting from afar to cancel the vote
To stay in power, Trump would need to overturn the results of at least three of the most contested states in unprecedented ways to reach the threshold of 270 electoral votes.
States face the December 8 deadline to certify election results in time for the official electoral college vote on December 14.
Congress must count the votes of the Electoral College on January 6, which is normally a formality. But Trump supporters in the Senate and House of Representatives could oppose the results in a latest long-running attempt to deprive Biden of 270 electoral votes and put the final decision back in the House.
Trump on Tuesday sacked the top US cybersecurity official, who had angered Trump by refusing to back the election fraud allegations.
Chris Krebs has been removed from his post as head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the Department of Homeland Security. His work in protecting elections from hackers and combating voting misinformation has been praised by lawmakers from both parties, as well as election officials across the country.
A spokesperson for Biden praised Krebs, saying he “should be commended for his service in protecting our election and not fired for telling the truth.”
Drawing inspiration from the president, Republicans across the country have tried to question the results.
In Michigan, where Biden won by 145,000 votes, two Republicans from the Wayne County Solicitors’ Council tried to delay Biden’s victory in that state on Tuesday, only to give in hours later.
In a county that includes the predominantly black city of Detroit and which voted overwhelmingly in favor of Biden, the two council members initially voted to block certification of the results, citing slight inconsistencies in district totals.
It drew praise from Trump, who said on Twitter that “having courage is a beautiful thing.” But Republicans overturned their decision after more than two hours of angry public comment and voted to certify Wayne County’s results, with the warning that the Michigan Secretary of State has audited the counts constituencies.
In a hearing in federal court in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann appeared skeptical of Trump’s request to prevent officials from certifying Biden’s victory in that state.
“Basically, you’re asking this court to strike down 6.8 million votes, thus depriving all voters in the Commonwealth (of Pennsylvania),” Brann said. “Can you tell me how this result can be justified?
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
