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By Reuters 
8h ago
Georgia’s presidential election tally has changed vote totals “almost imperceptibly,” offering no evidence of widespread irregularities in the battlefield state that Democrat Joe Biden is expected to win for, his campaign said Sunday.
This comes after President Donald Trump appeared on Sunday to acknowledge the loss of the US election, but then backtracked and said he concedes “nothing,” while President-elect Joe Biden focused on addressing the coronavirus pandemic and arranged meetings with pharmaceutical companies that develop vaccines.
Ron Klain, chosen by Biden as White House chief of staff, urged the Trump administration to allow for a smooth transition, calling it vital to national security and the fight against COVID-19.
The pandemic will be a primary concern for Biden, who will take office on January 20. Klain said Biden’s scientific advisers will meet with Pfizer Inc and other drug makers starting this week to prepare for the “giant logistics project” of widespread vaccination against a virus that has killed more than 245,000 Americans and left million more unemployed.
Biden defeated Trump in the November 3 election by winning a series of battleground states that the Republican president had won in 2016. The former Democratic vice president also won the national popular vote by at least 5.5 million votes, or 3.6 points. percentage, with some ballots still being counted.
Trump, who is pursuing risky litigation challenging election results in multiple states, made conflicting statements in a series of Twitter posts. He initially seemed to first publicly admit that Biden won, then changed course. Trump also repeated unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud.
“He won because the election was rigged,” Trump wrote, without referring to Biden by name, adding a list of complaints about the vote count. About 90 minutes later, Trump wrote: “He only won in the eyes of FAKE MEDIA. I concede NOTHING! We have a long way to go. This was an EQUIPPED ELECTION!”
“WE WILL WIN!” added.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” show, Klain said, “Donald Trump’s Twitter doesn’t make Joe Biden president or not president. The American people did that.”
The General Services Administration’s decision, led by a Trump appointee, not to recognize Biden as president-elect has prevented Biden and his team from gaining access to government office space and funds normally awarded to an administration. incoming to ensure a smooth transition.
Klain asked the agency to formally recognize Biden, saying it is critical to ensure the president-elect receives intelligence reports before taking office and to facilitate coordination with the White House coronavirus task force.
“Joe Biden will become president of the United States in the midst of an ongoing crisis. That has to be a smooth transition,” Klain said.
Klain urged Congress to pass bipartisan legislation for coronavirus relief before the end of the year. Talks about such legislation stalled before the elections. Democratic congressional leaders last week asked Republican lawmakers to join them in passing a relief measure.
VACCINE CHALLENGE
Klain previously said that a smooth transition is necessary to ensure the government is prepared to roll out a COVID-19 vaccine early next year. Pfizer announced last week that its vaccine candidate was shown to be more than 90% effective in initial trial results, raising hope that widespread vaccination in the coming months could help control the pandemic.
Other companies are also in advanced stages of developing promising vaccines.
“You know, it’s great to have a vaccine, but vaccines don’t save lives. Vaccines save lives,” Klain said. “And that means you have to get that vaccine into the arms of people across the country.”
Manufacturing and distribution mechanics fall to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Klain added, so it’s important that Biden’s team can coordinate with current HHS officials.
Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” show, Anthony Fauci, America’s leading infectious disease expert and a member of the White House task force, underscored the importance of a smooth transition in disease control efforts. the pandemic.
“Of course it would be better if we could start working with them,” Fauci said of the coordination between the existing task force and the Biden team.
Fauci welcomed the selection of Klain and said that he had been “fantastic” during the administration of former President Barack Obama in managing the US response to an Ebola outbreak in 2014.
LEGAL STRATEGY
The Trump campaign has filed lawsuits seeking to revoke the results in several states, to no avail. Legal experts have said that the litigation has little chance of altering the outcome of the elections. Election officials from both parties have said there is no evidence of major wrongdoing.
Control of the United States Senate will be decided in two January runoff elections in Georgia, which will be important to the fate of Biden’s ambitious legislative agenda. Klain said the president-elect can campaign in Georgia before the second round.
Senator Bernie Sanders, one of Biden’s main challengers to the Democratic presidential nomination, criticized Trump’s post-election conduct.
“Trump will have the distinction of doing more than anyone in the history of this country to undermine American democracy. The idea that he continues to tell his supporters that the only reason he may have lost this election was fraud is absolutely disgraceful. An anti-American thing to do, “Sanders said on” State of the Union. “
Reuters
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