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In this strange interregnum between Biden’s victory and Trump’s departure, the awkward president and the incoming president have gone remarkably, though not surprisingly, different paths.
Trump is wrapped up in the hub of his delusional attempt to win back a presidency that is slipping from his grasp with each passing day. He staggers between grievance and chimeras, not thinking of the destruction in his path. Biden, operating in the world as it exists, has been scrupulously building a government on hold. And in the two days since a Trump appointee allowed the formal transition to begin, Biden’s team has begun examining the rusted nuts and bolts of the troubled institutions he will inherit.
Biden’s reality and Trump’s fantasies collided on Thanksgiving Eve.
Trump later invited Pennsylvania Republicans to the White House for a West Wing meeting, two sources told CNN. It’s a repeat of a tactic the president tried with two top Republican Michigan state legislators, who visited Washington last week, for a report the president hoped would fuel his unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. But he received none, and Republicans quickly issued a statement after stating the truth: that “they had not yet been informed of any information that could change the outcome of the Michigan election.”
Galaxies away
“I know the country is tired of the fight. But we must remember that we are at war with the virus, not with each other. Not with each other,” Biden said. “This is the moment when we need to harden our thorns, redouble our efforts and re-commit to the fight.”
As he did during the campaign, Biden channeled his own grief, over the loss of his first wife and daughter in 1972, and the death of his son from brain cancer just over five years ago, in an attempt to calm Americans in duel. .
“It’s really hard for me to care,” Biden said of the stunning sight of an “empty chair” where a loved one once sat. “It’s hard to give thanks. It’s hard to even think about looking forward, and it’s so hard to hope. I get it. I’ll be thinking and praying for each and every one of you this Thanksgiving.”
Earlier in the day, future first lady Jill Biden was seen leaving bags of produce at a food bank in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where the Bidens vacation. The small gesture underscored the enormous challenges faced by many, their lives devastated economically by the pandemic, who have turned to increasingly strained charities to temporarily meet their basic needs.
“No one should go hungry in America,” he added.
Kellie O’Connell, executive director of the Lakeview Pantry in Chicago, described the painful scenes in which the most affected families turn for help, many for the first time.
Describing a family of four who had exhausted their savings, O’Connell spoke with CNN’s Brooke Baldwin about the feelings of shame that often accompany having to ask for help.
“They came to us so they could put food on your table this Thanksgiving,” he said. “One of the parents stayed in the car because they were a little embarrassed about how they were getting food. And that’s really difficult.”
Growth lines outside of food banks have become a bitter hallmark of this miserable season.
Congress Still Stuck On Aid Package
On the horizon: more pain. An estimated 12 million people will lose the expanded unemployment benefits provided by a federal aid package approved in March. Prospects for a second round of federal stimulus in the near future look bleak. There is a deadline for government funding in a few weeks, which could provide an opportunity for lawmakers to budget for some new aid. But a Democratic-backed House stimulus first passed in May and then updated in early October is languishing.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to accept it and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has so far refused to consider smaller, more fragmented legislation. The stagnation has left desperate American workers increasingly adrift and has pushed entire industries to the brink.
The absence of a central and organizing figure in the White House has also started to raise concerns about the processes established for the distribution of coronavirus vaccines. In a mirror of the chaos this spring, when local leaders had to compete with each other for ventilators and personal protective equipment, Illinois’ top state health official said the federal government had already told him it could not comply with a request. initial 400,000 doses.
“We’re still waiting to see answers, and maybe understand why this is so, but it seems that the initial assignment that we thought would be ready to go, that number has decreased,” Dr. Ngozi Ezike told CNN’s Nia-Malika Henderson. “As a result, all states are going to receive a lower amount.”
Fighting the surge
With Washington tied in knots and the coronavirus spreading at record rates, one of the nation’s most prominent healthcare providers, the Mayo Clinic, announced that it was bringing in staff from out of state and asking retirees to return to work to combat the disease. virus rise. in Minnesota.
As of 10 p.m. Wednesday, Johns Hopkins University had reported 178,752 new cases nationwide and 2,207 deaths. That followed more than 2,100 Covid-19-related deaths on Tuesday, then the highest number in a single day since May. Public health experts worry that the millions traveling Thursday to spend time with family, indoors and unprotected, will trigger another wave of infections.
“It’s potentially the mother of all super broadcast events,” Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a former adviser to the White House medical team, told CNN this week.
He then proceeded to promote behavior that would put them all in even more danger.
“I encourage all Americans to come together,” Trump said, “in homes and places of worship, to offer a prayer of thanks to God for our many blessings.”
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