[ad_1]
WWelcome to today’s US election briefing for Australia, our final briefing for now! We will put this project on hiatus, but we may come back with major developments in the future. See how you can stay in touch with our US coverage at the end of the briefing.
Today, several Republicans said publicly that Joe Biden should receive the classified reports that are customary for a president-elect in the transition period. It was the first tacit recognition of his victory by many of them since elections were called nearly a week ago, and it came as the president continued to spread disinformation about electoral fraud.
But these were not profiles of bravery. Few senior figures in the party will directly challenge Donald Trump’s lies.
Senator Marco Rubio, one of many 2016 hopefuls who was publicly disparaged by Trump in the election campaign just to back him wholeheartedly, qualified his comments about Biden this way: “Giving them access to additional information does not hurt Trump’s election claims. President”.
Even today, when the Department of Homeland Security distributed a statement by a group of federal, state, and local election officials declaring the election to be “the safest in American history,” the president and many of his supporters held the line. . They are showing loyalty to a person who maintains a vice-like control over the party and the devotion of their voters.
But today’s events also served as a reminder of just how feverish alliances with Trump are and how loyalty is not a two-way street.
Trump spent the day tweeting angrily about Fox News, the main cable network that has most vociferously supported the president and his agenda for the past four years.
However, he sparked his ire when he became the first to call Arizona for Joe Biden. He retweeted comments suggesting that the News Corp station was “pandering to the left” (laughs) and that viewers should switch to the smaller, but even more right-wing channels, Newsmax (whose viewership has soared in recent weeks) and NAO. There follows a report in Axios that Trump wants to start his own subscriber-based digital media company to “beat up” Fox. You can read more about it here.
Meanwhile, it was another shocking day for the pandemic, with daily new cases surpassing 150,000 for the first time and more states scrambling to introduce restrictions to try to mitigate the public health crisis. In North Dakota, a state that strongly backed Trump, the healthcare system is so overwhelmed that the governor announced that healthcare workers who tested positive for Covid but show no symptoms can continue to work in hospitals.
It’s not just nurses in North Dakota facing hateful choices right now. Americans face a difficult winter, with many isolated from loved ones. They will have to prepare for the period to come, before a vaccine can reintroduce some normalcy into life. We will continue to see Americans showing great courage on the front lines of this crisis, if not in Washington.
The great stories
November is on track to be the worst month of the pandemic yet in the US as new cases and hospitalizations continue to rise to record levels. Wednesday marked the ninth consecutive day of cases that exceeded 100,000.
The longest-serving Republican in the Senate has joined the call for Biden to receive daily intelligence reports. which are currently withheld from the president-elect because the Trump administration refuses to acknowledge the result.
America’s top cybersecurity official, Christopher Krebs, has told associates that he expects to be fired by the White House, according to three sources familiar with the matter. His agency has also been aggressively rejecting rumors that something went wrong with the 2020 election.
The leaders of America’s closest allies have enthusiastically welcomed Biden’s incoming presidency as a crucial opportunity to tackle the unfolding climate crisis. after four years of dislocation under Trump.
Two of Donald Trump’s billionaire donors contracted Covid-19 months after minimizing the risk of the disease to their employees. Richard and Liz Uihlein, conservative mega-donors who own the Wisconsin-based packaging company Uline, confirmed they tested positive for the virus.
Changing Georgia’s blue has drawn attention to the organizing power of black women, whose large-scale mobilization efforts appear to have resulted in massive participation among people of color in those cities, experts say.
What’s next for Mike Pence? Said to have fueled ambitions for the presidency since he was 16, Pence may go back to his roots in conservative talk radio as a way to remain relevant in his party, and consider a 2024 tilt.
Quote of the day
I’m more concerned that other Republican officials who clearly know better are agreeing with this, are pandering to it … it’s one more step to delegitimize not just the incoming Biden administration, but democracy in general. And that is a dangerous path. “
Former President Barack Obama in a 60 minute interview.
Election views
“This is a large-scale emergency, and yet the Democratic strategy seems to be to try to pretend it’s not happening, in the hope that the rules will win, even though nothing at all is normal.” David Sirota writes, in this hard-hitting article on why Democrats and others should more strongly reject Trump’s attempt to overturn the election result.
“Biden’s work to unite the country begins in the Great Plains and Appalachians”, writes Art Cullen, in this magnificent and unsentimental article that looks at why rural areas in states like Iowa have become so vehemently Republican.
Video of the day
Most world leaders were quick to congratulate Joe Biden on his election and spoke of “hope” and “expectation” in subsequent remarks. Here’s what world leaders, including Scott Morrison, had to say about their first contact with the president-elect
In the web
A very complete and useful analysis here of CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter on Trump’s breakdown with Fox News, and who has the upper hand.
Far-right media personalities, white nationalists and conspiracy theorists are among those planning to attend a pro-Trump rally in DC this weekend, writes the Washington Post.
“A small blow, a lot of scam and a total and reckless disregard for the health of our democracy or our country.” Very good read on the New Yorker about what Trump is doing.
What the numbers say: 241,844
The number of people who have died from Covid in the US since the pandemic began.
Thank you
Many thanks to everyone who signed up to receive this report as an email every day of the week. It has been a pleasure to share this historic period with all of you.
To stay in touch with us and to find out the latest in US, international and local Guardian journalism, you can sign up for the Guardian Australia Morning Mail, delivered every day of the week, or Guardian Today, to receive the most important news and comments of the day.
You can find a full list of our Guardian Australia newsletters here.
[ad_2]
