jakeem Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 The Week @TheWeek 10 things you need to know today: 10 things you need to know today: November 20, 2020 Trump presses GOP lawmakers to block certification of election loss, the CDC urges Americans not to travel for Thanksgiving, and more theweek.com 7:12 AM · Nov 20, 2020·Sprout Social Drew Angerer/Getty Images 1. Trump presses GOP lawmakers to block election-loss certification President Trump and his legal team are shifting their focus from unsuccessful court challenges to trying to persuade Republican legislators to intervene in battleground states to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's election victory, Reuters reported Thursday, citing three people familiar with the push. Trump and his allies reportedly are trying to cast doubt on vote counts in heavily Democratic cities in Michigan and Pennsylvania, states that Biden won. Trump invited Michigan Republican legislators to the White House for talks as he steps up efforts to prevent key states from certifying their election results, apparently in the hope that Republican majorities in state legislatures will step in to name slates of electors who will back Trump, not Biden, in the Electoral College, overturning Biden's victory. [Reuters, The New York Times] 2. CDC urges Americans not to travel for Thanksgiving The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday urged Americans not to travel for Thanksgiving due the risk of spreading the coronavirus. Dr. Henry Walke, the CDC's COVID-19 incident manager, noted that the country was experiencing an "exponential increase" in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. "We're alarmed," Walke said. "One of our concerns is that as people over the holiday season get together, they may actually be bringing infections with them to that small gathering and not even know it." The CDC's warning came a day after seven governors — two Republicans and five Democrats — published an op-ed in The Washington Post calling for people to stay home this Thanksgiving. "This is going to be a tough couple of months," they wrote. [CNBC, The Washington Post] 3. Biden says he won't push national coronavirus shutdown President-elect Joe Biden told reporters on Thursday he would not push a national business shutdown to fight the COVID-19 pandemic once he takes office in January. Because "every region ... can be different," Biden said, "there is no circumstances in which I can see we would require a total national shutdown." He said that community spread of the virus varies too much across the country for nationwide restrictions, but that each region should implement restrictions to curb the spread. In a video conference with leaders of the National Governors Association, Biden promised to help states fight the pandemic. He also expressed concern that President Trump's administration was withholding transition resources and hampering his ability to plan quick distribution of a coronavirus vaccine. [CBS News, The Associated Press] 4. Giuliani touts conspiracy theories in news conference President Trump's lead attorney, Rudy Giuliani, on Thursday cited several conspiracy theories about voter fraud that he said would result in overturning President-elect Joe Biden's victory and tip the election to Trump. Giuliani said Trump had "multiple pathways to victory." He said Trump's rivals had orchestrated a fraud scheme "specifically focused on big cities" that are run by "Democrat bosses" and have a "long history of corruption." He falsely claimed that mail-in ballots, which Democrats advocated so voters could avoid the risk of coronavirus infection at polls, "are particularly prone to fraud," and that in some states votes could have been cast by "a dead person" or "Mickey Mouse." Giuliani and other Trump lawyers mentioned the Clinton Foundation, liberal megadonor George Soros, and the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez in connection with a string of baseless claims. [Politico] 5. Weekly unemployment claims rise as coronavirus surges About 742,000 Americans filed new unemployment claims last week, exceeding expectations. The number increased by 31,000 from the previous week as surging coronavirus cases prompted state and local officials to impose new restrictions on businesses to fight the outbreak. Another 320,000 claims were filed under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program for gig and self-employed workers. Weekly jobless claims had been trending down or remaining flat since early October, but have remained above the pre-pandemic record of 695,000 for 35 weeks. Now that the virus is surging in colder weather, as long predicted, economists are concerned worse days are ahead. "This is the beginning of the darkest part," said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton. "This could metastasize into a much more traditional recession." [The Washington Post] 6. Census officials say they can't finish key count before Trump term ends Census Bureau officials reportedly have told the Commerce Department that they will not be able to complete tallies of state populations required to reallocate seats in the House of Representatives until after President Trump leaves office in January. The news suggested Trump might not be able to remove undocumented immigrants from the reapportionment figures. Trump said in July that he would exclude unauthorized immigrants for the first time in history, a change that would reduce the clout of heavily Democratic areas and probably give Republicans more House seats over the next decade. The director of the Census Bureau, Steven Dillingham, acknowledged the delay Thursday but didn't rule out providing the figures before Trump leaves office. [The New York Times] 7. Georgia election audit confirms Biden win Georgia completed a hand audit of ballots cast in the Nov. 3 presidential election, confirming that President-elect Joe Biden defeated President Trump in the long-red state, the Georgia Secretary of State's office said Thursday in a news release. The audit found that Biden won by 12,284 votes, slightly fewer than the original tally showed. "Georgia's historic first statewide audit reaffirmed that the state's new secure paper ballot voting system accurately counted and reported results," Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said. State law requires Georgia to certify the results by Friday. Gov. Brian Kemp (R) then will have one day to officially sign off. The audit uncovered about 5,800 uncounted votes, providing a 1,400-vote gain for Trump, which he falsely called proof of fraud. [CNN] 8. Trump coronavirus task force calls for vigilance as vaccine approval nears Trump administration coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx appeared Thursday in a White House briefing with other leading public health officials for the first time in months, appealing to Americans to "increase their vigilance" as potential vaccines get closer to approval. Birx made her remarks on a day when the U.S. recorded nearly 2,000 coronavirus deaths, bringing the national total to more than 252,000. Vice President Mike Pence appeared at the briefing and expressed optimism, saying that the nation "has never been more prepared to combat this virus than we are today." Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, sought to reassure the public about the safety of the two vaccines nearing approval. "We need to put to rest any concept that this was rushed in an inappropriate way," he said. [The New York Times] 9. Pompeo makes unprecedented visit to Israeli settlement Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited a West Bank winery Thursday in the first visit by a U.S. secretary of state to an Israeli settlement in Palestinian territory. The visit marked another step in the Trump administration's departure from longstanding U.S. policy that has included formally recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, slashing aid to the Palestinian Authority, and proposing a peace plan that would let Israel annex nearly one-third of the West Bank. The moves have angered Palestinian leaders, and together could make it difficult for the incoming Biden administration to revert to a more traditional approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Pompeo emphasized the administration's support for Israel, calling the international movement to boycott the country "anti-Semitic." [The Washington Post, NPR] 10. U.S. executes 8th inmate this year after Supreme Court lifts stay The U.S. government executed Orlando Hall on Thursday night for his role in the kidnapping, rape, and murder of a 16-year-old Texas girl, Lisa René, whose brothers had crossed Hall in a drug deal. He was pronounced dead at 11:47 p.m. after being given a lethal injection cocktail at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was the eighth federal execution carried out this year, after Attorney General William Barr lifted a two-decade pause on federal capital punishment. Two more executions were scheduled for December, but one was put on hold until 2021. A federal judge had halted Hall's execution earlier Thursday, but the Supreme Court lifted it. The court's three liberal justices dissented. [The Associated Press] Link to post Share on other sites
jakeem Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 Axios @axios The president’s push to overturn the election results is dispelling the cloud of corruption he alleged by forcing states to create a verified — and legally binding — accounting of his election loss. Election challenges bust Trump myths The president's baseless claims are forcing a precise — and legally binding — accounting of his election loss. axios.com 9:30 PM · Nov 19, 2020·TweetDeck 1 Link to post Share on other sites
jakeem Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 Zeke Miller @ZekeJMiller AP FACT CHECK: Trump legal team’s batch of false vote claims AP FACT CHECK: Trump legal team's batch of false vote claims Despite a lack of evidence of widespread irregularities or fraud, President Donald Trump’s legal team used a Thursday press conference to go through a laundry list of far-fetched, thoroughly... apnews.com 7:34 AM · Nov 20, 2020·Twitter Web App 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites
jakeem Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 Alayna Treene @alaynatreene Top Trump campaign officials say the legal team's biggest problem is that it doesn't have a clear strategy. Thursday's news conference meltdown is Exhibit A Some of Trump’s advisers act like they think he can still overturn the election results—because they remain on the payroll 7:30 AM · Nov 20, 2020 from Washington, DC·Twitter for iPhone 1 Link to post Share on other sites
jakeem Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 Holly Figueroa O'Reilly @AynRandPaulRyan Tucker Carlson is done with you people. He should have put his bowtie on tonight because this was vintage TC. Trump lost one of the opinion shows that spends more time on conspiracy theories than actual news, but apparently, this conspiracy theory is too damaging even for him. 10:17 PM · Nov 19, 2020·Twitter Web App 1 Link to post Share on other sites
jakeem Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 POLITICO @politico Biden’s advisers are planning a massive expansion of coronavirus testing capacity to use as a weapon against the virus How Biden plans to fix the coronavirus testing problem If successful, Biden’s approach would turn the testing system into a tool capable of reducing infections, rather than merely documenting the pandemic’s toll. politico.com 7:30 AM · Nov 20, 2020·Hootsuite Inc. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
jakeem Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 Matthew Gertz @MattGertz Nearly 2,000 Americans died from COVID-19 yesterday, a number that will surely escalate in the weeks to come. Here's where the president is getting his information about the virus. 7:40 AM · Nov 20, 2020·TweetDeck 2 Link to post Share on other sites
jakeem Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 Michael Del Moro @MikeDelMoro Americans should remember that when President Trump lost and dangerously delayed the transfer of power with a legal team pushing conspiracy theory in an attempt to subvert democracy, the Republican Party supported the effort. 8:01 AM · Nov 20, 2020·Twitter for iPhone 2 Link to post Share on other sites
jakeem Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 POLITICO @politico President Trump is turning to political pressure and theatrics in an attempt to manifest the election results he wants, having made almost no progress in the courts Trump gins up TV theatrics in election fight as lawsuits fizzle Behind the scenes, many of Trump’s own aides are shrugging, shaking their heads and chuckling at the media giving such prominence to the quixotic efforts of a showman. politico.com 1:00 AM · Nov 20, 2020·Hootsuite Inc. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
jakeem Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 Anita Kumar @anitakumar01 Behind the scenes, many of Trump’s own aides are shrugging, shaking their heads and chuckling at the media giving such prominence to the quixotic efforts of a showman. 8:09 AM · Nov 20, 2020·Twitter Web App 1 Link to post Share on other sites
jakeem Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 Jim Sciutto @jimsciutto Breaking: Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says he will certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, and will formalize the presidential results after a statewide audit. Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs said certification will occur around 10 a.m. ET 8:46 AM · Nov 20, 2020·Twitter for iPhone 1 Link to post Share on other sites
jakeem Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 Charles.Bethea @charlesbethea VP Pence visit Georgia today; will be interesting to see how he talks about this reality. 8:45 AM · Nov 20, 2020·Twitter Web App Link to post Share on other sites
jakeem Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 Molly Jong-Fast @MollyJongFast Today reality will come crashing into Republicans, will be interesting to see how pence lies his way through this thing. 8:47 AM · Nov 20, 2020·Twitter for iPhone 1 Link to post Share on other sites
jakeem Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 Matthew Gertz @MattGertz I can’t tell if the ongoing coup attempt is distracting from the impending catastrophic pandemic death toll or vice versa. 8:54 AM · Nov 20, 2020·TweetDeck 1 Link to post Share on other sites
jakeem Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 Betsy Klein @betsy_klein Peter Navarro, pressed on vaccine transition, repeats baseless claims about election fraud. Navarro: “What we see with each new day is increasingly troubling things about what happened on Election Day." Reporter: “Like what?” Navarro: “Yeah, that's what I don't want to get into." 8:58 AM · Nov 20, 2020·Twitter Web App 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Bogie56 Posted November 20, 2020 Author Share Posted November 20, 2020 1 minute ago, jakeem said: Navarro: “What we see with each new day is increasingly troubling things about what happened on Election Day." Reporter: “Like what?” 23,000 lies and counting haven't helped matters for Donald Trump. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Bogie56 Posted November 20, 2020 Author Share Posted November 20, 2020 Trump is having trouble selling his D.C. Hotel. David Frum @davidfrum · 1h The trouble with a bribe-based business model is that it gets wobbly once the bribe-taker loses power to deliver favors Quote Tweet Zach Everson @Z_Everson · 17h Trump Hotel DC sale news‚— "People familiar with the deal talks said none of the bids came close to the asking price, and several were for less than $250 million." Trump Org was hoping for $500 million. @robtfrank for @CNBC https://cnb.cx/3kMiVf9 Show this thread 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites
ElCid Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 2 minutes ago, Bogie56 said: Trump is having trouble selling his D.C. Hotel. David Frum @davidfrum · 1h The trouble with a bribe-based business model is that it gets wobbly once the bribe-taker loses power to deliver favors Quote Tweet Zach Everson @Z_Everson · 17h Trump Hotel DC sale news‚— "People familiar with the deal talks said none of the bids came close to the asking price, and several were for less than $250 million." Trump Org was hoping for $500 million. @robtfrank for @CNBC https://cnb.cx/3kMiVf9 Show this thread Was wondering if he would try to dump it after he left Washington. Link to post Share on other sites
Hibi Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 17 hours ago, Hibi said: What a steaming PILE OF ****!!!!! He's back from his vacation and that's all he has to say????? Moderator censored me, but you get the drift! EXCREMENT! 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Bogie56 Posted November 20, 2020 Author Share Posted November 20, 2020 David Frum @davidfrum · 12m Sinister if not so pathetic Pathetic if not so sinister Quote Tweet Isaac Saul @Ike_Saul · 26m OMG. Trump's lawyers filed an affidavit claiming statistical irregularities proving election fraud because they *confused Michigan for Minnesota* They thought "MI" = Minnesota (it's MN), and then compared a bunch of results in Minnesota to Michigan population statistics. twitter.com/ASFleischman/s… Show this thread 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Hibi Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 26 minutes ago, Bogie56 said: Trump is having trouble selling his D.C. Hotel. David Frum @davidfrum · 1h The trouble with a bribe-based business model is that it gets wobbly once the bribe-taker loses power to deliver favors Quote Tweet Zach Everson @Z_Everson · 17h Trump Hotel DC sale news‚— "People familiar with the deal talks said none of the bids came close to the asking price, and several were for less than $250 million." Trump Org was hoping for $500 million. @robtfrank for @CNBC https://cnb.cx/3kMiVf9 Show this thread Another business loss! LOL. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Hibi Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 1 minute ago, Bogie56 said: David Frum @davidfrum · 12m Sinister if not so pathetic Pathetic if not so sinister Quote Tweet Isaac Saul @Ike_Saul · 26m OMG. Trump's lawyers filed an affidavit claiming statistical irregularities proving election fraud because they *confused Michigan for Minnesota* They thought "MI" = Minnesota (it's MN), and then compared a bunch of results in Minnesota to Michigan population statistics. twitter.com/ASFleischman/s… Show this thread They don't even know state abbreviations? LOL! 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Bogie56 Posted November 20, 2020 Author Share Posted November 20, 2020 David Frum Retweeted Benjy Sarlin @BenjySarlin · 18h In a couple of months, we’ll be hearing impassioned speeches invoking the Founders to argue some executive order on health care is tyranny from people who were sitting quietly while this was going on. It’s not going to be possible to just go back to “normal” after this. Quote Tweet Kevin Robillard @Robillard · 18h The Trump campaign is trying to convince state legislatures to overthrow the will of the electorate, and bragging about their plans on background. https://reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-strategy/trumps-election-power-play-persuade-republican-legislators-to-do-what-u-s-voters-did-not-idUSKBN27Z30G… 1 Link to post Share on other sites
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