theguardian--2020-11-09--PM channels his inner John Wayne in vaccine metaphor meltdown | John Crace

Shortly before 5pm in the UK , president-elect Joe Biden gave a press conference .
The results of the trials were very promising , he said , but there was still a long way to go before a vaccination programme could be rolled out nationwide .
So it was now more important than ever not to let your guard down and to carry on wearing masks .
It was coherent , informative and in less than five minutes Biden had told Americans just about everything they needed to know .
Boris Johnson likes to do things rather differently .
Almost @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speaking , the prime minister stepped out into the Downing Street briefing room , flanked by the deputy chief medical officer , Jonathan Van-Tam , and Brigadier Joe Fossey , dressed in full camo gear that had the reverse effect of drawing attention to himself .
A new form of anti-camo perhaps .
After a few introductions , Boris went on one of his long rambles .
He didn ’ t really have anything to say that couldn ’ t have been wrapped up in minutes but he considers a press conference not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s wasted the best part of an hour of everyone ’ s time .
Perhaps it was the excitement of having a real life soldier standing next to him , but Johnson ’ s explanation of the new vaccination was relayed in a series of metaphors straight out of the movie Stagecoach .
The arrows were in the quiver !
The cavalry was on its way , the toot of the bugle – Michael Gove ’ s presumably – was getting louder but still some way off .
Having a prime minister who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ getting extremely draining and it ’ s hard not to zone out within moments of him starting a sentence .
So much for the great communicator .
Next up was the brigadier who is in charge of the mass testing in Liverpool and looked uncomfortable throughout .
“ Two thousand troops have answered the call , ” he said , making it sound as if the soldiers had had some say in their deployment rather than been told they were off to Liverpool for the next four weeks .
He then pulled out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ You know what a swab is , ” he continued .
“ Well this is the lateral flow that gives you a result within an hour.
” And that was all he had to say .
He didn ’ t seem at all sure what the lateral flow actually was or how it worked but then he was only following orders .
If he ’ d had his way , he ’ d have saved the taxpayer a return train ticket from Liverpool to London .
There was no slideshow this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to wonder if they are more trouble than they are worth after recent events – so Van-Tam was left to ad lib on the vaccine trial .
Even though he had no more information than Boris , so all he could do was repeat the fact that it was exciting but we shouldn ’ t get carried away just yet .
Try to think of it as a penalty shootout , he said – Boris ’ s crap analogies are as contagious as the coronavirus .
We ’ ve scored the first goal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be beaten , but there was a long way to go before the match was won .
No one seemed to have told Van-Tam that the expectation in a shootout was that the penalty-taker would score .
Things carried on in much the same vein when questions came in from the media .
The brigadier tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible – merging into the background was part of his SAS training – and so the only other thing he had to offer was that he was just on day four @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to tell whether things were going well or badly .
Van-Tam desperately hunted around for new ways of saying the vaccination trials were still at an early stage , but things were looking more hopeful for next year .
Try to think of yourself as being on a railway station on a wet and windy night , he said , doing his best to channel his inner Fat Controller .
You could see the lights of the train two miles away .
Then the train pulled into the station and you didn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to open .
Next you couldn ’ t even be sure of whether there would be enough seats for everyone .
The UK had only ordered enough vaccine for about a third of the population , so unless more doses came online most people were going to miss out .
It didn ’ t sound quite as hopeful as he had suggested .
But maybe that ’ s just the way he tells them .
Boris , meanwhile , just looked relieved to only get one question on the US presidential election .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ if he had spoken to the president-elect – he hadn ’ t as Biden has been too busy taking calls from Micronesia – or if he had any reaction to being called a “ shape-shifting creep ” by a former adviser to Barack Obama .
The Democrats still haven ’ t forgiven Boris for his remarks about Obama ’ s part-Kenyan ancestry giving him a dislike of the British empire .
“ I congratulate the president-elect , ” said Johnson , sidestepping a suggestion he give Donald Trump a call to persuade him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ US and the UK had had a close relationship in the past and no doubt would do so in the future .
He had nothing to say on Brexit .
Rather he chose to accentuate the shared climate change objectives of Cop27 .
Or Cop26 as the rest of the world knows it .

Shortly before 5pm in the UK, president-elect Joe Biden gave a press conference. The results of the trials were very promising, he said, but there was still a long way to go before a vaccination programme could be rolled out nationwide. So it was now more important than ever not to let your guard down and to carry on wearing masks. It was coherent, informative and in less than five minutes Biden had told Americans just about everything they needed to know.
Boris Johnson likes to do things rather differently. Almost to the second after Biden had finished speaking, the prime minister stepped out into the Downing Street briefing room, flanked by the deputy chief medical officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, and Brigadier Joe Fossey, dressed in full camo gear that had the reverse effect of drawing attention to himself. A new form of anti-camo perhaps.
After a few introductions, Boris went on one of his long rambles. He didn’t really have anything to say that couldn’t have been wrapped up in minutes but he considers a press conference not to have taken place unless he’s wasted the best part of an hour of everyone’s time.
Perhaps it was the excitement of having a real life soldier standing next to him, but Johnson’s explanation of the new vaccination was relayed in a series of metaphors straight out of the movie Stagecoach. The arrows were in the quiver! The cavalry was on its way, the toot of the bugle – Michael Gove’s presumably – was getting louder but still some way off. Having a prime minister who manages to trivialise something really important is getting extremely draining and it’s hard not to zone out within moments of him starting a sentence. So much for the great communicator.
Next up was the brigadier who is in charge of the mass testing in Liverpool and looked uncomfortable throughout. “Two thousand troops have answered the call,” he said, making it sound as if the soldiers had had some say in their deployment rather than been told they were off to Liverpool for the next four weeks.
He then pulled out a piece of plastic from his pocket. “You know what a swab is,” he continued. “Well this is the lateral flow that gives you a result within an hour.” And that was all he had to say. He didn’t seem at all sure what the lateral flow actually was or how it worked but then he was only following orders. If he’d had his way, he’d have saved the taxpayer a return train ticket from Liverpool to London.
There was no slideshow this time – obviously No 10 has started to wonder if they are more trouble than they are worth after recent events – so Van-Tam was left to ad lib on the vaccine trial. Even though he had no more information than Boris, so all he could do was repeat the fact that it was exciting but we shouldn’t get carried away just yet. Try to think of it as a penalty shootout, he said – Boris’s crap analogies are as contagious as the coronavirus. We’ve scored the first goal, so we know the keeper can be beaten, but there was a long way to go before the match was won. No one seemed to have told Van-Tam that the expectation in a shootout was that the penalty-taker would score.
Things carried on in much the same vein when questions came in from the media. The brigadier tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible – merging into the background was part of his SAS training – and so the only other thing he had to offer was that he was just on day four of his deployment so it was hard to tell whether things were going well or badly. Van-Tam desperately hunted around for new ways of saying the vaccination trials were still at an early stage, but things were looking more hopeful for next year.
Try to think of yourself as being on a railway station on a wet and windy night, he said, doing his best to channel his inner Fat Controller. You could see the lights of the train two miles away. Then the train pulled into the station and you didn’t know if the door was going to open. Next you couldn’t even be sure of whether there would be enough seats for everyone. The UK had only ordered enough vaccine for about a third of the population, so unless more doses came online most people were going to miss out. It didn’t sound quite as hopeful as he had suggested. But maybe that’s just the way he tells them.
Boris, meanwhile, just looked relieved to only get one question on the US presidential election. And that wasn’t even on if he had spoken to the president-elect – he hadn’t as Biden has been too busy taking calls from Micronesia – or if he had any reaction to being called a “shape-shifting creep” by a former adviser to Barack Obama. The Democrats still haven’t forgiven Boris for his remarks about Obama’s part-Kenyan ancestry giving him a dislike of the British empire.
“I congratulate the president-elect,” said Johnson, sidestepping a suggestion he give Donald Trump a call to persuade him to throw in the towel. The US and the UK had had a close relationship in the past and no doubt would do so in the future. He had nothing to say on Brexit. Rather he chose to accentuate the shared climate change objectives of Cop27. Or Cop26 as the rest of the world knows it.


theguardian--2020-11-09--The Guardian view on Johnson's Biden problem: not going away | Editorial

The Irish question has played havoc with the best-laid plans of hardline Brexiters .
Since 2016 , successive Conservative governments have struggled to square the circle of keeping the United Kingdom intact , while avoiding the reimposition of a hard border on the island of Ireland .
The border issue has been the achilles heel of Brexit , the thorn in the side of true believers in a “ clean break ” with the EU .
So the prospect of an Irish-American politician on his way to the White House , just as Boris Johnson attempts to finagle his way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plot twist to savour .
Joe Biden ’ s views on Brexit are well known .
The president-elect judges it to be a damaging act of self-isolation ; strategically unwise for Britain and unhelpful to American interests in Europe .
But it is the impact of the UK ’ s departure from the EU on Ireland that concerns Mr Biden most .
This autumn , he was forthright on the subject of the government ’ s controversial internal market bill , which was again debated on Monday in the House of Lords .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ legally binding protocol signed with the EU , which would impose customs checks on goods travelling between Britain and Northern Ireland .
In doing so , it summons up the spectre of a hard border on the island of Ireland , undermining the Good Friday agreement .
Mr Biden is adamant that the GFA must not “ become a casualty of Brexit ” .
He is expected to convey that message , in forceful terms , when his first telephone conversation with Mr Johnson eventually takes place .
This is somewhat awkward for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ needs to establish good relations with the new regime in Washington , ahead of crucial trade negotiations .
In light of that , Mr Johnson may choose not to insist on the clauses relating to Northern Ireland when the bill goes back to the Commons .
That would certainly be the wise move , although the noises coming from the government remain defiant .
But the prime minister ’ s challenges in dealing with the coming regime change in Washington go well beyond Brexit .
The personal dynamics between Mr Johnson and Mr @ @ @ @ @ @ @ put it mildly , unpromising .
The prime minister ’ s insulting remarks four years ago , about Barack Obama ’ s Kenyan ancestry , have not been forgotten .
Mr Johnson seems to be viewed by many senior Democrats as a kind of pound-shop Donald Trump .
There is also little regard for the consistency or sincerity with which Mr Johnson holds his views .
At the weekend , when the prime minister instagrammed his congratulations to Mr Biden on his victory , a Biden ally witheringly referred to Mr Johnson as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the race to make friends and influence people in the new Washington , Britain has the very opposite of a head start .
The smart money is on Paris becoming the first European capital to receive President Biden .
That reflects both good relations with Emmanuel Macron and a concern to rebuild diplomatic bridges , after four years in which Mr Trump rarely ceased to disparage and seek to undermine the EU .
Mr Biden means to bring back a sense of diplomatic propriety and integrity to America ’ s relations with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ having left the EU , can not be a central player in this restoration project .
But it can avoid making unforced errors .
The government should urgently start to read the runes of new , more internationalist times .
The politics of disruptive confrontation , as exemplified by the internal market bill , suddenly looks dangerously dated .
When the Northern Ireland minister , Brandon Lewis , confirmed in September that the bill would break international law , senior Conservatives such as Sir Michael Howard and Theresa May expressed their dismay at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that would result .
They were ignored .
But faced with an Irish-American president who is determined to rehabilitate relations with the EU , and is deeply suspicious of Mr Johnson ’ s Trumpian tendencies , to continue with the bill as it stands would be folly .
With Mr Trump on his way out , Mr Johnson needs to sober up and start shifting some shapes on this and other matters .

The Irish question has played havoc with the best-laid plans of hardline Brexiters. Since 2016, successive Conservative governments have struggled to square the circle of keeping the United Kingdom intact, while avoiding the reimposition of a hard border on the island of Ireland. The border issue has been the achilles heel of Brexit, the thorn in the side of true believers in a “clean break” with the EU. So the prospect of an Irish-American politician on his way to the White House, just as Boris Johnson attempts to finagle his way round the problem, is an 11th-hour plot twist to savour.
Joe Biden’s views on Brexit are well known. The president-elect judges it to be a damaging act of self-isolation; strategically unwise for Britain and unhelpful to American interests in Europe. But it is the impact of the UK’s departure from the EU on Ireland that concerns Mr Biden most. This autumn, he was forthright on the subject of the government’s controversial internal market bill, which was again debated on Monday in the House of Lords. The proposed legislation effectively reneges on a legally binding protocol signed with the EU, which would impose customs checks on goods travelling between Britain and Northern Ireland. In doing so, it summons up the spectre of a hard border on the island of Ireland, undermining the Good Friday agreement. Mr Biden is adamant that the GFA must not “become a casualty of Brexit”. He is expected to convey that message, in forceful terms, when his first telephone conversation with Mr Johnson eventually takes place.
This is somewhat awkward for the prime minister. Mr Johnson badly needs to establish good relations with the new regime in Washington, ahead of crucial trade negotiations. In light of that, Mr Johnson may choose not to insist on the clauses relating to Northern Ireland when the bill goes back to the Commons. That would certainly be the wise move, although the noises coming from the government remain defiant. But the prime minister’s challenges in dealing with the coming regime change in Washington go well beyond Brexit.
The personal dynamics between Mr Johnson and Mr Biden and his team are, to put it mildly, unpromising. The prime minister’s insulting remarks four years ago, about Barack Obama’s Kenyan ancestry, have not been forgotten. Mr Johnson seems to be viewed by many senior Democrats as a kind of pound-shop Donald Trump. There is also little regard for the consistency or sincerity with which Mr Johnson holds his views. At the weekend, when the prime minister instagrammed his congratulations to Mr Biden on his victory, a Biden ally witheringly referred to Mr Johnson as “this shape-shifting creep”.
So in the race to make friends and influence people in the new Washington, Britain has the very opposite of a head start. The smart money is on Paris becoming the first European capital to receive President Biden. That reflects both good relations with Emmanuel Macron and a concern to rebuild diplomatic bridges, after four years in which Mr Trump rarely ceased to disparage and seek to undermine the EU. Mr Biden means to bring back a sense of diplomatic propriety and integrity to America’s relations with European friends and allies.
Britain, having left the EU, cannot be a central player in this restoration project. But it can avoid making unforced errors. The government should urgently start to read the runes of new, more internationalist times. The politics of disruptive confrontation, as exemplified by the internal market bill, suddenly looks dangerously dated. When the Northern Ireland minister, Brandon Lewis, confirmed in September that the bill would break international law, senior Conservatives such as Sir Michael Howard and Theresa May expressed their dismay at the damage to Britain’s reputation that would result. They were ignored.
But faced with an Irish-American president who is determined to rehabilitate relations with the EU, and is deeply suspicious of Mr Johnson’s Trumpian tendencies, to continue with the bill as it stands would be folly. With Mr Trump on his way out, Mr Johnson needs to sober up and start shifting some shapes on this and other matters.


theguardian--2020-11-09--Biden is far from perfect – but we should still take a moment to savour his victory | Suzanne Moore

There are many things Joe Biden is not .
He is not young .
He is not an anti-establishment peacenik .
He is not unbeholden to huge , anonymous donors .
He is not free of accusations of using male privilege to be gropey with women .
He is neither a radical , nor exciting .
He is not a brilliant orator .
He is not Bernie Sanders .
And on it goes : the disappointments pile up thick and fast .
But he is not a loser – and he is not Donald Trump .
So let us have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ celebration .
Is the left so downright miserable that it can not accept winning if the winner is imperfect or even worse than Trump , as I have seen some Instagram revolutionaries claim ?
Can we not luxuriate in Trump ’ s ongoing golf strop while creepy Rudy Giuliani rummages around in a car park next to a sex shop for a so-called press conference ?
Can we not speculate that Melania Trump already has the lawyers in ?
That pre-nup won ’ t go to waste .
The left is so accustomed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ occurred : we have become sore winners .
Biden did not win by enough , the complaints go , nor did he immediately acknowledge the groundwork by the left , nor the part played by the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in his victory .
Biden will be hamstrung , as the Democrats are unlikely to take control of the Senate , which hangs on the traditionally Republican vote in Georgia .
The normality that Biden wants to restore is profoundly unequal … and on it goes .
Then there is Kamala Harris , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ apparently , because of her former role as a prosecutor , in which she ended up incarcerating a lot of black men .
Yet here she is telling us that she is the first – but not the last – woman of colour to be vice-president .
If that doesn ’ t gladden your heart , I don ’ t know what will .
God knows what damage Trump will do in the next months , assuming it is illegal to Taser him during his terrible swing and cart him off in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lots of pardons for those still bobbing about in the cesspit .
He is friendless , in denial and in enormous debt , apparently rejecting the advice of family members to concede .
It is said that he screamed at Rupert Murdoch when Fox News called Arizona for Biden .
Covid death figures mean nothing , ratings everything .
His interior landscape seems to be a void .
Seventy million votes for Trump and these people are not going away – and don ’ t we know it ?
Shops and offices are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump tells to stand by are still there .
Many remain fearful .
It strikes me that hope and fear are more intimately connected than we acknowledge .
Many of us were afraid to hope for a Biden win because , lately , hopes have been dashed repeatedly .
Yet , as the composer Ernest Bloch said : “ Hope can learn and become smarter through damaging experience , but it can never be driven off course.
” Hope , he said , is “ characteristically daring ” .
Biden has a huge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , surely the most important issue , he has room for manoeuvre : he can develop Barack Obama ’ s clean power plan ; he can rejoin international accords ; he can , in short , act as if the climate emergency is real .
This is no small thing .
This election emphasised the gulf between the urban and rural populations of the US .
The gulf is huge because the US is huge .
I have read far too many leftist takes by those for whom New York , San Francisco @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Alabama , Montana , Kentucky , anyone ?
The coastal elites are as ignorant of their own country as Europeans are .
One of the shocks about the US is that the media remains local , rather than national .
Trump worked this well , utilising what the historian Timothy Snyder has called “ sadopopulism ” , in which the state is not about governing , but about making others suffer more – hence the ever-expanding list of enemies , from Mexican “ rapists ” to journalists to the post office .
Covid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who told the truth about the disease were to be added to the long list of un-Americans .
The delusion that “ vulnerability is for losers ” penetrated the psyches of those who were losing .
The fantasy of winning back jobs is more appealing than the truth that some jobs can ’ t be won back .
Trump voters remind me of something an MP in a leave constituency told me about Brexit : “ You have to understand , it ’ s the first time they have been on the winning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ easy enough to mock that , but I wouldn ’ t .
It is also easy enough to say Biden is not the revolution .
Now that Trump is a gouged-out egomaniac , his narcissism has metastasised to many parts of the US , where the malignancy grows .
None of this easy , but a little light has got in .
Celebrate the feeling while it lasts .
The virus continues .
Almost half of the US supports Trump , but something is changing .
Take a deep breath .
Inhale the @ @ @ @ @ @

There are many things Joe Biden is not. He is not young. He is not an anti-establishment peacenik. He is not unbeholden to huge, anonymous donors. He is not free of accusations of using male privilege to be gropey with women. He is neither a radical, nor exciting. He is not a brilliant orator. He is not Bernie Sanders. And on it goes: the disappointments pile up thick and fast.
But he is not a loser – and he is not Donald Trump. So let us have a moment, however brief, of celebration.
Is the left so downright miserable that it cannot accept winning if the winner is imperfect or even worse than Trump, as I have seen some Instagram revolutionaries claim? Can we not luxuriate in Trump’s ongoing golf strop while creepy Rudy Giuliani rummages around in a car park next to a sex shop for a so-called press conference? Can we not speculate that Melania Trump already has the lawyers in? That pre-nup won’t go to waste.
The left is so accustomed to losing that a strange phenomenon has occurred: we have become sore winners. Biden did not win by enough, the complaints go, nor did he immediately acknowledge the groundwork by the left, nor the part played by the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in his victory. Biden will be hamstrung, as the Democrats are unlikely to take control of the Senate, which hangs on the traditionally Republican vote in Georgia. The normality that Biden wants to restore is profoundly unequal … and on it goes.
Then there is Kamala Harris, who is also not good enough, apparently, because of her former role as a prosecutor, in which she ended up incarcerating a lot of black men. Yet here she is telling us that she is the first – but not the last – woman of colour to be vice-president. If that doesn’t gladden your heart, I don’t know what will.
God knows what damage Trump will do in the next months, assuming it is illegal to Taser him during his terrible swing and cart him off in a buggy. I imagine there will be lots of pardons for those still bobbing about in the cesspit. He is friendless, in denial and in enormous debt, apparently rejecting the advice of family members to concede. It is said that he screamed at Rupert Murdoch when Fox News called Arizona for Biden. Covid death figures mean nothing, ratings everything. His interior landscape seems to be a void.
Seventy million votes for Trump and these people are not going away – and don’t we know it?
Shops and offices are boarded up. The armed militias that Trump tells to stand by are still there. Many remain fearful. It strikes me that hope and fear are more intimately connected than we acknowledge. Many of us were afraid to hope for a Biden win because, lately, hopes have been dashed repeatedly. Yet, as the philosopher Ernst Bloch said: “Hope can learn and become smarter through damaging experience, but it can never be driven off course.” Hope, he said, is “characteristically daring”.
Biden has a huge mandate. In terms of the environment, surely the most important issue, he has room for manoeuvre: he can develop Barack Obama’s clean power plan; he can rejoin international accords; he can, in short, act as if the climate emergency is real. This is no small thing.
This election emphasised the gulf between the urban and rural populations of the US. The gulf is huge because the US is huge. I have read far too many leftist takes by those for whom New York, San Francisco and Washington DC constitute the US. Alabama, Montana, Kentucky, anyone?
The coastal elites are as ignorant of their own country as Europeans are. One of the shocks about the US is that the media remains local, rather than national. Trump worked this well, utilising what the historian Timothy Snyder has called “sadopopulism”, in which the state is not about governing, but about making others suffer more – hence the ever-expanding list of enemies, from Mexican “rapists” to journalists to the post office.
Covid exacerbated this. Mask wearers and people who told the truth about the disease were to be added to the long list of un-Americans. The delusion that “vulnerability is for losers” penetrated the psyches of those who were losing. The fantasy of winning back jobs is more appealing than the truth that some jobs can’t be won back. Trump voters remind me of something an MP in a leave constituency told me about Brexit: “You have to understand, it’s the first time they have been on the winning side in their lives.”
It is easy enough to mock that, but I wouldn’t. It is also easy enough to say Biden is not the revolution. Now that Trump is a gouged-out egomaniac, his narcissism has metastasised to many parts of the US, where the malignancy grows.
None of this easy, but a little light has got in. Celebrate the feeling while it lasts. The virus continues. Almost half of the US supports Trump, but something is changing. Take a deep breath. Inhale the hope, while you can.
Suzanne Moore is a Guardian columnist


theguardian--2020-11-09--Stacey Abrams: Georgia's political heroine … and romance author

Stacey Abrams is the former Georgia state house minority leader , whose fierce fight for Georgians ’ right to vote has been credited for potentially handing the state to the Democrats for the first time in 28 years .
But Abrams has another identity : the novelist Selena Montgomery , a romance and thriller writer who has sold more than 100,000 copies of her eight novels .
Abrams wrote her first novel during her third year at Yale Law School , inspired after reading her ex-boyfriend ’ s PhD dissertation in chemical physics .
She had wanted to write a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for other young black girls , I wanted to write books that showed them to be as adventurous and attractive as any white woman , ” she wrote in her memoir Minority Leader .
But after being told repeatedly by editors that women don ’ t read spy novels , and that men don ’ t read spy novels by women , she made her spies fall in love .
Rules of Engagement , her debut , was published in 2001 , and sees temperatures flare as covert operative Raleigh partners with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ group that has stolen deadly environmental technology .
Abrams published the novel under a pen name “ to separate my fiction from more academic publications on tax policy ” .
Seven more novels would follow , including Never Tell , which sees criminal psychologist Dr Erin Abbott take on a New Orleans serial killer with the help of journalist Gabriel Moss ; Hidden Sins , which follows Mara Reed as she reunites with the scientist whose heart she once broke in her hometown ; and Reckless , in which top lawyer Kell Jameson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her childhood orphanage is accused of murder .
In 2018 , when Abrams made an unsuccessful bid to become governor of Georgia , she told Entertainment Weekly that she believed she could tell her characters stories “ in ways that are engaging , but are also reflective of the complexity of women ’ s lives ” .
“ Whether I ’ m writing about an ethno-botanist or a woman who ’ s raising orphans in South Georgia , the challenge of telling their stories is the same challenge I face as a legislator @ @ @ @ @ @ @ passing a bill on kinship care , helping grandparents raising grandchildren , or blocking a tax bill because I ’ m using expertise they don ’ t realise I have , ” she said .
“ I revel in having been able to be a part of a genre that is read by millions and millions of women , in part because it respects who they are .
It respects the diversity of our experiences , and it creates space for broader conversations.
” With Biden narrowly ahead in the Georgia recount , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Abrams ’ books .
US romance bookshop the Ripped Bodice sold 100 copies of her novels in just 12 hours .
And as they pointed out on Twitter , “ while [ Abrams ] was busy turning Georgia blue , she also wrote a new suspense novel ” .
While Justice Sleeps , out next May , follows a young law clerk , Avery Keene , who works for the legendary but cantankerous Justice Wynn .
When Wynn slips into a coma , Avery discovers a conspiracy that has infiltrated the heart of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I wrote the first draft of a novel that explored an intriguing aspect of American democracy – the lifetime appointments to the US supreme court , ” Abrams said in a statement .
“ Drawing on my own background as a lawyer and politician , While Justice Sleeps weaves between the supreme court , the White House and international intrigue to see what happens when a lowly law clerk controls the fate of a nation.
” Abrams ’ fellow romance writers , meanwhile , have launched an auction and fundraiser at Romancing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ senate run-offs .
“ We ’ re here to help give 2020 a happily ever after , ” they say .
And they ’ ve already made $ 60,000 ( £46,400 ) .

Stacey Abrams is the former Georgia state house minority leader, whose fierce fight for Georgians’ right to vote has been credited for potentially handing the state to the Democrats for the first time in 28 years. But Abrams has another identity: the novelist Selena Montgomery, a romance and thriller writer who has sold more than 100,000 copies of her eight novels.
Abrams wrote her first novel during her third year at Yale Law School, inspired after reading her ex-boyfriend’s PhD dissertation in chemical physics. She had wanted to write a spy novel: “For me, for other young black girls, I wanted to write books that showed them to be as adventurous and attractive as any white woman,” she wrote in her memoir Minority Leader. But after being told repeatedly by editors that women don’t read spy novels, and that men don’t read spy novels by women, she made her spies fall in love. Rules of Engagement, her debut, was published in 2001, and sees temperatures flare as covert operative Raleigh partners with the handsome Adam Grayson to infiltrate a terrorist group that has stolen deadly environmental technology.
Abrams published the novel under a pen name “to separate my fiction from more academic publications on tax policy”. Seven more novels would follow, including Never Tell, which sees criminal psychologist Dr Erin Abbott take on a New Orleans serial killer with the help of journalist Gabriel Moss; Hidden Sins, which follows Mara Reed as she reunites with the scientist whose heart she once broke in her hometown; and Reckless, in which top lawyer Kell Jameson faces her past when the head of her childhood orphanage is accused of murder.
In 2018, when Abrams made an unsuccessful bid to become governor of Georgia, she told Entertainment Weekly that she believed she could tell her characters stories “in ways that are engaging, but are also reflective of the complexity of women’s lives”.
“Whether I’m writing about an ethno-botanist or a woman who’s raising orphans in South Georgia, the challenge of telling their stories is the same challenge I face as a legislator who has to talk to someone about passing a bill on kinship care, helping grandparents raising grandchildren, or blocking a tax bill because I’m using expertise they don’t realise I have,” she said. “I revel in having been able to be a part of a genre that is read by millions and millions of women, in part because it respects who they are. It respects the diversity of our experiences, and it creates space for broader conversations.”
With Biden narrowly ahead in the Georgia recount, readers are now rushing to snap up Abrams’ books. US romance bookshop the Ripped Bodice sold 100 copies of her novels in just 12 hours. And as they pointed out on Twitter, “while [Abrams] was busy turning Georgia blue, she also wrote a new suspense novel”. While Justice Sleeps, out next May, follows a young law clerk, Avery Keene, who works for the legendary but cantankerous Justice Wynn. When Wynn slips into a coma, Avery discovers a conspiracy that has infiltrated the heart of US politics.
“A decade ago, I wrote the first draft of a novel that explored an intriguing aspect of American democracy – the lifetime appointments to the US supreme court,” Abrams said in a statement. “Drawing on my own background as a lawyer and politician, While Justice Sleeps weaves between the supreme court, the White House and international intrigue to see what happens when a lowly law clerk controls the fate of a nation.”
Abrams’ fellow romance writers, meanwhile, have launched an auction and fundraiser at Romancing the Runoff to help support the Georgia senate run-offs. “We’re here to help give 2020 a happily ever after,” they say. And they’ve already made $60,000 (£46,400).


theguardian--2020-11-09--Goodbye Trump, hello Biden: how America is waving goodbye to a shocking, shameful era

As the result was finally called , the end of his presidency confirmed , Donald Trump teed off on a crisp , autumnal Saturday afternoon at his private golf club in Virginia .
The president was in the midst of a four-day mission to spread baseless misinformation about election integrity in an attempt to subvert US democracy .
“ I WON THIS ELECTION , BY A LOT !
” he tweeted , falsely , hours before hitting the fairway .
Of the many false claims Trump has made over the past four years – lying about the size of his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a life-threatening hurricane , lying about the deadliness of the coronavirus – the lies about this election are the most farcical and grotesque .
And they have not worked .
A growing chorus of world leaders , some members of the Republican party , and tens of millions of Americans have already begun to move on .
Trump cast a lonely figure as he returned to the White House after golfing , his motorcade met on the street by hundreds of protesters who simultaneously gave him the middle finger .
At the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to concede the election ; perhaps he never will .
A number of spurious legal challenges remain outstanding as well .
But on Saturday evening , celebrations in US cities continued into the night .
That evening , president-elect Joe Biden jogged on to the stage in Wilmington , Delaware , and declared the beginning of a new political age .
“ Let this grim era of demonisation in America begin to end – here and now , ” he told a crowd assembled in their cars , honking their horns , tears @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is shaped by the constant battle between our better angels and our darkest impulses .
And what presidents say in this battle matters .
It is time for our better angels to prevail.
” Miles away I found myself at the front of a different Joe Biden celebration parade , in the city of Palm Beach , south Florida .
This is one of the state ’ s most economically divided urban areas , with low-income , diverse neighbourhoods to the west and fabulous wealth to the east .
Perhaps nothing is more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ private members club – his self-described “ winter White House ” .
The car convoy , of about 50 vehicles , crossed into the affluent suburbs , and wound around the tall palm-lined roads less than a mile from Trump ’ s club .
“ We did it !
We did it !
” shouted Wendy Bostic , 37 , a preschool teacher , and one of the thousands of Black female organisers who helped Biden secure this victory .
Bostic lost her job for six months during the pandemic and believes Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ community .
“ It ’ s over .
This darkness .
It ’ s over.
” She gestured to her two-year-old twin daughters , Nyla and Kyla , and said the months of community-organising had been to secure their future .
The US will see its first female , first Black , first Asian-American vice-president , Kamala Harris , something that meant everything to Bostic .
“ It ’ s almost more important than Biden himself , ” she said .
Although Biden lost Florida , he secured the most votes of any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than 74.5 million .
Exit polling suggests his coalition included nearly 90 % of Black voters , two-thirds of Hispanic and Asian voters , more than 60 % of younger people and over half of women .
He appears to have won the popular vote by at least 4m .
In most advanced democracies that would be a major mandate to govern .
But the US Senate still hangs in the balance with two runoff elections in the state of Georgia set to decide who controls the chamber – a pivotal branch of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden administration ’ s legislative agenda .
Still , the power of the presidency will allow Joe Biden to reverse some of the most extreme actions of the previous administration .
He will take a more proactive approach to mitigating the effects of the pandemic .
He will rejoin the Paris climate agreement .
He will end the construction of Trump ’ s wall .
All likely within the first few days of taking office .
But policy reversals and soaring rhetoric will only get him so far .
And failures to protect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well before Donald Trump .
This has been a polarising four years , leaving the US a more damaged and fractured society .
While the majority of the country voted for Biden , more than 70 million Americans cast their ballot for Donald Trump .
The president has created a new political paradigm , partly rooted in the country ’ s oldest sins but also fostered by a climate of conspiracy theories , disinformation and a cult of personality .
Reporting on this election has often felt like reporting on two different realities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these two worlds .
More precisely , I spent it peering into a packed party in Palm Beach , through the safety of a glass door .
Inside , 500 Republican revellers , without masks or social-distancing , danced to the Village People and celebrated a Trump victory , even as it became increasingly clear the victor would not be decided on the night .
Behind those doors it was as if the pandemic did not exist .
And Donald Trump would remain president for eternity .
But as the reality of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assembled crowd , some of whom had spent $ 500 to attend , the anger was palpable .
“ If Biden gets in , we are totally ducked , ” said a woman , resisting the urge to swear as she left .
“ We ’ re ducked to the max because he ’ s going to shut everything down .
He ’ s listening to the stupid scientists .
They don ’ t understand everything.
” I have often found myself at the centre of Trump ’ s darkest impulses over the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ground on the real-life consequences of his brutal policy decisions , his dangerous rhetoric and sheer incompetence .
In 2018 , I sat in a federal courthouse in McAllen , Texas , and watched a man named Ramón Villata , an asylum seeker from El Salvador , beg a US judge to be reunited with his two-year-old son .
They had been ripped apart by the administration ’ s child-separation policy , perhaps the most damning indictment of the morality vacuum created by his presidency .
In 2017 , I was dispatched to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the murder of the antiracism activist Heather Heyer .
I watched her friends and family weep after her death at the hands of a white supremacist terrorist , after torch-waving neo-Nazi thugs had screamed “ Jews will not replace us ” during a violent rally in her home town .
Trump described “ very fine people on both sides ” in the immediate aftermath of a racist riot , an abhorrent nod to white supremacists .
Later that year , I reported from Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria claimed the lives of 3,057 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into a crowd in San Juan , the island ’ s capital , and professed his administration had done a “ fantastic job ” in the recovery , I sat with a family in a remote rural town in the centre of the island who had lost almost everything , forced to drink stream water and live by candlelight .
They had received no federal aid , and the administration would continue to fail the island for months to come .
And this year , in some of the poorest communities of colour @ @ @ @ @ @ @ witnessed the tragedy of death , illness and economic hardship imposed by the pandemic on society ’ s most vulnerable .
All amid antagonism against public health , objective science , and a culture war , instigated by the most powerful man on earth , over the simple act of wearing a face mask .
Rhetoric , policy and competence are easy to rectify .
But uniting the nation , restoring faith in institutions , facts and truth , and now the democratic process itself , will be the challenge of Joe Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tentative first step towards that on Saturday night .
“ To make progress we have to stop treating our opponents as our enemy .
They are not our enemies , ” he said .
“ They are Americans .
”

As the result was finally called, the end of his presidency confirmed, Donald Trump teed off on a crisp, autumnal Saturday afternoon at his private golf club in Virginia.
The president was in the midst of a four-day mission to spread baseless misinformation about election integrity in an attempt to subvert US democracy.
“I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!” he tweeted, falsely, hours before hitting the fairway.
Of the many false claims Trump has made over the past four years – lying about the size of his inauguration crowd, lying about the trajectory of a life-threatening hurricane, lying about the deadliness of the coronavirus – the lies about this election are the most farcical and grotesque.
And they have not worked.
A growing chorus of world leaders, some members of the Republican party, and tens of millions of Americans have already begun to move on. Trump cast a lonely figure as he returned to the White House after golfing, his motorcade met on the street by hundreds of protesters who simultaneously gave him the middle finger.
At the time of writing, he has yet to concede the election; perhaps he never will. A number of spurious legal challenges remain outstanding as well. But on Saturday evening, celebrations in US cities continued into the night.
That evening, president-elect Joe Biden jogged on to the stage in Wilmington, Delaware, and declared the beginning of a new political age. “Let this grim era of demonisation in America begin to end – here and now,” he told a crowd assembled in their cars, honking their horns, tears in their eyes. “Our nation is shaped by the constant battle between our better angels and our darkest impulses. And what presidents say in this battle matters. It is time for our better angels to prevail.”
Miles away I found myself at the front of a different Joe Biden celebration parade, in the city of Palm Beach, south Florida. This is one of the state’s most economically divided urban areas, with low-income, diverse neighbourhoods to the west and fabulous wealth to the east. Perhaps nothing is more ostentatious than Trump’s own Mar-a-Lago private members club – his self-described “winter White House”.
The car convoy, of about 50 vehicles, crossed into the affluent suburbs, and wound around the tall palm-lined roads less than a mile from Trump’s club.
“We did it! We did it!” shouted Wendy Bostic, 37, a preschool teacher, and one of the thousands of Black female organisers who helped Biden secure this victory. Bostic lost her job for six months during the pandemic and believes Biden offers a pathway to help rebuild her community. “It’s over. This darkness. It’s over.”
She gestured to her two-year-old twin daughters, Nyla and Kyla, and said the months of community-organising had been to secure their future. The US will see its first female, first Black, first Asian-American vice-president, Kamala Harris, something that meant everything to Bostic. “It’s almost more important than Biden himself,” she said.
Although Biden lost Florida, he secured the most votes of any presidential candidate in US history, more than 74.5 million. Exit polling suggests his coalition included nearly 90% of Black voters, two-thirds of Hispanic and Asian voters, more than 60% of younger people and over half of women. He appears to have won the popular vote by at least 4m.
In most advanced democracies that would be a major mandate to govern. But the US Senate still hangs in the balance with two runoff elections in the state of Georgia set to decide who controls the chamber – a pivotal branch of government that could make or break the Biden administration’s legislative agenda.
Still, the power of the presidency will allow Joe Biden to reverse some of the most extreme actions of the previous administration. He will take a more proactive approach to mitigating the effects of the pandemic. He will rejoin the Paris climate agreement. He will end the construction of Trump’s wall. All likely within the first few days of taking office.
But policy reversals and soaring rhetoric will only get him so far. And failures to protect the most vulnerable in US society began well before Donald Trump.
This has been a polarising four years, leaving the US a more damaged and fractured society. While the majority of the country voted for Biden, more than 70 million Americans cast their ballot for Donald Trump. The president has created a new political paradigm, partly rooted in the country’s oldest sins but also fostered by a climate of conspiracy theories, disinformation and a cult of personality.
Reporting on this election has often felt like reporting on two different realities.
I spent election night split between these two worlds. More precisely, I spent it peering into a packed party in Palm Beach, through the safety of a glass door. Inside, 500 Republican revellers, without masks or social-distancing, danced to the Village People and celebrated a Trump victory, even as it became increasingly clear the victor would not be decided on the night. Behind those doors it was as if the pandemic did not exist. And Donald Trump would remain president for eternity.
But as the reality of a days-long wait began to dawn on the assembled crowd, some of whom had spent $500 to attend, the anger was palpable.
“If Biden gets in, we are totally ducked,” said a woman, resisting the urge to swear as she left. “We’re ducked to the max because he’s going to shut everything down. He’s listening to the stupid scientists. They don’t understand everything.”
I have often found myself at the centre of Trump’s darkest impulses over the past four years, reporting from the ground on the real-life consequences of his brutal policy decisions, his dangerous rhetoric and sheer incompetence.
In 2018, I sat in a federal courthouse in McAllen, Texas, and watched a man named Ramón Villata, an asylum seeker from El Salvador, beg a US judge to be reunited with his two-year-old son. They had been ripped apart by the administration’s child-separation policy, perhaps the most damning indictment of the morality vacuum created by his presidency.
In 2017, I was dispatched to Charlottesville, Virginia, a day after the murder of the antiracism activist Heather Heyer. I watched her friends and family weep after her death at the hands of a white supremacist terrorist, after torch-waving neo-Nazi thugs had screamed “Jews will not replace us” during a violent rally in her home town. Trump described “very fine people on both sides” in the immediate aftermath of a racist riot, an abhorrent nod to white supremacists.
Later that year, I reported from Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria claimed the lives of 3,057 Americans. As Trump tossed paper towels into a crowd in San Juan, the island’s capital, and professed his administration had done a “fantastic job” in the recovery, I sat with a family in a remote rural town in the centre of the island who had lost almost everything, forced to drink stream water and live by candlelight. They had received no federal aid, and the administration would continue to fail the island for months to come.
And this year, in some of the poorest communities of colour in the US south, I have witnessed the tragedy of death, illness and economic hardship imposed by the pandemic on society’s most vulnerable. All amid antagonism against public health, objective science, and a culture war, instigated by the most powerful man on earth, over the simple act of wearing a face mask.
Rhetoric, policy and competence are easy to rectify. But uniting the nation, restoring faith in institutions, facts and truth, and now the democratic process itself, will be the challenge of Joe Biden’s lifetime.
He made a tentative first step towards that on Saturday night.
“To make progress we have to stop treating our opponents as our enemy. They are not our enemies,” he said. “They are Americans.”


theguardian--2020-11-09--The Trump presidency in numbers

The Trump presidency in numbers

The number of Americans who have died of Covid-19 .
The number of children whose parents have still not been found after they were separated at the US-Mexico border .
The number of women who have accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct .
The amount of federal tax paid by Trump in both 2016 and 2017 , the latter being his first year as US president .
The number of US jobs lost in March and April this year as the Covid-19 pandemic forced nationwide shutdowns .
The number of environmental regulations the Trump administration has reversed , including rules @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and toxic chemicals .
The number of times Trump interrupted Biden during the 90-minute span of 2020 ’ s first presidential debate .
The number of times Trump said people were having to flush the toilet , in a bizarre tirade about water restrictions .
The number of days that Trump has visited a golf course since his inauguration on 20 January 2017 .
The number of votes Hillary Clinton received more than Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election .
Trump won the electoral college by 304 votes to Clinton ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Trump since he took office , according to the Washington Post .
He passed the milestone on 9 July 2020 .
The number of tweets from the @ realDonaldTrump Twitter account that have included the phrase “ fake news ” since January 2017 .
The number of days the federal government was shut down in December 2018-January 2019 after congressional Democrats refused to allocate $ 5.7bn of funding for Trump ’ s border wall .
The average age of the three supreme court justices ( Neil Gorsuch , Brett Kavanaugh , Amy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The last 11 supreme court justices have died or retired at an average age of 80 .
Trump ’ s average approval rating during his term , the lowest for a US president since the second world war .
The number of rallies Trump has held since taking office , including 38 live rallies during the coronavirus pandemic .
The number of abortion clinics that have lost federal funding during Trump ’ s presidency .
The extent of new wall erected on the US-Mexico border .
US Customs and Border Protection reports @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the vast majority refers to the replacement or improvement of existing walls .
The number of press secretaries Trump has employed during his presidency , the most of any first-term president .
The number of days Anthony Scaramucci served as White House communications director .
Trump associates have been charged with or convicted of federal crimes , including the former White House strategist Steve Bannon , the former campaign chair Paul Manafort and Trump ’ s personal lawyer Michael Cohen .
The percentage of Trump ’ s cabinet who are millionaires ( 20 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ centimillionaires ” ( Wilbur Ross , Steve Mnuchin ) and there is one billionaire ( Betsy DeVos ) .
The number of executive orders enacted during Trump ’ s presidency , including executive order 13769 , his controversial Muslim ban .
The number of times Trump has suggested injecting disinfectant as a potential Covid-19 cure .

THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY IN NUMBERS Figures that tell the story of four turbulent years in US history Share on Facebook
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234,000
The number of Americans who have died of Covid-19.
545
The number of children whose parents have still not been found after they were separated at the US-Mexico border.
26
The number of women who have accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct.
$750
The amount of federal tax paid by Trump in both 2016 and 2017, the latter being his first year as US president.
22m
The number of US jobs lost in March and April this year as the Covid-19 pandemic forced nationwide shutdowns.
99
The number of environmental regulations the Trump administration has reversed, including rules governing clean air, water, wildlife and toxic chemicals.
128
The number of times Trump interrupted Biden during the 90-minute span of 2020’s first presidential debate.
15
The number of times Trump said people were having to flush the toilet, in a bizarre tirade about water restrictions.
285
The number of days that Trump has visited a golf course since his inauguration on 20 January 2017.
2.87m
The number of votes Hillary Clinton received more than Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Trump won the electoral college by 304 votes to Clinton’s 227.
20,000-plus
The number of lies told by Trump since he took office, according to the Washington Post. He passed the milestone on 9 July 2020.
552
The number of tweets from the @realDonaldTrump Twitter account that have included the phrase “fake news” since January 2017.
35
The number of days the federal government was shut down in December 2018-January 2019 after congressional Democrats refused to allocate $5.7bn of funding for Trump’s border wall.
52
The average age of the three supreme court justices (Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett) nominated by Donald Trump. The last 11 supreme court justices have died or retired at an average age of 80.
41%
Trump’s average approval rating during his term, the lowest for a US president since the second world war.
129
The number of rallies Trump has held since taking office, including 38 live rallies during the coronavirus pandemic.
900
The number of abortion clinics that have lost federal funding during Trump’s presidency.
5 miles
The extent of new wall erected on the US-Mexico border. US Customs and Border Protection reports that 307 miles have been completed but the vast majority refers to the replacement or improvement of existing walls.
4
The number of press secretaries Trump has employed during his presidency, the most of any first-term president.
11
The number of days Anthony Scaramucci served as White House communications director.
8
Trump associates have been charged with or convicted of federal crimes, including the former White House strategist Steve Bannon, the former campaign chair Paul Manafort and Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen.
87%
The percentage of Trump’s cabinet who are millionaires (20 out of 23). Two are “centimillionaires” (Wilbur Ross, Steve Mnuchin) and there is one billionaire (Betsy DeVos).
191
The number of executive orders enacted during Trump’s presidency, including executive order 13769, his controversial Muslim ban.
1
The number of times Trump has suggested injecting disinfectant as a potential Covid-19 cure.
Close
This article was archived on 07 March 2023. Some elements may be out of date.


theguardian--2020-11-09--Joe Biden: US still facing 'very dark winter' despite promising coronavirus vaccine news – video

President-elect Joe Biden said the months ahead would still be very difficult for the United States , despite the encouraging @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus vaccine .
Biden said it would be 'many months ' before the vaccine was @ @ @ @ @ another 200,000 Americans could die of coronavirus in the coming months .
Biden also spoke @ @ @ @ @ urged Americans to wear face masks to limit the spread of the virus • Biden @ @ @ @ @ while Trump refuses to concede • US coronavirus cases near 10m as Ben Carson tests @

President-elect Joe Biden said the months ahead would still be very difficult for the United States, despite the encouraging news about Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine.
Biden said it would be 'many months' before the vaccine was widely available, warning that another 200,000 Americans could die of coronavirus in the coming months.
Biden also spoke about his coronavirus taskforce and urged Americans to wear face masks to limit the spread of the virus


theguardian--2020-11-10--US election 2020: Biden to speak as Trump and the supreme court threaten Obamacare – live

Pope John Paul ll promoted a senior figure in the US Catholic church despite being aware of rumors of his sexual misconduct , a two year Vatican investigation has found .
My London Guardian colleague , Harriet Sherwood , writes this morning in a piece about to go live that the report , published today , highlighted failings by successive popes , Vatican officials and US clerics .
They allowed Cardinal Theodore McCarrick to rise through church ranks despite multiple allegations of abuse .
McCarrick , a former archbishop of Washington DC , became the most senior figure in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Vatican hearing last year found him guilty of sexual crimes in the 1970 and 80s , “ with the aggravating factor of the abuse of power ” .
Pope Francis , who was accused of ignoring the allegations against McCarrick , ordered the Vatican ’ s disciplinary branch , the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , to investigate in October 2018 – more than two decades after the alarm was first raised .
The inquiry heard from 90 witnesses and examined dozens of documents , letters and transcripts from Vatican and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said the US church hierarchy was aware of consistent rumors that McCarrick preyed on adult male seminarians , but “ credible evidence ” did not surface until 2017 .
McCarrick has said he had no recollection of child abuse and has not commented publicly on allegations of misconduct with adults .
Now aged 90 , he is living in isolation .
In 1999 , Cardinal John O ’ Connor advised Pope John Paul II that it would be imprudent to promote McCarrick because of “ rumours ” of sexual misconduct with seminarians dating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the Vatican ambassador to the US , requested by Pope John Paul , “ confirmed that McCarrick had shared a bed with young men ” but said there was no certainty that he had engaged in sexual acts .
In August 2000 , McCarrick wrote to Pope John Paul ’ s private secretary to rebutting the allegations .
“ McCarrick ’ s denial was believed , ” the report said .
Three months later , Pope John Paul appointed McCarrick archbishop of Washington DC , one of the most prestigious posts in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pope John Paul ’ s willingness to believe McCarrick ’ s denial was probably influenced by his experience in his native Poland when the communist government used “ spurious allegations against bishops to degrade the standing of the church ” .

11 Nov 2020 03.12 GMT Summary Donald Trump has still not conceded, as his campaign pursues longshot legal challenges and his Republican allies insist he has a right to challenge the results. The president has continued to spread misinformation to spread doubt about the legitimacy of the elections.
The president has continued to spread misinformation to spread doubt about the legitimacy of the elections. A USPS whistleblower who alleged ballot tampering has reportedly recanted his claims. This is a latest blow for Republicans who are struggling to substantiate their claims of widespread fraud.
This is a latest blow for Republicans who are struggling to substantiate their claims of widespread fraud. Joe Biden said he has not spoken to Trump since the election was called, and said his opponent’s refusal to accept defeat was “an embarrassment”. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released today found that 73% of the adults surveyed - both Democrats and Republicans - thought the loser of this election should concede.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released today found that 73% of the adults surveyed - both Democrats and Republicans - thought the loser of this election should concede. The US supreme court justices signaled that they are unlikely to strike down the entire Obamacare healthcare law. A legal challenge brought by Republican-governed states and backed by the Trump administration is seeking to invalidate the entire law based on the claim that the law’s individual mandate is unconstitutional.
A legal challenge brought by Republican-governed states and backed by the Trump administration is seeking to invalidate the entire law based on the claim that the law’s individual mandate is unconstitutional. Extreme Republican partisans have been appointed to work at the Pentagon, after defense secretary Mark Esper was fired. The newcomers include Anthony Tata , a retired army brigadier general and Fox News commentator who called Barack Obama a “terrorist leader”.
The newcomers include , a retired army brigadier general and Fox News commentator who called Barack Obama a “terrorist leader”. The secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said “there will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration”. It was not clear if he was joking.
Updated at 03.15 GMT
11 Nov 2020 01.57 GMT The misinformation media machine amplifying Trump's election lies The Guardian’s Lois Beckett and Julia Carrie Wong report: The networks have made their calls, world leaders have begun paying their respects, and even Fox News and Rupert Murdoch’s other media outlets appear to have given up on a second term for Donald Trump. But in a video posted on Facebook on 7 November and viewed more than 16.5m times since, NewsMax host and former Trump administration official Carl Higbie spends three minutes spewing a laundry list of false and debunked claims casting doubt on the outcome of the presidential election. “I believe it’s time to hold the line,” said Higbie, who resigned from his government post over an extensive track record of racist, homophobic and bigoted remarks, to the Trump faithful. “I’m highly skeptical and you should be too.” The video, which has been shared more than 350,000 times on Facebook, is just one star in a constellation of pro-Trump misinformation that is leading millions of Americans to doubt or reject the results of the presidential election. Fully 70% of Republicans believe that the election was not “free and fair”, according to a Politico/Morning Consult poll conducted since election day. Among those doubters, large majorities believe two of Trump’s most brazen lies: that mail-in voting leads to fraud and that ballots were tampered with. Trump himself is the largest source of election misinformation; the president has barely addressed the public since Tuesday except to share lies and misinformation about the election. But his message attacking the electoral process is being amplified by a host of rightwing media outlets and pundits who appear to be jockeying to replace Fox News as the outlet of choice for Trumpists – and metastasizing on platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. Since election day, 16 of the top 20 public Facebook posts that include the word “election” feature false or misleading information casting doubt on the election in favor of Trump, according to a Guardian analysis of posts with the most interactions using CrowdTangle, a Facebook-owned analytics tool. Of those, 13 are posts by the president’s own page, one is a direct quote from Trump published by Fox News, one is by the rightwing evangelical Christian Franklin Graham, and the last is the Newsmax Higbie video. Read more: The misinformation media machine amplifying Trump's election lies Read more
11 Nov 2020 01.20 GMT Poppy Noor Donald Trump has set up a retirement GoFundMe. Well, not exactly – he doesn’t call it a retirement GoFundMe, but his “election defense fund”. Those donating may believe that the money will be used towards challenging the election result, but may have missed that their contributions are earmarked for paying off Trump’s re-election debts. It seems to be the latest episode in the Trump team’s comedy of errors. As Trump continues to refuse to acknowledge the election result by baselessly claiming that Biden’s victory was won through voter fraud, he is also calling on his base for help. Donations can be made to two different funds – Trump’s personal fund, and his joint fund with the RNC. “President Trump needs YOU to step up to make sure we have the resources to protect the integrity of the election!” the wording on both funds says, which is featured in a huge pop-up on Trump’s re-election webpage. It continues: “Please contribute ANY AMOUNT IMMEDIATELY to the Official Election Defense Fund and to increase your impact by 1,000%!” It is unclear who matches the donations. But if you scroll down, past the information about the “Left-wing MOB” trying to “undermine our election”, you’ll see some fine print. On Trump’s personal fund, it dictates that of all donations raised, only 50% will go towards a recount effort, and that “50% of each contribution, up to a maximum of $2,800 ($5,000), [will] be designated toward DJTFP’s 2020 general election account for general election debt retirement until such debt is retired”. On his joint fund with the RNC, the donations work as follows: “60% of each contribution first to Save America, up to $5,000/$5,000, then to DJTP’s recount account, up to a maximum of $2,800/$5,000. [And] 40% of each contribution to the RNC’s operating account, up to a maximum of $35,500/$15,000.” This essentially means that depending on the size of your donation, a large portion of any donation won’t go to the “recount” bid but will instead go to the Super Pac sponsoring the bid, and the Republican party. Read more: Donald Trump's latest endeavor? Asking his supporters to pay his debts Read more
11 Nov 2020 00.59 GMT A new poll finds that 79% of Americans believe Joe Biden won the election, including about 60% of Republicans. Even as Donald Trump and campaign seek to challenge the election results with long-shot lawsuits, 72% of US adults believe loser should concede, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll of 1,363 adults. About 60% believe there ultimately will be a peaceful transition of power. The survey also found that 83% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans trusted local election officials to “do their job honestly”.
Updated at 01.32 GMT
11 Nov 2020 00.36 GMT Alex Hern False or misleading claims of electoral fraud are going viral on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, even as the platforms continue to implement special measures aimed at reducing the spread of misinformation around the US presidential election. Major social media platforms are nominally cracking down on misinformation, prominently displaying election results or appending warning labels to posts by Donald Trump that seek to undermine the validity of the vote. According to social analytics platforms such as NewsWhip and CrowdTangle, however, claims about voting irregularities have become among the most-shared content on Facebook. The top three posts are all from Donald Trump, according to CrowdTangle: one alleges “Fake Votes” in Nevada, where Trump trails Joe Biden by 36,000 votes; another claims Georgia, where Trump trails by 13,000 votes pending a recount, will be a “big presidential win”; and a third says “a very large number of ballots” will be affected by “threshold identification”, the meaning of which is unclear. The top news stories on Facebook are also dominated by rightwing claims of “irregularities” and “fraud”, CrowdTangle data showed. Three of the top 10 posts are links from Trump to the far-right news site Breitbart, covering attorney general Bill Barr’s inquiry into “voting irregularities” and inquiries in Michigan and Georgia; a fourth is to rightwing site Newsmax, calling Pennsylvania’s situation a “constitutional travesty”. Joining Trump in the top 10 are two posts from Republican media personality Dan Bongino backing the idea that election fraud is to blame for Trump’s loss, and a report from Fox News quoting Trump’s campaign team saying they are “not backing down”. Read more: Why I hate the Mary Wollstonecraft statue | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett Read more
11 Nov 2020 00.14 GMT A postal worker whose claims of voting irregularities have been the basis of Republican calls for investigations, admitted he fabricated his allegations, the Washington Post reports: A Pennsylvania postal worker whose claims have been cited by top Republicans as potential evidence of widespread voting irregularities admitted to U.S. Postal Service investigators that he fabricated the allegations, according to three officials briefed on the investigation and a statement from a House congressional committee. Richard Hopkins’s claim that a postmaster in Erie, Pa., instructed postal workers to backdate ballots mailed after Election Day was cited by Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) in a letter to the Justice Department calling for a federal investigation. Attorney General William P. Barr subsequently authorized federal prosecutors to open probes into credible allegations of voting irregularities and fraud, a reversal of long-standing Justice Department policy. But on Monday, Hopkins, 32, told investigators from the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General that the allegations were not true, and he signed an affidavit recanting his claims, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing investigation. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee tweeted late Tuesday that the “whistleblower completely RECANTED.” This news comes as the Trump campaign continues to insist that the president’s election loss is due to fraud despite a lack of evidence.
Updated at 01.02 GMT
11 Nov 2020 00.01 GMT The lieutenant governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, said he’s offering $1m as a reward for reports of voter fraud, despite a lack of evidence that there is significant fraud, the Texas Tribune reports. Republicans – who have been alleging voter fraud since before the elections - have been having trouble finding proof to back their claims. The Trump campaign has lobbed a series of long-shot lawsuits to discount mail-in votes that are unlikely to change the outcome of the presidential election. Phone lines that the campaign has opened up to collect stories of fraud and inaccuracies have been bombarded by prank calls. In Texas, as my colleague Erum Salam points out, Patrick’s reward is unlikely to produce any evidence: dear god what a waste of money https://t.co/0zJgVP0A1X — Erum Salam (@salamdogmillion) November 10, 2020
Updated at 01.03 GMT
10 Nov 2020 23.35 GMT Julian Borger The reasons for the post-election personnel changes ten weeks before the end of Donald Trump’s tenure were unclear, but they came at a time when the president is refusing to accept election defeat.
The former defence secretary, Mark Esper, had refused to allow active duty troops to be deployed on US streets during the Black Lives Matter protests over the summer.
In his resignation letter, Anderson, the outgoing Pentagon policy chief, also signalled his unease with the direction the Trump White House was taking in the aftermath of the election. “Now, as ever, our long-term success depends on adhering to the US Constitution all public servants swear to support and defend,” he wrote.
Democrats raised the alarm over the wave of staff changes at the Pentagon. “It is hard to overstate just how dangerous high-level turnover at the department of defence is during a period of presidential transition,” Adam Smith, the chairman of the House armed services committee said in a statement, adding that the development “should alarm all Americans”. “If this is the beginning of a trend – the President either firing or forcing out national security professionals in order to replace them with people perceived as more loyal to him – then the next 70 days will be precarious at best and downright dangerous at worst.” The top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, Mark Warner said the US had entered “uncharted territory” with Esper’s firing. “There’s never been a time when a senior official like this has been fired during a transition period between one administration to another,” Warner told MSNBC.
10 Nov 2020 23.27 GMT Julian Borger Extreme Republican partisans have been installed in important roles in the Pentagon, following the summary dismissal of the defense secretary. Democrats immediately demanded explanations for the eleventh-hour personnel changes, and warned that the US was entering dangerous “uncharted territory”, reshuffling key national security roles during a presidential transition. However, defense experts argued there was little the new Trump appointees could do to use their positions to the president’s advantage, given the firm refusal of the uniformed armed services to get involved in domestic politics. Anthony Tata, a retired Army brigadier general, novelist and Fox News commentator who called Barack Obama a “terrorist leader”, has taken control of the Pentagon’s policy department, following the resignation of the acting undersecretary of defense for policy, James Anderson.
Tata had been unable to win Senate confirmation for the post after old tweets surfaced in which he expressed virulent Islamophobic views. Meanwhile, Kash Patel, a former Republican congressional aide who played a lead role in a campaign to discredit the investigation into Russian election meddling, has been made chief of staff to the new acting defense secretary, Chris Miller. On the same day, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, Vice Admiral Joseph Kernan, a retired Navy Seal, was also reported to have resigned on Tuesday, and was replaced by Ezra Cohen-Watnick, a former aide to Michael Flynn, Trump’s first national security adviser who pleaded guilty to perjury.
Updated at 01.04 GMT
10 Nov 2020 23.16 GMT Ed Pilkington Current and former US Department of Justice (DoJ) officials have reacted with anger and dismay to the latest move in support of Donald Trump by William Barr, the attorney general who has stoked further discord around the president’s refusal to concede electoral defeat by approving federal investigations into voter fraud, despite little evidence of any wrongdoing. Barr’s two-page memo, delivered to the 93 US attorneys across the country on Monday, was immediately condemned by senior figures inside and outside the DoJ. In the most dramatic response, the top DoJ official in charge of voter fraud investigations, Richard Pilger, resigned from his post, telling colleagues he did so because of the “ramifications” of Barr’s move. In a statement, Pilger pointed out that for the past 40 years the justice department had abided by a clear policy of non-intervention in elections, with criminal investigations only carried out after contests were certified and completed. Barr’s memo tears up that rule by giving federal prosecutors the go-ahead to investigate what he called “apparently-credible allegations of irregularities”. His action was specifically aimed at closely fought presidential contests in swing states with prolonged vote counts caused by the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. Complaints about unsubstantiated irregularities have been received by the justice department from three states: Nevada, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Outside the DoJ, there was widespread unease that Barr has once again mobilized the might of the justice department in a politicized direction. The memo was interpreted as casting doubt on the propriety of the election, which on Saturday was called for Joe Biden following his victory by a clear and growing margin in Pennsylvania. Read more: DoJ officials condemn Barr's approval of voter fraud inquiries without evidence Read more
Updated at 23.17 GMT
10 Nov 2020 23.06 GMT Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, has drafted “anti-mob” legislation that would expand the state’s Stand Your Ground Law that would allow citizens to shoot anyone they suspect is engaged in looting, the Miami Herald reports. The legislation is a reaction to anti-police brutality, The Herald’s Ana Ceballos and David Ovalle report: “It allows for vigilantes to justify their actions,” said Denise Georges, a former Miami-Dade County prosecutor who had handled Stand Your Ground cases. “It also allows for death to be the punishment for a property crime — and that is cruel and unusual punishment. We cannot live in a lawless society where taking a life is done so casually and recklessly.” The draft legislation put specifics behind DeSantis’ pledge in September to crack down on “violent and disorderly assemblies” after he pointed to “reports of unrest” in other parts of the country after the high-profile death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a white Minneapolis police officer. The proposal would expand the list of “forcible felonies” under Florida’s self-defense law to justify the use of force against people who engage in criminal mischief that results in the “interruption or impairment” of a business, and looting, which the draft defines as a burglary within 500 feet of a “violent or disorderly assembly.” Read more here.
Updated at 23.06 GMT
10 Nov 2020 22.42 GMT Trump's longshot election lawsuits: where do things stand? Sam Levine Since election day, Donald Trump and other Republicans have filed a smattering of lawsuits in battleground states that have provided cover for Trump and other Republicans to say that the election still remains unresolved. Legal experts have noted these suits are meritless, and even if they were successful, would not be enough to overturn the election results. Indeed, judges in several of these lawsuits have already dismissed them, noting the Trump campaign has failed to offer evidence to substantiate allegations of fraud. Here’s where some of the key lawsuits stand: Trump's longshot election lawsuits: where do things stand? Read more
10 Nov 2020 22.34 GMT Cheri Bustos, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), just had a call with House Democrats offering insight into what happened on Election Day when House Democrats lost five seats to Republican opponents – a disappoint after Democrats gained the house two years ago. Reporters with sources who were on the call said that Bustos reaffirmed that her team did everything they could do, but were set back from Republicans overperforming in at-risk districts. Bustos on Dem call addressing #FL26: “Trump’s massive overperformance with Cuban voters was simply too much for her to overcome.” Also says the DCCC saw “similar shifts with white working class voters in Abby Finkenauer’s Northeast Iowa district” — Kirk A. Bado (@kirk_bado) November 10, 2020 On a call with House Democrats, DCCC Chair Bustos says "defund the police" was the most common GOP attack across the battlefield, per source on the call — Bridget Bowman (@bridgetbhc) November 10, 2020 Bustos said yesterday that she will not run for the chair position again, what is largely seen as an acknowledgment of the party’s chagrin for losing seats to Republicans. I’m signing off and handing the blog over the my Guardian colleague Maanvi Singh. Stay tuned for more live updates.
10 Nov 2020 22.21 GMT CIA director Gina Haspel had a brief meeting with Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell this afternoon amid rumors that Donald Trump plans to fire her from her position. After Mark Esper, former defense secretary, was fired yesterday after his relationship with the president became tense over the use of active-service troops for Black Lives Matter protests over the summer. Esper reportedly has said he fears Haspel and Christopher Wray, FBI director, will be the next to go. Haspel refused to answer questions from reporters about the rumors of her termination as she was going to and leaving her meeting with McConnell. It is unclear what the subject of the meeting was, but as CNN’s Manu Raju said on Twitter, McConnell is a strong supporter of Haspel, and both share a Kentucky background. CIA Director Haspel departs the Hill after meeting with Mitch McConnell for roughly 20 minutes.
“Have a good evening everyone.” Did not answer multiple Qs from @AllisonMPecorin @JulieNBCNews pic.twitter.com/vFmuYkK2Oq — Haley Talbot (@haleytalbotnbc) November 10, 2020
10 Nov 2020 22.06 GMT North Carolina’s governor Roy Cooper lowered the state’s indoor gathering limit today as cases in the state continue to rise. The new limit has been adjusted to 10 people, down from 25. The limit does not apply to universities or schools. The state saw 2,582 cases yesterday and has over 1,200 people in the hospital with the virus. The state has averaged over 2,000 new cases a day over the last three weeks. Our numbers are too high. Considering our trends and cooler weather driving events indoors, North Carolina will remain paused in our current Phase 3 and we will adjust our indoor gathering limit down from 25 to 10 people. — Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) November 10, 2020 Covid has spiked around the country, with new cases topping 130,000 in the US in recent days. Unlike previous waves, cases are no longer rising in regional “hot-spots” but can be found all around the country. Public health experts have long warned that the winter would bring a new rise in cases as people head indoors, where the virus is more likely to spread, as the weather cools. State and local officials have been hesitant to implement the sweeping stay-at-home orders that were seen in the spring over fears of furthering economic declines.
10 Nov 2020 21.50 GMT The Biden campaign released the names of members of its transition team. The list has around 500 people who will specialize in different government agencies, from the Department of Defense to the US Postal Service. Most of the people on the team are volunteers. The list posted on Biden’s website includes each member’s most recent employer. Many of the larger department teams include former staffers from Obama’s administration. Lots of former DHS folks on Biden’s transition team, including a former DHS chief of staff (Rosen), former USCIS chief counsel (Jaddou) and former FEMA administrator (Fugate) pic.twitter.com/3OL2lJNAwC — Tal Kopan (@TalKopan) November 10, 2020 Biden releases names for agency review teams.
Leaders of HHS squad include Robert Gordon (Obama OMB veteran, now Michigan Health Dept. Director) and Chiquita Brooks-LaSure (who helped write and implement the ACA, in Congress and then at HHS). https://t.co/G1B1g9FPRu pic.twitter.com/TsNHBgsjLF — Jonathan Cohn (@CitizenCohn) November 10, 2020 Transition teams can typically coordinate with officials at the agencies they will take over, but that requires an election certification from the White House’s General Services Administration. Because Donald Trump is refusing to concede to the election, members of the transition team cannot contact the agencies they will take over.
Updated at 21.55 GMT
10 Nov 2020 21.33 GMT The Guardian’s Richard Luscombe in Miami reports: It seems that Florida’s improbable new status as an adult in the room, following an unusually orderly and well run election process, may be a little premature. The Sunshine State has reverted to type with the appointment by its Republican governor Ron DeSantis of a conspiracy theory-peddling Uber driver and sports blogger as a senior analyst of Covid-19 data. As the Miami Herald reported Tuesday, Kyle Lamb’s credentials for the $40,000-a-year job in the office of policy and budget are at best questionable. “Fact is, I’m not an ‘expert.’ I’m not a doctor, epidemiologist, virologist or scientist,” the Ohio native admits on his subscription-only podcast Beyond the Fold, whose 43 patrons paying $3 per month have also learned that Lamb considers himself to be a “jack of all trades [and] master of none!” “I have no qualms about being a ‘sports guy’ moonlighting as a Covid-19 analyst,” he writes. Florida is currently experiencing a surge in cases of Covid-19, with the state having surpassed 850,000 cases and 17,200 deaths. Despite this, DeSantis, a keen Donald Trump ally, has discontinued almost all lockdown restrictions across Florida and signed executive orders to thwart local authorities who seek to reimpose them. According to the Herald, Lamb, 40, has stated in frequent posts on Twitter and sports message boards that masks do not prevent the spread of coronavirus, that lockdowns are ineffective, and that he believes Covid-19 could be part of an international “cultural biowar” instigated by China. The process that was followed to recruit Lamb is unclear, but in a tweet four days ago he said he had “accepted an offer to go work for Gov. Ron DeSantis in the Florida state capitol. I will be doing data analysis on several fronts for them including but not limited to Covid-19 research and other projects.” Fred Piccolo, spokesperson for DeSantis, told the Herald in a statement that Lamb had been hired to an “entry level” position” and was “not a Covid-19 hire”. DeSantis’s history with data analysts employed by the state has been rocky. In May, Rebekah Jones, the data scientist who created and maintained Florida’s official Covid-19 database, claimed she was fired for refusing to manipulate figures or censor information.


theguardian--2020-11-10--Johnson's Biden win tweet contains hidden Trump congratulations

Downing Street ’ s congratulatory message to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on winning the US presidential election contains a hidden message congratulating Donald Trump for winning a second term in office .
The message , posted on Twitter as an image a few hours after the US TV networks called the election for Biden , congratulates the president-elect on his election , and Harris “ on her historic achievement ” .
But the image , a simple white-on-black block of text , is more than it seems .
A simple colour adjustment reveals a second message hidden in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Joe Biden on his election ” , the shadow of the words “ Trump on ” become faintly visible .
Where the main message reads “ the US is our most important ally and I look forward to working closely together ” , the words “ second term ” appear .
And below the words “ shared priorities ” is the phrase “ on the future of this ” .
The message , first reported by the Guido Fawkes blog , suggests that No 10 was preparing for the possibility of congratulating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it had become clear that Joe Biden was winning the count in key battleground states .
But the baffling decision to alter a pre-existing image rather than create an entirely new one , let alone to not then fully delete the original message , looks likely to create more friction between the UK government and the incoming administration .
A UK government spokesperson said : “ As you ’ d expect , two statements were prepared in advance for the outcome of this closely contested election .
A technical error meant that parts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the background of the graphic.
” The revelation comes amid a relationship already troubled by Biden ’ s memorable description of Johnson as the “ physical and emotional clone of Donald Trump ” .
Even before the hidden message was revealed , Tommy Vietor , a former Obama speechwriter and podcaster viewed as a campaign surrogate for Biden , reacted to No 10 ’ s message of congratulation with disdain .
“ This shapeshifting creep weighs in , ” Vietor tweeted .
“ We will never forget your racist comments about Obama and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ graphic.
” The hidden message suggests No 10 was uncertain until the very end about who the winning candidate was , even as Biden ’ s lead in key states grew and the Trump campaign began its increasingly frantic legal efforts to frustrate the conclusion of the count .
Even after the election was called on Saturday afternoon , UK government ministers continued to hedge their message .
On Sunday morning , Dominic Raab , the foreign secretary , declined to agree with the statement “ every vote should be counted in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re really trying to do is to drag me into the legal claims about whether or not all the votes have properly been counted , ” Raab told Sky News ’ s Sophy Ridge .
Ridge noted that it was not only Raab who had sidestepped the question : the prime minster ’ s own spokesperson had given a similarly evasive answer last week .

Downing Street’s congratulatory message to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on winning the US presidential election contains a hidden message congratulating Donald Trump for winning a second term in office.
The message, posted on Twitter as an image a few hours after the US TV networks called the election for Biden, congratulates the president-elect on his election, and Harris “on her historic achievement”.
But the image, a simple white-on-black block of text, is more than it seems. A simple colour adjustment reveals a second message hidden in the background.
Above and behind the words “Joe Biden on his election”, the shadow of the words “Trump on” become faintly visible. Where the main message reads “the US is our most important ally and I look forward to working closely together”, the words “second term” appear. And below the words “shared priorities” is the phrase “on the future of this”.
The message, first reported by the Guido Fawkes blog, suggests that No 10 was preparing for the possibility of congratulating Donald Trump on a re-election long after it had become clear that Joe Biden was winning the count in key battleground states.
But the baffling decision to alter a pre-existing image rather than create an entirely new one, let alone to not then fully delete the original message, looks likely to create more friction between the UK government and the incoming administration.
A UK government spokesperson said: “As you’d expect, two statements were prepared in advance for the outcome of this closely contested election. A technical error meant that parts of the alternative message were embedded in the background of the graphic.”
The revelation comes amid a relationship already troubled by Biden’s memorable description of Johnson as the “physical and emotional clone of Donald Trump”.
Even before the hidden message was revealed, Tommy Vietor, a former Obama speechwriter and podcaster viewed as a campaign surrogate for Biden, reacted to No 10’s message of congratulation with disdain. “This shapeshifting creep weighs in,” Vietor tweeted. “We will never forget your racist comments about Obama and slavish devotion to Trump but neat Instagram graphic.”
The hidden message suggests No 10 was uncertain until the very end about who the winning candidate was, even as Biden’s lead in key states grew and the Trump campaign began its increasingly frantic legal efforts to frustrate the conclusion of the count.
Even after the election was called on Saturday afternoon, UK government ministers continued to hedge their message. On Sunday morning, Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, declined to agree with the statement “every vote should be counted in a democratic election”.
“What you’re really trying to do is to drag me into the legal claims about whether or not all the votes have properly been counted,” Raab told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge. Ridge noted that it was not only Raab who had sidestepped the question: the prime minster’s own spokesperson had given a similarly evasive answer last week.