theguardian--2020-12-05--Just 26 of 249 Republicans in Congress willing to say Trump lost, survey finds

Only 26 of 249 Republicans in Congress are willing to admit Joe Biden won the presidential election , a survey found on Saturday .
The election was called for Biden on 7 November , four days after election day .
The Democrat won the electoral college by 306-232 and leads in the popular vote by more than 7m ballots .
But Trump has refused to concede , baselessly claiming large-scale voter fraud in battleground states .
The survey of Republicans in the House and Senate was carried out by the Washington Post , a paper Trump promptly claimed to read @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The president also said he was “ surprised so many ” in his party thought he had been beaten , promised “ we have just begun to fight ” and asked for a list of the politicians he called “ Rinos ” , an acronym for “ Republicans in name only ” .
Two congressmen , Mo Brooks of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona , told the Post Trump won .
Gosar said he would never accept Biden as president , telling the paper there was “ too much evidence of fraud @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no evidence of voter fraud anywhere near the scale Trump alleges in any of the key states in which he is pursuing legal redress , so far winning one lawsuit but losing 46 .
Attorney general William Barr , a staunch Trump ally , said this week there was no evidence of fraud on the scale the president claims .
Trump was reported to be close to firing Barr from his post .
The president has also lashed out at an official he did fire , elections security chief Chris Krebs , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in US history .
Trump was due to travel to Georgia on Saturday , to support senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue .
The two Republicans face runoffs on 5 January that will decide control of the Senate .
Polling is tight and many observers suggest Trump ’ s intransigence could damage Republican turnout .
Biden was the first Democrat to win Georgia since 1992 , beating Trump by more than 10,000 votes .
Loeffler and Perdue have joined the president in attacking the Republican officials who ran the election in the state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said it had obtained video of Perdue telling donors Biden won .
“ We can at least be a buffer on some of the things that the Biden camp has been talking about , ” he reportedly said , a weighty remark in light of widely reported obstruction of Biden ’ s transition planning .
The Post said it “ contacted aides for every Republican by email and phone asking three basic questions : who won the presidential contest , do you support or oppose Trump ’ s continuing efforts to claim victory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the electoral college , will you accept him as the legitimately elected president .
“ The results demonstrate the fear that most Republicans have of the outgoing president and his grip on the party , ” the paper said , “ despite his new status as just the third incumbent to lose re-election in the last 80 years .
More than 70 % of Republican lawmakers did not acknowledge the Post ’ s questions.
” Most Republicans seem committed to saying nothing : 12 of 52 senators and 14 of 197 representatives have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Post said , but only eight Republicans were prepared to voice support for Trump ’ s strategy of refusing to concede and seeking to overturn the result .
Mitch McConnell , the Senate majority leader , and Kevin McCarthy , who leads the House minority , have dodged questions .
“ Let ’ s wait until [ we see ] who ’ s sworn in , ” McCarthy said on Thursday , when asked about tactics under a Biden administration .
Last week Roy Blunt of Missouri , the senator who chairs the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to acknowledge reality – but then retreated .
“ We are working with the Biden administration , likely administration , on both the transition and the inauguration , ” Blunt told CNN , adding : “ The president-elect will be the president-elect when the electors vote for him.
” The Post said Blunt did not answer its questions .
The electoral college will meet on 14 December .
Its votes will then be sent to Congress , which will meet in joint session to declare a winner on 6 January – the day @ @ @ @ @

Only 27 of 249 Republicans in Congress are willing to admit Joe Biden won the presidential election, a survey found on Saturday.
The election was called for Biden on 7 November, four days after election day. The Democrat won the electoral college by 306-232 and leads in the popular vote by more than 7m ballots.
But Trump has refused to concede, baselessly claiming large-scale voter fraud in battleground states.
The survey of Republicans in the House and Senate was carried out by the Washington Post, a paper Trump promptly claimed to read “as little as possible”.
The president also said he was “surprised so many” in his party thought he had been beaten, promised “we have just begun to fight” and asked for a list of the politicians he called “Rinos”, an acronym for “Republicans in name only”.
Two congressmen, Mo Brooks of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona, told the Post Trump won. Gosar said he would never accept Biden as president, telling the paper there was “too much evidence of fraud”.
In fact, there is no evidence of voter fraud anywhere near the scale Trump alleges in any of the key states in which he is pursuing legal redress, so far winning one lawsuit but losing 46.
Attorney general William Barr, a staunch Trump ally, said this week there was no evidence of fraud on the scale the president claims. Trump was reported to be close to firing Barr from his post. The president has also lashed out at an official he did fire, elections security chief Chris Krebs, who said the vote was the most secure in US history.
Trump was due to travel to Georgia on Saturday, to support senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. The two Republicans face runoffs on 5 January that will decide control of the Senate. Polling is tight and many observers suggest Trump’s intransigence could damage Republican turnout.
Biden was the first Democrat to win Georgia since 1992, beating Trump by more than 10,000 votes. Loeffler and Perdue have joined the president in attacking the Republican officials who ran the election in the state and certified its results.
The Post said it had obtained video of Perdue telling donors Biden won.
“We can at least be a buffer on some of the things that the Biden camp has been talking about,” he reportedly said, a weighty remark in light of widely reported obstruction of Biden’s transition planning.
The Post said it “contacted aides for every Republican by email and phone asking three basic questions: who won the presidential contest, do you support or oppose Trump’s continuing efforts to claim victory and if Biden wins a majority in the electoral college, will you accept him as the legitimately elected president.
“The results demonstrate the fear that most Republicans have of the outgoing president and his grip on the party,” the paper said, “despite his new status as just the third incumbent to lose re-election in the last 80 years. More than 70% of Republican lawmakers did not acknowledge the Post’s questions.”
Most Republicans seem committed to saying nothing: 12 of 52 senators and 15 of 197 representatives have recognised Biden’s win, the Post said, but only eight Republicans were prepared to voice support for Trump’s strategy of refusing to concede and seeking to overturn the result.
Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, and Kevin McCarthy, who leads the House minority, have dodged questions.
“Let’s wait until [we see] who’s sworn in,” McCarthy said on Thursday, when asked about tactics under a Biden administration.
Last week Roy Blunt of Missouri, the senator who chairs the committee responsible for the inauguration, seemed to acknowledge reality – but then retreated.
“We are working with the Biden administration, likely administration, on both the transition and the inauguration,” Blunt told CNN, adding: “The president-elect will be the president-elect when the electors vote for him.”
The Post said Blunt did not answer its questions.
The electoral college will meet on 14 December. Its votes will then be sent to Congress, which will meet in joint session to declare a winner on 6 January – the day after the Georgia runoffs.


theguardian--2020-12-05--Jobs slump and Covid lead litany of post-Trump crises facing Janet Yellen

Of all the 78 US Treasury secretaries since Alexander Hamilton first took up the office in 1789 , few have faced an in-tray piled quite so high as the one that will greet the first woman in the job : Janet Yellen .
The choice of the Brooklyn-born doctor ’ s daughter to succeed Steve Mnuchin was a statement of intent by president-elect Joe Biden .
Where many of her predecessors have been scions of Wall Street , Yellen ’ s background is in economics and public policy , and she has made it clear that her priorities are with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with investment bankers .
“ There is a huge amount of suffering out there , ” she said in September as she urged Congress to agree a new stimulus package .
Yellen ’ s expressed desire for tighter financial regulation did not , however , stop Wall Street from joining the applause for her nomination .
In part , that was due to the fact that , having been the first woman to be in charge of America ’ s central bank , she is seen as a seasoned pro .
Donald Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as chair of the Federal Reserve in 2018 not because she was doing a bad job , but because she was a Democrat appointed by Barack Obama .
More importantly , though , Wall Street sees Yellen as a Treasury secretary who will push hard for expansionary policies aimed at boosting growth , profits and share prices .
Nothing in her record suggests that the financiers are wrong .
American economists are often divided into two camps : “ freshwater ” economists who believe in the primacy of market forces and whose spiritual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ landlocked Illinois ; and “ saltwater ” economists , who emanate from the universities on the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards and admire the teachings of John Maynard Keynes .
Yellen is a Keynesian to her fingertips : she warned against an over-hasty removal of stimulus during the financial crisis of a decade ago ; she insisted that the Fed pay as much attention to unemployment as to inflation when she was its chair ; and she believes the state has a duty to tackle poverty and inequality .
Mohamed El-Erian , once chief @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but now president of Queens ’ College , Cambridge , said : “ The appointment was probably one of the most well-received in the history of the US Treasury , and for good reason .
Economists , lawmakers and market participants rightly see her as highly qualified , having lots of relevant experience and coming to the job with a deep understanding of both domestic and international issues .
The policy portfolio she inherits will require an agile mix of traditional and out-of-the-box thinking.
” Top of the to-do list will be a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economy struggling with three interlinked problems : a pandemic , high levels of unemployment , and the imminent expiry of financial support for laid-off workers .
The jobless total has come down since surging to levels not seen since the Great Depression in the first wave of infections in the spring , but remains troublingly high for a country with , by western standards , a limited welfare safety net .
What ’ s more , the latest data on Friday showed the rate of job creation slowing .
Biden wants Congress to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the chances of that happening will be greatly improved if the Democrats seize control of the Senate by winning the two vacant seats in Georgia next month .
If not , as Mark Sobel of the Omfif thinktank says , Biden will be dealing with a “ stingy ” Republican Senate leader , Mitch McConnell .
“ Yellen will help negotiate and provide intellectual backing , making the case that now is the time to spend and that with low debt service costs , America should not fret in the near-term @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Getting an emergency package of stimulus through Congress will only be the start of the legislative battle , because Biden also wants to spend more on upgrading America ’ s crumbling infrastructure and on tackling global heating .
Yellen ’ s scope for fiscal action ( tax and spending measures ) may be limited by gridlock in Congress , in which case the White House will require the Fed to provide more stimulus and a good working relationship between Yellen and the man who succeeded her as head of the central bank @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the labour market and boosting living standards will be the biggest challenge , Yellen will also devote time to other policy issues .
She has the executive power to toughen up what she sees as too-weak financial regulation without Congress ’ s say so ; she will adopt a less hostile – if still robust – approach towards China ; and she will seek to reassert US leadership on the global stage , pursuing a multilateralist rather than a go-it-alone approach .
In all , Yellen can be expected to act as if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ never happened .
The message will be that the grownups are back in charge .
Six central bankers who shaped the future of their economies Ben Bernanke Chair of the US Federal Reserve between 2006 and 2014 , Bernanke was credited with preventing a deep recession following the 2008 financial crisis .
A student of the 1930s Great Depression , he vowed to rescue the banking system and maintain the flow of funds to prevent a wave of foreclosures and mass unemployment .
His determination contrasted with the Bank of England , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Bernanke , a former Princeton professor , played down the threat from the US sub-prime mortgage scandal during the first two years of his tenure , which he has admitted made the crisis , when it came , much worse .
Karl Otto Pöhl Often dubbed a father of the euro , Pöhl was appointed president of the German Bundesbank from 1980 to 1991 by his friend and mentor , chancellor Helmut Schmidt .
A colourful , English-speaking former economics journalist , he came to prominence after the conservative Helmut Kohl surprised @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warned Kohl against rushing ahead with German unification based on a one-to-one valuation of the east German mark with its West German equivalent , fearing the collapse of the east ’ s uncompetitive export industries .
He said the same about the implementation of the euro .
Kohl ignored him .
East Germany ’ s industrial base collapsed .
After the 2008 financial crisis , southern Europe erupted in riots , with protesters blaming the euro for their ills .
Mario Draghi If Pöhl laid the foundation stones for the euro , Draghi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In 2012 , after campaigns in several member states to quit the euro – notably in Greece and Italy – triggered panic in financial markets , he said the single currency was “ irreversible ” and famously pledged to do “ whatever it takes ” to save it .
As president of the European Central Bank from 2011 to 2019 , which absorbed most of the powers from 19 member states ’ central banks on its creation in 1999 , he drew a line under the destabilising debate about the currency ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman described him as “ [ arguably ] the greatest central banker of modern times ” .
Mark Carney Carney was governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to March this year .
He was appointed by the chancellor at the time , George Osborne , who courted him for a year and called the former Goldman Sachs banker and head of Canada ’ s central bank “ the outstanding central banker of his generation ” .
Yet within a year , he was likened to an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ match his promises with action .
This followed a series of overly optimistic forecasts that led many to prepare for an increase in interest rates that never came .
Carney , more polished and dapper than his contemporaries , recovered much of his reputation in 2016 when he was dubbed “ the only adult in the room ” following the Brexit referendum .
While parliament went into shock and No 10 was consumed by the resignation of David Cameron , Carney toured the TV and radio stations , calming fraying nerves .
Raghuram @ @ @ @ @ @ @ often described as one of the few economists to predict the financial crisis .
In a speech in 2005 to the world ’ s top central bankers he explained that an explosion of borrowing made financial markets more dangerous .
At the time he was chief economist at the International Monetary Fund , so he might have expected his warning that “ it ’ s possible these developments are creating a greater ( albeit still small ) probability of a catastrophic meltdown ” would be taken seriously .
It wasn ’ t .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s central bank in 2013 after warning that the country was suffering from hubris , adding that “ growth can never be taken for granted ” and that “ self-delusion is the first step towards disaster ” .
The rupee , which tumbled 12 % against the dollar in the three months before his arrival , stabilised .
By the time he left in 2016 , price inflation had fallen from almost 10 % to below 4 % and a series of banking reforms were in place .
Christine Lagarde As president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year , Lagarde has shown she is a would-be central bank hero .
Shifting the dial at an institution covering 19 countries is never easy , but the former boss of the IMF has embarked on a campaign for greater transparency in a break from the traditionally closeted bank ’ s decision-making , and for unemployment and inequality to be as much of a yardstick for the ECB as inflation .
She has also matched Carney in the drive to make central bank lending more climate-friendly , with green bonds that only allow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
PI

Of all the 78 US Treasury secretaries since Alexander Hamilton first took up the office in 1789, few have faced an in-tray piled quite so high as the one that will greet the first woman in the job: Janet Yellen.
The choice of the Brooklyn-born doctor’s daughter to succeed Steve Mnuchin was a statement of intent by president-elect Joe Biden. Where many of her predecessors have been scions of Wall Street, Yellen’s background is in economics and public policy, and she has made it clear that her priorities are with Americans struggling to get by rather than with investment bankers. “There is a huge amount of suffering out there,” she said in September as she urged Congress to agree a new stimulus package.
Yellen’s expressed desire for tighter financial regulation did not, however, stop Wall Street from joining the applause for her nomination. In part, that was due to the fact that, having been the first woman to be in charge of America’s central bank, she is seen as a seasoned pro. Donald Trump declined to give her a second term as chair of the Federal Reserve in 2018 not because she was doing a bad job, but because she was a Democrat appointed by Barack Obama.
More importantly, though, Wall Street sees Yellen as a Treasury secretary who will push hard for expansionary policies aimed at boosting growth, profits and share prices. Nothing in her record suggests that the financiers are wrong.
American economists are often divided into two camps: “freshwater” economists who believe in the primacy of market forces and whose spiritual home is the University of Chicago in landlocked Illinois; and “saltwater” economists, who emanate from the universities on the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards and admire the teachings of John Maynard Keynes.
Yellen is a Keynesian to her fingertips: she warned against an over-hasty removal of stimulus during the financial crisis of a decade ago; she insisted that the Fed pay as much attention to unemployment as to inflation when she was its chair; and she believes the state has a duty to tackle poverty and inequality.
Long queues built up at food banks like this one in Brooklyn, New York, in May this year as unemployment rocketed. Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images
Mohamed El-Erian, once chief executive of the investment management firm Pimco but now president of Queens’ College, Cambridge, said: “The appointment was probably one of the most well-received in the history of the US Treasury, and for good reason. Economists, lawmakers and market participants rightly see her as highly qualified, having lots of relevant experience and coming to the job with a deep understanding of both domestic and international issues. The policy portfolio she inherits will require an agile mix of traditional and out-of-the-box thinking.”
Top of the to-do list will be a new package of support for a US economy struggling with three interlinked problems: a pandemic, high levels of unemployment, and the imminent expiry of financial support for laid-off workers.
The jobless total has come down since surging to levels not seen since the Great Depression in the first wave of infections in the spring, but remains troublingly high for a country with, by western standards, a limited welfare safety net. What’s more, the latest data on Friday showed the rate of job creation slowing.
Biden wants Congress to pass a “robust” stimulus package, and the chances of that happening will be greatly improved if the Democrats seize control of the Senate by winning the two vacant seats in Georgia next month. If not, as Mark Sobel of the Omfif thinktank says, Biden will be dealing with a “stingy” Republican Senate leader, Mitch McConnell.
The appointment was probably one of the most well received in the history of the US Treasury Mohamed El-Erian
“Yellen will help negotiate and provide intellectual backing, making the case that now is the time to spend and that with low debt service costs, America should not fret in the near-term about rising debt,” Sobel says.
Getting an emergency package of stimulus through Congress will only be the start of the legislative battle, because Biden also wants to spend more on upgrading America’s crumbling infrastructure and on tackling global heating.
Yellen’s scope for fiscal action (tax and spending measures) may be limited by gridlock in Congress, in which case the White House will require the Fed to provide more stimulus and a good working relationship between Yellen and the man who succeeded her as head of the central bank, Jerome Powell.
While sorting out the labour market and boosting living standards will be the biggest challenge, Yellen will also devote time to other policy issues. She has the executive power to toughen up what she sees as too-weak financial regulation without Congress’s say so; she will adopt a less hostile – if still robust – approach towards China; and she will seek to reassert US leadership on the global stage, pursuing a multilateralist rather than a go-it-alone approach.
In all, Yellen can be expected to act as if Trump’s four years in office never happened. The message will be that the grownups are back in charge.
Six central bankers who shaped the future of their economies
Ben Bernanke.
Ben Bernanke Chair of the US Federal Reserve between 2006 and 2014, Bernanke was credited with preventing a deep recession following the 2008 financial crisis. A student of the 1930s Great Depression, he vowed to rescue the banking system and maintain the flow of funds to prevent a wave of foreclosures and mass unemployment.
His determination contrasted with the Bank of England, which hesitated before rescuing Northern Rock. However, Bernanke, a former Princeton professor, played down the threat from the US sub-prime mortgage scandal during the first two years of his tenure, which he has admitted made the crisis, when it came, much worse.
Karl Otto Pöhl Often dubbed a father of the euro, Pöhl was appointed president of the German Bundesbank from 1980 to 1991 by his friend and mentor, chancellor Helmut Schmidt. A colourful, English-speaking former economics journalist, he came to prominence after the conservative Helmut Kohl surprised many and reappointed him. He famously warned Kohl against rushing ahead with German unification based on a one-to-one valuation of the east German mark with its West German equivalent, fearing the collapse of the east’s uncompetitive export industries. He said the same about the implementation of the euro. Kohl ignored him. East Germany’s industrial base collapsed. After the 2008 financial crisis, southern Europe erupted in riots, with protesters blaming the euro for their ills.
Mario Draghi If Pöhl laid the foundation stones for the euro, Draghi prevented the currency from toppling over. In 2012, after campaigns in several member states to quit the euro – notably in Greece and Italy – triggered panic in financial markets, he said the single currency was “irreversible” and famously pledged to do “whatever it takes” to save it.
As president of the European Central Bank from 2011 to 2019, which absorbed most of the powers from 19 member states’ central banks on its creation in 1999, he drew a line under the destabilising debate about the currency’s future. After he stepped down, the Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman described him as “[arguably] the greatest central banker of modern times”.
Mark Carney Carney was governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to March this year. He was appointed by the chancellor at the time, George Osborne, who courted him for a year and called the former Goldman Sachs banker and head of Canada’s central bank “the outstanding central banker of his generation”. Yet within a year, he was likened to an “unreliable boyfriend” who failed to match his promises with action. This followed a series of overly optimistic forecasts that led many to prepare for an increase in interest rates that never came. Carney, more polished and dapper than his contemporaries, recovered much of his reputation in 2016 when he was dubbed “the only adult in the room” following the Brexit referendum. While parliament went into shock and No 10 was consumed by the resignation of David Cameron, Carney toured the TV and radio stations, calming fraying nerves.
Raghuram Rajan The Chicago Booth economics professor is often described as one of the few economists to predict the financial crisis. In a speech in 2005 to the world’s top central bankers he explained that an explosion of borrowing made financial markets more dangerous. At the time he was chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, so he might have expected his warning that “it’s possible these developments are creating a greater (albeit still small) probability of a catastrophic meltdown” would be taken seriously. It wasn’t.
He took over as governor of India’s central bank in 2013 after warning that the country was suffering from hubris, adding that “growth can never be taken for granted” and that “self-delusion is the first step towards disaster”. The rupee, which tumbled 12% against the dollar in the three months before his arrival, stabilised. By the time he left in 2016, price inflation had fallen from almost 10% to below 4% and a series of banking reforms were in place.
Christine Lagarde As president of the European Central Bank since last year, Lagarde has shown she is a would-be central bank hero. Shifting the dial at an institution covering 19 countries is never easy, but the former boss of the IMF has embarked on a campaign for greater transparency in a break from the traditionally closeted bank’s decision-making, and for unemployment and inequality to be as much of a yardstick for the ECB as inflation. She has also matched Carney in the drive to make central bank lending more climate-friendly, with green bonds that only allow loans to businesses that are environmentally friendly. PI


theguardian--2020-12-06--Just 27 of 249 Republicans in Congress willing to say Trump lost, survey finds

Only 27 of 249 Republicans in Congress are willing to admit Joe Biden won the presidential election , a survey found on Saturday .
The election was called for Biden on 7 November , four days after election day .
The Democrat won the electoral college by 306-232 and leads in the popular vote by more than 7m ballots .
But Trump has refused to concede , baselessly claiming large-scale voter fraud in battleground states .
The survey of Republicans in the House and Senate was carried out by the Washington Post , a paper Trump promptly claimed to read @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The president also said he was “ surprised so many ” in his party thought he had been beaten , promised “ we have just begun to fight ” and asked for a list of the politicians he called “ Rinos ” , an acronym for “ Republicans in name only ” .
Two congressmen , Mo Brooks of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona , told the Post Trump won .
Gosar said he would never accept Biden as president , telling the paper there was “ too much evidence of fraud @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no evidence of voter fraud anywhere near the scale Trump alleges in any of the key states in which he is pursuing legal redress , so far winning one lawsuit but losing 46 .
Attorney general William Barr , a staunch Trump ally , said this week there was no evidence of fraud on the scale the president claims .
Trump was reported to be close to firing Barr from his post .
The president has also lashed out at an official he did fire , elections security chief Chris Krebs , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in US history .
Trump was due to travel to Georgia on Saturday , to support senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue .
The two Republicans face runoffs on 5 January that will decide control of the Senate .
Polling is tight and many observers suggest Trump ’ s intransigence could damage Republican turnout .
Biden was the first Democrat to win Georgia since 1992 , beating Trump by more than 10,000 votes .
Loeffler and Perdue have joined the president in attacking the Republican officials who ran the election in the state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said it had obtained video of Perdue telling donors Biden won .
“ We can at least be a buffer on some of the things that the Biden camp has been talking about , ” he reportedly said , a weighty remark in light of widely reported obstruction of Biden ’ s transition planning .
The Post said it “ contacted aides for every Republican by email and phone asking three basic questions : who won the presidential contest , do you support or oppose Trump ’ s continuing efforts to claim victory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the electoral college , will you accept him as the legitimately elected president .
“ The results demonstrate the fear that most Republicans have of the outgoing president and his grip on the party , ” the paper said , “ despite his new status as just the third incumbent to lose re-election in the last 80 years .
More than 70 % of Republican lawmakers did not acknowledge the Post ’ s questions.
” Most Republicans seem committed to saying nothing : 12 of 52 senators and 15 of 197 representatives have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Post said , but only eight Republicans were prepared to voice support for Trump ’ s strategy of refusing to concede and seeking to overturn the result .
Mitch McConnell , the Senate majority leader , and Kevin McCarthy , who leads the House minority , have dodged questions .
“ Let ’ s wait until [ we see ] who ’ s sworn in , ” McCarthy said on Thursday , when asked about tactics under a Biden administration .
Last week Roy Blunt of Missouri , the senator who chairs the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to acknowledge reality – but then retreated .
“ We are working with the Biden administration , likely administration , on both the transition and the inauguration , ” Blunt told CNN , adding : “ The president-elect will be the president-elect when the electors vote for him.
” The Post said Blunt did not answer its questions .
The electoral college will meet on 14 December .
Its votes will then be sent to Congress , which will meet in joint session to declare a winner on 6 January – the day @ @ @ @ @


theguardian--2020-12-06--US election results 2020: Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump to win presidency

Americans are also electing members to the two chambers of Congress , the main law-making body of the US .
@ @ @ @ @ and the House of Representatives .
Without support in the Senate and the House , @ @ @ @ @ enact key policies is severely limited .

Niko Kommenda, Antonio Voce, Frank Hulley-Jones, Anna Leach and Seán Clarke

Americans are also electing members to the two chambers of Congress, the main law-making body of the US. Those chambers are the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Without support in the Senate and the House, the president's ability to enact key policies is severely limited.


theguardian--2020-12-06--Joe Biden's staff nominations are early test of relationship with progressives

Joe Biden has long had a rollercoaster relationship with progressive organizations and the left wing of the Democratic party and there are signs that the relationship is again starting to fray now that his electoral triumph over Donald Trump is receding into the rear-view mirror .
When Biden entered the Democratic primary field progressive groups were quick to criticize the former vice-president for supporting the Iraq war and previously considering cuts to social security .
The organizations cast Biden as an establishment Democrat who would fail to challenge a status quo that had created the conditions for the rise of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , when Biden became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee .
Taking a cue from leading progressives like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren , these same groups urged their supporters to back Biden , warning that another four years of Trump ’ s presidency would do lasting damage to the country and the planet .
Now , with Trump defeated , the president-elect ’ s relationship with progressive organizations is entering a new phase , and the groups are closely scrutinizing the president-elect ’ s selections for cabinet and senior staff positions for clues @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden has largely managed to avoid the least desirable picks in progressives ’ eyes , but there are already some early warning signs of tension .
That tension was on display late last month , when Biden was asked by NBC News ’ Lester Holt whether prominent progressives like Sanders or Warren might be joining his administration .
“ We already have significant representation among progressives in our administration , but there ’ s nothing really off the table , ” Biden replied .
That answer rankled many progressives , who were quick @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Justice Democrats , the group that recruited Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for Congress , and the climate group Sunrise Movement responded in a joint statement , saying : “ While we have been encouraged by some of Joe Biden ’ s appointments and are largely relieved by who he has not chosen , we do not agree that progressives already have significant representation in the administration as it stands.
” Waleed Shahid , the communications director of Justice Democrats , said the group was pleased with some of Biden ’ s most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey to the council of economic advisers .
But Shahid added , “ The personnel selection process is the beginning of a broader fight for the soul of the Biden presidency , and it won ’ t end here , but it ’ s a starting point.
” Progressive climate groups have expressed specific concern about the appointment of senior staffers with ties to the oil and gas industry , such as congressman Cedric Richmond , who will serve as the director of the White House Office of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demonstration outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters last month to protest against some of Biden ’ s early hires .
“ I am a little concerned that so far he ’ s selecting a lot of Obama-era holdovers , ” said RL Miller , the president of Climate Hawks Vote and a newly elected DNC delegate .
Miller argued that Biden ’ s selection of a number of former Obama administration officials was particularly worrying when it came to climate policy because the science around climate change has become much more alarming since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I ’ m a Woolsey fire survivor , ” Miller said , referring to the 2018 wildfire that killed three people and forced the evacuation of nearly 300,000 Californians .
“ This stuff is personal for me now.
” Miller and Shahid said the nomination of congresswoman Deb Haaland as interior secretary would be a substantial step toward developing a positive relationship between progressive groups and the Biden administration .
Adam Green , the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee , noted Haaland would be a “ historic choice ” as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interior department .
“ I can ’ t think of anyone more qualified for a job that both deals with public lands and climate change and also relations with tribal nations , ” Green said .
“ Who else would possibly be better ?
” But Shahid emphasized that Haaland ’ s nomination alone would not be enough to assure progressives ’ approval of Biden ’ s cabinet .
“ Having only one cabinet appointment go to a member of the progressive caucus would not be a great starting point , in my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ added that he was encouraged by the selection of Ron Klain as Biden ’ s chief of staff and expressed hope there would be more progressives added to the administration as the president-elect continues to build his team .
“ There ’ s many more slots to fill and therefore many more points to put on the board from a progressive perspective , ” Green said .
Progressives ’ greatest success of the Biden transition so far may be their ability to communicate who should not be selected for key positions .
Although @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are not necessarily thrilled with some of Biden ’ s hires , many of them acknowledge that the president-elect has largely managed to avoid the worst options in their view .
When Neera Tanden was announced as Biden ’ s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget last week , some close allies of Sanders complained about her past comments about progressives .
But Tanden ’ s nomination was generally met with a sigh of relief on the left , given the other candidates Biden was considering , such as Bruce @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by progressives as a deficit hawk , Tanden has emphasized the need for a robust government response to help Americans who are suffering financially as a result of the coronavirus pandemic .
Green said of Tanden , “ If that represents the center of the party , progressives are winning because that is what we were saying eight , 10 years ago and felt like very lonely voices , and now apparently that ’ s the mainstream , so let ’ s take the win.
” Pointing to Biden ’ s ambitious campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be centrists , rather than progressives , who will cause issues in terms of party unity .
“ I expect that corporate Democrats will be the ones to breach Democratic unity by trying to undermine Biden ’ s agenda from within or slow-walk his agenda if they ’ re given the wrong positions of power , ” Green said .
“ We want exactly what he campaigned on .
If he passes a public option and trillions of dollars in new clean-energy jobs and cancels some student debt and passes new corporate accountability @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And we are all in for the fight .
”

Joe Biden has long had a rollercoaster relationship with progressive organizations and the left wing of the Democratic party and there are signs that the relationship is again starting to fray now that his electoral triumph over Donald Trump is receding into the rear-view mirror.
When Biden entered the Democratic primary field progressive groups were quick to criticize the former vice-president for supporting the Iraq war and previously considering cuts to social security. The organizations cast Biden as an establishment Democrat who would fail to challenge a status quo that had created the conditions for the rise of Trump.
That all changed in April, when Biden became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Taking a cue from leading progressives like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, these same groups urged their supporters to back Biden, warning that another four years of Trump’s presidency would do lasting damage to the country and the planet.
Now, with Trump defeated, the president-elect’s relationship with progressive organizations is entering a new phase, and the groups are closely scrutinizing the president-elect’s selections for cabinet and senior staff positions for clues about his agenda.
So far, Biden has largely managed to avoid the least desirable picks in progressives’ eyes, but there are already some early warning signs of tension.
That tension was on display late last month, when Biden was asked by NBC News’ Lester Holt whether prominent progressives like Sanders or Warren might be joining his administration. “We already have significant representation among progressives in our administration, but there’s nothing really off the table,” Biden replied.
That answer rankled many progressives, who were quick to disagree with Biden’s assessment. Justice Democrats, the group that recruited Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for Congress, and the climate group Sunrise Movement responded in a joint statement, saying: “While we have been encouraged by some of Joe Biden’s appointments and are largely relieved by who he has not chosen, we do not agree that progressives already have significant representation in the administration as it stands.”
The ties of Cedric Richmond, who Biden picked to run the Office of Public Engagement, to the fossil fuel industry have raised concern on the left. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
Waleed Shahid, the communications director of Justice Democrats, said the group was pleased with some of Biden’s most recent staff announcements, namely the appointment of Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey to the council of economic advisers.
But Shahid added, “The personnel selection process is the beginning of a broader fight for the soul of the Biden presidency, and it won’t end here, but it’s a starting point.”
Progressive climate groups have expressed specific concern about the appointment of senior staffers with ties to the oil and gas industry, such as congressman Cedric Richmond, who will serve as the director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. Climate activists held a demonstration outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters last month to protest against some of Biden’s early hires.
“I am a little concerned that so far he’s selecting a lot of Obama-era holdovers,” said RL Miller, the president of Climate Hawks Vote and a newly elected DNC delegate.
Miller argued that Biden’s selection of a number of former Obama administration officials was particularly worrying when it came to climate policy because the science around climate change has become much more alarming since 2009, when Obama took office.
“I’m a Woolsey fire survivor,” Miller said, referring to the 2018 wildfire that killed three people and forced the evacuation of nearly 300,000 Californians. “This stuff is personal for me now.”
Miller and Shahid said the nomination of congresswoman Deb Haaland as interior secretary would be a substantial step toward developing a positive relationship between progressive groups and the Biden administration.
Adam Green, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, noted Haaland would be a “historic choice” as the first Native American to lead the interior department. “I can’t think of anyone more qualified for a job that both deals with public lands and climate change and also relations with tribal nations,” Green said. “Who else would possibly be better?”
But Shahid emphasized that Haaland’s nomination alone would not be enough to assure progressives’ approval of Biden’s cabinet. “Having only one cabinet appointment go to a member of the progressive caucus would not be a great starting point, in my opinion,” Shahid said.
Green added that he was encouraged by the selection of Ron Klain as Biden’s chief of staff and expressed hope there would be more progressives added to the administration as the president-elect continues to build his team.
“There’s many more slots to fill and therefore many more points to put on the board from a progressive perspective,” Green said.
Neera Tanden, Biden’s pick to run the Office of Management and Budget. Photograph: Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images
Progressives’ greatest success of the Biden transition so far may be their ability to communicate who should not be selected for key positions. Although a number of progressives have said they are not necessarily thrilled with some of Biden’s hires, many of them acknowledge that the president-elect has largely managed to avoid the worst options in their view.
When Neera Tanden was announced as Biden’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget last week, some close allies of Sanders complained about her past comments about progressives. But Tanden’s nomination was generally met with a sigh of relief on the left, given the other candidates Biden was considering, such as Bruce Reed.
While Reed has been criticized by progressives as a deficit hawk, Tanden has emphasized the need for a robust government response to help Americans who are suffering financially as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Green said of Tanden, “If that represents the center of the party, progressives are winning because that is what we were saying eight, 10 years ago and felt like very lonely voices, and now apparently that’s the mainstream, so let’s take the win.”
Pointing to Biden’s ambitious campaign platform, Green argued that it may be centrists, rather than progressives, who will cause issues in terms of party unity.
“I expect that corporate Democrats will be the ones to breach Democratic unity by trying to undermine Biden’s agenda from within or slow-walk his agenda if they’re given the wrong positions of power,” Green said.
“We want exactly what he campaigned on. If he passes a public option and trillions of dollars in new clean-energy jobs and cancels some student debt and passes new corporate accountability measures, we will be very happy. And we are all in for the fight.”


theguardian--2020-12-06--What next? Three books for America after Trump

On 3 November , a majority of the US electorate voted to eject the president from the White House .
Yet Donald Trump still refuses to accept the verdict .
Populism ’ s pretense of devotion to “ the will of the people ” lies in shambles .
Conservatives have demonstrated their readiness to jettison democracy for the sake of clinging to power or appeasing an unhinged man-child .
Ominously , Gen Michael Flynn has demanded martial law and suspending the constitution .
Elsewhere , one Michigan Republican called for voiding the vote in Wayne county , thereby disenfranchising Detroit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president and his allies remain committed to burnishing the legacy of long-dead Confederate generals , even if means killing a pay increase for US troops .
As Thomas Ricks reminds us in First Principles , the paradox of equality melded to racism dates back to the founding .
The most famous pronouncement in the Declaration of Independence , “ that all men are created equal ” , was written by a slave-owner , Thomas Jefferson .
A Pulitzer-winning author and military historian , Ricks also observes that one of our two parties has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home to white supremacists , up to the present day ” .
First the Democrats , now the Republicans .
Case in point : the fight over DC statehood .
Back in June , the Arkansas senator Tom Cotton argued that the majority-minority District of Columbia ( population 684,000 ) did not deserve to be a state because it lacked the “ well-rounded working class ” of Wyoming ( population : 577,000 ) .
Elsewhere , Mike Pompeo , Trump ’ s secretary of state , recently tweeted that it was “ essential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ path to democracy ” .
The US has seen this movie before , back when the cold war turned hot and the rice paddies of south-east Asia became killing fields .
While freedom was supposedly on the march overseas , the home front was markedly different .
Black churches were bombed .
Martin Luther King was jailed , stabbed , assassinated .
John Lewis was beaten in Selma .
Others were sent to an early grave .
Jon Meacham is a native of Tennessee , a biographer of George HW Bush and now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ His Truth is Marching On , his new book about the young Lewis , Meacham says “ the hypocrisy of an America fighting for liberty abroad while tolerating white supremacy at home ” characterised the Vietnam era .
And yet as Edmund Fawcett , a self-described “ leftwing liberal ” and former writer at the Economist , notes in his new book , Conservatism , “ although liberal democracy is a child of the left , its growth and health have relied on support from the right.
” Half a century ago , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and enacted the 1964 Civil Rights Act .
Those days are gone .
He also posits that “ when , as now , the right is divided , the haves sleep less easily that government is in safe hands.
” Said differently , monied America is not simply about tax cuts .
It can even come with a conscience , a reality that troubles both the president and the woke left .
Philadelphia ’ s upscale suburbs made the difference for Biden in Pennsylvania , and possibly the US .
Fawcett is keenly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ right , of Trumpism in America , of Marine Le Pen in France , UKIP in Great Britain and the AfD in Germany .
“ The arrival of a new century , ” he writes , “ scrambled assumptions and shook the conservative center.
” These tremors continue .
Brexit tethered to a pandemic is expensive – and lethal .
Amid America ’ s winter of political discontent , Ricks , Meacham and Fawcett are well worth reading .
Each conveys a message that deserves our attention as we strive to exit , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ morass .
The way of Cincinnatus Spurred by the seismic shock of the 2016 election , First Principles focuses on America ’ s first four presidents , George Washington , John Adams , Thomas Jefferson and James Madison , their education and outlooks .
In Ricks ’ view , ancient Greece and Rome influenced these men more than contemporary religion .
“ Christianity simply did not loom as large in colonial America as it would a century later , ” Ricks writes , “ or indeed does now.
” The Declaration of Independence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ God but Jesus does not appear .
The constitution refers to religion but is silent as to a deity .
Between Greece and Rome , Ricks contends the latter held sway over the early presidents , with the exception of Jefferson .
In the run-up to and aftermath of the revolutionary war , Rome came to exemplify republicanism , civic virtue and stoicism , as well as a cautionary tale of decline and tyranny .
It came as little surprise that Washington would lead the new nation .
More remarkable was the fact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ instead stepped down voluntarily .
Cincinnatus , the citizen-soldier , was the paragon , Caesar the anathema .
Even so , it is Jefferson , Greece and the epicurean notion of happiness that mark our Fourth of July celebrations .
America ’ s Declaration of Independence hinged on a country dedicated to “ life , liberty and the pursuit of happiness ” , instead of John Locke ’ s formulation of government existing explicitly to protect property .
Importantly , for Jefferson happiness was about more than just the right to party .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ tranquility and the possibility of a common purpose .
His subtle shift in wording was seismic : the landless could no longer be so easily marginalized or subordinated .
A single phrase would help incubate the seeds of Jacksonian democracy .
“ America works best when it gives people the freedom to tap their own energies and exploit their talents , ” Ricks concludes .
Under the subtitle John Lewis and the Power of Hope , Meacham covers the first 28 years of the civil rights leader ’ s life , from his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dr King and Robert Kennedy in 1968 .
It is practically a hagiography , portraying Lewis as saint and hero – and yet imperfect .
As a boy , Lewis preached to the chickens on the family farm .
Later he attended American Baptist College in Nashville , Tennessee .
He was ordained as a minister but instead of settling into a pulpit , he took up the cross and threw his body and soul into the civil rights movement .
In Meacham ’ s telling , Lewis “ rejected the tragedy of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the possibilities of realizing a joyful ideal ” .
The late congressman “ seemed to walk with Jesus himself ” , making the cause of the poor , the downtrodden and the oppressed his own .
Meacham ’ s religious tenor is organic .
He is a believing Christian who discounts a wholly secular public square .
Instead , he observes that “ one way to a nation where equality before the law and before God is more universal , is the way of King and of Lewis .
Which is also the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Meacham sees the constitution as a distinctly Calvinist document .
It is “ theological and assumes our sinfulness and that we will do the wrong thing far more often than the right thing ” .
He adds : “ We have done everything since then to prove them right.
” Fittingly , Meacham gives Lewis the final say in the book ’ s “ afterword ” , in which the congressman plays off the text of the Gospel of John , proclaiming that America ’ s “ moral compass comes from God , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through God ” .
More hauntingly , Lewis writes : “ And God so loved the world that he gave us countless men and women who lost their homes and their jobs for the right to vote ” and the “ children of freedom who their lives in a bombing in Birmingham and three young men who were killed in Mississippi ” .
In other words , Christ ’ s Passion can be relived and reimagined ; suffering can bring redemption in this world .
Those who bled and died were more than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Weimar ?
If anyone needs further reminder of the American right ’ s apparent discomfort with universal suffrage , Fawcett offers a telling examination of extreme libertarianism and populism .
He recalls the work of Jason Brennan , a Georgetown business school professor who complains of “ ignorant majorities ” and their capacity to “ thwart ” economic growth .
Unmentioned is Palantir ’ s Peter Thiel and his infamous 2009 take : that women and minorities have mucked things up .
Thiel has since partnered with the Trump administration , and holds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then , he wrote : “ Since 1920 , the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women – two constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarians – have rendered the notion of ‘ capitalist democracy ’ into an oxymoron.
” Fawcett also calls our attention to the tension between populism and participatory democracy .
His characterizations are borne out by the last gasps of Trump ’ s presidency .
He asserts that “ populists are ill at ease with multi-party competition ” and “ indifferent or hostile @ @ @ @ @ @ @ society ” .
Here , Fawcett is dead on .
Trump ’ s campaign cries of “ lock her up ” , branding the press as “ the enemy of the people ” and bashing the “ deep state ” are cut from the same cloth .
The final paragraphs of Conservatism pose these questions regarding the center-right : “ Do they side with the hard right and leave liberal democracy to the mercies of uncontrolled markets and national populism ?
Or do they look for allies with whom to rebuild a shaken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republican congressional leadership to Trump is a case study , the answer is discouraging .
The other day , Mitch McConnell stood sobbing in the Senate over a colleague ’ s pending departure but had nothing to say about the president ’ s destructive behavior .
Weimar is not an abstract .
In the end , guardrails don ’ t always withstand the stress .
• None First Principles is published by Harper ; His Truth is Marching On is published by Random House ; Conservatism is published by Princeton University Press

On 3 November, a majority of the US electorate voted to eject the president from the White House. Yet Donald Trump still refuses to accept the verdict. Populism’s pretense of devotion to “the will of the people” lies in shambles. Conservatives have demonstrated their readiness to jettison democracy for the sake of clinging to power or appeasing an unhinged man-child.
Ominously, Gen Michael Flynn has demanded martial law and suspending the constitution. Elsewhere, one Michigan Republican called for voiding the vote in Wayne county, thereby disenfranchising Detroit. At the same time, the president and his allies remain committed to burnishing the legacy of long-dead Confederate generals, even if means killing a pay increase for US troops.
As Thomas Ricks reminds us in First Principles, the paradox of equality melded to racism dates back to the founding. The most famous pronouncement in the Declaration of Independence, “that all men are created equal”, was written by a slave-owner, Thomas Jefferson.
A Pulitzer-winning author and military historian, Ricks also observes that one of our two parties has felt perpetually compelled to offer a “home to white supremacists, up to the present day”. First the Democrats, now the Republicans.
Case in point: the fight over DC statehood. Back in June, the Arkansas senator Tom Cotton argued that the majority-minority District of Columbia (population 684,000) did not deserve to be a state because it lacked the “well-rounded working class” of Wyoming (population: 577,000).
Elsewhere, Mike Pompeo, Trump’s secretary of state, recently tweeted that it was “essential” to “keep Ethiopia on the path to democracy”. The US has seen this movie before, back when the cold war turned hot and the rice paddies of south-east Asia became killing fields.
While freedom was supposedly on the march overseas, the home front was markedly different. Black churches were bombed. Martin Luther King was jailed, stabbed, assassinated. John Lewis was beaten in Selma. Others were sent to an early grave.
Jon Meacham is a native of Tennessee, a biographer of George HW Bush and now a speechwriter for Joe Biden. In His Truth is Marching On, his new book about the young Lewis, Meacham says “the hypocrisy of an America fighting for liberty abroad while tolerating white supremacy at home” characterised the Vietnam era.
And yet as Edmund Fawcett, a self-described “leftwing liberal” and former writer at the Economist, notes in his new book, Conservatism, “although liberal democracy is a child of the left, its growth and health have relied on support from the right.” Half a century ago, Senate Republicans defeated a southern Democratic-led filibuster and enacted the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Those days are gone.
He also posits that “when, as now, the right is divided, the haves sleep less easily that government is in safe hands.” Said differently, monied America is not simply about tax cuts. It can even come with a conscience, a reality that troubles both the president and the woke left. Philadelphia’s upscale suburbs made the difference for Biden in Pennsylvania, and possibly the US.
Fawcett is keenly aware of the rise of the hard right, of Trumpism in America, of Marine Le Pen in France, UKIP in Great Britain and the AfD in Germany. “The arrival of a new century,” he writes, “scrambled assumptions and shook the conservative center.” These tremors continue. Brexit tethered to a pandemic is expensive – and lethal.
Amid America’s winter of political discontent, Ricks, Meacham and Fawcett are well worth reading. Each conveys a message that deserves our attention as we strive to exit, or at least better understand, the morass.
The way of Cincinnatus
Spurred by the seismic shock of the 2016 election, First Principles focuses on America’s first four presidents, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, their education and outlooks. In Ricks’ view, ancient Greece and Rome influenced these men more than contemporary religion.
George Washington looks on. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
“Christianity simply did not loom as large in colonial America as it would a century later,” Ricks writes, “or indeed does now.” The Declaration of Independence summons the Creator and Nature’s God but Jesus does not appear. The constitution refers to religion but is silent as to a deity.
Between Greece and Rome, Ricks contends the latter held sway over the early presidents, with the exception of Jefferson. In the run-up to and aftermath of the revolutionary war, Rome came to exemplify republicanism, civic virtue and stoicism, as well as a cautionary tale of decline and tyranny. It came as little surprise that Washington would lead the new nation. More remarkable was the fact that he did not seize power and instead stepped down voluntarily. Cincinnatus, the citizen-soldier, was the paragon, Caesar the anathema.
Even so, it is Jefferson, Greece and the epicurean notion of happiness that mark our Fourth of July celebrations. America’s Declaration of Independence hinged on a country dedicated to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, instead of John Locke’s formulation of government existing explicitly to protect property. Importantly, for Jefferson happiness was about more than just the right to party. Rather, it spoke to a general tranquility and the possibility of a common purpose.
His subtle shift in wording was seismic: the landless could no longer be so easily marginalized or subordinated. A single phrase would help incubate the seeds of Jacksonian democracy. “America works best when it gives people the freedom to tap their own energies and exploit their talents,” Ricks concludes.
‘The way of Jesus’
Under the subtitle John Lewis and the Power of Hope, Meacham covers the first 28 years of the civil rights leader’s life, from his birth in 1940 to the murders of Dr King and Robert Kennedy in 1968. It is practically a hagiography, portraying Lewis as saint and hero – and yet imperfect.
As a boy, Lewis preached to the chickens on the family farm. Later he attended American Baptist College in Nashville, Tennessee. He was ordained as a minister but instead of settling into a pulpit, he took up the cross and threw his body and soul into the civil rights movement.
In Meacham’s telling, Lewis “rejected the tragedy of life and history” and “embraced the possibilities of realizing a joyful ideal”. The late congressman “seemed to walk with Jesus himself”, making the cause of the poor, the downtrodden and the oppressed his own.
John Lewis protests against Trump’s Muslim ban, in Atlanta, Georgia, in January 2017. Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA
Meacham’s religious tenor is organic. He is a believing Christian who discounts a wholly secular public square. Instead, he observes that “one way to a nation where equality before the law and before God is more universal, is the way of King and of Lewis. Which is also the way of Jesus.”
Unlike Ricks, Meacham sees the constitution as a distinctly Calvinist document. It is “theological and assumes our sinfulness and that we will do the wrong thing far more often than the right thing”. He adds: “We have done everything since then to prove them right.”
Fittingly, Meacham gives Lewis the final say in the book’s “afterword”, in which the congressman plays off the text of the Gospel of John, proclaiming that America’s “moral compass comes from God, is of God, and is seen through God”.
More hauntingly, Lewis writes: “And God so loved the world that he gave us countless men and women who lost their homes and their jobs for the right to vote” and the “children of freedom who their lives in a bombing in Birmingham and three young men who were killed in Mississippi”.
In other words, Christ’s Passion can be relived and reimagined; suffering can bring redemption in this world. Those who bled and died were more than just historic figures.
The way of Weimar?
If anyone needs further reminder of the American right’s apparent discomfort with universal suffrage, Fawcett offers a telling examination of extreme libertarianism and populism. He recalls the work of Jason Brennan, a Georgetown business school professor who complains of “ignorant majorities” and their capacity to “thwart” economic growth.
Unmentioned is Palantir’s Peter Thiel and his infamous 2009 take: that women and minorities have mucked things up. Thiel has since partnered with the Trump administration, and holds a passel of government contracts.
Back then, he wrote: “Since 1920, the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women – two constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarians – have rendered the notion of ‘capitalist democracy’ into an oxymoron.”
Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy look on. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Fawcett also calls our attention to the tension between populism and participatory democracy. His characterizations are borne out by the last gasps of Trump’s presidency. He asserts that “populists are ill at ease with multi-party competition” and “indifferent or hostile to countervailing powers within the state or society”.
Here, Fawcett is dead on. Trump’s campaign cries of “lock her up”, branding the press as “the enemy of the people” and bashing the “deep state” are cut from the same cloth.
The final paragraphs of Conservatism pose these questions regarding the center-right: “Do they side with the hard right and leave liberal democracy to the mercies of uncontrolled markets and national populism? Or do they look for allies with whom to rebuild a shaken center?”
If the response of Republican congressional leadership to Trump is a case study, the answer is discouraging. The other day, Mitch McConnell stood sobbing in the Senate over a colleague’s pending departure but had nothing to say about the president’s destructive behavior. Weimar is not an abstract. In the end, guardrails don’t always withstand the stress.


theguardian--2020-12-06--Trump rails against election result at rally ahead of crucial Georgia Senate runoff

Donald Trump has held his first political rally since losing the presidential election , delivering an incoherent speech laced with baseless conspiracies theories about election fraud and attacks on Republican state officials in Georgia who have refused to help him subvert the results .
In front of a crowd of thousands of mostly maskless , non-socially distanced supporters in south Georgia , Trump repeatedly claimed , falsely , that he had won the presidential election , and called for those in government with “ courage and wisdom ” to help him reverse the result .
The president ’ s rally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regional airport in the small city of Valdosta , came ahead of a critical US Senate runoff election in January , which will decide control of the upper house and ultimately play a decisive role in president-elect Joe Biden ’ s ability to legislate .
Trump had ostensibly travelled to Georgia as a show of support for the two Republican Senate candidates for the January poll , Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue , but spent the majority of speech railing against the results of the presidential election .
He began his speech , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by falsely claiming he had won the state of Georgia , which he lost to Joe Biden by over 12,000 votes in a result that was certified by the Republican secretary of state more than two weeks ago .
“ They cheated and they rigged our presidential election , but we will still win it , ” Trump falsely claimed .
“ And they ’ re going to try and rig this [ Senate ] election too.
” The president read from a prepared list of nonsensical evidence that he said highlighted his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ winning the states of Ohio and Florida he had in fact won the entire election , and also that winning an uncontested Republican party primary earlier this year was proof he had won against Biden in November .
Trump lost the electoral college vote by 306 votes to 232 and the popular vote by over 7m .
His campaign has launched numerous legal challenges in various states .
An Associated Press tally showed that of roughly 50 cases brought by Trump ’ s campaign and his allies , more than 30 have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dozen are awaiting action .
Trump vented fury at the Republican governor of Georgia , Brian Kemp , a one-time political ally of the president , who has resisted calls to join Trump ’ s attempts to overturn the result in the state .
“ Your governor could stop it very easily if he knew what the hell he was doing , ” Trump told the crowd .
He added : “ For whatever reason your secretary of state and your governor are afraid of Stacey Abrams ” – a reference to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a staunch voting rights advocate and helped drive turnout in the election and secure the state for Biden .
The rally came hours after the Washington Post reported that Trump pressured Kemp to overthrow the results of the election in the state during a Saturday morning phone call .
Trump pushed Kemp to convene a special session of the state legislature in a bid to send Trump backing presidential electors when the electoral college convenes on 14 December .
Kemp denied the request , the Post reported .
Trump then made a similar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The president also demanded an audit of absentee ballot signatures in the state , which Kemp does not have the power to authorise .
The rally bore the hallmarks of many Trump campaign events of the 2020 election season , including a ritual booing of the assembled press , a soundtrack that included Queen ’ s hit song We Are the Champions , and chants of “ four more years ” .
But despite continually claiming he had won , Trump appeared a little more cognizant of the fact he is set to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one point Trump described “ what we would have done in the next four years ” with reference to foreign policy related to Iran and China .
And later claimed if he thought he had lost the presidential election , he would be “ a very gracious loser ” .
“ I ’ d go to Florida … I ’ d take it easy ” he said .
Trump also made a number of bizarre and incoherent ad libs throughout his address , at one point professing : “ I like cucumbers ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ non-existent “ hydrosonic ” missiles .
“ Hypersonic missiles .
We have hypersonic and hydrosonic .
You know what hydrosonic is ?
Water , ” he said .
The president did eventually pivot to the Georgia Senate race and invited Perdue and Loeffler onto stage for a few short remarks .
Neither of the candidates reiterated Trump ’ s baseless claims about election fraud , with Perdue coming closest by addressing Trump directly and stating : “ We ’ re going to fight and win those seats and make sure you get a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As Perdue spoke the crowd chanted : “ Fight for Trump !
” The moment underlined the difficulties that Trump ’ s continual denial of the result poses for the Republican party .
Some allies of the president , including attorneys Sidney Powell and Lin Wood , have urged Republican voters in Georgia not to turn out for the Senate race in protest against the presidential result .
And while neither Loeffler nor Perdue have recognized Joe Biden as the president elect , they are arguing that the Senate race in Georgia is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some form of power , in itself a tacit acknowledgement that Biden has won .
“ We have a job to do here , Georgia , ” Loeffler told the crowd to a lukewarm reception .
“ America is counting on us … if you don ’ t vote we will lose this country.
” If Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock win in both Senate races they will effectively retake the chamber , by creating a 50-50 split , where vice-president elect Kamala Harris would hold the power to cast a deciding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ race would ensure the party retained control of the senate , marking a major blow to the incoming Biden administration ’ s legislative agenda .

Donald Trump has held his first political rally since losing the presidential election, delivering an incoherent speech laced with baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud and attacks on Republican state officials in Georgia who have refused to help him subvert the results.
In front of a crowd of thousands of mostly maskless, non-socially distanced supporters in south Georgia, Trump repeatedly claimed, falsely, that he had won the presidential election, and called for those in government with “courage and wisdom” to help him reverse the result.
The president’s rally, on a cold evening at a regional airport in the small city of Valdosta, came ahead of a critical US Senate runoff election in January, which will decide control of the upper house and ultimately play a decisive role in president-elect Joe Biden’s ability to legislate.
Trump had ostensibly travelled to Georgia as a show of support for the two Republican Senate candidates for the January poll, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, but spent the majority of speech railing against the results of the presidential election.
He began his speech, which lasted more than 90 minutes, by falsely claiming he had won the state of Georgia, which he lost to Joe Biden by over 12,000 votes in a result that was certified by the Republican secretary of state more than two weeks ago.
“They cheated and they rigged our presidential election, but we will still win it,” Trump falsely claimed. “And they’re going to try and rig this [Senate] election too.”
The president read from a prepared list of nonsensical evidence that he said highlighted his victory. This included arguing that by winning the states of Ohio and Florida he had in fact won the entire election, and also that winning an uncontested Republican party primary earlier this year was proof he had won against Biden in November.
Trump lost the electoral college vote by 306 votes to 232 and the popular vote by over 7m. His campaign has launched numerous legal challenges in various states. An Associated Press tally showed that of roughly 50 cases brought by Trump’s campaign and his allies, more than 30 have been rejected or dropped, and about a dozen are awaiting action.
Trump vented fury at the Republican governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, a one-time political ally of the president, who has resisted calls to join Trump’s attempts to overturn the result in the state.
“Your governor could stop it very easily if he knew what the hell he was doing,” Trump told the crowd.
He added: “For whatever reason your secretary of state and your governor are afraid of Stacey Abrams” – a reference to the former Democratic gubernatorial candidate, who is a staunch voting rights advocate and helped drive turnout in the election and secure the state for Biden.
The rally came hours after the Washington Post reported that Trump pressured Kemp to overthrow the results of the election in the state during a Saturday morning phone call. Trump pushed Kemp to convene a special session of the state legislature in a bid to send Trump backing presidential electors when the electoral college convenes on 14 December. Kemp denied the request, the Post reported.
Trump then made a similar demand on Twitter in the afternoon.
The president also demanded an audit of absentee ballot signatures in the state, which Kemp does not have the power to authorise.
The rally bore the hallmarks of many Trump campaign events of the 2020 election season, including a ritual booing of the assembled press, a soundtrack that included Queen’s hit song We Are the Champions, and chants of “four more years”. But despite continually claiming he had won, Trump appeared a little more cognizant of the fact he is set to leave office on 20 January.
At one point Trump described “what we would have done in the next four years” with reference to foreign policy related to Iran and China.
And later claimed if he thought he had lost the presidential election, he would be “a very gracious loser”.
“I’d go to Florida … I’d take it easy” he said.
Trump also made a number of bizarre and incoherent ad libs throughout his address, at one point professing: “I like cucumbers”.
"I like cucumbers" -- this speech has gone bizarre places pic.twitter.com/RehhhrPd8r — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 6, 2020
At another point he boasted about non-existent “hydrosonic” missiles.
“Hypersonic missiles. We have hypersonic and hydrosonic. You know what hydrosonic is? Water,” he said.
The president did eventually pivot to the Georgia Senate race and invited Perdue and Loeffler onto stage for a few short remarks.
Neither of the candidates reiterated Trump’s baseless claims about election fraud, with Perdue coming closest by addressing Trump directly and stating: “We’re going to fight and win those seats and make sure you get a fair and square deal in Georgia.”
As Perdue spoke the crowd chanted: “Fight for Trump!”
The moment underlined the difficulties that Trump’s continual denial of the result poses for the Republican party. Some allies of the president, including attorneys Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, have urged Republican voters in Georgia not to turn out for the Senate race in protest against the presidential result.
And while neither Loeffler nor Perdue have recognized Joe Biden as the president elect, they are arguing that the Senate race in Georgia is crucial for Republicans to retain control of some form of power, in itself a tacit acknowledgement that Biden has won.
“We have a job to do here, Georgia,” Loeffler told the crowd to a lukewarm reception. “America is counting on us … if you don’t vote we will lose this country.”
If Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock win in both Senate races they will effectively retake the chamber, by creating a 50-50 split, where vice-president elect Kamala Harris would hold the power to cast a deciding vote. A Republican victory in either race would ensure the party retained control of the Senate, marking a major blow to the incoming Biden administration’s legislative agenda.


theguardian--2020-12-06--Joe Biden's economic team beats Trump's goon squad – but it faces a steep challenge | Robert Reich

“ It ’ s time we address the structural inequalities in our economy that the pandemic has laid bare , ” President-elect Joe Biden said this week , as he introduced his economic team .
It ’ s a good team .
They ’ re competent and they care , in sharp contrast to Trump ’ s goon squad .
Many of them were in the trenches with Biden and Barack Obama in 2009 , when the economy last needed rescuing .
But reversing “ structural inequalities ” is a fundamentally different challenge from reversing economic downturns .
They may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Industrial Average hit a record high at the same time Americans experienced the highest rate of hunger in 22 years .
Yet the problem of widening inequality is distinct from the problem of recession .
Recessions are caused by sudden drops in demand for goods and services , as occurred in February and March when the pandemic began .
Pulling out of a recession usually requires low interest rates and enough government spending to jump-start private spending .
This one will also necessitate the successful inoculation of millions against Covid-19 .
By contrast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lopsided allocation of power .
Wealth and power are inseparable – wealth flows from power and power from wealth .
That means reversing structural inequalities requires altering the distribution of power .
Franklin D Roosevelt did this in the 1930s , when he enacted legislation requiring employers to bargain with unionized employees .
Lyndon Johnson did it in the 1960s with the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts , which increased the political power of Black people .
Since then , though , not even Democratic presidents have tried to alter the distribution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their economic teams have focused instead on jobs and growth .
In consequence , inequality has continued to widen – during both recessions and expansions .
For the last 40 years , hourly wages have stagnated and almost all economic gains have gone to the top .
The stock market ’ s meteoric rise has benefited the wealthy at the expense of wage earners .
The richest 1 % of US households now own 50 % of the value of stocks held by Americans .
The richest 10 % , 92 % .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to take on structural inequality ?
First , because they have taken office during deep recessions , which posed a more immediate challenge .
The initial task facing Biden will be to restore jobs , requiring that his administration contain Covid-19 and get a major stimulus bill through Congress .
Biden has said any stimulus bill passed in the lame-duck session will be “ just the start ” .
Second , it ’ s because politicians ’ time horizons rarely extend beyond the next election .
Reallocating power can take years .
Union @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than a decade after FDR ’ s Wagner Act .
Black voters didn ’ t emerge as a major force in American politics until a half-century after LBJ ’ s landmark legislation .
Third , reallocating power is hugely difficult .
Economic expansions can be a positive-sum game because growth enables those at the bottom to do somewhat better even if those at the top do far better .
But power is a zero-sum game .
The more of it held by those at the top , the less held by others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t relinquish it without a fight .
Both FDR and LBJ won at significant political cost .
Today ’ s corporate leaders are happy to support stimulus bills , not because they give a fig about unemployment but because more jobs mean higher profits .
“ Is it $ 2.2tn , $ 1.5tn ?
” JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon said recently in support of congressional action .
“ Just split the baby and move on.
” But Dimon and his ilk will doubtless continue to fight any encroachments on their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ antitrust enforcement against their giant corporations , including Dimon ’ s “ too big to fail ” bank .
They ’ re dead set against stronger unions and will resist attempts to put workers on their boards .
They will oppose substantial tax hikes to finance trillions of dollars of spending on education , infrastructure and a Green New Deal .
And they don ’ t want campaign finance reforms or any other measures that would dampen the influence of big money in politics .
Even if the Senate flips to the Democrats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three impediments may discourage Biden from tackling structural inequality .
This doesn ’ t make the objective any less important or even less feasible .
It means only that , as a practical matter , the responsibility for summoning the political will to reverse inequality will fall to lower-income Americans of whatever race , progressives and their political allies .
They will need to organize , mobilize and put sufficient pressure on Biden and other elected leaders to act .
As it was in the time of FDR and LBJ , power is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it .
• None Robert Reich , a former US secretary of labor , is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of Saving Capitalism : For the Many , Not the Few and The Common Good .
His new book , The System : Who Rigged It , How We Fix It , is out now .
He is a columnist for Guardian US

“It’s time we address the structural inequalities in our economy that the pandemic has laid bare,” President-elect Joe Biden said this week, as he introduced his economic team.
It’s a good team. They’re competent and they care, in sharp contrast to Trump’s goon squad. Many of them were in the trenches with Biden and Barack Obama in 2009, when the economy last needed rescuing.
But reversing “structural inequalities” is a fundamentally different challenge from reversing economic downturns. They may overlap – last week the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record high at the same time Americans experienced the highest rate of hunger in 22 years. Yet the problem of widening inequality is distinct from the problem of recession.
Recessions are caused by sudden drops in demand for goods and services, as occurred in February and March when the pandemic began. Pulling out of a recession usually requires low interest rates and enough government spending to jump-start private spending. This one will also necessitate the successful inoculation of millions against Covid-19.
By contrast, structural inequalities are caused by a lopsided allocation of power. Wealth and power are inseparable – wealth flows from power and power from wealth. That means reversing structural inequalities requires altering the distribution of power.
Franklin D Roosevelt did this in the 1930s, when he enacted legislation requiring employers to bargain with unionized employees. Lyndon Johnson did it in the 1960s with the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, which increased the political power of Black people.
Since then, though, not even Democratic presidents have tried to alter the distribution of power in America. They and their economic teams have focused instead on jobs and growth. In consequence, inequality has continued to widen – during both recessions and expansions.
For the last 40 years, hourly wages have stagnated and almost all economic gains have gone to the top. The stock market’s meteoric rise has benefited the wealthy at the expense of wage earners. The richest 1% of US households now own 50% of the value of stocks held by Americans. The richest 10%, 92%.
Why have recent Democratic presidents been reluctant to take on structural inequality?
First, because they have taken office during deep recessions, which posed a more immediate challenge. The initial task facing Biden will be to restore jobs, requiring that his administration contain Covid-19 and get a major stimulus bill through Congress. Biden has said any stimulus bill passed in the lame-duck session will be “just the start”.
Second, it’s because politicians’ time horizons rarely extend beyond the next election. Reallocating power can take years. Union membership didn’t expand significantly until more than a decade after FDR’s Wagner Act. Black voters didn’t emerge as a major force in American politics until a half-century after LBJ’s landmark legislation.
Third, reallocating power is hugely difficult. Economic expansions can be a positive-sum game because growth enables those at the bottom to do somewhat better even if those at the top do far better. But power is a zero-sum game. The more of it held by those at the top, the less held by others. And those at the top won’t relinquish it without a fight. Both FDR and LBJ won at significant political cost.
Today’s corporate leaders are happy to support stimulus bills, not because they give a fig about unemployment but because more jobs mean higher profits.
“Is it $2.2tn, $1.5tn?” JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon said recently in support of congressional action. “Just split the baby and move on.”
But Dimon and his ilk will doubtless continue to fight any encroachments on their power and wealth. They will battle antitrust enforcement against their giant corporations, including Dimon’s “too big to fail” bank. They’re dead set against stronger unions and will resist attempts to put workers on their boards.
They will oppose substantial tax hikes to finance trillions of dollars of spending on education, infrastructure and a Green New Deal. And they don’t want campaign finance reforms or any other measures that would dampen the influence of big money in politics.
Even if the Senate flips to the Democrats on 5 January, therefore, these three impediments may discourage Biden from tackling structural inequality.
This doesn’t make the objective any less important or even less feasible. It means only that, as a practical matter, the responsibility for summoning the political will to reverse inequality will fall to lower-income Americans of whatever race, progressives and their political allies. They will need to organize, mobilize and put sufficient pressure on Biden and other elected leaders to act. As it was in the time of FDR and LBJ, power is redistributed only when those without it demand it.


theguardian--2020-12-07--Rudy Giuliani has coronavirus, Donald Trump says

Donald Trump ’ s personal attorney , Rudy Giuliani , has tested positive for Covid-19 , the president tweeted on Sunday .
Giuliani , 76 and a former mayor of New York City , has been leading Trump ’ s attempt to overturn his election defeat by Joe Biden , through lawsuits in battleground states , including Georgia , Arizona and Michigan .
Trump did not specify when Giuliani tested positive or if he was experiencing symptoms .
Giuliani did not immediately comment , but he did retweet Trump ’ s tweet about his diagnosis and tweeted thanks to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ praying for Giuliani .
It was not immediately clear if he was in hospital but the New York Times reported on Sunday night that he was in Georgetown University medical center in Washington DC , citing a person who was aware of Giuliani ’ s condition .
ABC News and CNN also reported that the lawyer was in hospital .
“ Rudy Giuliani , by far the greatest mayor in the history of NYC , and who has been working tirelessly exposing the most corrupt election ( by far ! )
in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ positive for the China Virus , ” Trump tweeted , using a racist term for the coronavirus .
“ Get better soon Rudy , we will carry on !
!
!
” Replying to Trump ’ s tweet , Giuliani ’ s son , Andrew , tweeted that his father was “ resting , getting great care and feeling well ” .
He did not say where he was receiving care .
The Trump campaign later released a statement on the timeline of Giuliani ’ s diagnosis , saying he did not display @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Arizona , Michigan and Georgia .
No legislators or members of the press were on his contact tracing list , the statement said .
Hours before Trump made the announcement , Giuliani was interviewed on Fox News .
He appeared in good spirits while sharing baseless claims of election fraud during the 10-minute interview .
Though Giuliani is at high risk of complications from the virus because of his age , he has been traveling frequently in the aftermath of the election , often appearing in public without a mask .
Last week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lawmakers in Michigan to challenge votes in the state .
On Thursday , he spoke at the Georgia capitol building in a crowded legislative session , again without a mask .
Georgia state Sen. Jen Jordan , a Democrat who attended Thursday ’ s hearing , expressed outrage after learning of Giuliani ’ s diagnosis .
“ Little did I know that most credible death threat that I encountered last week was Trump ’ s own lawyer , ” Jordan tweeted .
“ Giuliani — maskless , in packed hearing room for 7 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would be too kind.
” In the Michigan session , Giuliani asked one witness to remove her mask so the audience could hear her better .
She declined .
He also visited Arizona last Monday where he met several republican lawmakers .
After news of his positive test dropped on Sunday , the state legislature said it would close both chambers this week out of caution “ for recent cases and concerns relating to Covid-19 .
Giuliani has repeatedly been exposed to others who tested positive , including his son .
Andrew Giuliani @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on 20 November he had tested positive for the virus and was in quarantine with mild symptoms .
Trump himself contracted Covid-19 in October and spent three days in hospital near Washington DC .
At least 40 people in the president ’ s orbit have tested positive since late September , including the first lady , Melania Trump , her son Barron , Donald Trump Jr , and senior aides and Republican politicians .
Vaccines are on the brink of approval for use but the pandemic has surged in recent months , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fight for control .
Johns Hopkins University recorded 213,875 new cases in the US on Saturday .
Amid figures worsened by Thanksgiving travel and gatherings whose full impact experts say is not yet apparent , there were 2,254 new deaths , making the full US death toll 280,979 from nearly 14.6m cases .
The seven-day average for deaths from Covid-19 has climbed over 2,000 .
Trump has repeatedly downplayed the coronavirus and resisted public health guidance meant to prevent the spread of the illness .
As Christmas approaches , the White House @ @ @ @ @ @ @ featuring large crowds indoors .
Photos from a party on Tuesday showed people without masks engaging in the festivities .
On Sunday , a member of the White House coronavirus taskforce , Deborah Birx , was questioned about the contradictions between Trump ’ s actions and comments and public health guidance .
“ I hear community members parroting back those situations , parroting back that masks don ’ t work , parroting back that we should work towards herd immunity , parroting back that gatherings don ’ t result in super-spreading events , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Press .
“ And I think our job is to constantly say those are myths .
”

Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, has tested positive for Covid-19, the president tweeted on Sunday, prompting Arizona to close its legislature after the lawyer visited the state last week.
Giuliani, 76 and a former mayor of New York City, has been leading Trump’s attempt to overturn his election defeat by Joe Biden, through lawsuits in battleground states, including Georgia and Michigan, as well as Arizona.
Trump did not specify when Giuliani tested positive or if he was experiencing symptoms. Giuliani later tweeted he was “getting great care and feeling good”.
Thank you to all my friends and followers for all the prayers and kind wishes.
I’m getting great care and feeling good.
Recovering quickly and keeping up with everything. — Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) December 7, 2020
It was not immediately clear if he was in the hospital but the New York Times reported on Sunday night that he was in the Georgetown University medical center in Washington DC, citing a person who was aware of Giuliani’s condition. ABC News and CNN also reported that the lawyer was in the hospital.
“Rudy Giuliani, by far the greatest mayor in the history of NYC, and who has been working tirelessly exposing the most corrupt election (by far!) in the history of the USA, has tested positive for the China Virus,” Trump tweeted, using a racist term for the coronavirus.
“Get better soon Rudy, we will carry on!!!”
The Trump campaign later released a statement on the timeline of Giuliani’s diagnosis, saying he did not display symptoms until two days after returning from Arizona, Michigan and Georgia. No legislators or members of the press were on his contact tracing list, the statement said.
However, Giuliani held a 10-hour meeting with Republican lawmakers at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Phoenix last week to discuss the election outcome at which few people wore masks. He also held private meetings with Republicans during his visit.
After news of his positive test broke on Sunday, the Arizona state legislature said it would close both chambers this week out of caution “for recent cases and concerns relating to Covid-19”.
His positive test may also raise concerns about infections among lawmakers in other states.
Last week, he appeared without a mask before lawmakers in Michigan to challenge votes in the state. On Thursday, he spoke at the Georgia capitol building in a crowded legislative session, again without a mask.
Georgia state senator Jen Jordan, a Democrat who attended Thursday’s hearing, expressed outrage after learning of Giuliani’s diagnosis. “Little did I know that most credible death threat that I encountered last week was Trump’s own lawyer,” Jordan tweeted. “Giuliani — maskless, in packed hearing room for 7 hours. To say I am livid would be too kind.”
In the Michigan session, Giuliani asked one witness to remove her mask so the audience could hear her better. She declined.
Giuliani, who was interviewed on Fox News hours before news of his test emerged, has repeatedly been exposed to others who tested positive, including his son.
Andrew Giuliani, a White House staffer, said on 20 November he had tested positive for the virus and was in quarantine with mild symptoms.
Trump himself contracted Covid-19 in October and spent three days in hospital near Washington DC.
At least 40 people in the president’s orbit have tested positive since late September, including the first lady, Melania Trump, her son Barron, Donald Trump Jr, and senior aides and Republican politicians.
Vaccines are on the brink of approval for use but the pandemic has surged in recent months, with Trump facing criticism for apparently giving up the fight for control.
Johns Hopkins University recorded 213,875 new cases in the US on Saturday. Amid figures worsened by Thanksgiving travel and gatherings whose full impact experts say is not yet apparent, there were 2,254 new deaths, making the full US death toll 280,979 from nearly 14.6m cases. The seven-day average for deaths from Covid-19 has climbed over 2,000.
Trump has repeatedly downplayed the coronavirus and resisted public health guidance meant to prevent the spread of the illness.
As Christmas approaches, the White House is hosting a string of holiday parties featuring large crowds indoors. Photos from a party on Tuesday showed people without masks engaging in the festivities.
On Sunday, a member of the White House coronavirus taskforce, Deborah Birx, was questioned about the contradictions between Trump’s actions and comments and public health guidance.
“I hear community members parroting back those situations, parroting back that masks don’t work, parroting back that we should work towards herd immunity, parroting back that gatherings don’t result in super-spreading events,” Birx told NBC’s Meet the Press.
“And I think our job is to constantly say those are myths.”