buzzfeed--2020-11-03--Joe Biden Is Going Into Election Day Angry But Confident

WILMINGTON , Delaware — Joe Biden spent his first day on the 2020 campaign trail in Pittsburgh , trying to sell Democrats on the power of moderation in a primary dominated by progressives .
He was back in Pittsburgh on Monday , on election eve , pounding on the lectern , calling healthcare a right , not a privilege .
The candidate who once worried about going too far couldn ’ t hold back , couldn ’ t shout loud enough , couldn ’ t be more pissed at President Donald Trump .
“ I ’ m sick of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Democratic nominee yelled at one point .
“ It angers the hell out of me , the way he talks about our veterans !
” Biden cried at another .
“ Folks , everybody knows who Donald Trump is !
Let ’ s keep showing them who we are !
” he said in conclusion , torquing up to 11 a line he typically delivers more prosaically .
The last full day of what could be Biden ’ s final campaign carried an energy and a confidence that many of the 557 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Cleveland — in a state that was not seen as an electoral battleground on the first of those days but became one in the race ’ s closing weeks — the former vice president focused on a tight message for working-class values and racial justice in a county that can make a president if the turnout numbers turn just so .
Then it was on to neighboring Pennsylvania , the swing state to watch , where Biden , his wife , and his running mate spent the day rustling up any last-minute @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first time , Biden — who never drew big crowds during the primaries and then stopped holding large events because of the pandemic — looked and sounded like he was at an old-fashioned political rally .
“ I chose western Pennsylvania for my first stop as a candidate , ” he said at a socially distanced drive-in event in a parking lot at Heinz Field , home of the Pittsburgh Steelers .
“ And now it 's my last stop before Election Day , because you represent the backbone of this country .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ but a fair shot , an even chance .
Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
” Since announcing his candidacy in April of 2019 , Biden ’ s message has consistently revolved around a singular theme : a fight for the soul of the nation .
It ’ s an existential riff on how Trump , through his indulgence of racism and his nurturing of hostile fringe movements and conspiracy theories , has steered the country away from decency and into chaos .
The message didn ’ t require much alteration when the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it with decisive action , or when his response to police brutality against Black citizens only served to escalate tensions .
“ We can put an end to a presidency that has left hard-working Americans out in the cold , ” Biden said at Heinz Field .
“ Tomorrow , we could put an end to a presidency that has divided this nation , and fanned the flames of hate .
Tomorrow , we can put an end to a presidency that has failed to protect this nation.
” In recent weeks Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Park Avenue binary — a value judgment that pits his working-class childhood hometown in Pennsylvania against an address of wealth and status in New York .
And Monday was Biden 2020 at its most populist .
That ’ s not saying much , because Biden isn ’ t exactly a populist , but the messages he emphasized reflected the winning coalition he needs to show up Tuesday : white working-class voters in western Pennsylvania and Midwest states like Ohio , Michigan , and Wisconsin ; suburban women in those states and others ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of these Americans , Biden and Democrats have argued since the beginning of the campaign last year , have been betrayed by Trump .
Biden “ is the dignity of work candidate , ” Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown , who pushed Biden to add the Cleveland stop to his schedule at the last minute , told BuzzFeed News in a telephone interview Monday .
“ I say this without reservation , he 's the most pro-worker , pro-union candidate either party 's nominated in a generation.
” The tone from Biden on Monday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ staffers , anxious for the election to be over but not — as other Democrats have been with the release of each swing state poll — panicked about Tuesday .
“ We want to make sure that we 're having this dialogue and share with you what we 're seeing , and that we also want to be fundamentally clear what we believe to be true , ” Jen O ’ Malley Dillon , Biden ’ s campaign manager , said in a video conference call with reporters to address expectations about election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ victory before full results are tabulated .
“ Under no scenario will Donald Trump be declared the victor on election night , and we think that that 's really fundamental to how we want to approach tomorrow , ” she added .
The Biden team is preparing for a small , socially distant election night watch in Biden ’ s hometown of Wilmington , Delaware .
Crews spent much of Monday assembling fences and concrete barriers across the street from the Riverfront district convention center where Biden ’ s campaign will gather .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a reporter ’ s question Monday , sounded confident that Biden will speak to his supporters and the nation from there at some point Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning .
“ We believe that the level of data we have , all the early vote that ’ s in , and what we ’ re going to see on Election Day is going to give us a very good sense of where we ’ re headed , even if all the votes aren ’ t counted , ” she said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are going to come in early , we know that some are going to come in later , but we ’ re going to be able to track that either way , because even in the Pennsylvanias , Wisconsins , and Michigans , data will be flowing .
Votes will be counted at some point , just not all of them .
So because of that , we ’ re going to be really focused on our understanding of where we are , and my expectation is that the vice president will address @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ”

WILMINGTON, Delaware — Joe Biden spent his first day on the 2020 campaign trail in Pittsburgh, trying to sell Democrats on the power of moderation in a primary dominated by progressives.
He was back in Pittsburgh on Monday, on election eve, pounding on the lectern, calling healthcare a right, not a privilege. The candidate who once worried about going too far couldn’t hold back, couldn’t shout loud enough, couldn’t be more pissed at President Donald Trump.
“I’m sick of the wealthy guys gaming the system!” the Democratic nominee yelled at one point.
“It angers the hell out of me, the way he talks about our veterans!” Biden cried at another.
“Folks, everybody knows who Donald Trump is! Let’s keep showing them who we are!” he said in conclusion, torquing up to 11 a line he typically delivers more prosaically.
The last full day of what could be Biden’s final campaign carried an energy and a confidence that many of the 557 days in between did not. Starting in Cleveland — in a state that was not seen as an electoral battleground on the first of those days but became one in the race’s closing weeks — the former vice president focused on a tight message for working-class values and racial justice in a county that can make a president if the turnout numbers turn just so. Then it was on to neighboring Pennsylvania, the swing state to watch, where Biden, his wife, and his running mate spent the day rustling up any last-minute votes they could. And for the first time, Biden — who never drew big crowds during the primaries and then stopped holding large events because of the pandemic — looked and sounded like he was at an old-fashioned political rally.
“I chose western Pennsylvania for my first stop as a candidate,” he said at a socially distanced drive-in event in a parking lot at Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers. “And now it's my last stop before Election Day, because you represent the backbone of this country. Hardworking families who are asking for nothing but a fair shot, an even chance. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.”
Since announcing his candidacy in April of 2019, Biden’s message has consistently revolved around a singular theme: a fight for the soul of the nation. It’s an existential riff on how Trump, through his indulgence of racism and his nurturing of hostile fringe movements and conspiracy theories, has steered the country away from decency and into chaos. The message didn’t require much alteration when the coronavirus pandemic struck and Trump failed to meet it with decisive action, or when his response to police brutality against Black citizens only served to escalate tensions.
“We can put an end to a presidency that has left hard-working Americans out in the cold,” Biden said at Heinz Field. “Tomorrow, we could put an end to a presidency that has divided this nation, and fanned the flames of hate. Tomorrow, we can put an end to a presidency that has failed to protect this nation.”
In recent weeks Biden has leaned more into a Scranton vs. Park Avenue binary — a value judgment that pits his working-class childhood hometown in Pennsylvania against an address of wealth and status in New York. And Monday was Biden 2020 at its most populist. That’s not saying much, because Biden isn’t exactly a populist, but the messages he emphasized reflected the winning coalition he needs to show up Tuesday: white working-class voters in western Pennsylvania and Midwest states like Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin; suburban women in those states and others; and Black and Latino voters. All of these Americans, Biden and Democrats have argued since the beginning of the campaign last year, have been betrayed by Trump.
Biden “is the dignity of work candidate,” Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who pushed Biden to add the Cleveland stop to his schedule at the last minute, told BuzzFeed News in a telephone interview Monday. “I say this without reservation, he's the most pro-worker, pro-union candidate either party's nominated in a generation.”
The tone from Biden on Monday was matched by senior campaign officials and staffers, anxious for the election to be over but not — as other Democrats have been with the release of each swing state poll — panicked about Tuesday.
“We want to make sure that we're having this dialogue and share with you what we're seeing, and that we also want to be fundamentally clear what we believe to be true,” Jen O’Malley Dillon, Biden’s campaign manager, said in a video conference call with reporters to address expectations about election night and concerns that Trump might declare victory before full results are tabulated.
“Under no scenario will Donald Trump be declared the victor on election night, and we think that that's really fundamental to how we want to approach tomorrow,” she added.
The Biden team is preparing for a small, socially distant election night watch in Biden’s hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. Crews spent much of Monday assembling fences and concrete barriers across the street from the Riverfront district convention center where Biden’s campaign will gather. O’Malley Dillon, responding to a reporter’s question Monday, sounded confident that Biden will speak to his supporters and the nation from there at some point Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.
“We believe that the level of data we have, all the early vote that’s in, and what we’re going to see on Election Day is going to give us a very good sense of where we’re headed, even if all the votes aren’t counted,” she said. “And again … we know that some are going to come in early, we know that some are going to come in later, but we’re going to be able to track that either way, because even in the Pennsylvanias, Wisconsins, and Michigans, data will be flowing. Votes will be counted at some point, just not all of them. So because of that, we’re going to be really focused on our understanding of where we are, and my expectation is that the vice president will address the American people — probably late.”


buzzfeed--2020-11-03--Joaquin Phoenix And Rooney Mara Opened Up About Their Son River For The First Time

While addressing last month 's news that more than 500 immigrant children have yet to be reunited with their parents @ @ @ @ @ , `` As new parents , it 's unbearable to imagine what it would feel @ @ @ @ @ taken away from us for a day , let alone years . ''

While addressing last month's news that more than 500 immigrant children have yet to be reunited with their parents , Phoenix and Mara wrote, "As new parents, it's unbearable to imagine what it would feel like to have our child taken away from us for a day, let alone years."


buzzfeed--2020-11-03--New: Mueller Investigated Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, And Roger Stone For DNC Hacks

Prosecutors investigated Julian Assange , WikiLeaks , and Roger Stone for the hacking of Democratic National Committee servers as well as for possible campaign finance violations , but ultimately chose not to charge them , newly released portions of the Mueller Report reveal .
Although Wikileaks published emails stolen from the DNC in July and October 2016 and Stone — a close associate to Donald Trump — appeared to know in advance the materials were coming , investigators “ did not have sufficient evidence ” to prove active participation in the hacks or knowledge that the electronic thefts were continuing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not establish that the hacked emails amounted to campaign contributions benefitting Trump ’ s election chances and furthermore felt their publication might have been protected by the First Amendment , making a successful prosecution tenuous .
The fresh details of special counsel Robert Mueller ’ s decision not to charge Assange , WikiLeaks , or Stone for their role in influencing the 2016 election come just a day before voters head to the polls for the 2020 presidential election .
The material sheds new light on the seriousness with which the special counsel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In July 2018 , Mueller indicted 12 Russian officers belonging to the Kremlin ’ s intelligence directorate , the GRU , for the theft and distribution of those emails .
The role that Stone and Assange may have played in the hacks or their distribution has been the subject of much speculation .
Little , however , was known about how intently the special counsel focused on those individuals as possible targets for prosecution during the two-year investigation into Russian election interference .
But a new version of the 448-page Mueller report @ @ @ @ @ @ @ previously redacted sections on 13 pages , nearly all of them dealing with events surrounding the hacked emails and their eventual publication .
The passages were disclosed in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit , filed by BuzzFeed News and the advocacy group Electronic Privacy Information Center , that called on the government to release the report in its entirety .
In September , a federal judge ruled that while some parts could still remain hidden , the government had violated the law by withholding portions dealing with internal discussions among @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Department to release relevant sections by Nov. 2 .
The newly visible sections , found in the table of contents as well as on pages 9 , 51 , 65 , 174 , 176-179 , 188-189 , and 190-191 , deal almost entirely with charging decisions by members of Mueller ’ s team regarding the hacks and WikiLeaks ’ publication of the stolen emails .
The fact that prosecutors elected not to file any charges in that matter is an apparent vindication for both Assange and Stone .
But Mueller , writing in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ either man , noting in a newly unredacted footnote that there were “ factual uncertainties ” that were “ the subject of ongoing investigations ” by the US Attorney ’ s Office for the District of Columbia .
Trump has consistently tried to discredit Mueller ’ s investigation , frequently dismissing it as a “ witch hunt.
” He ’ s found support from his attorney general , Bill Barr , who overlooked major findings of the probe when he announced its conclusion in March 2019 .
Barr has since intervened in cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the prosecution of Stone , who was indicted in January 2019 and convicted of multiple felonies , including witness tampering and lying to Congress .
He was sentenced to 40 months in prison , but Trump commuted his sentence in July , saying Stone “ was treated very unfairly.
” Assange , for his part , was indicted in March 2018 for hacking and violations of the Espionage Act for conspiring with former US Army Private Chelsea Manning to break into a government computer system and publish a trove of classified documents related @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He is currently detained in the United Kingdom and fighting extradition to the US .
A decision in that matter is expected in January .
Attorneys for Stone and Assange could not immediately be reached for comment .
Although Stone was never a formal member of Trump ’ s campaign , he was in frequent contact with the candidate and his closest advisers and has admitted that he was in contact with an online persona known as Guccifer 2.0 , later revealed to have been created and run by the GRU officers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Mueller team gathered evidence suggesting that Stone knew in advance that WikiLeaks would be publishing the emails from the DNC in July 2016 and from John Podesta , Hillary Clinton ’ s campaign chair , on October 7 — the same day the notorious Access Hollywood tape was released .
Assange repeatedly denied Russia was the source for the emails that WikiLeaks published , but the Mueller report found that WikiLeaks also was in direct contact with Guccifer 2.0 , from whom it sought to procure the emails .
“ If you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” WikiLeaks wrote on July 6 , 2016 .
Just sixteen days later , WikiLeaks published nearly 20,000 pages of emails .
Nonetheless , the newly unredacted sections of the Mueller report show that prosecutors worried they didn ’ t have enough hard evidence to prove that Assange or Stone actively participated in the hacks or were aware they were ongoing at the time they communicated with Guccifer 2.0 .
Many of the communications took place on encrypted chats that the investigators appear not to have had access to .
“ While @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s hacking efforts in fact were continuing at least at the time of the July 2016 WikiLeaks dissemination , ” a newly unredacted sections of the report reads , prosecutors “ did not develop sufficient admissible evidence that WikiLeaks knew of — or even was willfully blind to — that fact.
” Likewise , prosecutors faced what they called factual hurdles in pursuing Stone for the hack .
The report notes they lacked proof “ beyond a reasonable doubt that Stone knew or believed that the computer intrusions were ongoing at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ publication of the Podesta emails.
” Separately , prosecutors looked into whether publishing those emails could be viewed as an illegal campaign contribution because they materially benefitted the Trump campaign .
But in their analysis , that case would be difficult to make because of the challenges in determining the emails ’ value .
In addition , they worried that Stone , Assange , and WikiLeaks could all be protected under the First Amendment .
“ Assuming that no coordination with the Campaign occurred , ” Mueller wrote , “ a criminal prosecution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ American listeners would likely be difficult.
” The newly unveiled sections also include a small but noteworthy revelation regarding Russian attempts in August 2016 to hack a company that makes voter registration software .
The name of the company , VR Systems , had been redacted until now .
According to the special counsel , GRU agents had succeeded in installing malware on the company ’ s network .
VR Systems , based in Tallahassee , Florida , has in the past denied that it was compromised .
`` We know that no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work tirelessly every day to protect our systems and our customers , ” the company ’ s chief operating officer , Ben Martin , said in a statement in 2019 .
More than 18 months since the release of the Mueller Report significant portions still remain redacted , in part because the Justice Department argues they contain information that could compromise ongoing investigations , impact individuals ’ right to privacy , or reveal aspects of law enforcement tactics and procedures .
This marks the second time , however , that portions of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In a scathing legal opinion in March , Walton faulted the government for failing “ to provide a thorough representation of the findings ” and questioned whether Barr intended “ to create a one-sided narrative ” that favored Trump “ despite certain findings in the redacted version of the Mueller Report to the contrary.
” Three months later , newly revealed portions of the document showed that investigators had gathered evidence that Stone had told Trump in advance of the publication of the DNC emails in July 2016 .
That directly contradicted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2018 , but investigators did not provide any conclusions on whether the president had lied to the special counsel , the unredacted sections indicated .
●

An attorney for Assange could not immediately be reached for comment. Grant Smith, an attorney for Stone, welcomed the new information about the report.
"The release of the unredacted sections of the Mueller report tonight vindicates Roger Stone and proves what Mr. Stone has been saying since the very beginning of this investigation, that he did not engage in any illegal activity around the emails hacked from the DNC and that he in no way knew the content or timing of their release," Smith said. "No matter how hard the Mueller team tried, they could not make the case they tried to pin on Mr. Stone from the start."
Although Stone was never a formal member of Trump’s campaign, he was in frequent contact with the candidate and his closest advisers and has admitted that he was in contact with an online persona known as Guccifer 2.0, later revealed to have been created and run by the GRU officers who were indicted. In addition, the Mueller team gathered evidence suggesting that Stone knew in advance that WikiLeaks would be publishing the emails from the DNC in July 2016 and from John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair, on October 7 — the same day the notorious Access Hollywood tape was released.
Assange repeatedly denied Russia was the source for the emails that WikiLeaks published, but the Mueller report found that WikiLeaks also was in direct contact with Guccifer 2.0, from whom it sought to procure the emails. “If you have anything hillary related we want it,” WikiLeaks wrote on July 6, 2016. Just 16 days later, WikiLeaks published nearly 20,000 pages of emails.
Nonetheless, the newly unredacted sections of the Mueller report show that prosecutors worried they didn’t have enough hard evidence to prove that Assange or Stone actively participated in the hacks or were aware they were ongoing at the time they communicated with Guccifer 2.0. Many of the communications took place on encrypted chats that the investigators appear not to have had access to.
“While the investigation developed evidence that the GRU’s hacking efforts in fact were continuing at least at the time of the July 2016 WikiLeaks dissemination,” a newly unredacted section of the report reads, prosecutors “did not develop sufficient admissible evidence that WikiLeaks knew of — or even was willfully blind to — that fact.”


buzzfeed--2020-11-03--A Federal Judge Won’t Invalidate Nearly 127,000 Votes Cast At Drive-Thru Voting Sites In Texas’s Mos

A Federal Judge Won’t Invalidate Nearly 127,000 Votes Cast At Drive-Thru Voting Sites In Texas’s Most Populous County

Hanen warned , however , that if the 5th Circuit revived the case in the coming hours , he was prepared to potentially block drive-thru voting tomorrow , while leaving the votes that have already been cast intact .
A lawyer for the plaintiffs did not immediately return a request for comment .
US District Judge Andrew Hanen announced his decision from the bench immediately after hearing arguments on Monday , saying he thought there was a good chance the losing side would race to the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to challenge his decision .
Barring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his order means Harris County can not only count the ballots cast during early voting , but also operate drive-thru voting locations on Election Day .
WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Texas on Monday rejected the latest legal challenge to nearly 127,000 ballots cast at drive-thru voting sites in Harris County , the most populous county in the state .
The judge tossed the case Monday after finding that the challengers — a group that included a Republican congressional candidate and registered Republican voters — lacked standing to sue Harris County over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He indicated that it was a close call for one of the plaintiffs , the congressional candidate , but that in the end , the challengers failed to show a specific enough harm to their interests .
“ I ’ m not necessarily happy with that finding , ” said Hanen , a conservative-leaning member of the court , explaining that he thought standing was a closer call for Wendell Champion , the congressional candidate who joined the lawsuit .
Even if the 5th Circuit reversed Hanen and found the plaintiffs had standing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said he would still deny a request to invalidate ballots cast at drive-thru sites during the state ’ s early voting period , finding the sites complied with state election law for early voting .
But he said the election code had different rules about what qualified as a polling location on Election Day , and he didn ’ t think the drive-through tents that Harris County set up would satisfy those requirements .
Hanen ordered the county to preserve voting records from the drive-thru voting locations just in case there was more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The hearing took place one day after the Texas Supreme Court rejected an effort by the same Texas Republicans to invalidate the nearly 127,000 votes cast at drive-thru locations throughout the county .
The state court didn ’ t release a written opinion explaining its decision to leave the votes intact but had rejected another challenge to drive-thru voting in Harris County earlier this month .
If you have a news tip , we ’ d like to hear from you .
Reach out to us via one of our tip line @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sites during the early voting period in Harris County , which covers Houston , and each was next to a standard indoor polling location , according to the county 's court papers .
Early voting began on Oct. 13 , and by the time it ended on Oct. 30 , lawyers for county clerk Chris Hollins reported to the court that 126,912 people had cast ballots at a drive-thru site .
The county had argued that state law explicitly allowed polling sites to be located `` in a movable structure , '' and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was using to accommodate voters in their cars to vote satisfied the law 's requirements .
Jared Woodfill , the lawyer for the challengers , argued on Monday that Harris County clerk Chris Hollins had usurped the power of Texas lawmakers in setting up the drive-thru sites — if the state legislature wanted to allow drive-thru voting , lawmakers could have passed a law and laid out statewide processes for it .
Benjamin Chou , the director of innovation for the Harris County clerk ’ s office , told BuzzFeed News this week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republicans had sued over the drive-thru voting sites because the party had been involved in their design and conception .
Chou added that the sites had been particularly helpful for parents with young children , who could vote while their kids were buckled up in the backseat , as well as for older voters and people with disabilities who couldn ’ t walk well and still wanted to vote in person .

The judge tossed the case Monday after finding that the challengers — a group that included a Republican congressional candidate and registered Republican voters — lacked standing to sue Harris County over how officials were handling the election. He indicated that it was a close call for one of the plaintiffs, the congressional candidate, but that in the end, the challengers failed to show a specific enough harm to their interests.
“I’m not necessarily happy with that finding,” said Hanen, a conservative-leaning member of the court, explaining that he thought standing was a closer call for Wendell Champion, the congressional candidate who joined the lawsuit.
Even if the 5th Circuit reversed Hanen and found the plaintiffs had standing to bring the case, the judge said he would still deny a request to invalidate ballots cast at drive-thru sites during the state’s early voting period, finding the sites complied with state election law for early voting. But he said the election code had different rules about what qualified as a polling location on Election Day, and he didn’t think the drive-through tents that Harris County set up would satisfy those requirements.
Hanen ordered the county to preserve voting records from the drive-thru voting locations just in case there was more litigation over those ballots in the future.
The hearing took place one day after the Texas Supreme Court rejected an effort by the same Texas Republicans to invalidate the nearly 127,000 votes cast at drive-thru locations throughout the county. The state court didn’t release a written opinion explaining its decision to leave the votes intact but had rejected another challenge to drive-thru voting in Harris County earlier this month.
If you have a news tip, we’d like to hear from you. Reach out to us via one of our tip line channels.
There were 10 drive-thru voting sites during the early voting period in Harris County, which covers Houston, and each was next to a standard indoor polling location, according to the county's court papers. Early voting began on Oct. 13, and by the time it ended on Oct. 30, lawyers for county clerk Chris Hollins reported to the court that 126,912 people had cast ballots at a drive-thru site.
The county had argued that state law explicitly allowed polling sites to be located "in a movable structure," and that the metal-framed tents that the county was using to accommodate voters in their cars to vote satisfied the law's requirements. Jared Woodfill, the lawyer for the challengers, argued on Monday that Harris County clerk Chris Hollins had usurped the power of Texas lawmakers in setting up the drive-thru sites — if the state legislature wanted to allow drive-thru voting, lawmakers could have passed a law and laid out statewide processes for it.
Benjamin Chou, the director of innovation for the Harris County clerk’s office, told BuzzFeed News this week that they were “surprised” that Republicans had sued over the drive-thru voting sites because the party had been involved in their design and conception. Chou added that the sites had been particularly helpful for parents with young children, who could vote while their kids were buckled up in the backseat, as well as for older voters and people with disabilities who couldn’t walk well and still wanted to vote in person.


buzzfeed--2020-11-04--For Everyone Who Carries The Weight Of Anxiety Everyday, This Is For You

THIS ESSAY finds you a week too late .
I just couldn ’ t find the thoughts or words needed to write it .
I had begun it at least three other ways .
The first , I spent several paragraphs ruminating on the different impressions of myself that exist in the minds of others .
Then when that went nowhere — as dwelling on the opinions of others tends to go — I thought to write of a recent realisation that if the world was ending , I ’ d be with my family and therefore not with a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but that , too , never found actualisation as an whole , fully-realised essay .
So I sought to develop something from a bout of recent sadness , during which I discovered a miniature , glass bottle , gifted by someone I no longer know , that held a little , rolled up note inside that stated , “ Happiness is a choice ” .
On better days , I might ’ ve succeeded in turning that first thought into an essay about how we hold a more complete image of ourselves than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ self-estimation should hold more weight than the inaccurate perceptions of others — but for whatever reason , it rarely does .
If I were someone else , someone more self-assured , less susceptible to bouts of doubt , perhaps I would ’ ve found a way to turn the desire to write the love letters nobody ever sends — to mentors , to former friends , to strangers who will never be anything but — into something that resonated with you , that would ’ ve encouraged you to go out and seek @ @ @ @ @ @ @ never thanked , but always meant to , before it 's too late .
I might ’ ve turned that souvenir of a one-time friendship into a reflection on happiness .
But I am beset by anxiety , she is with me mostly all the time .
These past couple of weeks though , it has been hard to know where she ends and I begin — which is perhaps why this particular essay has started and stopped and evaded me until there was nothing left for me to do but to admit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wonder if there ’ s anyone , given this opportunity to write to you weekly , who would bring it so close to ruin — would submit an essay a week late .

THIS ESSAY finds you a week too late. I just couldn’t find the thoughts or words needed to write it.
I had begun it at least three other ways. The first, I spent several paragraphs ruminating on the different impressions of myself that exist in the minds of others. Then when that went nowhere — as dwelling on the opinions of others tends to go — I thought to write of a recent realisation that if the world was ending, I’d be with my family and therefore not with a host of other people I love; but that, too, never found actualisation as an whole, fully-realised essay. So I sought to develop something from a bout of recent sadness, during which I discovered a miniature, glass bottle, gifted by someone I no longer know, that held a little, rolled up note inside that stated, “Happiness is a choice”.
On better days, I might’ve succeeded in turning that first thought into an essay about how we hold a more complete image of ourselves than anyone around us, so our own self-estimation should hold more weight than the inaccurate perceptions of others — but for whatever reason, it rarely does. If I were someone else, someone more self-assured, less susceptible to bouts of doubt, perhaps I would’ve found a way to turn the desire to write the love letters nobody ever sends — to mentors, to former friends, to strangers who will never be anything but — into something that resonated with you, that would’ve encouraged you to go out and seek the people in your life that you never thanked, but always meant to, before it's too late.
I might’ve turned that souvenir of a one-time friendship into a reflection on happiness.
But I am beset by anxiety, she is with me mostly all the time. These past couple of weeks though, it has been hard to know where she ends and I begin — which is perhaps why this particular essay has started and stopped and evaded me until there was nothing left for me to do but to admit defeat at its first deadline.
I wonder if there’s anyone, given this opportunity to write to you weekly, who would bring it so close to ruin — would submit an essay a week late.


buzzfeed--2020-11-05--Beyoncé Has 80,000 Bees At Her Home, And How Did We Not Already Know This?

Although Beyoncé did n't share where all of those jars go , or whether — and , if not , @ @ @ @ @ buy one , she did explain what inspired her to take up beekeeping .

Although Beyoncé didn't share where all of those jars go, or whether — and, if not, when — we can all buy one, she did explain what inspired her to take up beekeeping.


buzzfeed--2020-11-05--Women Are Sharing The Most Surprising Things They Didn't Realize About Penises, And It's Hysterical

`` What struck me the most was that it 's just there , dangling away , all day , every @ @ @ @ @ with its ball buddies .
Like how do you not sit on it ?
Is @ @ @ @ @ ?
Is the satisfaction of unsticking it from your thighs worth the discomfort of it @ @ @ @ @ ? ''

4.
"What struck me the most was that it's just there, dangling away, all day, every day, just hanging out with its ball buddies. Like how do you not sit on it? Is it not constantly annoying you? Is the satisfaction of unsticking it from your thighs worth the discomfort of it sticking in the first place?"


buzzfeed--2020-11-05--The US Postal Service Said It Can't Track 300,000 Ballots Sent In The Mail, But That Doesn't Mean Th

The US Postal Service Said It Can't Track 300,000 Ballots Sent In The Mail, But That Doesn't Mean They’re Lost

During an ongoing trial , Postal Service officials said the ballots were n't being tracked so that they could be delivered more quickly .
The United States Postal Service is denying that 300,000 ballots have been lost within the postal network following Election Day in a race that is still being hotly contested .
Although hundreds of thousands of ballots sent through the Postal Service have not been tracked , that does not mean that those votes were lost .
For their part , postal officials say they failed to track those ballots in order to speed up their delivery @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks , Kevin Bray , the USPS ’ s executive lead for mail processing , testified in the US District Court for Washington , DC , on Wednesday that some ballots were removed from the normal mail flow so they could be delivered more quickly .
“ We did that intentionally so we could expedite the delivery , not to cause someone to think that ’ s lost , ” said Bray , who took the stand today in a lawsuit against the USPS , Postmaster General Louis DeJoy , and President Donald @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back to August .
Breathless concerns were raised early Wednesday that thousands of ballots that had been scanned upon entering the postal system had not received an exit scan and were possibly left behind .
But USPS spokesperson David Partenheimer flatly denied that on Wednesday afternoon .
“ We employed extraordinary measures to deliver ballots directly to local boards of elections .
When this occurs , by design , these ballots bypass certain processing operations and do not receive a final scan .
Instead , they are expedited directly to the boards of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We remain in close contact with state and local boards of elections and we do not currently have any open issues.
” In court , attorneys for the plaintiffs — which include voting advocacy groups and the NAACP — pressed Bray on how he could be certain no ballots had been left behind .
For example , on Wednesday morning , the plaintiffs received reports that four days of election mail had been found on a loading dock in Greensboro , North Carolina .
The Justice Department said the USPS investigated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Bray said that even without the scanning data , it might be possible to determine whether the expedited ballots had been delivered , but he cautioned that the process would be time-consuming .
“ There ’ s a whole analysis that could be done , ” he said .
“ It would be a pretty big workload , but anything ’ s possible when data analysis is done.
” Bray , who testified on Wednesday that he was put in charge of election mail processing four weeks ago , said he designed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the “ extraordinary measures ” in mind that the court previously ordered the USPS to take .
Asked if he had considered making all of the ballots traceable , he said , “ Looking back , in hindsight , we could have come up with a means or method.
” When his team wrote the policy , Bray said the goal was “ to accelerate the mail.
” “ I wasn ’ t worried about , necessarily , the scans on the mail piece as much as I was by delivering the mail @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” he said .
While the USPS has largely been successful in delivering the bulk of election mail on time , its 2020 record hasn ’ t been perfect .
Plaintiffs ’ attorneys raised the example of central Pennsylvania , asking Bray why delivery times hadn ’ t met the standard set for Election Day .
“ I do n't know why , and there ’ s no excuse , ” he said .
“ It should never have happened , but I want to see why.
” While Election Day is over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if any , ballots are actually stuck within the Postal Service won ’ t be answered Wednesday .
The Postal Service is supposed to provide the court on Thursday morning with additional information on the number of delayed ballots , including further details on an estimated 8,000 ballots in Pennsylvania and North Carolina that didn ’ t receive exit scans .
A number of states are still receiving and counting mail ballots , and so presiding Judge Emmet Sullivan ’ s focus remains on ensuring that happens in a timely manner .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ delayed ballots in Texas , where the deadline for mail ballots to be counted was 5 p.m. local time Wednesday .
That order is very similar to the one Sullivan issued for a number of postal regions on Tuesday , which the USPS failed to comply with .
When the bulk of the election work is done , Sullivan said , he intends to get more information about why the Postal Service defied his ruling , possibly from DeJoy .
“ The postmaster is going to have to be deposed and appear before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Sullivan , who earlier expressed his frustration with agency leadership .
“ In no uncertain terms , I ’ m not pleased about the 11th-hour development last night , ” he said early Wednesday afternoon , addressing the government ’ s counsel .
“ You can tell your clients that — and someone might have a price to pay .
If it was not possible as a practical matter for my order to be compiled with , it was the government ’ s job to tell me that so I could make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who was appointed by Trump in June , has been at the center of the controversy over mail-in ballots since he issued sweeping cost-cutting changes that resulted in delayed mail delivery this summer .
Those changes and concerns about how they would impact the presidential election are what led plaintiffs to sue the federal government .
While the Postmaster General previously testified that his reforms would be paused until after the election , the appearance of chaos within the Postal Service played into the president ’ s false claims that mail-in ballots @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the USPS has repeatedly said the mail delays have primarily been caused by chronic understaffing , which has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic .
Despite that , Bray said , postal workers are making physical inspections of facilities and doing what they can so ballots are delivered on time .
“ We are all aware of the scrutiny the Postal Service is under , ” he said Wednesday .
“ I was told we ’ re going to have to do everything , move heaven and earth , to deliver ballot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the courts to come back and say we did n't do everything we could .
”

Breathless concerns were raised early Wednesday that thousands of ballots that had been scanned upon entering the postal system had not received an exit scan and were possibly left behind. But USPS spokesperson David Partenheimer flatly denied that on Wednesday afternoon.
“We employed extraordinary measures to deliver ballots directly to local boards of elections. When this occurs, by design, these ballots bypass certain processing operations and do not receive a final scan. Instead, they are expedited directly to the boards of elections,” he told BuzzFeed News. “We remain in close contact with state and local boards of elections and we do not currently have any open issues.”
In court, attorneys for the plaintiffs — which include voting advocacy groups and the NAACP — pressed Bray on how he could be certain no ballots had been left behind. For example, on Wednesday morning, the plaintiffs received reports that four days of election mail had been found on a loading dock in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Justice Department said the USPS investigated the rumor and no ballots were found.
Bray said that even without the scanning data, it might be possible to determine whether the expedited ballots had been delivered, but he cautioned that the process would be time-consuming. “There’s a whole analysis that could be done,” he said. “It would be a pretty big workload, but anything’s possible when data analysis is done.”
Bray, who testified on Wednesday that he was put in charge of election mail processing four weeks ago, said he designed the plan for expediting mail-in ballots with the “extraordinary measures” in mind that the court previously ordered the USPS to take. Asked if he had considered making all of the ballots traceable, he said, “Looking back, in hindsight, we could have come up with a means or method.”
When his team wrote the policy, Bray said the goal was “to accelerate the mail.”
“I wasn’t worried about, necessarily, the scans on the mail piece as much as I was by delivering the mail by the most accelerated process possible,” he said.
While the USPS has largely been successful in delivering the bulk of election mail on time, its 2020 record hasn’t been perfect. Plaintiffs’ attorneys raised the example of central Pennsylvania, asking Bray why delivery times hadn’t met the standard set for Election Day.
“I don't know why, and there’s no excuse,” he said. “It should never have happened, but I want to see why.”
While Election Day is over, the question of how many, if any, ballots are actually stuck within the Postal Service won’t be answered Wednesday. The Postal Service is supposed to provide the court on Thursday morning with additional information on the number of delayed ballots, including further details on an estimated 8,000 ballots in Pennsylvania and North Carolina that didn’t receive exit scans.


buzzfeed--2020-11-05--Trump Cannot Just “Go” To The Supreme Court To Fight Election Results. Here’s What Would Need To Hap

Trump Cannot Just “Go” To The Supreme Court To Fight Election Results. Here’s What Would Need To Happen To End Up There.

It took a month for Bush v. Gore to make its way through lower courts and reach the justices in 2000 .
WASHINGTON — In the early hours of Wednesday , with many states still going through the lawful process of tallying votes , President Donald Trump declared : “ We will be going to the Supreme Court.
” That ’ s not how the courts work , though .
With rare exceptions that don ’ t apply to the election , no one can simply bring a case to the US Supreme Court .
Trump ’ s rhetoric created @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election results that doesn ’ t exist yet — by Wednesday evening , there were a handful of lawsuits pending , but none involved the kind of consequential fights over final vote tallies that would decide the outcome of the race .
That could change , of course .
Trump ’ s campaign said they ’ ll seek a recount in Wisconsin after former vice president Joe Biden was declared the winner , and could try to go to court to challenge the results if he still lost after that .
Decision Desk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wednesday .
There ’ s already a case pending before the Supreme Court about whether Pennsylvania can count absentee ballots that arrive between Nov. 4 and Nov. 6 , but that would only be a vehicle for deciding the election if the race came down to Pennsylvania ’ s 20 electoral votes — and if those as-yet-unknown number of post–Election Day ballots would change the outcome .
Regardless of whether the Trump campaign ’ s lawsuits succeed in stopping any ballots from being counted , they ’ ve underscored Trump and his campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lawfulness of ballot counting that extends beyond Election Day — something that happens in every election .
On Wednesday , dozens of Michigan residents tried to disrupt ballot counting at a site in Detroit , spurred by fake information that spread online of widespread fraud .
Trump ’ s campaign filed five new legal actions on Wednesday .
Two are aimed at halting ballot counting in Michigan and Pennsylvania on the grounds that the Trump campaign and Republicans haven ’ t gotten as much access to observe the process as they argue they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; in the Pennsylvania case , the campaign lost the first round before a judge in Philadelphia .
On Election Day , the Trump campaign unsuccessfully asked the Nevada Supreme Court to stop ballot counting in Clark County on the grounds that they weren ’ t being given access to observe the process .
Another Trump campaign lawsuit filed Wednesday accuses Pennsylvania of giving certain first-time voters too much time to comply with an ID requirement ( the campaign said they ’ d filed this case but hadn ’ t released the court @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fourth seeks to join the Pennsylvania case already before the Supreme Court .
Shortly before publication time on Wednesday night , the campaign filed a new lawsuit in Chatham County , Georgia , but it was n't an effort to halt ballot counting — the campaign alleged it received information that absentee ballots that arrived after the state 's Election Day deadline might be improperly mingled with valid ballots , and asked the judge to enter an order making sure none were counted .
There are two other cases pending in Pennsylvania @ @ @ @ @ @ @ directly involved in , although both were brought by Republicans .
One is an attempt to toss out at least 93 ballots cast by absentee voters in Montgomery County who were given a chance to fix or “ cure ” problems with their ballots before Election Day ; the other seeks to block an unknown number of absentee voters whose ballots were disqualified from casting provisional ballots instead .
With the exception of the Pennsylvania case that ’ s already before the Supreme Court , any new legal fight would take time to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before the Trump campaign could ask the justices to weigh in .
The court also isn ’ t bound to take a case , although they ’ re likely to step in if there ’ s a legal question that could decide the entire election .
Bush v. Gore , the Supreme Court case that handed the presidency to George W. Bush in 2000 , began with weeks of back-and-forth by Bush and then–vice president Al Gore ’ s campaigns over ballot recounts in Florida .
Gore filed the case that would eventually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ certified its results in late November and declared Bush the winner .
The court ruled on Dec. 12 , 2000 , more than a month after Election Day .
Trump ’ s comments Wednesday morning were the latest iteration of statements he ’ s made leading up the election predicting that the Supreme Court will play a role in deciding the presidency and pledging to fight state election practices and results that he doesn ’ t like before the justices .
Trump and Senate Republicans rushed to fill the late justice Ruth Bader @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in September , with Trump saying that the court needed a ninth justice in place by the election and that he was “ counting on ” the Supreme Court to “ look at the ballots.
” If the winner of the presidential race does end up hinging on a Supreme Court decision , Trump ’ s comments make clear that he ’ s banking on the court ’ s conservative majority — which is now at 6–3 since the Senate confirmed his latest nominee , Justice Amy Coney Barrett — to rule in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up to Election Day , the court issued a mix of decisions that expanded mail-in voting opportunities in some states and limited it in others , although the court ’ s conservative-leaning justices have generally sided with Republican efforts to restrict Americans ’ ability to vote remotely during the coronavirus pandemic .
If you have a news tip , we ’ d like to hear from you .
Reach out to us via one of our tip line channels .
Biden ’ s campaign wasn ’ t active in court before Election Day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s campaign , but both the Republican and Democratic Party organizations committed millions of dollars and armies of lawyers to legal fights arising around the election this year .
On a call with reporters on Wednesday , Bob Bauer , a senior adviser to Biden ’ s campaign and veteran election lawyer , was dismissive of Trump ’ s threats that they ’ d try to go to the Supreme Court to stop ballots from being counted after Election Day .
“ If at some point he arrives before the Supreme Court with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lawfully cast by eligible voters , but not yet counted by the time Donald Trump wanted them counted , that somehow they don ’ t count anymore , he will be in for one of the most embarrassing defeats a president ever suffered before the highest court of the land , ” Bauer said .

There are two other cases pending in Pennsylvania that the Trump campaign isn’t directly involved in, although both were brought by Republicans. One is an attempt to toss out at least 93 ballots cast by absentee voters in Montgomery County who were given a chance to fix or “cure” problems with their ballots before Election Day; the other seeks to block an unknown number of absentee voters whose ballots were disqualified from casting provisional ballots instead.
With the exception of the Pennsylvania case that’s already before the Supreme Court, any new legal fight would take time to work its way through the lower courts before the Trump campaign could ask the justices to weigh in. The court also isn’t bound to take a case, although they’re likely to step in if there’s a legal question that could decide the entire election.
Bush v. Gore, the Supreme Court case that handed the presidency to George W. Bush in 2000, began with weeks of back-and-forth by Bush and then–vice president Al Gore’s campaigns over ballot recounts in Florida. Gore filed the case that would eventually land before the justices only after Florida certified its results in late November and declared Bush the winner. The court ruled on Dec. 12, 2000, more than a month after Election Day.
Trump’s comments Wednesday morning were the latest iteration of statements he’s made leading up the election predicting that the Supreme Court will play a role in deciding the presidency and pledging to fight state election practices and results that he doesn’t like before the justices.
Trump and Senate Republicans rushed to fill the late justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat after Ginsburg died in September, with Trump saying that the court needed a ninth justice in place by the election and that he was “counting on” the Supreme Court to “look at the ballots.”
If the winner of the presidential race does end up hinging on a Supreme Court decision, Trump’s comments make clear that he’s banking on the court’s conservative majority — which is now at 6–3 since the Senate confirmed his latest nominee, Justice Amy Coney Barrett — to rule in his favor. In the weeks leading up to Election Day, the court issued a mix of decisions that expanded mail-in voting opportunities in some states and limited it in others, although the court’s conservative-leaning justices have generally sided with Republican efforts to restrict Americans’ ability to vote remotely during the coronavirus pandemic.
If you have a news tip, we’d like to hear from you. Reach out to us via one of our tip line channels.
Biden’s campaign wasn’t active in court before Election Day in the same vein as Trump’s campaign, but both the Republican and Democratic Party organizations committed millions of dollars and armies of lawyers to legal fights arising around the election this year. On a call with reporters on Wednesday, Bob Bauer, a senior adviser to Biden’s campaign and veteran election lawyer, was dismissive of Trump’s threats that they’d try to go to the Supreme Court to stop ballots from being counted after Election Day.
“If at some point he arrives before the Supreme Court with a novel proposition that ballots that were lawfully cast by eligible voters, but not yet counted by the time Donald Trump wanted them counted, that somehow they don’t count anymore, he will be in for one of the most embarrassing defeats a president ever suffered before the highest court of the land,” Bauer said.


buzzfeed--2020-11-05--The US Just Hit 100,000 New Coronavirus Cases In A Single Day For The First Time

Fauci repeated this dire prediction in an interview with the Washington Post last week , warning that the US would see COVID-19 deaths rise in the next few weeks .
“ We ’ re in for a whole lot of hurt , ” he said .
It is exactly what the nation ’ s most prominent infectious disease specialist warned could happen during a second wave in cases this summer .
“ I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 [ cases ] a day if this does not turn around , ” Anthony Fauci , director @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Infectious Diseases , warned the Senate on June 30 .
For the first time since the start of the pandemic , more than 100,000 new cases of COVID-19 were reported across the US today , according to data collected by the COVID Tracking Project .
This new record comes amid a surge of cases and hospitalizations that started in early September — and shows no sign of slowing down .
The first COVID-19 surge , which hit hard in New York City , Detroit , and New Orleans , remains by far the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those cities overwhelmed by an influx of patients in March and April , but they also didn ’ t know how best to treat them .
During those early months , severely ill patients were placed on a ventilator , an invasive and risky procedure that involved putting people in a medically induced coma .
At that time , about a quarter of patients who were admitted to hospitals died of the disease .
Now doctors are opting to provide oxygen , lay patients on their stomachs , and treat them with drugs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ improved treatments have caused death rates to decline for patients who are severely ill. At the time Fauci made his warning about reaching 100,000 daily cases , the US was recording just over 40,000 new cases per day .
That was during a second wave of COVID-19 cases that hit hardest across Sun Belt states , including Arizona and Texas .
This surge took off in June when those states tried to reopen their economies after initial lockdowns .
After Fauci ’ s warning , many of the states driving the second surge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ controls on risky environments like indoor bars and restaurants .
But economic hardship and what some observers have called “ COVID fatigue ” have led to a relaxation of social distancing in recent weeks .
Now cases are rising in almost every state as winter approaches ; some experts fear a lengthy and severe surge as people congregate indoors , where viral transmission is more likely .
The coronavirus also spreads more easily in cold , dry air .
“ I ’ m increasingly concerned that this will be a rather steep and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , an epidemiologist at the University of Arizona and a member of the Federation of American Scientists ’ Coronavirus Task Force , told BuzzFeed News late last month .
It ’ s hard to compare the absolute size of the three coronavirus surges that have hit the US .
One measure is the seven-day rolling average of new daily cases , which accounts for the fact that the reporting of cases tends to lag over the weekends , leading to a weekly pattern of rising and falling cases .
It is currently running @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the highest it has ever been , but coronavirus testing has expanded since the start of the pandemic , meaning that many cases with mild or no symptoms are now being picked up that would earlier have been missed .
However , testing doesn ’ t explain the current surge in cases , as President Donald Trump has falsely claimed , since cases are surging at a higher rate than tests .

The first COVID-19 surge, which hit hard in New York City, Detroit, and New Orleans, remains by far the deadliest. Not only were hospitals in those cities overwhelmed by an influx of patients in March and April, but they also didn’t know how best to treat them.
During those early months, severely ill patients were placed on a ventilator, an invasive and risky procedure that involved putting people in a medically induced coma. At that time, about a quarter of patients who were admitted to hospitals died of the disease. Now doctors are opting to provide oxygen, lay patients on their stomachs, and treat them with drugs, including the steroid dexamethasone. These improved treatments have caused death rates to decline for patients who are severely ill.
At the time Fauci made his warning about reaching 100,000 daily cases, the US was recording just over 40,000 new cases per day. That was during a second wave of COVID-19 cases that hit hardest across Sun Belt states, including Arizona and Texas. This surge took off in June when those states tried to reopen their economies after initial lockdowns.
After Fauci’s warning, many of the states driving the second surge reversed their reopening policies, placing new controls on risky environments like indoor bars and restaurants. But economic hardship and what some observers have called “COVID fatigue” have led to a relaxation of social distancing in recent weeks.
Now cases are rising in almost every state as winter approaches; some experts fear a lengthy and severe surge as people congregate indoors, where viral transmission is more likely. The coronavirus also spreads more easily in cold, dry air.
“I’m increasingly concerned that this will be a rather steep and long third wave,” Saskia Popescu, an epidemiologist at the University of Arizona and a member of the Federation of American Scientists’ Coronavirus Task Force, told BuzzFeed News late last month.
It’s hard to compare the absolute size of the three coronavirus surges that have hit the US. One measure is the seven-day rolling average of new daily cases, which accounts for the fact that the reporting of cases tends to lag over the weekends, leading to a weekly pattern of rising and falling cases. It is currently running at about 89,000 and rising.
That is the highest it has ever been, but coronavirus testing has expanded since the start of the pandemic, meaning that many cases with mild or no symptoms are now being picked up that would earlier have been missed. However, testing doesn’t explain the current surge in cases, as President Donald Trump has falsely claimed, since cases are surging at a higher rate than tests.


buzzfeed--2020-11-05--Republicans In Michigan Tried To Storm A Detroit Ballot Counting Room To Challenge The Process

Prompted by misinformation about hidden and fake ballots , Michigan residents sent callouts on Facebook for help to challenge the vote counting process .
Prompted by misinformation about election fraud , dozens of Michigan residents tried to push their way into a vote counting center in Detroit Wednesday afternoon as part of an effort to challenge and disrupt ballot counting .
The chaos erupted as votes continued to be tallied in Michigan , where on Wednesday afternoon both Decision Desk HQ and the Associated Press called Michigan for Joe Biden .
But President Donald Trump ’ s campaign said that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ until they were granted “ meaningful access ” to observe the process .
According to videos and people on the scene , as well as Facebook posts advocating for the interference , the challengers were trying to take part in or halt the count , declaring the process fraudulent .
BuzzFeed News has journalists around the US bringing you trustworthy stories on the 2020 elections .
To help keep this news free , become a member .
Crowds of people chanted “ Stop the votes !
” and “ Stop the count !
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ballots taped up paper to cover the windows .
Police on the scene had to push back a jostling stream of Republicans attempting to get into the counting room .
Officers were also on guard outside , barring people from entering the center .
Both Republicans and Democrats are allowed 134 “ challengers ” to observe the vote counting in Michigan .
According to the Detroit Free Press , about 400 challengers were inside the counting room as poll workers continued to go through about 25,000 absentee ballots .
Ray Wert , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an interview with BuzzFeed News that he went home on Wednesday morning to shower and eat after a long night of counting votes .
When he returned to the center , he said about 50 to 100 people had gathered .
“ They were calling it an illegitimate process because they were n't able to flood the zone with people to slow down the count or to try to invalidate votes , ” Wert said .
“ It felt like there was a lot of manufactured rage .
It did n't feel real @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , whether it was out of a desire to cast a doubt on the process or to some way to delegitimize the process , to intimidate the poll workers in there who are trying to do their job to count ballots , '' Wert said .
Earlier on Wednesday morning , Michigan residents had begun sharing false content on Facebook declaring widespread voter fraud .
The posts claimed that while they were sleeping , 138,339 ballots were “ found ” and they “ just happened to be for Biden.
” Other baseless conspiracy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ encouraging people to fill out their ballots using Sharpies instead of pens to prevent them from scanning .
Incensed Trump supporters then used Facebook to organize their own ballot monitoring initiatives because they believed the counting was corrupt .
Some callouts promised that volunteers would get a “ short training and credentials ” to ensure “ a fair and just election.
” “ Who is available to go to COBO Hall right now to help monitor the vote ?
35k ballots showed up out of nowhere at 3 am .
Need help .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ read a post that was shared nearly 370 times .
After a friend forwarded him an urgent callout for ballot watchers , Rick Ector , a 53-year-old firearms instructor from Detroit , went down to the TCF center to try to become a monitor .
Ector , a Trump supporter , told BuzzFeed News that he and about 100 other people tried to get inside for hours , but security guards blocked their attempts .
“ I came down with the point of being part of the process , ” Ector said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ be and aboveboard , why not allow observers to watch the process ?
I ca n't see the observers inside , so how do we know they are there ?
” Wert , the Democrat , said despite being called vote challengers , “ We aren ’ t really there to challenge votes .
What we ’ re there to do is to make sure the workers get their job done and make sure they ’ re not being harassed by people trying to illegitimately slow them down.
” If you have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to hear from you .
Reach out to us via one of our tip line channels .
By about 4 p.m .
ET , Wert said the tension had died down at the center .
Speaking to BuzzFeed News from outside the center at 4:15 p.m. , though , Ector said he and dozens of others were still there outside , waiting .
“ I ’ m planning on staying here until we know everything is at it should be and there ’ s no problems , ” he said .
“ Everything @ @ @ @ @

Prompted by misinformation about election fraud, dozens of Michigan residents tried to push their way into a vote counting center in Detroit Wednesday afternoon as part of an effort to challenge and disrupt ballot counting.
The chaos erupted as votes continued to be tallied in Michigan, where on Wednesday afternoon both Decision Desk HQ and the Associated Press called Michigan for Joe Biden.
But President Donald Trump’s campaign said that they were seeking to halt ballot counting until they were granted “meaningful access” to observe the process.
According to videos and people on the scene, as well as Facebook posts advocating for the interference, the challengers were trying to take part in or halt the count, declaring the process fraudulent.
BuzzFeed News has journalists around the US bringing you trustworthy stories on the 2020 elections. To help keep this news free, become a member.
Crowds of people chanted “Stop the votes!” and “Stop the count!” while people inside the room housing the ballots taped up paper to cover the windows.
Police on the scene had to push back a jostling stream of Republicans attempting to get into the counting room. Officers were also on guard outside, barring people from entering the center.
Both Republicans and Democrats are allowed 134 “challengers” to observe the vote counting in Michigan. According to the Detroit Free Press, about 400 challengers were inside the counting room as poll workers continued to go through about 25,000 absentee ballots.


buzzfeed--2020-11-05--Facebook Live Spread Election Conspiracies And Russian State-Controlled Content Despite Employee Fea

Facebook Live Spread Election Conspiracies And Russian State-Controlled Content Despite Employee Fears

The social network ’ s live video tool has recommended videos featuring misinformation and the hyperpartisan views of Trump allies leading up to and following election day in the US .
Less than 24 hours before one of the most contentious US presidential elections in recent history , a Facebook employee tried to flag an election conspiracy theory that was spreading on the social network .
A video titled “ LEFT PLANS COUP / REVOLUTION NOV 3RD 2020 ?
” had amassed 2,500 concurrent viewers on Facebook Live and was at the time the second recommended result on the platform @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employee wanted to know why .
“ The 2nd result in Watch Live is a non verified page pushing election conspiracy theories , ” the Facebook worker wrote .
“ Why do we allow non verified live videos about elections if we don ’ t have a way to check the content is not election misinformation ?
” A Facebook product manager eventually removed the video , but only after a few hours , allowing the content to be viewed by more than 110,000 people .
It was not the only example of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Facebook Live before , during , and after Election Day .
Internal posts from Facebook employees and BuzzFeed News ’ own monitoring of the social network ’ s livestreaming feature show that Facebook Live was littered with misinformation and hyperpartisan content that was algorithmically recommended to thousands of people during a presidential election .
In some cases , the videos were moderated by Facebook , while in others , managers said they had no policy for handling the issue and let them stand .
Facebook has spent months telling the public and its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for this election than in 2016 , when it was caught flat-footed as hyperpartisan publishers and Russian state actors used Facebook and Instagram to spread disinformation and sow discord among the US electorate .
The company has instituted moratoriums on political ads , created labels to place on misleading posts from the president , and hired thousands of third-party contract moderators — all changes that were praised by a Facebook executive Monday in a self-congratulatory companywide message .
And still the Facebook ecosystem , which includes platforms used by 3 billion people , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Facebook or another technology company ?
We 'd love to hear from you .
Reach out at ryan.mac @ buzzfeed.com , craig.silverman @ buzzfeed.com , or via one of our tip line channels .
“ This will not be the only election misinformation live video today , tomorrow , or in the future weeks , ” the employee who flagged the conspiracy theory video wrote .
“ We should probably focus on what we can do to limit sources of election misinformation instead of focus on this single video.
” A product manager @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been “ considered low News Ecosystem Quality and should be receiving a harsh demotion.
” “ We have a mechanism to enforce on this , ” the product manager wrote .
“ It seems like it wasn ’ t triggered on this surface specifically , and we ’ re following up on that.
” The live video suggesting a Democratic coup wasn ’ t the only election content Facebook employees flagged internally .
The day before the election , the same concerned employee discovered the company was promoting a livestream from RT @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The RT stream , which featured coverage of President Donald Trump ’ s campaign rallies accompanied by the hashtags # MAGA2020 and # TrumpRally , was the fourth recommended livestream , next to one from right-wing site Breitbart .
RT ’ s video was promoted not just on Facebook ’ s mobile app , but also on Portal , its video chatting device that ’ s used by older demographics .
“ Every news outlet has live coverage , ” the employee wrote .
“ We put breitbart and RT up but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Fox News , [ Washington Post , ] and hundreds of pages had live election coverage , ” they continued .
“ How did RT become 4th result ?
” While Breitbart is one of Facebook ’ s trusted news partners , the social network said in June that it would label pages , posts , and ads from some state-controlled media outlets such as RT as `` partially or wholly under the editorial control of a state . ''
At the time Facebook also announced it would block ads from state-controlled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this summer “ out of an abundance of caution.
” Despite the social network ’ s supposed caution around RT content , it still recommended the network ’ s livestream the night before Election Day .
In 2017 , the office of the US Director of Intelligence described RT as the Kremlin ’ s “ principal international propaganda outlet.
” “ Currently there isn ’ t a policy to reduce/demote this content or remove it from recommendations but we have pinged the News team for clarity , ” the product manager wrote in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ workers wrote in to note that they had previously raised the issue , with one saying that they wanted the company to “ revisit the policy of *unconnected* recommendation for state controlled media.
” Another manager chimed in to affirm that Facebook does not block “ specific state controlled pages ” and treats them the same as other pages on the platform .
The recommendation feed is “ ranked by a model ” that weighs factors including viewers , likes , and comments , they said .
“ ‘ Should we promote election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to dabble in misinformation and which we prominently label if our models rank it high or should we remove it from recommendation surfaces ?
’ is something we should proactively bring up in policy review given the political context , ” the flagging employee wrote .
As of Wednesday , the RT video had been viewed around 38,000 times .
Facebook spokesperson Liz Bourgeois said in a statement that the company blocks ads from state-controlled media entities .
“ Out of an abundance of caution given the election , ” she said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recommending their content to people.
” She said the policy went in place on Election Day , `` where we assessed there 's the most risk is the post election period . ''
The company has not determined when the suspension of state-controlled media recommendations would be lifted .
On Election Day and in the hours after polls had closed , Facebook Live continued to recommend hyperpartisan content to thousands of people .
On Tuesday morning , the feature ranked a livestream of a video from former Trump campaign manager and alleged fraudster @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election coverage from outlets including ABC and NowThis News .
Later that election night , the product suggested users tune in to election coverage from Jay Sekulow , a lawyer for Trump .
On Wednesday , as some states continued to tabulate votes from the night before , Facebook Live featured a video titled “ TRUMP CLAIMS VICTORY !
!
” attracting nearly 7,000 viewers .
Later in the day , Facebook Live ’ s top slot pushed a stream from conservative commentator and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on Facebook ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As BuzzFeed News previously reported , Kirk has in the past been penalized for sharing misinformation on Instagram — a violation that was later personally escalated for review by Facebook Vice President of Global Public Policy Joel Kaplan .
Strikes for misinformation , which are assessed by third-party fact-checkers that partner with Facebook , can lead to the demotion of content on the platform .
Earlier this year , the Washington Post revealed that Kirk ’ s Turning Point organization benefited from fake Facebook accounts linked to an agency it worked with .

“The 2nd result in Watch Live is a non verified page pushing election conspiracy theories,” the Facebook worker wrote. “Why do we allow non verified live videos about elections if we don’t have a way to check the content is not election misinformation?”
A Facebook product manager eventually removed the video, but only after a few hours, allowing the content to be viewed by more than 110,000 people. It was not the only example of manipulative content that was left up on Facebook Live before, during, and after Election Day.
Internal posts from Facebook employees and BuzzFeed News’ own monitoring of the social network’s livestreaming feature show that Facebook Live was littered with misinformation and hyperpartisan content that was algorithmically recommended to thousands of people during a presidential election. In some cases, the videos were moderated by Facebook, while in others, managers said they had no policy for handling the issue and let them stand.
Facebook has spent months telling the public and its own employees that it was better prepared for this election than in 2016, when it was caught flat-footed as hyperpartisan publishers and Russian state actors used Facebook and Instagram to spread disinformation and sow discord among the US electorate. The company has instituted moratoriums on political ads, created labels to place on misleading posts from the president, and hired thousands of third-party contract moderators — all changes that were praised by a Facebook executive Monday in a self-congratulatory companywide message.
And still the Facebook ecosystem, which includes platforms used by 3 billion people, was misused.
Do you work at Facebook or another technology company? We'd love to hear from you. Reach out at ryan.mac@buzzfeed.com, craig.silverman@buzzfeed.com, or via one of our tip line channels.
“This will not be the only election misinformation live video today, tomorrow, or in the future weeks,” the employee who flagged the conspiracy theory video wrote. “We should probably focus on what we can do to limit sources of election misinformation instead of focus on this single video.”
A product manager replied, noting that the page should have been “considered low News Ecosystem Quality and should be receiving a harsh demotion.”
“We have a mechanism to enforce on this,” the product manager wrote. “It seems like it wasn’t triggered on this surface specifically, and we’re following up on that.”
The live video suggesting a Democratic coup wasn’t the only election content Facebook employees flagged internally. The day before the election, the same concerned employee discovered the company was promoting a livestream from RT, the Russian state-funded and -controlled broadcaster.


buzzfeed--2020-11-04--European Officials Are Criticizing Trump For Prematurely Claiming Victory And Spreading Misinformati

European Officials Are Criticizing Trump For Prematurely Claiming Victory And Spreading Misinformation

A member of the Democrats Abroad organization holds a placard during a demonstration near the US embassy in Berlin on Nov. 4 , 2020 .
European officials , in utter disbelief over the chaos surrounding the United States presidential election , have been trying desperately to stay out of it in recent months .
“ We don ’ t want anything to do with your fucked-up election , ” one official in Kyiv said to BuzzFeed News last week , summing up the feelings of an anxious continent that has seen its alliance with the US erode under President Donald @ @ @ @ @ @ @ declared victory mere hours after polls closed , pushing false allegations of mass fraud , several of the US ’ s closest allies could stay silent no longer .
With several states still to be formally decided on Wednesday morning , German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer called the US election “ a very explosive situation ” and warned of the possibility of a “ constitutional crisis.
” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was slightly more optimistic , urging patience and saying the United Kingdom has full confidence in the checks and balances of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need to be patient and wait and see who wins the US election , ” he tweeted , cautioning that it ’ s “ important the process is given sufficient time to reach a conclusion.
” BuzzFeed News has journalists around the US bringing you trustworthy stories on the 2020 elections .
To help keep this news free , become a member .
Not everyone was so restrained .
Alexander Stubb , former prime minister of Finland , called the election “ a stress test ” for American democracy .
“ I still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resilience of its democratic institutions , but am worried about the speech that we just heard from @ realDonaldTrump , ” he tweeted .
Nicola Sturgeon , first minister of Scotland , also tweeted her concern and pointedly took a jab at Trump ’ s party .
“ Crucial hours and days ahead for the integrity of US democracy , ” she said .
“ Let ’ s hope we start to hear the voices of Republicans who understand the importance of that.
” Slovenia ’ s right-wing prime minister , Janez Jansa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Union leader or senior official to openly back Trump , whose wife was born in the Central European nation .
“ It ’ s pretty clear that American people have elected @ realDonaldTrump   @ Mike_Pence for # 4moreyears , ” he wrote on Twitter , prompting the social network to label it as misinformation .

European officials, in utter disbelief over the chaos surrounding the United States presidential election, have been trying desperately to stay out of it in recent months.
“We don’t want anything to do with your fucked-up election,” one official in Kyiv said to BuzzFeed News last week, summing up the feelings of an anxious continent that has seen its alliance with the US erode under President Donald Trump.
But after the president prematurely declared victory mere hours after polls closed, pushing false allegations of mass fraud, several of the US’s closest allies could stay silent no longer.
With several states still to be formally decided on Wednesday morning, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer called the US election “a very explosive situation” and warned of the possibility of a “constitutional crisis.”
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was slightly more optimistic, urging patience and saying the United Kingdom has full confidence in the checks and balances of the US election process.
“We need to be patient and wait and see who wins the US election,” he tweeted, cautioning that it’s “important the process is given sufficient time to reach a conclusion.”
BuzzFeed News has journalists around the US bringing you trustworthy stories on the 2020 elections. To help keep this news free, become a member.
Not everyone was so restrained. Alexander Stubb, former prime minister of Finland, called the election “a stress test” for American democracy. “I still want to believe in [the] resilience of its democratic institutions, but am worried about the speech that we just heard from @realDonaldTrump,” he tweeted.
Nicola Sturgeon, first minister of Scotland, also tweeted her concern and pointedly took a jab at Trump’s party. “Crucial hours and days ahead for the integrity of US democracy,” she said. “Let’s hope we start to hear the voices of Republicans who understand the importance of that.”
Slovenia’s right-wing prime minister, Janez Jansa, appeared to be the only European Union leader or senior official to openly back Trump, whose wife was born in the Central European nation.
“It’s pretty clear that American people have elected @realDonaldTrump   @Mike_Pence for #4moreyears,” he wrote on Twitter, prompting the social network to label it as misinformation.


buzzfeed--2020-11-05--The Backlash Against Trump Never Came

The Backlash Against Trump Never Came

Look , I don ’ t know any more than you do , but what I know so far feels bleak .
Because even if Trump ends up losing , Trumpism has won .
There are still millions of mail-in ballots to be counted , namely in swing states like Pennsylvania , Michigan , and Wisconsin , and Biden could still win .
Despite all that , Donald Trump has already tried to seize victory and lied about there being some kind of fraud preventing him from winning .
We might not know who won the presidency for a few @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a deep discomfort that Americans just have to learn to get used to .
But what the numbers tell us so far is dispiriting for anyone who isn ’ t a big fan of putting children in cages or allowing more than 230,000 Americans to die from a pandemic without even a presidential acknowledgment of this loss and willingness to prevent more deaths .
So far , Trump has 68.2 million votes .
In 2016 , he had just 62.9 million .
Though exit polling is largely flawed , it seems that even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time than in 2016 .
Even if Trump does lose this election — which he still might — there was no sharp rebuke of Trump , his policies , or his associates .
There was no blue wave , blue crush , blue anything .
For Democrats , the 2020 election was supposed to have been a repudiation of Trump and all he ’ s done to destabilize the country ( and the world ) in the last four years .
But Trump ’ s failures were , somehow , not severe enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and progressives were dreaming of and that pollsters wrongly predicted was plausible .
And there were so , so many reasons to repudiate Trump .
Were the hundreds of thousands of people killed by an out-of-control pandemic not enough ?
Was his continued refusal to listen to scientists and epidemiologists along with threats to fire Dr. Anthony Fauci , seemingly the only voice of reason remotely close to the White House , not terrifying enough to vote for another option ?
What about the fact that he was impeached earlier this year , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ history of 2020 .
Did a summer of Black Lives Matter protests across the country , countless videos of police brutalizing if not killing Black people , not convince you that a vote for Trump is a vote for violent racism ?
Anti-Blackness was on the ballot too , and instead of renouncing it , half the country seemed to embrace it .
There ’ s more bad news for anyone who didn ’ t vote for Trump , or anyone hoping for a world where we could stop worrying about things like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
For the foreseeable future , the country will have to contend with Trump , his supporters , and his politics of cruelty .
What does it mean that more than 68 million Americans voted to keep the status quo of the last four years ?
What does it mean that Trump received even more votes than 2016 , that he ’ s gained even more popularity ?
?
Nothing good , I don ’ t think , as I write this from my apartment because I still can ’ t go back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the president has still not remotely gotten under control for the last eight months .
And continues to downplay .
But maybe worse than a possible Trump win is the likelihood that Trumpism is here to stay .
Lindsey Graham , who started off as a Republican critic of Trump before his backbone melted inside his own body and he became a cheerleader for the president , won his South Carolina Senate seat yet again by a little more than 55 % — despite facing a talented challenger who raised more money @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ever .
Mitch McConnell , a haunted Papa Smurf who helped ram through the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett despite the election being mere weeks away , won his reelection as well .
There was no blue wave in the Senate — as of this writing , Republicans hold 48 seats to the Democrats ’ 46 .
Even if Trump does lose , men like McConnell and Graham are still in office and will continue to block progressive policies .
Conspiracy theories and mass delusions like QAnon — which Trump seems to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are also not going away no matter who wins this election .
In fact , they continue to seep into the mainstream and into our politics .
Marjorie Taylor Greene , a vocal QAnon believer , just won her first congressional seat in Georgia with no Democratic opponent .
In June , the vehement Trump supporter posted videos of herself on Twitter threatening “ antifa terrorists ” while holding an AR-15 .
In September , she also posted an image of herself on Facebook holding a gun next to pictures of Reps. Alexandria @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tlaib .
As of this writing , while Democrats still control the House of Representatives , they only do so by a pretty small margin .
The promise of the 2018 blue wave has crashed .
There ’ s incredible hope in the fact that the first trans senator — Sarah McBride — and first Black and openly gay members of Congress — Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones — were elected , but progressive hopes still couldn ’ t turn states like South Carolina or Texas blue .
It ’ s not always @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are depressing enough , and tell us the horrifying truth about millions of American voters : blatant racism , sexism , and , ultimately , mass American deaths are all acceptable enough for them to vote for more of it .
Preserving the status quo , however miserable it may be , is more important than contending with any kind of progressive change .
The truth is that there are enough voters in the US who don ’ t care that Trump ’ s policies — and the policies of his associates — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ literal death .
There ’ s an absolute dearth of compassion ; the voters who voted for Trump likely don ’ t care that the Trump administration has made life harder , for example , for trans people or undocumented immigrants .
All this in exchange for a “ strong economy , ” whatever that means .
Democrats were hoping not just for a Biden win , but for an undeniable turn away from Trump and the GOP .
With reports of unprecedented voter turnout , there was a feeling that such a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grown tired of four years of chaos , that Republicans would vote across party lines for a centrist like Biden .
And maybe some did — after all , lifelong Republicans like John Kasich and groups like the Lincoln Project certainly made what seemed like effective pleas .
But it was never enough for Biden to just win this election .
Instead , many were hungry for an indisputable message to be delivered to Trump : You have failed and we want you out .
Instead , the election has become another protracted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Trump has irrevocably changed the country — and the Republican party — for good .
Trumpism isn ’ t some anomaly or fluke .
It ’ s here to stay , and someone will have to lead us through a worsening pandemic , a recession and possible depression , massive unemployment , and the inevitable protests that continue .
And what comes after this election , no matter who wins in the end , is something to fear .
●

And there were so, so many reasons to repudiate Trump. Were the hundreds of thousands of people killed by an out-of-control pandemic not enough? Was his continued refusal to listen to scientists and epidemiologists along with threats to fire Dr. Anthony Fauci, seemingly the only voice of reason remotely close to the White House, not terrifying enough to vote for another option? What about the fact that he was impeached earlier this year, a little detail forgotten to the absurd history of 2020. Did a summer of Black Lives Matter protests across the country, countless videos of police brutalizing if not killing Black people, not convince you that a vote for Trump is a vote for violent racism? Anti-Blackness was on the ballot too, and instead of renouncing it, half the country seemed to embrace it.
There’s more bad news for anyone who didn’t vote for Trump, or anyone hoping for a world where we could stop worrying about things like the spread of QAnon and rampant misinformation. For the foreseeable future, the country will have to contend with Trump, his supporters, and his politics of cruelty. What does it mean that more than 68 million Americans voted to keep the status quo of the last four years? What does it mean that Trump received even more votes than 2016, that he’s gained even more popularity?? Nothing good, I don’t think, as I write this from my apartment because I still can’t go back to the office due to a pandemic that the president has still not remotely gotten under control for the last eight months. And continues to downplay.
But maybe worse than a possible Trump win is the likelihood that Trumpism is here to stay. Lindsey Graham, who started off as a Republican critic of Trump before his backbone melted inside his own body and he became a cheerleader for the president, won his South Carolina Senate seat yet again by a little more than 55% — despite facing a talented challenger who raised more money than any candidate for the Senate, ever. Mitch McConnell, a haunted Papa Smurf who helped ram through the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett despite the election being mere weeks away, won his reelection as well. There was no blue wave in the Senate — as of this writing, Republicans hold 48 seats to the Democrats’ 46. Even if Trump does lose, men like McConnell and Graham are still in office and will continue to block progressive policies.


buzzfeed--2020-11-05--Biden Narrowly Won Wisconsin, A State That Has Been Hit Hard By COVID-19

Biden won Wisconsin by a razor-thin margin , and the Trump campaign declared it will `` immediately '' push for a recount .
Joe Biden won Wisconsin on Wednesday after a bitterly contested election yielded no clear result for either presidential candidate last night .
The result was called just before 3 p.m. by Decision Desk HQ .
The final tally in the state had Biden leading by about 20,000 votes , a margin so slim that President Donald Trump will be able to request a recount .
Biden took a lead in the early hours of the day Wednesday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like Milwaukee outpaced Trump ’ s lead in Election Day voting .
The tight race surprised pundits who thought the impact of COVID-19 in recent weeks would bring a bigger swing toward the Democratic candidate .
Together with Michigan and Pennsylvania , two other traditionally Democratic states in the Upper Midwest , Wisconsin ’ s 10 Electoral College votes were key to Trump ’ s unexpected 2016 victory .
BuzzFeed News has journalists around the US bringing you trustworthy stories on the 2020 Elections .
To help keep this news free , become @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before Wisconsin ’ s final results were announced , Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien declared that the campaign would request a recount `` immediately . ''
By Wisconsin ’ s rules , the president has until 5 p.m. tomorrow to request an official recount in the state , a process that could take weeks to complete .
Though experts have long warned that election results would be delayed due to the influx of mail-in ballots this year , Trump has already sought to cast doubt on those votes , which lean Democrat .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ would challenge the election in the Supreme Court if he loses — though it ’ s unclear what legal challenge he could bring .
This year , Wisconsin , perhaps more than any other state , was caught between the two dueling narratives from the Biden and Trump campaigns : a devastating coronavirus outbreak that has surged in the weeks before Election Day , and a rash of violent protests in Kenosha after the shooting of a Black man , Jacob Blake , by police .
In the Biden campaign ’ s attempt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Trump ’ s handling of the pandemic , Wisconsin arguably provided the president ’ s biggest test : Right now in the state , around 5,000 new cases are being recorded each day and some 1,500 people are in the hospital in an outbreak that shows no sign of slowing down .
Downplaying the pandemic , Trump stressed his law-and-order pitch in rallies in Wisconsin .
“ They ’ re waging war on our police , ” he told a crowd at the regional airport in Kenosha on Monday , claiming to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protesters .
Going into the election , statewide polling averages gave Biden a lead of more than 8 percentage points in a state won by Trump by just 0.8 percentage points in 2016 .
The impact of COVID-19 and dissatisfaction with Trump among suburban white women were expected to make Wisconsin a relatively easy flip .
But it didn ’ t turn out that way , in an election in which Trump ’ s response to the coronavirus pandemic , which has killed more than 232,000 Americans so far , seems to have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expected .
In a study published late last month , political scientists estimated that Trump ’ s approval rating dropped by 0.5 % when a state ’ s COVID-19 death rate doubled over the course of a month .
In Wisconsin , the seven-day rolling average of daily deaths has risen from fewer than 10 in mid-September to more than 40 today .
Wisconsin escaped the worst of the first wave of US coronavirus cases and deaths in April , which hit hardest in cities , including the New York metropolitan area , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also was largely spared by the second wave , which surged across the Sun Belt states of the South and West Coast in the summer .
But the state has led the way in the current wave of cases , which began in September in the Midwest and Plains states and is now taking off nationwide .
The strain on hospitals has gotten so bad that last month , the state opened a 530-bed emergency field hospital at the Wisconsin State Fair Park outside Milwaukee .

Joe Biden won Wisconsin on Wednesday after a bitterly contested election yielded no clear result for either presidential candidate last night.
The result was called just before 3 p.m. by Decision Desk HQ. The final tally in the state had Biden leading by about 20,000 votes, a margin so slim that President Donald Trump will be able to request a recount. Biden took a lead in the early hours of the day Wednesday as mail-in ballots from heavily Democratic areas like Milwaukee outpaced Trump’s lead in Election Day voting. The tight race surprised pundits who thought the impact of COVID-19 in recent weeks would bring a bigger swing toward the Democratic candidate.
Together with Michigan and Pennsylvania, two other traditionally Democratic states in the Upper Midwest, Wisconsin’s 10 Electoral College votes were key to Trump’s unexpected 2016 victory.
BuzzFeed News has journalists around the US bringing you trustworthy stories on the 2020 Elections. To help keep this news free, become a member.
On Wednesday afternoon, before Wisconsin’s final results were announced, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien declared that the campaign would request a recount "immediately." By Wisconsin’s rules, the president has until 5 p.m. tomorrow to request an official recount in the state, a process that could take weeks to complete.
Though experts have long warned that election results would be delayed due to the influx of mail-in ballots this year, Trump has already sought to cast doubt on those votes, which lean Democrat. Early Wednesday morning, Trump said he would challenge the election in the Supreme Court if he loses — though it’s unclear what legal challenge he could bring.


buzzfeed--2020-11-05--21 Tweets About John King That Are The Only Thing Making Me Laugh Right Now

Anderson Cooper 2.0 has been explaining and commentating on the election as the votes come in for what seems like @ @ @ @ @ literally on CNN until 4:30 a.m. last night and then came back to continue at @ @ @ @ @ UNSTOPPABLE .

He's election Santa. I have no idea what he does the rest of the year, but THIS IS HIS NIGHT TO SHINE. And he's doing it. So here are a bunch of tweets about our map-tapping hero John King that actually made me laugh in between my soul-sucking anxiety.