Trump news – President complains about daytime TV amid claims he will hold spoiler event during inauguration
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Donald Trump is reportedly weighing whether to launch a 2024 re-election bid on the day of Joe Biden’s inauguration.
On Saturday, The Daily Beast cited three sources who confirmed he is considering a 2024 run, and two of them said he had floated the idea of holding an event on 20 January.
According to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter, the president has privately bragged that he would still remain in the spotlight, even if Mr Biden is in the Oval Office, because the media finds Mr Biden “boring.”
The report comes after the Trump campaign suffered a humiliating court defeat in Pennsylvania, where Republican-appointed judges unanimously ruled to toss out the campaign’s attempt to challenge the election result there.
“Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here,” judge Stephanos Bibas wrote in the court's ruling.
By Saturday evening the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had also dismissed a case brought by Congressman Mike Kelly and others to disallow millions of mail-in ballots in the state.
Voices: Boris Johnson’s unpleasant similarities with Trump are chilling
Reading the new book by prominent Republican Stuart Stevens, it’s apparent how the Conservative Party has been pulled in a similar direction to the GOP, writes James Moore.
Opinion: Boris Johnson’s unpleasant similarities with Trump are chilling
Reading the new book by prominent Republican Stuart Stevens’, it’s apparent how the Conservative Party has been pulled in a similar direction to the GOP
Senate GOP halts in-person lunches
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will temporarily suspend in-person lunches for the GOP caucus, as the coronavirus pandemic surges across the nation, Politico reports.
The number of Senators contracting the virus also forced Mr McConnell to make a decision on how lawmakers interact going forward.
In recent weeks, both Senator Rick Scott of Florida and Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa have tested positive. Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia tested positive but then tested negative.
Democrats have been hosting their lunches remotely during the pandemic, but Republicans continued to meet, albeit spread out for social distancing purposes.
Five other GOP senators have tested positive for the virus during the pandemic, and three senators — one Republican and two Democrats were found to have antibodies.
Biden transition team adds to Covid task force
The Biden transition team has announced three new members of the incoming administration’s Covid task force.
Jane Hopkins — a Sierra Leonian immigrant and veteran nurse specialising in mental health, with a long history of union work.
Dr Jill Jim — the executive director of the Navajo Nation Department of Health, with a focus on preventing chronic diseases in native communities.
Dr David Michaels — an epidemiologist and professor at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University.
They will be joining the team co-chaired by David Kessler, former surgeon general Vivek Murthy, and Marcella Nunez-Smith.
The task force is charged with helping President-elect Joe Biden, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, and the transition put together a “robust and aggressive response to contain the virus.”
“As Covid-19 surges across the country, I need a team advising me and a transition that offers diverse perspectives and viewpoints. Ms Hopkins, Dr Jim, and Dr Michaels will strengthen the board’s work and help ensure that our Covid-19 planning will address inequities in health outcomes and the workforce,” said Mr Biden.
Melania looking to tell her story, report says
Danielle Zoellner has more on reports that Melania Trump is taking meetings about a post-White House book deal.
Melania Trump ‘in discussions about writing her own memoir’
'Melania is in meetings to write her White House memoir,' as source says
Melania thanks White House decoration volunteers
First Lady Melania Trump has thanked the volunteers who are decorating the White House for Christmas over this weekend.
The big reveal will be on Monday.
How do you get people to vote in elections that they think are corrupt?
Republicans shouted over party head Ronna McDaniel at an event in Georgia on Saturday, questioning why they should bother voting in the closely watched Senate run-offs when both the president and GOP incumbents in the race have repeatedly suggested the state’s election processes are corrupt.
Josh Marcus reports.
Georgia Republicans urged to vote in key run-offs which could decide Senate after Trump cast elections as ‘rigged’
GOP chief tells supporters to turn out for crucial vote after her party spent weeks calling elections rigged
GOP lawmaker accuses Trump of ‘massive grift’
In an interview with Forbes, Republican representative for Virginia Denver Riggleman accused Donald Trump and his fellow members of Congress of a 'massive grift’ in refusing to acknowledge the results of the election.
As just one of 10 GOP House members to acknowledge Joe Biden’s victory, he said the refusal by others to acknowledge the result was to make money for the 2024 election and is “completely unethical”.
Mr Riggleman claims that 30 or 40 GOP members privately acknowledge that President-elect Biben won, but won’t speak publicly given their own career worries.
To those who truly believe that there was election fraud, the congressman says it “really speaks to where your intelligence level is… to believe in that type of operation”.
On Trump, Mr Riggleman called the president “irresponsible” for “embracing theories and groups that are dehumanising and have an anti-Semitic base” and “groups that are just anti-American”. He pointed to Trump’s retweets of QAnon.
Mr Riggleman is able to speak so candidly having lost the support of his party for officiating a gay wedding. He was replaced on the 2020 ballot for his seat by a more conservative candidate.
The congressman says he is open to a job in the Biden administration.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismisses mail-in ballot case
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has dismissed the case brought by Congressman Mike Kelly and others that sought to overturn the 2019 law creating no-excuse mail-in voting.
Their aim was to disallow millions of votes cast in that way in the 2020 election.
That’s all for today from out rolling coverage of US politics in the aftermath of the 2020 election.
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