Don Jr tests positive, as his father dodges media questions
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump held a press conference on Friday to discuss prescription drug prices, but the moment also included him falsely claiming “he won” the 2020 election while accusing Moderna and Pfizer of working to stop his re-election efforts. The two pharmaceutical companies announced their coronavirus vaccines were 90 per cent or more effective against the novel virus following the election.
The press conference was actually not a press conference because the president took no questions. His decision not to take questions potentially came after White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany held her press briefing since 1 October on Friday.
Ms McEnany, who defended Mr Trump’s refusal to concede the election, was heckled by one reporter during the briefing over her inability to accept the election results. She also entered into a verbal spat with a CNN reporter, whom she called an “activist”, after refusing to answer more questions.
This comes after Mr Trump was told to to move aside by Republican senator Lamar Alexander, who said on Friday that the US president should allow the transition to a Biden administration to take place after more than two weeks of delay. Sources close to the president suggested that his refusal to concede was, in part, an act of revenge on Democrats who investigated Russian interference in his 2016 win over Hillary Clinton.
And later in the day it was confirmed that the president’s son, Don Jr, had tested positive for coronavirus and was quarantining.
Trump’s herd immunity advocate advises including elderly family members at Thanksgiving
The White House’s latest holiday guidance on the coronavirus is to bring older family members to your Thanksgiving celebrations if you think it’s the last one they will be alive to enjoy.
“This kind of isolation is one of the unspoken tragedies of the elderly, who are now being told 'don’t see your family at Thanksgiving,’” Scott Atlas, a herd immunity advocate brought into the White House earlier this year by Donald Trump.
“For many people, this is their final Thanksgiving believe it or not," he told Fox News on Monday night, even tough elderly people are among those most at risk to the respiratory disease.
"What are we doing here? … I think we have to have a policy, which I have been advocating, which is a whole person, [a] whole health policy,” he said vaguely. “It’s not about just stopping cases of COVID, we have to talk about damage of the policy itself."
John T Bennett has the report.
Trump’s herd immunity advocate advises including elderly family members at Thanksgiving
‘For many people, this is their final Thanksgiving believe it or not,’ Scott Atlas told Fox News
OPINION: The lawyers who haven’t quit Trump’s lawsuits are getting desperate and dangerous
For Independent Voices, Andrew Feinberg writes that Donald Trump has retreated into the fantasy of an election victory he has not earned.
“As he and his campaign continue to contest election results through a patchwork of lawsuits (over 20 of which have been quickly thrown out as groundless), Trump and what passes for his “legal team” have largely retreated to a safe space.”
Trump’s lawyers are becoming desperate and ‘clearly planning something crazy’
What they have planned next is 'so crazy that it’s causing the lawyers who were willing to try and throw out thousands of ballots and argue that wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt amounted to voter intimidation to jump ship’
Opinion: Trump’s secret second administration plans, from Karen Pence as AG to Rudy Giuliani heading up the CIA
For Independent Voices, Ali-Asghar Abedi looks at what could a second Trump administration may have looked like.
“It may well be an unmitigated disaster that would make the last four years look tame. I’ve imagined the worst-case scenario here so you don’t have to.”
A sneak peek into Trump’s dream second administration team | Ali-Asghar Abedi
Get ready for “Defending The American Dream, Stephen Miller: The Origin Story” on Netflix in 2021
Opinion: What a Biden presidency will mean for Iranians
For Independent Voices, Kim Sengupta writes that the next few months will be a time of trepidation for the people of Iran as they wait to see whether Donald Trump will lash out one last time.
“The possibility that Trump may do something in the twilight of his presidency is not a matter of surprise for Iranians. “After all,” said Homa Soroush, in Tehran, “he has been a presence in our lives for the last few years. Now every day that goes by before he leaves, without something happening, is a relief.”
‘We need to put Trump behind us’ – what a Biden presidency will mean for Iranians | Kim Sengupta
There is flickering hope that, with the departure of Trump from the White House, life in Iran will improve but political struggles in Tehran are tempering expectations
Can Trump run again in 2024 after losing election to Biden?
President Donald Trump has failed to win his re-election bid against Democratic challenger Joe Biden - but it may not be the definitive end of his time in power.
On 7 Nov, Mr Biden won the key swing state of Pennsylvania, propelling the Democrat to the White House by granting him the 270 electoral college votes needed.
Under the US Constitution, however, even though Trump has lost the election, he could still pursue the Oval Office again in 2024.
Chantal da Silva has more.
Chinese state-run paper Global Times says Beijing preparing for ‘final act of madness’ from Trump
A hawkish Chinese state-controlled news tabloid is warning readers that Beijing is preparing for a "final act of madness" from Donald Trump in the waning days of his administration.
The Global Times - which is owned by the Chinese Communist Party and known for its inflammatory editorials - claimed that Chinese officials were preparing for Mr Trump to sabotage Joe Biden's tenure by attacking China.
"Trump is actually setting a trap or planting a landmine for the Biden administration," Shen Yi, a professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs of Fudan University, told the Global Times.
Graig Graziosi has more.
Chinese state-run paper Global Times says Beijing preparing for ‘final act of madness’ from Trump
The paper claims Mr Trump is trying to put President-elect Joe Biden in a difficult foreign policy position
Trump fires top cybersecurity official
Donald Trump has fired a top cybersecurity official who rejected the his false claim that the 2020 election was rigged.
The president directly tied the decision to recent comments from Mr Krebs, and that “The recent statement by Chris Krebs on the security of the 2020 Election was highly inaccurate…"
Of course, there was no evidence of any tampering with the election apparatus, despite Mr Trump's refusal to concede the election, and his decision to try and fight Mr Biden's victory in the courts.
Andrew Buncombe has the latest:
Trump fires top cybersecurity official who rejected his false claim election was rigged
Twitter immediately amends president’s tweet with warning
Twitter flags Trump tweet firing Chris Krebs
…and here’s the moment the US president announced the firing of Chris Krebs, on Tuesday night.
Twitter, as it has done with many of Mr Trump’s recent tweets, flagged the post with a warning which tells users that “Voter fraud of any kind is exceedingly rare in the US, election experts confirm”.
Election machines in Georgia shown ‘no sign of foul play’
Forensic examination of voting machines in Georgia showed “no sign of foul play” according to election officials in the state.
Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that the probe was successful in ensuring that the machines hadn’t been manipulated.
“We are glad but not surprised that the audit of the state’s voting machines was an unqualified success,” he said. “Election security has been a top priority since day one of my administration."
It follows claims by Mr Trump that voting machines and the Dominion software used to run them, had allowed for the transferring of “thousands” of votes from him to Joe Biden in Georgia.
Those claims had no basis in truth, with Mr Raffensperger adding in a statement that a certified lab, Pro V&V, had inspected the Dominion Voting Systems machines and found that all software and firmware was officially sanctioned by the state.
Grame Massie has the report:
Forensic examination of voting machines in Georgia shows ‘no sign of foul play’
Announcement comes as state hand recounts ballots for presidential vote
Trump to stay at White House for Thanksgiving
An aide to Melania Trump has suggested that the first family and president Donald Trump will not leave the White House for their usual Thanksgiving golf vacation in South Florida.
Instead, they plan on staying inside the White House, where the 45th president has remained since his election defeat to Joe Biden - aside from a Veterans Day trip to Arlington National Cemetery.
Whether or not it’s a sign of Mr Trump’s reluctance to leave the executive mansion still remains to be seen. Although, as the Biden campaign suggested earlier this month, the president-elect’s team would not hesitate to give federal law enforcement the go-ahead to remove Mr Trump once the Democrat is the 46th president.
John T. Bennett has the latest:
Trump won’t leave White House for usual Thanksgiving golf vacation at Mar a Lago
Joe Biden receives congratulations on win from longtime Trump ally Benjamin Netanyahu as his transition continued
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