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Following a weekend of nationwide celebration and schadenfreude, President-elect Joe Biden began the work of leading the country out of a worsening pandemic, while a coronavirus-ridden White House focused on the greater crisis at hand: Imaginary voter fraud.
- The news networks called Pennsylvania and the presidential election for Biden on Saturday morning, while outgoing President Trump was, appropriately, golfing. In a strong contender for the funniest thing that has ever happened, Rudy Giuliani was in the middle of holding a press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping, a Philadelphia landscaping company which notably is a) not the Four Seasons hotel and b) located next to a sex shop and across the street from a crematorium. While we wait for the 10,000-word oral history of how this blessed moment came to pass, here are some other pretty good moments from a day of national euphoria.
- Biden and Kamala Harris delivered unity-themed victory speeches on Saturday night and congratulations have rolled in from (most) world leaders, but Trump has refused to concede. “It ain’t over til it’s over,” said lame-duck Vice President Mike Pence, two days after it was very much over. The Trump team has doubled down on trying to undermine the legitimacy of the results with baseless claims of widespread voter fraud and counting irregularities, and a series of laughably sloppy lawsuits headed up by non-lawyer David Bossie, who on Sunday tested positive for coronavirus.
- Trump’s presidency is over on January 20 whether or not he concedes, and he seems to know the jig is up—he’s reportedly privately discussed running for president again in 2024, which the Constitution allows if he isn’t in jail or exile by then. (U up, Cyrus Vance?) Trump can, however, be a huge pain in the ass in the meantime. A Trump appointee at the General Services Administration has refused to sign the paperwork allowing Biden’s transition team to formally get to work this week, holding up millions of dollars and access to senior officials. Another Trump appointee at USAID told officials that the agency won’t cooperate with the transition until that paperwork had been signed. And while they aren’t likely to accomplish much else, Trump’s frivolous lawsuits could delay states seeking to certify official results.
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Biden has wisely decided not to wait for Trump’s permission to start cleaning up his mess.
- The U.S. has surpassed 10-million confirmed coronavirus cases just ten days after hitting the nine million mark, and the worst months of the pandemic seem likely to fall into Biden’s newly inaugurated lap. On Monday Biden implored Americans to wear masks and quit politicizing basic safety measures, and his transition team announced the 12 public-health experts on his coronavirus advisory board. That list includes Dr. Rick Bright, a Trump administration whistleblower who was removed from his post after raising concerns about the pandemic response. The list does not include any nihilistic radiologists that Biden saw on the tee-vee, which seems risky, but we’ll see how it goes.
- Meanwhile, the Trump White House is in the throes of yet another coronavirus outbreak. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson tested positive today, following in the infected footsteps of White House Chief of Mask Eschewing Mark Meadows, a top Trump campaign official, and several other aides that the White House has refused to name. Both Meadows and Carson were in attendance at Trump’s indoor White House party on Election Night, and the aforementioned COVID-positive David Bossie had made several visits to Trump campaign headquarters over the last week.
The first day of Biden’s transition served as a much-needed reminder that we’re just a couple months (and a thorough disinfecting of the White House) away from a leader who’s prepared to listen to experts and guide the country back from the brink. The speed and success of that recovery will depend on whether Biden has the Senate on his side, and the fate of the Senate still depends on us. See you (virtually) in Georgia.
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Introducing Get Mitch Or Die Trying: Georgia Edition! Control of the Senate is still up for grabs. Both Senate seats in Georgia have entered into runoffs:
- Jon Ossoff (D) vs. Sen. David Perdue (R)
- Rev. Raphael Warnock (D) vs Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R)
Perdue and Loeffler are among the worst examples of corrupt Senators the Republican party has to offer. And these races are now the most important to fund, as they are our last chance to take power from Mitch McConnell. Chip in if you're able, and stay tuned for volunteer opportunities → votesaveamerica.com/getmitch
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Census takers say they were told to enter false information about homes they hadn’t visited, in today’s edition of The 2020 Census Is a Clusterfuck Because Republicans Sabotaged It. Two Census takers in Massachusetts and Indiana told reporters they were pressured by their supervisors to trick the computer system so they could close cases ahead of the Trump administration’s rushed deadline. After the Supreme Court allowed the administration to halt counting efforts in mid-October, experts warned that the undercounting of minority communities would make the data used for congressional representation fatally flawed. We now know that some of that data was completely made up, which—and we’re not data experts—seems like it would make the Census numbers less reliable still.
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- President Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper in a tweet, creating a national-security leadership void during the transition period. Esper is reportedly concerned that FBI Director Christopher Wray and CIA Director Gina Haspel are the next to be canned. Meanwhile, the Pentagon general counsel has named Michael Ellis, a White House official and former flunky to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), to be the top lawyer at the NSA.
- Top Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, still haven’t acknowledged Joe Biden’s victory.
- Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and David Perdue (R-GA) even called on Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to resign, citing unspecified “failures in Georgia elections.” Raffensperger told them both to get bent: “As a Republican, I am concerned about Republicans keeping the U.S. Senate. I recommend that Senators Loeffler and Perdue start focusing on that.” Sad to see Repubs in disarray. (Repubs in a rumple? We'll workshop it.)
- There are in fact 666 children who were separated from their parents by the Trump administration and haven’t been reunited, and not 545 as previously reported.
- Here they are, the Biden cabinet contenders! Hope everyone had a nice weekend spraying champagne at each other, it is now time to beg Joe Biden not to hire the CEO of Quibi!
- Philadelphia election officials received death threats last week, after some raving lunatic repeatedly accused Philadelphia of counting “illegal votes.”
- Three months after Trump commuted Roger Stone’s prison sentence, the IRS has erased a lien of over $1 million lien for unpaid income taxes.
- Gov. Gary Herbert (R-UT) has issued a statewide mask mandate in Utah for the first time, and declared a state of emergency.
- An Afghan pilot who protected American troops has gone into hiding from the Taliban after the Pentagon reversed its approval for him and his family to come to the U.S. for safety.
- Rudy Giuliani’s star poll watcher witness at the Four Seasons Total Landscaping press conference was a convicted sex offender. Like the Hanukkah oil that lasted for eight days, this single miraculous news story will sustain us through the winter.
- The Trump campaign papered its headquarters with a fake “PRESIDENT GORE” headline to make a point that the election iSn’T oVeR, only to be called out by the conservative newspaper whose front page from November 2000 had been doctored.
- Leftist teens and comedy writers have flooded Trump’s voter fraud hotline with prank calls. A very important thread.
- "What is happening?" -This Fox News anchor who did not know she was on air, and also, all of us.
- Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek died on Sunday, at age 80. There are all manner of beautiful, meaningful tributes out there, but we’ll bid a sad farewell with this one. (Plus this recent moment with Crooked's own Brian Semel, for good measure.)
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The Fed and the Treasury could decide to cut off coronavirus aid to small businesses before Joe Biden takes office, underscoring just one way Donald Trump might vandalize the country on his way out. Congressional Oversight Committee member Bharat Ramamurti pointed out on Twitter that two lending programs established by the CARES Act are set to expire at the end of the year. But the expiration only applies to when the Treasury can put more funds into a “special purpose vehicle” (SPV)—the actual entity that extends credit to borrowers. The billions of dollars that the Treasury has already invested into those SPVs could continue to support new loans after the end of the year, but the Fed and Treasury have indicated they’ll end the programs altogether, undermining the country’s economic recovery in order to sabotage the Biden administration. Trump’s refusal to initiate the transition and his continued purge of top officials this week are part of a larger pattern: He’ll wreak as much destruction as he can on his way out, to sabotage the incoming administration, and thus far Republicans seem happy to assist.
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If we had to guess, you may not have the best relationship with cough syrup. #TBT to your mom making you take that thick, red, sugary, chemical-filled dose. Disgusting.
Finally, cough syrup has evolved. Beekeeper’s Naturals created B.Soothed, a clean cough syrup that actually works. It’s powered by nature’s most powerful immune supporters: buckwheat honey, elderberry, chaga mushroom, bee propolis, and olive leaf extract. And, it excludes all of the bad stuff, like refined sugars, artificial dyes, cheap fillers, and mystery flavors. Because supporting your body is SO much better than fighting it.
Plus, it actually tastes really good, which makes it great for you and the whole family. Take it when you’re feeling run down or when you start to feel that dreaded dry, scratchy throat. These clean, simple ingredients will boost your immune system, support your recovery, and have you feeling like yourself again.
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Pfizer announced that its coronavirus vaccine seems to be more than 90-percent effective, and that will ask the FDA for emergency authorization later this month. (Die mad about it, Don Jr.)
Joe Biden plans to sign a flurry of executive orders to reverse damaging Trump administration policies immediately after being sworn in.
Even if Republicans hang on to the Senate, Biden can take significant action on climate change through executive powers alone. (By reading this you have agreed to adopt Georgia. Stay tuned.)
A long-acting shot has been found to be more effective than a daily pill in preventing HIV in women, a game-changing development.
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