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President-elect Joe Biden said Tuesday that he and his team would move steadily ahead with their transition plans, regardless of whether President Donald Trump concedes or he provides the resources traditionally offered to incoming administrations to assist in a transition. “We’re well underway,” Biden said as he took questions from reporters after delivering remarks about the Affordable Care Act lawsuit. The Trump Administration’s failure to recognize the outcome “does not change the dynamic of what we’re able to do,” he said.”We’re going to be moving along in a consistent manner putting together our administration, our White House, reviewing who we’re going to pick for Cabinet positions, and nothing’s going to stop it.” The transition is moving steadily ahead even though Biden has not yet been afforded any of the privileges typically offered to a President elect, such as office space in Washington and intelligence briefings. It helps that Biden, as a former Vice Preside

Donald Trump lost the presidency while he was at one of his golf courses. The news came on an unseasonably warm and sunny fall day in Washington, and as major networks and the Associated Press called the presidential race for Joe Biden after nearly five days of vote counting, Trump was playing a round of golf at his course in Sterling, Va. More than five hours after the race was called for Biden, after he had returned to the White House, Trump tweeted , “I WON THE ELECTION,” and perpetuated baseless claims of fraud. Trump then tweeted that he had received nearly 71 million votes, without mentioning that Biden has received nearly 75 million. (The count is ongoing, and it will be weeks until state and local election officials certify the final results.) A statement from the Trump campaign on Saturday morning suggested their fight will continue. “ The simple fact is this election is far from over,” read the statement, attributed to Trump himself. “Joe Biden has not bee

Ten years after political science professor Marisa Abrajano wrote about the false assumptions made towards Latino voters , political pundits and campaigns are still making the same mistakes in this election, she says. The assumption of a singular “Latino vote” is wrong, for one, and actually it should come as no surprise that Cuban Americans in Miami Dade voted for President Trump. Latinos are not a monolith, and not one unified force. The differences between communities are vast and deep. The U.S. is home to an estimated nearly 61 million Latinos , according to the Pew Research Center , and range in age, race, gender, religion, socio-economic status, political ideology and educational attainment. Most are English proficient, and most were born in the U.S. Despite these nuances, on Election Day the “Latino vote,” was analyzed as a single, unified entity by some political pundits, journalists and campaign officials without acknowledgment of the complexities of a demogra

On Election Day , Americans are always reminded of the power of casting a vote. But, as many social-media users have been reminding their followers, some Americans have historically had a harder time than others when it comes to exercising that power. On Tuesday and the days leading up to it, people have been sharing stories of family members and historical figures who, because of their race, faced and overcame obstacles to vote. The stories in these posts vary, but share a message of inspiration: the idea that voting in 2020 is a way to honor the men and women who did not have that right or could not exercise it due to violence, intimidation, poll taxes and literacy tests. To keep Black voters from the polls after the franchise was extended in the wake of the Civil War, some states, particularly in the South, passed laws requiring a fee to vote or requiring them to pass literacy tests, some of which featured impossible questions like “ How many grains of sand are on a

With voting underway from Miami to Honolulu, Americans went to the polls today not just to decide who will occupy the White House for the next four years but also to pick the next Congress, governors in 11 states and thousands of state and local leaders who will set trash pick-up schedules, utility rates and school curricula. The flexing of the United States’ democratic might, coming amid a pandemic of epic proportions, seemed one of the most resolute rejections of a difficult year rocked by coronavirus, the ensuing economic collapse and a reckoning on racial justice. With TK ballots already banked before the sun rose over polling locations in all 50 states, the day was set to be one for the history books. Despite the challenges of conducting an election in the middle of a medical criss, the mettle of America met the moment. The marquee race of the day, of course, was President Donald Trump’s re-election bid against former Vice President Joe Biden. Polls showed Trump ope

Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court Monday along a near party-line vote , cementing a strong conservative majority on the nation’s highest court just over one week before Election Day. With a 52 to 48 vote, Republicans put Barrett on the Supreme Court for a lifetime appointment without the support of a single Democrat. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the only Republican to vote against Barrett. The speed of the confirmation process, the stakes for the balance of power on the Supreme Court and the proximity to Election Day are expected to motivate voters on both sides of the aisle to express their support or dismay over the outcome at the ballot box. Historically, the courts have been a stronger catalyst for Republican voters to head to the polls than for Democrats, conservative and liberal groups agree. But that might change this year. Progressive judicial advocates say the courts are finally becoming as much of a rallying cry for their base as they t

SANFORD, Florida — Just a week after his release from the hospital, President Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail Monday for the first time since contracting the coronavirus, resuming his effort to stage a late comeback in the election’s final stretch. “It’s great to be back in my home state, Florida, to make my official return to the campaign trail,” Trump declared in front of a crowd of thousands of supporters, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, mostly without masks, despite the ongoing pandemic. Trump said that, after being given experimental medication and other VIP treatment, he’s feeling great and glad he no longer needs to be concerned about infection because he’s now “immune.” “I feel so powerful,” said Trump, displaying no obvious signs of lingering infection. “I’ll walk into that audience. I’ll walk in there, I’ll kiss everyone in that audience. I’ll kiss the guys and the beautiful women … everybody. I’ll just give ya a big fat kiss.” Dr. Anthony Fauci, t

(CAMARILLO, Calif.) — The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline fell half a penny over the past two weeks to just under $2.25 per gallon. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said Sunday prices may change a little in the coming days as hurricanes pummel the Gulf Coast, impacting oil production. Still, a decline in demand for gasoline because of the pandemic means there is plenty of petroleum available for motorists. Nationwide, the highest average price for regular-grade gas is in the San Francisco Bay Area at $3.36 per gallon. The lowest average is in Houston at $1.78 per gallon. The average price of diesel in the survey taken Friday was $2.50 a gallon, down a penny from two weeks earlier.

(DENVER) — A private security guard working for a local TV station was jailed for investigation of first-degree murder in the deadly shooting of another man during dueling right- and left-wing protests in downtown Denver, police said Sunday. Matthew Dolloff, 30, was taken into custody in connection with a clash that took place Saturday afternoon in Civic Center Park. A man participating in what was billed a “Patriot Rally” slapped and sprayed Mace at a man who appeared to be Dolloff, the Denver Post reported, based on its photographs from the scene. The man identified by the newspaper as Dolloff drew a gun from his waistband and shot the other person, according to the Denver Post journalist who witnessed the episode. The shooting victim was not named by authorities and died at a nearby hospital. But his son identified the man on Sunday to the Denver Post as Lee Keltner, a 49-year-old U.S. Navy veteran who operated a hat-making business in the Denver area. “He wasn’t a p

In the 1993 romcom Dave, the President of the United States suffers a stroke while in flagrante delicto. His chief of staff, attempting to seize power from the comatose President, finds a POTUS doppelganger, the titular Dave. A principled mensch, Dave bucks the malevolent chief of staff and promotes his own policies to help the masses whence he hails. Meanwhile, the President remains on life support in a secure room on the White House’s third floor. Dave is obviously not a documentary—but it’s accurate in at least one aspect: throughout American history, Presidents who have suffered health crises , even in the mass media era, have tended to conceal what’s occurring. The unprecedented Trump Presidency, made more surreal with his being whisked to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday after a COVID-19 diagnosis, as he tries to assure the nation in a Twitter video that he thinks he is “doing very well,” proves that this is the rare Presidential norm that Trum

As President, Donald Trump has cast China as a global villain: a malevolent actor that all but launched a worldwide pandemic on an unsuspecting world, robbed Americans of their jobs and stole U.S. business secrets. He has made the Chinese Communist Party a catch-all enemy that pulls puppet-like strings to make international organizations like the World Health Organization work at cross-purposes with Washington, all charges Beijing vigorously denies. At the same time, Trump has presented himself to the world—and to U.S. voters—as the only person capable of pummeling Beijing into submission, chiefly through a landmark trade deal. Democrats, the President and his allies say, are the willing patsies who bow to Beijing, as when former Vice President-turned-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden sought closer ties to the growing superpower in his multiple visits there. “A rising China is a positive, positive development, not only for China but for America and the world writ la

Graham begs Fox News viewers in unusual plea for campaign cash" Published on September 26, 2020 at 04:24AM by Paul Farhi, The Washington Post Lindsey Graham apparently needs money for his Senate reelection campaign. And so the South Carolina Republican has taken his appeal for funds to an unusual venue: cable news. Specifically, Fox News. In a pair of interviews on the network on Thursday, Graham pleaded with Fox viewers for campaign cash, in an emotional appeal almost as weepy as Jerry Lewis in one of the later hours of his old charity telethons. "I'm getting overwhelmed," he told prime-time host Sean Hannity. Then, he turned to Hannity's viewers, adding: "Help me. They're killing me moneywise. Help me. You did last week. Help me again." A few hours earlier, on the "Fox & Friends" morning program, Graham delivered a similar message. "My opponent [Democrat Jaime Harrison] will raise almost $100 million," he said. "I

Samuel L. Jackson to play Nick Fury in new Disney Plus series" Published on September 25, 2020 at 10:00PM by Joe Otterson , provided by Samuel L. Jackson is set to reprise the role of Nick Fury in a new Marvel series currently in development at Disney Plus, Variety has learned exclusively from sources. The exact plot details of the show are being kept under wraps, but multiple sources say Jackson is attached to star with Kyle Bradstreet attached to […]

California braces for power shutoffs and warm, windy weekend" Published on September 26, 2020 at 05:48AM by By DAISY NGUYEN, Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Firefighters and officials at California's largest utility company braced for hot, dry and windy weather in northern and central areas of the state this weekend that may fan the flames of several major wildfires or ignite new ones. Pacific Gas & Electric warned Friday it may cut power from Sunday morning to Monday, potentially affecting 97,000 customers in 16 counties, during which forecasters said a ridge of high pressure will raise temperatures and generate gusts flowing from the interior to the coast. PG&E initially warned that approximately 21,000 customers in three counties would lose power beginning Saturday evening but expanded the potential shutoff when the forecast changed. The utility is tracking the weather to determine if it would be necessary to shut off power to areas where gusts could dama

Woman accused of sending ricin to White House arrested" Published on September 21, 2020 at 05:39AM by By MICHAEL BALSAMO, ERIC TUCKER and COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A woman suspected of sending an envelope containing the poison ricin, which was addressed to White House, has been arrested at New York-Canada border, three law enforcement officials told The Associated Press on Sunday. The letter had been intercepted earlier this week before it reached the White House. The woman was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Peace Bridge border crossing near Buffalo and is expected to face federal charges, the officials said. Her name was not immediately released. The letter addressed to the White House appeared to have originated in Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have said. It was intercepted at a government facility that screens mail addressed to the White House and President Donald Trump and a preliminary investigat