Friday, November 20 political news briefs
Here are political news briefs for today.
The Georgia Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger has officially certified the state’s 2020 election results which has Joe Biden winning by over 12,000 votes. Georgia had one of the closest election margins and for the past several days conducted a hand recount in all 159 counties. Raffensperger said he believes the numbers are correct and that they reflect the will of the people. Donald Trump won Georgia in 2016, but Biden flipped it this year. President Trump said he lost because there was a scam. Georgia will still be in the spotlight because there are two runoff elections in January for two U.S. Senate seats.
Michigan’s Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, a Republican, flew today to the White House to meet with President Trump. A second Republican state senator from Michigan went with him. Politico reported that Trump is personally trying to pressure Michigan’s lawmakers to overturn the election results, which has a Biden victory. Multiple news channels projected Joe Biden winning Michigan. When Shirkey flew in at a D.C. airport today, there were about 20 protesters who pressured Shirkey to certify Michigan’s vote. Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) criticized Trump on Twitter, saying he was trying to pressure state and local officials to subvert the will of the people and overturn the election.
The General Services Administration (GSA) has not yet certified that Biden has won the election. This means Biden and his team cannot formally begin the transition process. White House Press Sec. Kayleigh McEnany said that the White House will make the decision about an ascertainment at the right moment because there are still questions that need to be answered. The Trump campaign is still in full litigation mode.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn) said the Trump administration should begin the transition process because there is a very good chance that Biden will be the next president. He said both sides should be ready on Day 1 on important things such as a vaccine distribution plan.
The Biden team said this is not a game and expressed concerns that there could be real impacts across the country because they can’t get access to real-time information. Biden himself said President Trump would be remembered as one of the most irresponsible presidents in American history.
The Biden team has continued to make new hires for 2021. Biden and Kamala Harris plan to meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-Ny) today in Delaware.
Former President Barack Obama did an interview with Jimmy Kimmel last night. Kimmel asked if the White House had places where a person could hide, clearly referring to Trump. Obama joked that we can always send the Navy SEALs in there to dig him out.
On a serious note, Biden has said in the past that he believes that Trump will be escorted from the White House on Inauguration Day.
That’s all the political briefs for this week.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/georgia-recount-election-2020-will-of-people-biden/
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/20/michigan-lawmakers-to-meet-trump-amid-vote-certification-anger.html
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/19/trump-election-results-legal-team-438470
https://twitter.com/MittRomney/status/1329629701447573504
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mcenany-2016-trump-transition-inexcusable-gsa-certification-biden
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/biden-trump-us-election-news-11-20-20/index.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/barack-obama-joke-navy-seals-remove-trump-the-white-house/