Trump news: Just 10% of Republicans in Congress acknowledge Biden win as president heads to Georgia
Follow The Independent for all the latest from the White House and beyond
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Donald Trump's refusal to admit his defeat to Joe Biden in November’s presidential election has trickled down to Republicans in Congress, 90 per cent of whom have failed to publicly acknowledge the loss.
In a survey of all 249 Congressional Republicans by The Washington Post, just 25 recognised Mr Biden as the President-elect. The vast majority failed to respond to the newspaper, while two falsely claimed Mr Trump had won.
It comes as Mr Trump prepares to head to Georgia to deliver his first rally since his election defeat.
The president is due to appear alongside Republican senate candidates David Purdue and Kelly Loeffler, who are in run-off elections against their Democratic opponents.
What the president will say during the rally remains unknown, but it comes after he tweeted against the governor and secretary of state, both of whom are Republicans, for Georgia. Mr Trump implored the pair to do a full audit of absentee ballot signatures, claiming this would prove his victory in the state.
Georgia already certified its election results, giving the win to President-elect Biden. But Mr Trump refuses to accept those results.
The goal of his evening rally tonight is to boost support for Mr Purdue and Ms Loeffler as they face off against Democratic challengers for their US Senate seats. Both races are important because they will determine which party has control of the US Senate come January.
But Mr Trump could make matters worse for the Republican Party if he chooses to attack the US election process instead of boosting enthusiasm among GOP voters at the upcoming rally.
Key stories:
Georgia election worker racially abused and followed home as Trump continues to falsely claim election rigged
An election worker in Georgia says he was racially abused and followed home on Wednesday amid growing concerns that outgoing president Donald Trump's false voter fraud rhetoric is inspiring violence, writes Matt Mathers.
The man, who has not been named, was called a "racial slur" after finishing a shift at the Georgia secretary of state's election warehouse in Cobb County, officials said.
It comes just days after a top Georgia election official warned “someone is going to get killed” if Mr Trump continues with his unsubstantiated claims of ballot irregularities.
Georgia election worker racially abused and followed home as Trump continues to falsely claim election rigged
‘It made me shiver’, says warehouse supervisor
US breaks another record for daily coronavirus infections, accounting for one-third of global cases
The United States has hit several grim milestones in recent weeks as the coronavirus surges in the vast majority of states across the country.
On Friday, the country hit a record number of new coronavirus cases in a single day with 228,767 recorded, according to The New York Times daily tracker.
Globally, 686,892 new coronavirus cases were recorded on Friday, meaning the US accounted for one-third of new cases around the world.
US accounts for one-third of global daily coronavirus cases
On Friday, the country hit a record number of new coronavirus cases in a single day with 228,767 recorded
‘Send me a list’: Trump calls for someone to send him the names of the Republicans who acknowledged Biden
A recent survey from The Washington Post found that only 25 Republicans in the US Senate and House of Representatives would acknowledge Joe Biden as the president-elect.
Donald Trump tweeted that he wanted someone to send him the list of the 25 “RINOs”, which stands for Republicans In Name Only.
Here is our coverage of the newspaper’s recent survey:
Ninety percent of Congressional Republicans refuse to acknowledge Biden's win
Two GOP lawmakers also said they would not acknowledge the Democrat as a ‘legitimate president’
What you need to know about Giuliani’s ‘star witness’ Melissa Carone who’s been compared an SNL character
The Indy100 has the story:
What you need to know about Giuliani’s ‘star witness’ who’s been compared an SNL character
By now, you’ve probably seen Rudy Giuliani’s ‘star witness’ Melissa Carone embark on a bizarre rant while appearing in court.
New York tenants sue Donald Trump for rent fraud scheme affecting up to 14,000 apartments in buildings owned by his father
Donald Trump and his relatives are being sued by a group of tenants in New York City, who accuse them of a decades-long scheme to illicitly push up their rents.
The new lawsuit, filed on 2 October in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, has been filed by 20 people who live or lived in more than 30 apartment complexes across Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island which previously belonged to the president's father, Fred Trump.
The buildings were sold in 2004, but the plaintiffs claim that the fraudulent scheme began in 1992 and the artificially-raised rents carried on after the sale.
Harriet Alexander reports:
New York tenants sue Trump for rent fraud scheme in building owned by his father
The Trumps are accused of concocting a scheme which affected up to 14,000 tenants
Trump calls Georgia governor in push for state officials to overturn election results
Donald Trump called Brian Kemp, the governor of Georgia, on Saturday morning about the state’s election results, The Washington Post reports.
The president reportedly urged for the state legislature to overturn Georgia’s election results that declared President-elect Joe Biden the winner – results that were officially certified on 20 November. This would involve the legislature overriding the results by appointing electors who would side with picking Mr Trump as the winner over who the majority of voters selected.
The phone call also involved Mr Trump imploring the governor to call for an audit of all absentee ballots.
Mr Kemp declined the requests from the president, according to a source who wished to remain anonymous, The Washington Post reports.
The governor then acknowledged the phone call took place in a tweet shared later on Saturday, saying he already publicly advocated for an audit of the absentee ballots, specifically the signatures on each ballot.
The phone call comes on the same day Mr Trump is travelling to Georgia for a Saturday evening rally. Mr Trump’s trip was in an effort to boost the two Republican senators competing in Georgia’s upcoming Senate runoff race. This race will determine which party, Democrat or Republican, will control the US Senate.
Record number of women set to serve in Congress
A record number of women will serve in the 117th Congress come January 2021, as the Republican Party makes notable gains in gender diversity amid its party.
At least 141 women – 105 Democrats and 36 Republicans – will serve on Capitol Hill, which will break the previous record of 127 women serving In the 116th Congress, according to Rutgers University's Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP).
The Republican Party also broke its past record of 30 female lawmakers in 2006, proving the party’s ability to appeal to a more diverse demographic.
The Democratic Party was one position behind its record of 106 female lawmakers from the 116th Congress.
Of these 141 women to be in Congress come January, 51 are women of colour – 46 with the Democratic Party and five with the Republican Party. This was another record for the Republican Party, as they’ve previously had only a maximum of three women of colour in Congress, which happened in 2014. The Democratic Party fell one short of its past record.
Although this was a new record of female representation in Congress, it still didn’t quite highlight how American looks today. Women make up 51 per cent of the US population, but only 26 per cent of Congress was female. The vast majority of positions are still held by white men.
Georgia governor will not attend Trump rally tonight
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, will not be in attendance at Donald Trump’s rally on Saturday evening, CNN reports.
Mr Trump was holding a rally at the request of Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, who are both running in Georgia’s special election in January for the state’s two US Senate seats.
This Senate race is an important one for both parties, as it will decide who will control the US Senate come 20 January, which influenced the Republicans to call on Mr Trump help boost enthusiasm among voters. But the state governor will not be in attendance.
Spokesman Cody Hall told CNN that Mr Kemp would not be attending due to a “recent tragedy involving the death of a close friend”.
More than 280,000 Americans have died from Covid-19
The United States surpassed another grim milestone, as more than 280,000 Americans have now died from the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University.
In recent days, the country hit several milestones from the pandemic. On Wednesday, the country recorded its highest single day death toll, and the country reported the most people in the hospital with Covdi-19 since the start of the pandemic on Friday.
These milestones have worried health officials who warn the pandemic will just get worse in the weeks to come with the upcoming holiday season.
Press secretary shares images from White House Christmas party
Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, shared images on Twitter on Saturday after her family attended the Trump administration’s Christmas party on Friday evening.
“It was a BEAUTIFUL night with my family at last night’s White House Christmas Party,” she wrote.
The White House hosting a Christmas party amid the current surge in coronavirus cases was called into question, specifically as the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its guidance to recommend for all Americans to avoid indoor gatherings with those outside their immediate household over the holidays.
Ms McEnany was asked on Wednesday why President Donald Trump would continue with the holiday party during the pandemic.
“If you can loot businesses, burn down buildings, engage in a protest, you can also go to a Christmas party,” Ms McEnany responded. “You can celebrate the holiday of Christmas, and you can do it responsibly.”
The United States surpassed 280,000 Americans dead from Covid-19 on Saturday.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies