Election 2020 live updates: Bolton says Republicans ‘coddling’ Trump; Georgia will do hand recount
USA TODAY’S coverage of the 2020 election continues this week after Joe Biden won a bitterly fought presidential election and states work to finish counting their remaining ballots.
Be sure to refresh this page often to get the latest information on how things are going.
USA TODAY will have live election information from across the country.
Reports: Biden to name his chief of staff as early as tomorrow
President-elect Biden may name his White House chief of staff as early as Thursday, according to CNN and NBC.
Ron Klain has been seen widely as a front-runner for the position.
Klain was a senior adviser to the Biden campaign. He also served as chief of staff to vice presidents Biden and Al Gore, and headed the White House response to the Ebola epidemic in Africa during the Obama administration.
Biden seeks diverse Cabinet to ‘look like America’
The outlets also reported Biden may announce additional senior West Wing advisers and staffers by the end of the week.
– Savannah Behrmann
John Bolton accuses Republicans of ‘coddling’ Trump on election, blasts Esper firing
President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, said Republicans should urge the president to concede the election and accused GOP lawmakers of “coddling” Trump while he “trashes the U.S. electoral system.”
Trump has refused to concede his loss to Democrat Joe Biden, falsely suggested there was widespread fraud and directed his campaign to challenge the results in court.
In a stinging Washington Post opinion piece, Bolton said Trump has not provided any evidence to support his claims of fraud and is causing “grievous harm” to Americans’ confidence in the country’s constitutional system.
Bolton said Republicans are kowtowing to Trump because they want to win the two U.S. Senate seats in Georgia, which will be decided in a Jan. 5 runoff. But, he argued, the GOP’s refusal to stand up to Trump will do short- and long-term damage to the party.
No evidence that 14,000 dead people voted in Michigan
Biden honors veterans in Philadelphia remembrance
President-elect Joe Biden paid his respects on Veterans Day Wednesday at the Philadelphia Korean War Memorial.
Biden, along with Dr. Jill Biden, visited the memorial at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia for 15 minutes, and was accompanied by Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney.
During Biden’s visit, a local honor guard posted the colors, Private First Class Albert El offered a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited. The president-elect also placed a wreath at the memorial.
More than 100 people gathered at the memorial during Biden’s visit. He did not make any public remarks but took photos with several groups of people.
“The women and men who have fought and sacrificed for our country are heroes, and the rest of us owe them an unpayable debt. They have earned our thanks and, above all, our respect,” Biden said in a statement.
In his statement, Biden also paid respects to his late-son Beau, who was a major in the Delaware Army National Guard.
“We prayed every night and morning for his safety, and we missed him at every family gathering or when tucking his children in at night. It was hard. It hurt. These are challenges most American families never have to face,” Biden said.
“And yet, Jill and I were constantly in awe when visiting with wounded service members at Christmas or hosting veterans in our home for dinners, at the pride our military members and veterans feel in their service, and at their matchless sense of duty,” he added. “They are the absolute best of our country.”
– Rebecca Morin
Trump marks Veteran’s Day with wreath laying at Arlington National Cemetery
President Donald Trump paid Veterans Day respects Wednesday with the traditional wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery, his first public event in nearly a week.
Trump, who has stayed out of the public eye while contesting Joe Biden’s election, did not make remarks at the annual National Day of Observance. As rain fell, the president placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Neither Trump nor Vice President Mike Pence wore a mask. Arlington National Cemetery said in a Twitter post that “all visitors are to follow social distancing requirements and wear face coverings while on cemetery grounds. Anyone not having a face covering in their possession at cemetery entry points will not be granted access to the cemetery.”
Veterans Day:On Veterans Day, how President-elect Biden’s plan for the Pentagon differs from Trump
Since Election Day, aside from some weekend rounds of golf, Trump has appeared in public only twice, both angry speeches denouncing the election and pledging legal fights against the process that elected Biden.
Meanwhile, the normally outspoken Trump has spent his time inside the White House talking with aides, watching news reports, and tweeting complaints about the election.
– David Jackson
Was Biden’s win over Trump a landslide? Narrow? A look at previous elections
That change, recommended by the secretary of state’s office and upheld by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, is now the subject of a state GOP request for an emergency injunction by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Even if those approximately 10,000 ballots were all rejected, Biden would still win Pennsylvania. He is currently leading in the state by more than 47,000 votes.
– Savannah Behrmann
Veterans Day:On Veterans Day, how President-elect Biden’s plan for the Pentagon differs from Trump
