Election 2020 live updates: Trump acknowledges Biden ‘won,’ repeats baseless claims about ‘rigged’ election
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.
Arkansas GOP Governor: Joe Biden will be the next president
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said that he expected Joe Biden to be the next president of the United States, becoming the latest on a small but growing list of elected Republicans who have acknowledged Biden’s victory.
“It was good actually to see President Trump tweet out that [Biden] won. I think that’s the start of an acknowledgment,” Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson also said that he thinks it is “very important” that Biden has access to intelligence briefings an incoming president is normally given during the transition process, citing the need to “make sure that he is prepared,” citing foreign adversaries and the coronavirus pandemic.
Hutchinson noted that the Department of Homeland Security “indicated this week that there’s not any evidence of rampant fraud in the election that would undermine the result,” a finding that President Donald Trump has directly contradicted.
Hutchinson, who hails from a state Trump won by 28 points, did not think that Trump’s influence in the party would wane anytime soon. “Clearly President Trump will have a voice for a long time in the party,” he said.
“Anybody that can generate those kinds of crowds … He will have an influence for some time to come.”
– Matthew Brown
Trump acknowledges Biden ‘won,’ repeats claims about ‘rigged’ election
President Donald Trump for the first time acknowledged his Democratic opponent Joe Biden won the presidential election, though he repeated his false claims that the race was “rigged” by Democrats.
“He won because the Election was Rigged,” Trump tweeted. He went on to repeat a claim about election observers not being allowed to watch the vote count, decry alleged media bias, and allude to a discredited claim that a company behind the vote tabulation in some states somehow contributed to his loss.
Trump has refused to concede since the vote count put the race out of reach for him and the election was called for President-elect Biden. His administration has also refused to work with Biden’s transition team, blocking the release of funds to help smooth the incoming administration’s path and preventing Biden from receiving the daily security briefings a president-elect would normally be entitled to.
Despite the tweet acknowledging Biden’s win, Trump continued to post tweets about unsubstantiated claims that fraud or irregularities cost him the election. And he insisted he doesn’t intend to concede.
“He only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA. I concede NOTHING!” Trump said in another tweet. “We have a long way to go. This was a RIGGED ELECTION!”
“WE WILL WIN!” he insisted in another.
The president has launched a series of legal challenges but most have so far been thrown out by the courts.
On Saturday, Trump said his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani would be leading his continued efforts to challenge the election results.
– William Cummings
Dominion voting machines didn’t delete votes from Trump, switch them to Biden
Fauci: 200,000 more COVID-19 deaths over next 4 months ‘possible’
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN’s “State of the Union” that projections of more than 200,000 COVID-19 deaths over the winter months could be “possible” but advised that stricter measures could prevent such a scenario.
