SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Supporters of President-elect Joe Biden gather near the Texas capitol building to celebrate his victory in the 2020 presidential election in Austin, Texas on November 7, 2020. (Photo: Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images)
"He Can't Keep This Grift Going": Trump Adds Refusal to Concede to First Acknowledgment of Biden Win
The "fact that he is not even cooperating in the transition, the fact that he continues to deny reality and... suggest that Biden has illegally won the election is beyond belief," Sen. Bernie Sanders said of Trump.
Nov 14, 2020
President Donald Trump fired off a series of tweets Sunday morning that included his first acknowledgment that Joe Biden won the November 3 contest but Trump couched the statement by falsely asserting the former vice president "only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA" and reiterating his refusal to concede.
Trump also furthered his false claim the "election was rigged."
Twitter marked Trump's tweets with the label "This claim about election fraud is disputed."
"Joe Biden won the election. Everyone knows that Joe Biden won the election. Donald Trump knows Joe Biden won the election. Trump accidentally let it slip that Joe Biden won the election, and if Joe Biden won the election, he can't keep this grift going, so he had to take it back," government watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington responded to the president's tweets.
Biden won the national popular vote by more than 5.5 million votes, and topped the 270 electoral vote threshold, getting 306 to Trump's 232 as of Saturday.
Countering Trump's claims, federal and state election oversight officials said in a joint statement Thursday that the "November 3rd election was the most secure in American history... There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised."
The Trump campaign has nevertheless sought to challenge vote counts in several states. But, as Politico reported Saturday, "The president's legal machine... is slowly grinding to a halt after suffering a slew of legal defeats and setbacks."
"In the effort to stop Joe Biden's victory from being certified, so many lawsuits have been filed in so many state and federal courts that no one has an exact number. But one thing is certain," the outlet continued, "the Trump campaign has an almost perfect record, having won only one case and lost at least a dozen."
In the face of the setbacks, the Trump administration is further snubbing democratic practices and thwarting the transition process. NBC News reported Saturday:
The Trump administration's delay--which has extended for a week while Trump makes baseless allegations of widespread fraud and insists litigation will secure him the presidency--is already keeping Biden from receiving high-level intelligence briefings and complicating his team's plans to move swiftly on the coronavirus. It could also hamper Biden administration staffing and security clearance processes while making it harder for the new administration to take the reins of government agencies.
Biden's team said the transition is progressing despite the Trump administration's continued refusal to recognize a new president-elect, but it acknowledged that the longer the delay goes on, the worse its effects will be.
Speaking to CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday about Trump's refusal to concede, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) projected that Trump will "have the distinction of doing more than any person in the history of this country in undermining American democracy."
"The idea that he continues to tell his supporters that the only reason he may have lost this election is because of fraud is an absolutely disgraceful, un-American thing to do," Sanders said, and suggested Trump "'man up' and say, 'You know what? We fought hard, we lost the election, good luck to Joe Biden, I love America.'"
"But the fact that he is not even cooperating in the transition, the fact that he continues to deny reality and... suggest that Biden has illegally won the election is beyond belief, in terms of behavior for an American president," said Sanders.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
President Donald Trump fired off a series of tweets Sunday morning that included his first acknowledgment that Joe Biden won the November 3 contest but Trump couched the statement by falsely asserting the former vice president "only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA" and reiterating his refusal to concede.
Trump also furthered his false claim the "election was rigged."
Twitter marked Trump's tweets with the label "This claim about election fraud is disputed."
"Joe Biden won the election. Everyone knows that Joe Biden won the election. Donald Trump knows Joe Biden won the election. Trump accidentally let it slip that Joe Biden won the election, and if Joe Biden won the election, he can't keep this grift going, so he had to take it back," government watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington responded to the president's tweets.
Biden won the national popular vote by more than 5.5 million votes, and topped the 270 electoral vote threshold, getting 306 to Trump's 232 as of Saturday.
Countering Trump's claims, federal and state election oversight officials said in a joint statement Thursday that the "November 3rd election was the most secure in American history... There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised."
The Trump campaign has nevertheless sought to challenge vote counts in several states. But, as Politico reported Saturday, "The president's legal machine... is slowly grinding to a halt after suffering a slew of legal defeats and setbacks."
"In the effort to stop Joe Biden's victory from being certified, so many lawsuits have been filed in so many state and federal courts that no one has an exact number. But one thing is certain," the outlet continued, "the Trump campaign has an almost perfect record, having won only one case and lost at least a dozen."
In the face of the setbacks, the Trump administration is further snubbing democratic practices and thwarting the transition process. NBC News reported Saturday:
The Trump administration's delay--which has extended for a week while Trump makes baseless allegations of widespread fraud and insists litigation will secure him the presidency--is already keeping Biden from receiving high-level intelligence briefings and complicating his team's plans to move swiftly on the coronavirus. It could also hamper Biden administration staffing and security clearance processes while making it harder for the new administration to take the reins of government agencies.
Biden's team said the transition is progressing despite the Trump administration's continued refusal to recognize a new president-elect, but it acknowledged that the longer the delay goes on, the worse its effects will be.
Speaking to CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday about Trump's refusal to concede, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) projected that Trump will "have the distinction of doing more than any person in the history of this country in undermining American democracy."
"The idea that he continues to tell his supporters that the only reason he may have lost this election is because of fraud is an absolutely disgraceful, un-American thing to do," Sanders said, and suggested Trump "'man up' and say, 'You know what? We fought hard, we lost the election, good luck to Joe Biden, I love America.'"
"But the fact that he is not even cooperating in the transition, the fact that he continues to deny reality and... suggest that Biden has illegally won the election is beyond belief, in terms of behavior for an American president," said Sanders.
President Donald Trump fired off a series of tweets Sunday morning that included his first acknowledgment that Joe Biden won the November 3 contest but Trump couched the statement by falsely asserting the former vice president "only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA" and reiterating his refusal to concede.
Trump also furthered his false claim the "election was rigged."
Twitter marked Trump's tweets with the label "This claim about election fraud is disputed."
"Joe Biden won the election. Everyone knows that Joe Biden won the election. Donald Trump knows Joe Biden won the election. Trump accidentally let it slip that Joe Biden won the election, and if Joe Biden won the election, he can't keep this grift going, so he had to take it back," government watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington responded to the president's tweets.
Biden won the national popular vote by more than 5.5 million votes, and topped the 270 electoral vote threshold, getting 306 to Trump's 232 as of Saturday.
Countering Trump's claims, federal and state election oversight officials said in a joint statement Thursday that the "November 3rd election was the most secure in American history... There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised."
The Trump campaign has nevertheless sought to challenge vote counts in several states. But, as Politico reported Saturday, "The president's legal machine... is slowly grinding to a halt after suffering a slew of legal defeats and setbacks."
"In the effort to stop Joe Biden's victory from being certified, so many lawsuits have been filed in so many state and federal courts that no one has an exact number. But one thing is certain," the outlet continued, "the Trump campaign has an almost perfect record, having won only one case and lost at least a dozen."
In the face of the setbacks, the Trump administration is further snubbing democratic practices and thwarting the transition process. NBC News reported Saturday:
The Trump administration's delay--which has extended for a week while Trump makes baseless allegations of widespread fraud and insists litigation will secure him the presidency--is already keeping Biden from receiving high-level intelligence briefings and complicating his team's plans to move swiftly on the coronavirus. It could also hamper Biden administration staffing and security clearance processes while making it harder for the new administration to take the reins of government agencies.
Biden's team said the transition is progressing despite the Trump administration's continued refusal to recognize a new president-elect, but it acknowledged that the longer the delay goes on, the worse its effects will be.
Speaking to CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday about Trump's refusal to concede, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) projected that Trump will "have the distinction of doing more than any person in the history of this country in undermining American democracy."
"The idea that he continues to tell his supporters that the only reason he may have lost this election is because of fraud is an absolutely disgraceful, un-American thing to do," Sanders said, and suggested Trump "'man up' and say, 'You know what? We fought hard, we lost the election, good luck to Joe Biden, I love America.'"
"But the fact that he is not even cooperating in the transition, the fact that he continues to deny reality and... suggest that Biden has illegally won the election is beyond belief, in terms of behavior for an American president," said Sanders.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.