WASHINGTON – The Latest on President-elect Joe Biden (all times local):
7:15 p.m.
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President Donald Trump is endorsing the chair of the Republican National Committee for another term, despite his electoral defeat.
Trump tweeted Wednesday: “I am pleased to announce that I have given my full support and endorsement to Ronna McDaniel to continue heading the Republican National Committee (RNC).”
McDaniel oversaw an investment in the GOP’s field and data program that helped Trump close in on President-elect Joe Biden in key battleground states, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the stiff headwinds of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus.
Trump boasted, “With 72 MILLION votes, we received more votes than any sitting President in U.S. history."
Biden has more than 77 million votes.
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HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRESIDENT-ELECT JOE BIDEN'S TRANSITION TO THE WHITE HOUSE:
Vowing “to get right to work,” President-elect Joe Biden shrugs off President Donald Trump’s fierce refusal to accept the election outcome as “inconsequential,” even as Democrats elsewhere warn that the Republican president’s actions are dangerous.
Read more:
— AP Explains: Election’s validity intact despite Trump claims
— Analysis: GOP lets doubts about Biden’s legitimacy flourish
— Pompeo brushes aside results of presidential election
— Some big, early shifts on immigration expected under Biden
— Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, poised to break stereotypes
— Dems clinch House control, but majority likely to shrink
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HERE'S WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON:
5:06 p.m.
North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis has won reelection to the Senate, defeating Democrat Cal Cunningham after a hard-fought campaign and days of counting ballots.
Republicans now have 50 Senate seats in the next Congress, compared with 48 for Democrats. Control of the chamber will be decided by two January runoffs in Georgia, with Republicans needing to win one more seat for a majority. Democrats would win control if it ends up a 50-50 tie because Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would be the tiebreaker.
The North Carolina campaign was marked in the final weeks by Cunningham’s acknowledgment of an extramarital affair and Tillis’ COVID-19 diagnosis.
Cunningham outraised Tillis this year, but Tillis benefited from the fallout after the Democrat admitted to a recent extramarital relationship with a public relations consultant.
Cunningham conceded the race on Tuesday, saying that “the voters have spoken” and that it was clear Tillis had won.
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5:06 p.m.
North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis has won reelection to the Senate, defeating Democrat Cal Cunningham after a hard-fought campaign and days of counting ballots.
Republicans now have 50 Senate seats in the next Congress, compared with 48 for Democrats. Control of the chamber will be decided by two January runoffs in Georgia, with Republicans needing to win one more seat for a majority. Democrats would win control if it ends up a 50-50 tie because Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would be the tiebreaker.
The North Carolina campaign was marked in the final weeks by Cunningham’s acknowledgment of an extramarital affair and Tillis’ COVID-19 diagnosis.
Cunningham outraised Tillis this year, but Tillis benefited from the fallout after the Democrat admitted to a recent extramarital relationship with a public relations consultant.
Cunningham conceded the race on Tuesday, saying that “the voters have spoken” and that it was clear Tillis had won.
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12:18 p.m.
President Donald Trump has won the state of Alaska.
The Republican nominee was awarded the state’s three electoral votes, pushing his Electoral College tally to 217.
His Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, was declared the winner of the presidential election on Nov. 7 after flipping Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Trump won those states in 2016.
Biden has 290 electoral votes.
The Associated Press has not called Georgia and North Carolina in the presidential race.
Control of the Senate won’t be decided until the new year after Republicans won a seat in Alaska on Wednesday. Incumbent Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan defeated Al Gross, an independent running as a Democrat. Neither party can lock the Senate majority until January runoffs in Georgia.
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11:25 a.m.
Joe Biden has marked Veterans Day with a visit to the Korean War Memorial in Philadelphia.
The president-elect made a brief foray out with his wife, Jill, to the memorial, where he laid a wreath.
Biden’s son Beau was a major in the Delaware Army National Guard and died in 2015 of brain cancer. Biden often spoke emotionally of his son’s service on the campaign trail.
Jill Biden made military spouses and families one of her signature issues when Biden served as Barack Obama’s vice president, and aides say that may be one of her focal points as first lady.
Biden otherwise is spending his Wednesday in private briefings with his transition team.
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11:05 a.m.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called Donald Trump the “previous president” of the United States and said it was “refreshing” to talk to President-elect Joe Biden.
Johnson has had a warm relationship with Trump. He congratulated Biden on his election victory in a phone call on Tuesday.
Johnson told British lawmakers on Wednesday that he and Biden discussed plans to “stick up for NATO and to work together in the fight against climate change” -- issues on which Trump and the British leader have starkly different views.
Johnson says it was “refreshing” to have that conversation and he looks forward to “many more.”
He says he has had “a good relationship with the previous president” and it’s “the duty of all prime ministers to have a good relationship with the White House.” But he says he was “delighted to find the many areas in which the incoming Biden-Harris administration is able to make common cause with” British lawmakers.