https://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/live-results-us-election-day-2020/widget.htmlLIVE UPDATESNews|US Elections 2020
The Biden team has started a transition website and Twitter account, and is set to appoint a coronavirus working group.
By Joseph Stepansky, Linah Alsaafin8 Nov 2020
- US president-elect, Joe Biden, has called for unity while saying he will help the US become a ‘nation healed’.
- Biden, a former vice president under Barack Obama, passed the 270 electoral vote threshold needed for victory on Saturday, with the states of Pennsylvania and Nevada breaking in his favour.
- President Donald Trump has not yet conceded. He and his allies have pushed unfounded claims of voting fraud and say they will continue to challenge results in several states.
Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the US elections. This is Linah Alsaafin taking over from Joseph Stepansky.KEEP READINGIranian officials react to Biden victory in US presidential raceHow will a Biden presidency impact NATO and Brexit?How will a Biden presidency affect Turkey?No comment: Some world leaders silent on Biden win
Germany to stand ‘side by side’ with US on global problems: Merkel
Germany will “stand together” with the US to overcome global challenges from the coronavirus pandemic to global warming, Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
In a statement that was markedly warm compared to her remarks four years ago when Donald Trump took the White House, Merkel underlined the “friendship of both countries that has stood the test of time”.
She pointed to President-Elect Joe Biden’s “decades of experience in foreign policy” and recalls “good encounters and talks with him”.
Merkel also said Vice-President-Elect Kamala Harris – “as the first woman in this office and as a child of two immigrants” -was an “inspiration” for many.
Trump faces calls to work with Biden team on transition
President Donald Trump is facing pressure to cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden’s team to ensure a smooth transfer of power when the new administration takes office in January.
The General Services Administration is tasked with formally recognising Biden as president-elect, which begins the transition. But the agency’s Trump-appointed administrator, Emily Murphy, has not started the process and has given no guidance on when she will do
The advisory board of the nonpartisan Center for Presidential Transition also urged the Trump administration to “immediately begin the post-election transition process and the Biden team to take full advantage of the resources available under the Presidential Transition Act.”
Estonian minister resigns over Biden ‘dirtbag’ remarks
Estonia’s far-right Interior Minister Mart Helme resigned after his comments about the US election calling Joe Biden a “dirtbag” sparked outrage from government colleagues.
Mart Helme said the “deep state” had helped Biden win and called him a “corrupt dirtbag” on his Sunday radio show, without giving any evidence for his assertions.
Helme told reporters he was stepping down to preserve the governing coalition but added: “You can’t muzzle me, no one can muzzle me.”
Germany has ‘great expectations’ from Biden
Germany’s economy minister said there were “great expectations” that there would be “a return to multilateral approaches to international trade” after Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States.
“We want to return to an active transatlantic trade agenda as soon as possible, and gradually,” said Peter Altmaier.
Putin awaiting official US result to congratulate winner: Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin is waiting for official results from the US presidential election before congratulating a winner, the Kremlin said.
“We consider it correct to wait for the official results to be finalised. I want to remind you that President Putin repeatedly said he will respect the choice of the American people,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Peskov added that Putin had repeatedly said he was ready to work with any US leader and that Russia hoped it could establish dialogue with the new US administration to find a way to normalise relations.
China declines to formally recognise Biden victory yet
China joins Russia, Brazil and Mexico in declining to recognise Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election.
“I noticed that Mr Biden has declared victory of the election. We understand that the presidential election result will be determined following the US laws and procedures,” said Wang Wenbin, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, at a regular press briefing in Beijing.
After declining to acknowledge Biden’s victory despite repeated questions from reporters, Wang said: “We hope the new US government can meet China halfway.”
Mexico foreign minister says ‘huge potential’ for US ties
Mexico’s foreign minister said there was “huge potential” for US ties, a day after the Mexican leader said it was too soon to congratulate president-elect Joe Biden.
“From what I heard from Joe Biden’s speech, it is clear that there is going to be a cooperation policy at a global level and with Mexico,” Marcelo Ebrard told El Universo newspaper.
“What we see coming is a step with a huge potential,” he added.
President Lopez Obrador has managed to maintain cordial relations with Trump – visiting him in July – despite the US leader’s remarks when he branded Mexican migrants “rapists” and drug dealers during his 2016 election campaign.
Equities rally after Biden is declared winner of US vote
Stocks, oil and high-yielding currencies rallied Monday after Joe Biden was declared winner of the US election, as traders are hoping lawmakers will now focus on passing a new stimulus for the world’s biggest economy.
Observers said the focus will now be on Biden’s economic and foreign policy approach, with optimism for a less tumultuous leadership following four years of the bombastic real estate tycoon Donald Trump.
“Mr Biden is perceived in Asia as being likely to reengage in international trade, a positive for Asia,” said OANDA’s Jeffrey Halley.
Traders are now looking to Capitol Hill hoping for a fresh rescue package for the economy after lawmakers failed to hammer out anything despite months of haggling, though any new plan will not likely be as big as what would be expected from a Democrat-led Congress.
Trump’s election night party adds to virus scrutiny
The Trump campaign’s election night watch party in the White House East Room has become another symbol of President Donald Trump’s cavalier attitude toward a virus that is ripping across the nation and infecting more than 100,000 people a day.
The White House has been increasingly secretive about outbreaks. Many White House and campaign officials, as well as those who attended the election watch party, were kept in the dark about the diagnoses, unaware until they were disclosed by the press.
“The administration was cavalier about the risks of the virus for themselves and for the country. And that’s one reason why we have so many cases,” said Dr Joshua Sharfstein, a public health professor at Johns Hopkins University’s school of public health.
Reports: Trump’s inner circle urges him to move on
Donald Trump’s inner circle is divided over his refutation of the results showing Joe Biden won the 2020 election with his wife Melania and son-in-law Jared Kushner reportedly urging him to concede and move on
Kushner has approached him to concede, two sources told CNN. The first lady, according to another source, has told Trump it is time to accept the election defeat.
However, after the report emerged, Melania Trump later tweeted: “The American people deserve fair elections. Every legal – not illegal – vote should be counted. We must protect our democracy with complete
Former White House officials call for ‘post-election transition process’
A bipartisan group of administration officials from the Obama, George W Bush, and Clinton administrations called on the Trump administration to move forward “to immediately begin the post-election transition process”.
“This was a hard-fought campaign, but history is replete with examples of presidents who emerged from such campaigns to graciously assist their successors,” members of the Center for Presidential Transition advisory board said in a statement.
The statement was signed by Bush Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt as well as Clinton-era Chief of Staff Thomas “Mack” McLarty and Obama Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.
Trump appointee ‘refusing to give Biden transition resources’
The administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) is refusing to sign a letter allowing President-elect Biden’s transition team to formally begin its work this week, according to the Washington Post.
Emily Murphy’s job during the transition includes signing “paperwork officially turning over millions of dollars, as well as giving access to government officials, office space and equipment authorized for the taxpayer-funded transition teams of the winner”, the Post noted, adding that stalling on her part could delay the transition of power.
“An ascertainment has not yet been made,” a spokeswoman for GSA told the Post, “and its Administrator will continue to abide by, and fulfill, all requirements under the law.”
Trump aide tweets, deletes fake ‘President Gore’ image
The spokesman for the Trump campaign tweeted an image purporting to be of a 2000 issue of the Washington Times, proclaiming Al Gore, and not George W Bush, to be the winner of that year’s contested presidential election.
“Greeting staff at @TeamTrump HQ this morning, a reminder that the media doesn’t select the President,” Tim Murtaugh wrote.
The conservative Washington Times debunked Murtaugh: “Those photos have been doctored. The Washington Times never ran a ‘President Gore’ headline,” the newspaper replied on Twitter. Murtaugh deleted the tweet shortly thereafter.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-4&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1325528544693284865&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2020%2F11%2F8%2Fworld-responds-to-biden-as-president-elect-live-updates&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
Changing of the guard in the US creates jitters in Taiwan
People in Taiwan are wondering how the Biden presidency might affect the US’s warming relationship with the self-ruled island.
As Al Jazeera’s Erin Hale reports, most analysts believe ties will remain strong because it is not only the administration of outgoing President Trump that favours a tougher line on China, the view is shared across the aisle in Congress and among the US public.
“The US-Taiwan relationship will likely remain strong primarily because Washington’s interests converge with Taipei’s interests,” said Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.