Axios: “Instead of the traditional 200,000 tickets that the committee provides with bundles for members of Congress to distribute to constituents, lawmakers will be permitted to bring themselves and one guest to the official ceremonies.”
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Pelosi Says She’s Not Blocking Haaland for Interior
Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed back on the idea that she is holding up Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM) as President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for Interior Secretary.
Said Pelosi: “Congresswoman Haaland knows the territory, and if she is the President-elect’s choice for Interior Secretary, then he will have made an excellent choice.”
U.S. Poverty Rate Soars
“The U.S. poverty rate has surged over the past five months, with 7.8 million Americans falling into poverty, the latest indication of how deeply many are struggling after government aid dwindled,” the Washington Post reports.
“The poverty rate jumped to 11.7 percent in November, up 2.4 percentage points since June, according to new data released Wednesday by researchers at the University of Chicago and the University of Notre Dame.”
Quote of the Day
“I think there’s a long-term structural issue. And by the way, I’ve had this conversation with Chuck Schumer several times — that we have to do a better job developing a message so that rural Americans can say, ‘Yeah, those guys, they think like I do.’ Because that’s what Trump has right now.”
— Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), quoted by the New York Times, on Democrats and rural voters.
Trump’s Virus Briefings Were ‘Political Suicide’
Former Australian prime minister John Howard said that Donald Trump penned a lengthy “political suicide note” with his “terrible” handling of the coronavirus pandemic, The Guardian reports.
Said Howard: “If Donald Trump had handled the pandemic half-decently he would have won the election He was headed towards a victory until the pandemic hit. It was his mishandling of that because, in the end, the public, when threatened, want their leaders to defend them against the threat.”
Four California Districts Split Tickets
“Republicans won four House races in California in congressional districts carried at the presidential level by Joe Biden,” Bloomberg Government reports.
“The split-ticket victories last month, which have become relatively rare in recent elections, allowed the GOP to claw back some of its sharp losses from 2018. Three of the seats were held by a Democrat, and the fourth Republicans first won in a special election earlier this year.”
Trump Appointee Demanded ‘Herd Immunity’ Strategy
A top Trump appointee repeatedly urged top health officials to adopt a “herd immunity” approach to Covid-19 and allow millions of Americans to be infected by the virus, according to internal emails obtained by Politico.
Said then-science adviser Paul Alexander: “There is no other way, we need to establish herd, and it only comes about allowing the non-high risk groups expose themselves to the virus. PERIOD.”
He added: “Infants, kids, teens, young people, young adults, middle aged with no conditions etc. have zero to little risk….so we use them to develop herd…we want them infected…”
Angus King Calls for Free Netflix Over Holidays
Sen. Angus King (I-ME) called on video streaming platforms to make their content available for free during the holiday season to encourage people to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic, The Hill reports.
More Republicans Say Trump Should Never Concede
A new Morning Consult poll finds a growing share of Republicans say President Trump should never concede the election: 37% of Republican voters now believe the president should never concede, no matter what, up from 29% last week, and 27% in mid-November.
Experts Say Disinfecting White House Is a Waste
“Nuking” the White House with chemicals is not needed to protect the incoming Biden administration from the coronavirus is probably a waste of time, Stat News reports.
Said health consultant J. David Krause: “It’s a huge waste of time and effort. It probably isn’t as effective as people say it is. And it runs the risk of somebody actually breathing this stuff in where it may be extremely hazardous. You really only need to be treating the surfaces that people have been exposed to or can be exposed to.”
Voter Fraud Crusade Lands Ex-Officer In Jail
A former Houston Police Department Captain was arrested and charged for running a man off the road and pointing a gun at his head in an attempt to prove claims of a massive voter fraud scheme, KTRK reports.
Franklin Graham Calls Trump a ‘Great President’
Evangelist Franklin Graham wrote on Facebook that he thinks Donald Trump will go down “as one of the great presidents.”
Said Graham: “People have asked if I am disappointed about the election. When I think about my answer, I have to say honestly, that I am grateful — grateful to God that for the last four years He gave us a president who protected our religious liberties; grateful for a president who defended the lives of the unborn, standing publicly against abortion and the bloody smear it has made on our nation; grateful for a president who nominated conservative judges to the Supreme Court and to our federal court.”
Loeffler Still Won’t Acknowledge Biden’s Victory
Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), one of two Republican incumbents in the Georgia Senate runoffs, refused to acknowledge Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election when speaking to reporters.
Said Loeffler: “There’ll be a time for that if that becomes true, but the president has a right to every legal recourse and we’re letting that play out right now.”
Bob Iger In the Mix for Ambassador Roles
“It appears that Bob Iger might have a future in public service after all. The Disney executive chairman, who once toyed with the idea of a 2020 presidential run, is at the top of President-elect Joe Biden’s wish list for a key ambassador post, namely China or the U.K.,” sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.
Feds Executed More Prisoners Than All States Combined
A new study found that the federal government executed more prisoners in 2020 than all of the states that still carry out the death penalty combined.
Obama Calls Republicans a ‘Minority Party’
Former President Barack Obama told the Daily Show that the Republican Party is “the minority party in this country.”
Said Obama: “They have certain built-in advantages around power given their population distribution and how our government works. But the truth of the matter is that 60 percent of the people are occupying what I would consider a more reality-based universe, and those are the constituents we’re speaking to and that is a more diverse group.”
Pompeo In Quarantine
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is quarantining after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for coronavirus, but he himself “has been tested and is negative,” CNN reports.
‘I’m Not Saying They’re Not a Bunch of Fuckers’
President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming deputy chief of staff Jen O’Malley Dillon called Republicans lawmakers “a bunch of fuckers” in a new Glamour interview but insisted bipartisan cooperation was still possible.
Said O’Malley Dillon: “The president-elect was able to connect with people over this sense of unity. In the primary, people would mock him, like, ‘You think you can work with Republicans?’ I’m not saying they’re not a bunch of fuckers. Mitch McConnell is terrible.”
She added: “But this sense that you couldn’t wish for that, you couldn’t wish for this bipartisan ideal? He rejected that. From start to finish, he set out with this idea that unity was possible, that together we are stronger, that we, as a country, need healing, and our politics needs that too.”
