/Trump news – live: Recount demanded by president sees Biden gain votes as US hits 13m coronavirus cases

Trump news – live: Recount demanded by president sees Biden gain votes as US hits 13m coronavirus cases

President Donald Trump walks to Marine One at Trump National Golf Club on November 27, 2020 in Sterling, Virginia. President Trump heads to Camp David for the weekend after playing golf. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

The Trump campaign’s demand that there be a recount in Wisconsin’s largest county has ended with President-elect Joe Biden gaining even more votes there.

After the recount finished in Milwaukee county on Friday, Mr Biden gained an additional 257 votes to Donald Trump’s 125, giving the President-elect a net gain of 132 votes.

The fresh look at ballots came after Mr Trump lost Wisconsin to Mr Biden by more than 20,000 votes. A recount in a second county, Dane county, is expected to conclude on Sunday.

It came as the US surpassed 13 million confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday. More than a quarter of a million people have died – by far the highest totals of any other country.

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Trump tweet features double misinformation warning

In what may be a first for Donald Trump, a tweets of his – debunked earlier in this live blog – features two warnings from Twitter over election misinformation. 

The first was applied to Pennsylvania state senator Doug Mastriano’s tweet – quote tweeted by Mr Trump – which provided inaccurate and misleading figures to suggest there were massive discrepancies in mail-in ballots. 

Mr Trump’s own comments, which falsely claimed more than a million votes were “created out of thin air”, then received its own warning label.

Trump tweet

Trump tweet

(Twitter)

Tom Embury-Dennis28 November 2020 10:37

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Trump loses Pennsylvania ‘election fraud’ appeal in blistering ruling by judge

In a blow to Donald Trump’s legal campaign to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election, a federal appellate court has rejected his emergency appeal in a Pennsylvania lawsuit.

The 3-0 rejection in the case, seeking another attempt to overturn the Pennsylvania results after a lower court had tossed out the suit last week, is yet another loss in the Trump campaign’s attempt to undermine president-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

Mr Biden won the state by roughly 80,000 votes, according to Pennsylvania secretary of state’s office.

Tom Embury-Dennis28 November 2020 10:25

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Trump promotes Pennsylvania election misinformation

Donald Trump’s latest tweet, which was posted shortly after midnight, promoted egregiously false claims about the election in Pennsylvania. 

The 1,823,148 ballot figure Senator Doug Mastriano claims Pennsylvania reported as sending out is in fact the number of registered Democrats who had requested mail-in ballots by 19 October.

It did not account for registered Republicans or independents who also did so.

Additionally, the 19 October was more than a week before the deadline for requesting mail-in ballots.

Those votes were not “created out of thin air”, and there is all available evidence shows Mr Trump did in fact lose Pennsylvania.

Tom Embury-Dennis28 November 2020 10:05

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Trump appears to backtrack on pledge to leave White House

Donald Trump appears to have already backtrack on his pledge to leave the White House if Joe Biden wins in the Electoral College in December.  

On Thursday, Mr Trump said he would leave the White House if Mr Biden beats him in the Electoral College. On Friday, he backtracked on the pledge and appended a number of additional conditions that Mr Biden would have to meet to ensure the president’s peaceful exit from the White House.  

Mr Trump’s tweet repeated unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud.  

Tom Embury-Dennis28 November 2020 09:35

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Trump plays golf as US hits 13 million coronavirus cases

NBC News White House correspondent Kelly O’Donnell has posted footage of Donald Trump playing golf. 

According to Ms O’Donnell, Mr Trump was then picked up from his private club by Marine One and flown directly to Camp David.

Mr Trump, who regularly assailed President Barack Obama for playing golf while in office, played himself on Friday despite an ongoing health crisis that has just seen the US hit its 13 millionth coronavirus case.

Tom Embury-Dennis28 November 2020 09:18

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Ex-CIA boss says Ted Cruz ‘unworthy’ of Texas during row over Iran killing

Former CIA director John Brennan called senator Ted Cruz “unworthy to represent the good people of Texas” as the two argued online about the killing of a top Iranian scientist believed to lead the nation’s secretive nuclear programme

The Republican senator, who has long opposed the Obama administration’s Iranian nuclear deal and advocated for a tough posture towards the country, accused the former intelligence official of siding with “Iranian zealots” after he condemned the roadside shooting ambush of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran’s top nuclear scientist, who American and Israeli intelligence believe is behind a secret programme to design an atomic warhead.

The former CIA boss lamented that the assassination, reportedly linked to Israel, would set off regional instability and cautioned that “Iranian leaders would be wise to wait for the return of responsible American leadership on the global stage,” presumably a reference to president-elect Joe Biden, whom he has publicly supported.

Tom Embury-Dennis28 November 2020 09:00

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Wisconsin county recount demanded by Trump sees Biden gain

A recount in Wisconsin’s largest county demanded by President Donald Trump’s election campaign ended Friday with President-elect Joe Biden gaining votes.

After the recount in Milwaukee County, Biden had a net gain of 132 votes, out of nearly 460,000 cast. Overall, Biden gained 257 votes to Trump’s 125.

Mr Trump’s campaign had demanded recounts in two of Wisconsin’s most populous and Democratic-leaning counties, after losing Wisconsin to Mr Biden by over 20,000 votes. The two recounts will cost the Trump campaign $3 million. Dane County is expected to finish its recount on Sunday.

Overall, Mr Biden won the 3 November US presidential election with 306 Electoral College votes – many more than the 270 needed for victory – to Trump’s 232. Mr Biden also leads by more than six million in the popular vote tally.

After the recount ended, Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson said: “The recount demonstrates what we already know: that elections in Milwaukee County are fair, transparent, accurate and secure.” 

The Trump campaign is still expected to mount a legal challenge to the overall result in Wisconsin, but time is running out. The state is due to certify its presidential result on Tuesday.

Tom Embury-Dennis28 November 2020 08:46

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Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s up-to-the-minute coverage of all the latest coming from the White House and beyond in US politics.

Tom Embury-Dennis28 November 2020 08:39