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US Election: Trump’s campaign files suit to stop vote counting in Michigan

President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign has filed suit in Michigan’s Court of Claims seeking a halt of ballot counting in Michigan “until meaningful access has been granted” to observe the ballot counting process, but Democratic officials in Michigan are countering the claims.

“We also demand to review those ballots which are opened and counted while we did not have meaningful access,” the campaign said in a statement.

The campaign said it had been denied access to “numerous counting locations” to observe the process “as guaranteed by Michigan law.”

“As votes in Michigan continue to be counted, the presidential race in the state remains extremely tight as we always knew it would be,” said Bill Stepien, campaign manager for Trump’s 2020 campaign.

The campaign’s statement did not list the locations where it claimed to have been denied access, and a copy of the lawsuit was not immediately available.

Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office had not been served a copy of the suit as of Wednesday afternoon, according to the attorney general’s office.

“Michigan’s elections have been conducted transparently, with access provided for both political parties and the public, and using a robust system of checks and balances to ensure that all ballots are counted fairly and accurately,” said Ryan Jarvi, a spokesman for Nessel’s office.

The lawsuit is “as frivolous a lawsuit as it gets,” said Mark Brewer, former chairman for the Michigan Democratic Party and a lawyer.

Brewer has been at the TCF Center in Detroit, where absentee ballots are being counted, throughout Wednesday and worked with others who have been present there Monday and Tuesday. Absentee vote tally discrepancies in Detroit marred the August primary and prompted Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office to form a partnership with Detroit Clerk Janice Winfrey to correct the problems.

“I am at TCF, and there have been hundreds of GOP challengers here these past few days,” Brewer said, while noting they were “ill-trained” and “rude.”

“Nobody is being denied access,” he said.

November 4, 2020
Trump threatens to challenge election results at Supreme Court

US President Donald Trump has vowed to challenge results of the 2020 Election at the Supreme Court.

He accused his Democratic Party challenger Joe Biden of electoral fraud, saying voting was still going in many polling centres after expiration of voting time.

In a briefing at the White House on Wednesday morning, Trump said: “This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election.

“Frankly, we did win this election. We did win this election. So our goal now is to ensure the integrity for the good of this nation. This is a very big moment. This is a major fraud in our nation.

“We want the law to be used in a proper manner. So we’ll be going to the US Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop.

“We don’t want them to find any ballots at four o’clock in the morning and add them to the list. Okay? It’s a very sad moment. To me this is a very sad moment and we will win this. And as far as I’m concerned, we already have won it.”

November 4, 2020
US Election: Trump’s campaign files lawsuit to temporarily halt vote counting in Pennsylvania

Trump’s campaign has said it’s suing to temporarily stop the vote count in Pennsylvania, claiming lack of “transparency”.

Justin Clark, Trump’s deputy campaign manager, said in a statement Wednesday that the campaign is “suing to stop Democrat election officials from hiding the ballot counting and processing from our Republican poll observers”.

He said the campaign wants “to temporarily halt counting until there is meaningful transparency and Republicans can ensure all counting is done above board and by the law”.

Clark also said the campaign would seek to intervene in an ongoing Supreme Court case involving the deadline for receiving mail-in ballots. There have been no reports by law enforcement of fraud or any type of ballot concerns out of Pennsylvania.

November 4, 2020
US Election: Tense awaits as US election winner remains unclear

The outcome of the US presidential election is on a knife edge, with Donald Trump and his rival Joe Biden neck and neck in key swing states.

No candidate can credibly claim to have won as yet, and both campaigns said they had potential paths to victory.

Mr Biden’s campaign said the race was “moving to a conclusion in our favour”.

But Mr Trump, a Republican, claimed to have won and vowed to launch a Supreme Court challenge, without providing evidence of fraud.

Several key states are expected to finish counting by the end of Wednesday but the election may not be decided for days.

The Biden campaign said it expected to win because several states would be called for them on Wednesday or Thursday, but the Trump campaign said it was confident that the maths was in its favour.

The US is on course for the highest electoral turnout in a century. More than 100 million people cast their ballots in early voting before election day, and tens of millions more added their vote on Tuesday.

November 4, 2020
US Election: Slovenia’s prime minister congratulates Trump while election result is still being collated

Slovenia’s prime minister, Janez Janša has congratulated US president Donald Trump, for ”winning” the 2020 presidential election before the election result has been confirmed.

The presidential election results are still being collated but results show Biden winning even though Trump has a major lead in key battleground states.

Trump has already claimed victory and threatened to go to the supreme Court to contest the results while Biden has urged his supporters to be patient.

Janez Janša, Prime Minister of Slovenia, where Trump’s wife Melania hails from, Tweeted on Wednesday morning;

“It’s pretty clear that American people have elected ?@realDonaldTrump@Mike_Pence
? for #4moreyears. More delays and facts denying from #MSM, bigger the final triumph for #POTUS. Congratulations ?@GOP? for strong results across the #US ?@idualliance

? ?

A final verdict on who wins the presidency could take days or weeks depending on how the vote-counting, recounts and court battles play out.

November 4, 2020
US Election: Election Day in US as Biden seeks to unseat Trump

Election Day in the United States is officially underway, with the main spotlight focused on the race for the White House between President Donald Trump, who is seeking a second term, and his rival, the veteran Democrat Joe Biden.

Some major cities on the east coast will see polling stations open at 6 am (1100-1200 GMT). Afterwards, polls will open across six time zones over the 50 states taking part in the election. The final polls will close in Alaska, in the far west, when it’s already morning in the east.

Details later…

November 3, 2020
US 2020: Trump vs Biden: the bookmakers’ $1 billion election

The US presidential election is proving a boon for bookmakers, with estimates that more than $1 billion has already been bet on the winner around the world even before polling day.

Matthew Shaddick, head of political betting at British sports betting and gambling firm GVC, said that is double the amount in 2016, when Donald Trump upset the odds and polls to beat Hillary Clinton.

Republican party candidate Trump is once again the outsider, with his Democratic challenger Joe Biden the favourite with GVC’s gaming brands, which include Labrokes, Coral and BWin.x

Its rival, William Hill, also has former vice-president Biden tipped for victory.

“This is a huge market,” Shaddick told AFP. “It is twice as big as 2016, easily making it the biggest political event ever.

“It might be the biggest ever market on anything pretty much and outstrip football worldwide. I guess a billion pounds ($1.3 billion, 1.1 billion euros) is being bet.”

William Hill said they also expect the election to be easily its biggest event of the year, given the cancellation of money-spinners such as the Grand National due to Covid-19.

“We are already over £3 million and expect to take £10 million,” said Hill’s international spokesman Rupert Adams.

“We predict that this will be the biggest wagering event of 2020. The figures are simply astounding and include all sporting events.”

For Adams, the huge amounts laid on Tuesday’s vote are largely down to the love-him-or-loathe-him personality of Trump.

“There is no doubt the fact he is such a colourful character makes it appealing for people who would otherwise be uninterested,” he added.

“If it was Jeb Bush versus Biden, we would be taking a third of the turnover.”

‘Social media bubble’
Biden may be favourite but Shaddick said 70 percent of bets placed this week have been for Trump, calling the level of confidence in him winning “astonishing”.

“A whole new universe of bettors won last time. These are people who go for their gut feelings and instincts,” he said.

“Biden is a clear bookies’ favourite still with about a 65 percent chance to win but it is way out of line with polling forecasting which would give Trump a 10 percent chance.

“The betting markets give Trump a 35-45 percent chance. Betting markets take a different view. It is a much more pro-Trump market.”

Shaddick, though, said it is a misnomer that opinion polls favouring Clinton over Trump were way off in 2016.

“The polls were not far off and Trump needs much bigger polling to win this time round. The bettors do not seem to care,” he said.x

“They believe there are millions of shy Trump voters.”

Shaddick believes bookies generally overrate the chances of populist candidates globally, which drives betting that Trump and his like will fare more favourably at the ballot box.

Much of the money placed on the real estate tycoon turned politician comes from people who seek their information from sources other than the media or political experts, he said.

“The truth is there is a very large section of people round the world who prefer to rely on a social media bubble,” he added.

“Clearly, they do not care about the polls. Some think they are fake or the polls miss out millions of Trump supporters. It is incredible the confidence they have on that side of Trump winning.

“On the other side, the liberal left are still traumatised by him winning and they do not want to risk their money.

“Those are two different psychological factors so I would prefer to trust the polls than the betting markets.”

October 30, 2020
US 2020: Lil Wayne endorses Donald Trump after White House meeting few days to election

Grammy award winning rapper, Lil Wayne, has publicly endorsed US president, Donald Trump, few days to the US presidential election, after reportedly having a meeting with the US leader in the White House.

Late on Thursday night, October 29, Lil Wayne tweeted a photo of himself standing beside the US President, seemingly endorsing Trump and his “Platinum Plan” to create wealth and prosperity in the Black community over the next four years.

“Just had a great meeting with @realdonaldtrump @potus besides what he’s done so far with criminal reform, the platinum plan is going to give the community real ownership. He listened to what we had to say today and assured he will and can get it done. He tweeted

In the photo uploaded by the rapper, the two stand next to each other giving thumbs up signs.

Lil Wayne is the latest in a surprisingly long line of black rappers who’ve extended an olive branch to Trump. Kanye West, 50 cent and even recently, Ice Cube – revealed he’s been working with Trump on the aforementioned “Platinum Plan” and his own “Contract For Black America”.

October 30, 2020
I was absolutely not surprised Trump got Covid-19′ – US Infectious disease chief, Dr Fauci

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States’ leading infectious disease expert has said he is “absolutely not” surprised President Donald Trump contracted Covid-19 after seeing him surrounded by people not wearing face masks and flouting best public health practices during rallies and meetings with aides.

Fauci, who has gone at odds with Trump regarding the coronavirus pandemic, spoke during an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday night.

He said, “I was worried that he was going to get sick when I saw him in a completely precarious situation of crowded — no separation between people, and almost nobody wearing a mask.”

“When I saw that on TV, I said, ‘Oh my goodness. Nothing good can come out of that, that’s got to be a problem,’” he continued.

“And then sure enough, it turned out to be a superspreader event.”

Fauci was referencing the Rose Garden September 26 event where Trump announced Judge Amy Coney Barrett was his pick to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. At least 12 people have tested positive for Covid-19 since the event .

Trump announced that he and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for coronavirus just days after the Rose Garden event. He was transferred to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center where he was treated.

Even though the ceremony was held outdoors, footage of the event showed few people wearing masks, while hugging and handshaking each other .

Fauci had previously labeled the event as a “superspreader”

“The data speak for themselves,” he said.

Fauci told “60 Minutes” it doesn’t make sense to him why Trump “equates wearing a mask with weakness.”

“Masks really do work.” Fauci added.

October 19, 2020
He’s an outspoken hater – President Trump slams Lebron James

President Donald Trump has taken a swipe at Lebron James while appearing as a guest on Rush Limbaugh’s show.

The US President who slammed the Los Angeles Lakers superstar for being an outspoken critic of his and a supporter of Democrats and Black Lives Matter, blamed the NBA’s lagging ratings on the league’s pro-BLM efforts.

Trump said;

“The NBA has become so political that nobody cares about it anymore.
“I don’t even know who’s playing in the Finals.
“LeBron is a spokesman for the democratic party and a very nasty spokesman.
“Because, again, I’ve done so much for the Black community and people don’t wanna see that and he’s a great basketball player but people don’t wanna see a guy that way. They don’t want to see that. We have enough difficulty during the week, you don’t wanna sit down watching a basketball game and then watch somebody that hates your guts, okay, He’s a hater.”

He also described the Black Lives Matter as a Marxist organization which sows division between Black people, white people and other races.

October 10, 2020