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IN CHARACTERISTICALLY contrasting styles, outgoing US President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden have both given their initial reactions to today’s results.
Winning his birth state of Pennsylvania has put the Democratic candidate past the 270 electoral college votes needed to secure the presidency.
Coupled with his victory in Nevada, that win put Biden at 290 to Trump’s 214, with the challenger expected to pick up more from Georgia where votes are being tallied.
In a statement, the former vice president said he was “honoured and humbled by the trust the American people have placed” in him and his Vice President-elect, Kamala Harris.
“In the face of unprecedented obstacles, a record number of Americans voted. Proving once again, that democracy beats deep in the heart of America,” he said.
“With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation. It’s time for America to unite. And to heal.
“We are the United States of America. And there’s nothing we can’t do, if we do it together.”
By contrast, President Trump, who has made a number of baseless, unsubstantiated allegations about mass voter fraud since Tuesday’s election, remaining bullish, repeated a number of his most serious claims.
In a statement issued while the President was golfing at his club in Virginia, he accused his challenger of trying to “falsely pose” as the winner with the assistance of the media.
“The simple fact is this election is far from over. Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor,” Trump said.
Trump said that “beginning Monday,” his campaign will “will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated”.
He alleged that the Biden campaign “wants ballots counted even if they are fraudulent, manufactured, or cast by ineligible or deceased voters.”
No evidence has been presented to support these allegations.
“So what is Biden hiding?” asked the president.
“I will not rest until the American people have the honest vote count they deserve and that Democracy demands.”
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Stay classy ….
Our politicians are being extremely diplomatic ,truth is inside they are dancing with joy as I am. Massive relief and off the charts for Ireland.
You lost, get over it.
OK Journal , thats 9 stories in a row about the US election , can you maybe turn your journalistic attention to the massive challenges facing the irish people now – there is no shortage of topics you can start working on as the list of issues and problems facing ordinary irish people is longer than ever during these difficult times. thanks.
@Dave Hammond: Aww come on, it’s the biggest thing at the moment. We’ll get back to the hum drum soon enough.
@Dave Hammond:
Heres some suggested topics in no particular order that you could consider asking about Ireland now that the Trump show and US distractions can be moved beyond.
1. Lockdown Inequity in Ireland – All in This Together
- Is it right that hundreds of thousands of irish people have to face living on welfare paytments while thousands others of goverment agencies that are also non essential in a pandemic like bord failte , large parts of RTE , RSA , Bord Bia and civil service admin , ordinance surveys , etc etc all remain on full pay working from home.
2. Where are the Reforms ? At the last crisis / cr4dit crunch when the troika came to town they concluded that structurally Ireland was stuck in the dark ages and lacked competition in legal services – that was 10 years ago – where are the reforms ?
3. EU Single Market Benefits – we are told that the huge benefit in EU membership in the Single Market – why is Ireland not able to see these benefits in financial services like mortgage competition – how come we are still paying the highest priced mortgages in EU – and why are we not opening up to more EU players to increase competition and benefit ireland
4. Insurance should also be a EU wide commodity – there are 500 million people in the EU market and we should regulate car insurance EU wide – if we allow Allianz and Zurich etc to ply their trade here they should not be allow to excessively profiteer liike they do – regulate EU wide like we did with price plans for phones data and texts , we should all be able to insure a car and drive eu wide – freedom of movement remember
there ya go 4 topics to start doing some journalism on that moves beyond the click bait Trump punch and judy show and deals with issues that effect your Irish readers. Your welcome.
@Mollybán: ha ha yeah i know – but could we not do both ?
@Dave Hammond: stand for election
@Dave Hammond: just curious, but which parts of the civil service, you know, the people operating the country, would you consider non essential at the moment?
@Dave Hammond: tldr shurrup
@Dave Hammond: ease off the cheese there Dave
@Dave Hammond: Bla Bla Bla
@Dave Hammond: many – given the number of Irish poeple working in multinationals could be directly impacted. Some thoughts on your points:
1. I’m not saying I agree with lockdown is right given its economic impact, but I don’t see how you are making this public v private service. I work on private service and can (thankfully) do my job from home, so I still get paid. Same as civil service surely. The rules have never been everyone doing non essential services must stop. It has always been work from home if you can then if you can’t look at whether your job is an essential service or not.
2. I must admit I don’t know what was recommended re legal services reform, but frankly I’m not massively interested. But there are other reforms we were promised – re housing etc that I am interested in
@Dave Hammond:
3. Ironically I believe that the level of protection in Irish consumer credit act puts many international players off. We haven’t a big enough market for them to change all of their papering to include all the extra conditions under Irish law. And the delays and hoops that banks here (rightly) have to go through to kick someone out of their home….. mean international banks aren’t interested.
4. I’ve no view on this.
I agree Is other stuff people are interested in, but there is also a massive interest in us election and of journal weren’t writing about it – we’d be on bbc, cnn or wherever seeking out the info.
@Robert Taylor: the irony of spouting that much unnecessary complaining s h y t e on a piece on the second Irish heritage president of the US speaks for itself.
As someone else said, run for election – reform the public service and implement a new insurance regime. But I feel you’ll spend more time complaining the voting is rigged!
@Dave Hammond: I think many of your points could be addressed by looking at who is representing us in the EU.
I believe we should try out some alternatives to the FG/FF/LAB candidates who have been doing a poor job of representing our interests there. Especially before considering an “Irexit”.
@Augustus hoop: i never suggested Journal not write about US elections – hows thins ofr a shocker of a suggestion – they do both – 9 stories in a row about US and then Irish stuff – side by side like – or would everyone prefer the comments to be just ….LOW IQ individual.Sad nonsense all day long ;-) INteresting how vexxed people get about things that things that will have pretty much Zero impact on their lives and ignore the tsunami coming down their street that could wipe away their livlihoods.
@Ronan Fahy: the point is that there was no discussion or consideration for any roles that are semi state or government related to have to accept financial impact from Covid – i get it that those who happen to not be financially impacted are not gonna like this topic – why would they – but there are literally thousands of jobs that are needed during normal times , bord bia to promote irish food , RSA to promtoe safety , bord failte to promote tourism – that are simply not in demand during a lockdown but they all remain on full pay – I am not drivin a divide between public and provate that divide was firmly drawn by govt – who forced closure of the country for the pandemic but of course if you happen to work in say a pub you must go onto PUP welfare – but if you work in say the local library -you get to stay on full pay but the library shuts – and the roughly half the country that are NOT affected financially are coincidentally the same ones that spend half the day as keyboard warriors pontificating that lockdowns are good etc etc while those badly impacted have no real voice – as for the comment about asking me to explain which part of the civil service – ;those that run the country ‘ please spare me the BS – the motor tax office or the dept of you name it has plenty of staff for normal times and does not need the same requirement during a lockdown when demand for services is logically a lot lot lower – interesting everybody else has to accept that these are unprecedented times and we need to shut your livelihood down but the civil service ‘have to run the country’ – seriously that’s horseshit.
@Ronan Fahy: the RTÉ Concert orchestra x 2, OPW, Bord Failte as he mentioned..
@Johnny Al Lenn: yeh dude we need more Shinners in Brussels
Biden .. your hired .. Trumpet .. your fired ..
@David Kearney: *you’re
@David Geraghty: what other hobbies do you have?
@David Geraghty: That was a close one David-he nearly got away with it
@Damo: you never get away with it – I just assume that anglophones who can’t write English are Id&;us
Trump has a big following but so did Hitler
@James Mccartan: the difference is that Hitler must have been a charming man.. unlike trump.
@James Mccartan: they came from the same village
@James Mccartan: you wouldn’t find hitler playing jungle music at 3 o clock in the morning
Mortified for Trump…sad man
“Despite the constant negative press covfefe”.
@Clubhouse Barman.: flashback
The sooner Trump leaves the WH and takes Barbie Doll with him the better for everybody .
Read em and weep!!
The media has no authority to declare the winner. Buckle up peeps, its going to be a crazy ride these next two weeks with only one winner, and it won’t be Slow Joe
@Hugo Haye-Wyre: the votes called the winner the media relayed the message
@Hugo Haye-Wyre: He lost Hugo. Accept it.
@Hugo Haye-Wyre: Put it this way – Paddy Power isn’t paying out on the say so of the media – they know the media can’t call the winner, even if you clowns don’t.
@Hugo Haye-Wyre: all media reports have clearly stated ’projected’ winner. Which Joe Biden is. Even if Trump gets recounts and wins a couple of court cases, he can’t beat Biden. It’s been clearly heading this way since Wednesday but most outlets waited to make the call until a Biden was inevitable
@Hugo Haye-Wyre: hi, what’s the phone signal like on your planet?
@Hugo Haye-Wyre: have you changed your online name trumpy boy?? Earth calling Hugo..
@Hugo Haye-Wyre: Prescription for Copium required, stat. Trumpers truly are the most fragile of snowflakes.
@Hugo Haye-Wyre: he’s not the one who is slow! Good luck with that crusade
@Hugo Haye-Wyre: slow Joe has it. Adjust to the reality. It’ll be easier for you long term. I’m here to help. :)
@Hugo Haye-Wyre: really? Well it certainly wont be Trump, watch this space, the Trumpeters have been telling us for 4 years now that he will be reelected by a landslide in 2020, dont you think you should just give up now,? Hes gone. He lost, get over it.
Donald Putin
Trump will not give the customary concession speech, he will not withdraw his supporters from counting centres. Some are armed. This is a very dangerous situation and people are not paying attention to it. The concession speech de-escalates and calms things down, Trump wont do that. Explained here, nearly 2 weeks ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZWRhLW7Y8w
What if a US presidential candidate refuses to concede after an election? | Van Jones
If the 2020 US presidential election is close, the race could drag on in the courts and halls of Congress long after ballots are cast, says lawyer and political commentator Van Jones. Explaining why the customary concession speech is one of the most important safeguards for democracy, Jones exposes shocking legal loopholes that could enable a candidate to grab power even if they lose both the popular vote and the electoral college — and shares what ordinary citizens can do if there’s no peaceful transfer of power.
@David Jordan: Oh and if in doubt – check out Paddy Power, they are not paying out on the say so of the MSM..they know enough to wait for the courts
@David Jordan: Yes, your point is extremely valid. But….. Major US unions were making contingency plans for a coordinated general strike, in the event of Trump not conceding. I don’t believe Trump can count on the US military, or Secret Service. The GOP as a entire party will not back him either. I don’t know if sections of the above may collaborate with Trump, but it would be a small number. The three Supreme Court appointments also will not back him, even if they wanted to. There’s no legal case to do so.
@Hugo Haye-Wyre: You just proved David Jordan’s point for him. Well done.
@Hugo Haye-Wyre: you’re fired, good night Hugo
@Hugo Haye-Wyre: ah you poor sausage, I’m sure your ranting matters to someone somewhere
@Sirius: have all the votes been finally counted?
@Sirius: isn’t Pennsylvania still counting?
Delighted for Joe. Still a lot of entertainment to be had in the next week as GOP members backing trumps cheating claims realise the way the wind is blowing and slowly begin to desert him in a desperate attempt to emerge with some credibility. Fauci will definitely get his marching orders now, along with another few final acts of of pettiness, undoubtedly.
Not a peep out of that yoke, Farage? Maybe himself and the tangerine tool can get together and elope to North Korea?!!!
@Paul Shepherd: bring bojo with ya!
Ding dong, the wicket witch is dead!
@PF: She who ruins cricket matches.
@Use Your Head: bowled “out”!!
@PF: hit for six
He’ll refuse to leave until his people can fully investigate and so on. It’ll drag on for ages. He’s a dictator he’s not guna just walk away.
He is the king of bullies let’s hope they don’t let him press the red button because he is unstable and anything is possible
Are ye not going to miss him ? Just for the entertainment value alone !!!
@Shane Brigdale: NO!!!!!!
So the media makes the decision. Interesting.
@Ray Lawler: based upon the count? It’ll be announced officially a month from now.
Other side of the Same coin
@Simey Joyce: couldn’t be more incorrect if you tried.
He’s p@thetic.
So what did Trump declare yesterday? What a failure…oh, did I use Trump’s fav word for rest of planet??
He will claim squatters rights now ….
@huffyeire: He’s already as unstable as Randy Quaid so it wouldn’t surprise me.
A Christmas and New Year’s gift all wrapped up into one, Thank God. Hopefully he can heal the devision in the U.S. And the rest of the world can breath a sigh of relief that they don’t have to deal with a THICK anymore.
Kayne West got 60,000 votes. Out of a estimated 160,000,000 available.
@David A. Murray: but his name did not appear in all ballot sheets. Crazy someone can be a candidate for president in some states but not all…
“West qualified for ballot access in 12 states.[9][10] The campaign sued for ballot access in five additional states (Arizona, Ohio, Wisconsin, Virginia and West Virginia), and subsequently lost all appeals, gave up on four other states (Illinois, Montana, Missouri, and New Jersey), and missed the deadlines of a further 29 states, plus the District of Columbia.[9]“
I don’t understand how come most of the people believe this is over. If you just open your eyes and use common sense you can find plenty of proof that this election was super strange, possibly fradulent. If media would say jump from the bridge would you jump? Wait for the official result.
@LegioXII: what proof?
@LegioXII: in an election of this scale anomalies will surely surface but to suggest systematic fraud is laughable. Voter suppression (a well established republican tactic) is a lot more prevalent. The official result will bear the same outcome. Hard pill to swallow, eh?
Well done America , well done. The ordinary decent middle of the road voter turned out and made it clear they want inclusion , truth and honesty.
@Dave McCabe: pity the Irish can’t do the same.
@Dave McCabe: agreed but even still the Trump turnout suggests that once again the media and pollsters got it way wrong again in terms of Bidens lead. If the Dems intend to stay in the white house four years from now, they need to do a lot of work to win back the latinos, the african americans, and the blue collar voters en masse. Trump gained a lot of ground in these demographics. That needs to be undone. Once again, they took a lot of voters for granted.
Hallelujah, no wonder American people are dancing in the streets, Trump made America the laughing stock of the world and its inexplicable to me why so many were fooled by him. Did they really think he cared. Every time he opened his mouth he either insulted someone or he fired someone. A Dictator , good Riddance.
By contrast, President Trump, who has made a number of baseless, unsubstantiated allegations about mass voter fraud since Tuesday’s election, remaining bullish, repeated a number of his most serious claims.
Publishers only use the above rhetoric when they have a bias.
@Vladimir Macro: it is alleged, baseless, unsubstantiated. All appropriate descriptors as I see it. Nothing proven and what ‘evidence’ is there is shaky at best. His unwillingness to concede and his choice of words suggest he is being bullish, and let’s be honest, he has form in this regard. Biden has it in the bag and any attempt to derail his appointment will be met with opposition. There has been plenty bias, that I’ll give you, but how else would you describe trumps attitude since the voting closed? Whatever happened to being gracious in defeat? Is that too much to ask?
A recount is what Trump himself wants, NOT the American people. They have elected their President fair and square and Trump is OUT!
They came from the same village
have your say