Sen. Lindsey Graham: "Trump and I: we've had a hell of a journey. I hate it to end this way. Oh my God, I hate it. From my point of view, he's been a consequential president. But today...all I can say is, uh, count me out, enough is enough, I've tried to be helpful."
Graham: When Wisconsin's Supreme Court rules 4 to 3 on Trump's election challenge, "I agree with the 3 but I accept the 4. If Al Gore can accept 5-4 and he's not president, I can accept Wisconsin 4 to 3."
Sen. Lindsey Graham is now dismissing and mocking Trump's fake list of supposed fraud in Georgia (not naming Trump while doing so): "They say there's 66,000 people in Georgia under 18 voted. How many people believe that? I ask: give me 10! Hadn't had one."
Graham on calls for Pence to reject Biden's win: "If you're a conservative, this is the most offensive concept in the world. That a single person could disenfranchise 155 million people."
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Biden calls yesterday "one of the darkest days in the history of our nation" and "an assault on the rule of law." He says "don't care call them protesters; they were a riotous mob, insurrectionists, domestic terrorists. It's that basic, it's that simple."
Biden: "I wish we could say we couldn't see it coming. but that isn't true. We could see it coming. The past four years, we've had a president who's made his contempt for our democracy, our constitution, the rule of law clear in everything he has done."
Biden is delivering a broad denunciation of Trump, for everything from using language like "enemy of the people" to deploying the military to tear-gas peaceful protesters.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says on the floor that Trump's claim the election was "stolen" includes "sweeping conspiracy theories." McConnell says "over and over, the courts rejected these claims," including judges Trump nominated himself.
McConnell: "Nothing before us proves illegality anywhere near the massive scale, the massive scale, that would've tipped the entire election."
McConnell: "The voters, the courts, and the states...they've all spoken. If we overrule them, it would damage our republic forever."
He adds that the election was actually "not unusually close."
Biden says he usually has 20-25 people at Christmas dinner, but not this year. He says, "We all have to care enough for each other that we have to stay apart, just a little bit longer. I know it's hard." He warns "experts say things are going to get worse before they get better."
Biden says again that the Covid relief deal is good news, but repeats it's just a "first step" and "down payment." He says he'll put forward a plan to Congress "early next year," seeking more funds for testing, vaccine distribution, struggling people, local police, fire, nurses.
Biden: "Here is the simple truth. Our darkest days in the battle against Covid are ahead of us, not behind us. So we need to prepare ourselves. To steel our spines. As frustrating as it is to hear, it's gonna take patience, persistence, and determination to beat this virus."
Trump begins by saying, falsely, that "a very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise" his supporters. Democrats are simply trying to get all the votes counted.
Trump then says that "we were winning everything, and all of a sudden, it was just called off." Would try to fact check this but I don't even know what it means.
Trump says "it's also clear that we have won Georgia," though that is not clear from the publicly available data.
Trump is now on Fox & Friends, sounding more subdued and talking slower than usual. (He was up late doing rallies.) He repeats his usual false claim about how 2.2 million pandemic deaths were initially expected, then touts his pandemic response in the familiar manner.
"I'm doing a big series of phone calls" today to "very loyal" and "very important" people. (He suggests he might mean media interviews but doesn't specify.)
"No one doubts your work ethic," Kilmeade tells Trump, citing the fact that he has done 14 campaign rallies over the last three days.
Biden made some false or misleading claims tonight, though far fewer than Trump. An early list:
He said Trump didn't do "anything" when the initial $600 per week unemployment boost expired. In August, Trump used $44 billion in FEMA money to send $300 per week to the jobless.
When Stephanopoulos said Biden's website calls the Green New Deal a "crucial framework," Biden said, "My deal is a crucial framework, but not the New Green Deal." Biden's website does call the GND a crucial framework, though he has his own plan. joebiden.com/climate-plan/#
Biden falsely said there are now more troops in Afghanistan than there were when Biden left office. Trump did do an early-term troop surge, but he's since done a reduction; O'Brien says the current number is now under 5,000, thousands lower than in late 2016.