Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Biden Reaches Out to Governors as Trump Stymies Transition
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
November 19, 2020

Share

WILMINGTON, Del. — Joe Biden’s meeting Thursday with a group of Democratic and Republican governors is his latest attempt to fight through President Donald Trump’s unprecedented attempt to block the president-elect’s transition to power.

Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris planned a virtual session in the afternoon with the National Governors Association’s leadership team, which includes five Republicans and four Democrats. All the Democrats and a majority of the Republicans involved have acknowledged Biden as the winner of the White House election.

One expected participant, Gov. Larry Hogan, R-Md., told The Associated Press recently that Trump’s wild and unsupported claims of widespread voter fraud were “dangerous” and “embarrassing.”

The highest-ranking Republican on the NGA’s executive committee, Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, said over the weekend that Biden would be the next president and he called on the Trump administration to give Biden access to the intelligence briefings he needs in order to be fully prepared to lead the country on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day.

So far, the governors have not swayed the Republican president.

Before Biden’s meeting, Trump came out with a new round of false claims of voter fraud in key states, even as courts continue to reject his challenges, and a small, but growing number of Republican officeholders publicly begin to accept Biden’s victory.

Beyond being a pillar of democracy, the peaceful transfer of power after an election is especially critical this year given the extraordinary governing challenges Biden will inherit in just nine weeks. The United States is struggling through the worst public health crisis in a century, state and local government are facing massive budget shortfalls, and millions of Americans remain out of work.

Biden Has Been Forced to Turn to Diverse Collection of Outside Allies to Ratchet up the Pressure on Trump to Concede

But more than two weeks after the Nov. 3 election, the Trump administration is refusing to let Biden receive detailed briefings on national security and pandemic planning that leaders in both parties say are vital to ensure Biden can govern effectively on Day One.

With Trump dug in and Republicans on Capitol Hill largely unwilling to challenge him, Biden has been forced to turn to diverse collection of outside allies to ratchet up the pressure on Trump to concede.

The CEOs of America’s largest companies have released a statement recognizing Biden and Harris as the clear winners. The heads of the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association issued a joint statement on Tuesday urging the Trump administration to share “all critical information related to COVID-19” with Biden. Not doing so, they warned, would jeopardize American lives.

Trump is showing no signs of giving in.

He is getting nowhere in the courts, and his scattershot effort to overturn Biden’s victory is shifting toward obscure election boards that certify the vote. The battle is centered in the states that sealed Biden’s win. In Michigan, two Republican election officials in the state’s largest county initially refused to certify results despite no evidence of fraud.

The officials then backtracked and voted to certify before flipping again on Wednesday and saying they “remain opposed to certification.” Some Republicans have called on the GOP statewide canvassers to so the same as Trump applies pressure from his social media accounts.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, planned to participate in the meeting with Biden.

DON'T MISS

SEC Sues Elon Musk, Saying He Didn’t Disclose Twitter Ownership on Time Before Buying It

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Man Faces Murder Charges in Crash That Killed Four

DON'T MISS

An Important Reservoir Was Offline When California Fires Began

DON'T MISS

Freshman Congressman Adam Gray Lands on Ag, Natural Resources Committees

DON'T MISS

Biden Moves to Lift State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation for Cuba, Part of Deal to Free Prisoners

DON'T MISS

Capital One Sued by US Watchdog Alleging Bank Cheated Customers Out of $2 Billion

DON'T MISS

Millions Under Extreme Fire Weather Alert as Strong Winds Lash Southern California

DON'T MISS

How the CIA Director Helps the US Navigate a World of Spies, Threats and Geopolitical Turbulence

DON'T MISS

Gov. Newsom, Mayor Bass Targeted in Wildfire Witch Hunt

DON'T MISS

Clovis Police Officer Injured While Responding to Suspected DUI Call

UP NEXT

IRS Issues Stimulus Payments Again. Who Is Getting Them?

UP NEXT

Meathead Movers Fill Trucks with Donations for LA Fire Victims. Fresno Can Help

UP NEXT

Google to Track Every Device Starting February 16

UP NEXT

TikTok’s Fate Arrives at Supreme Court in Collision of Free Speech and National Security

UP NEXT

Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Dies in On-Duty Traffic Accident

UP NEXT

Italian Journalist Freed From Detention in Iran, Returns Home

UP NEXT

Washington Post Lays Off 4% of Its Workforce

UP NEXT

Jimmy Carter Will Be Honored in Washington, a City Where He Remained an Outsider

UP NEXT

Even MAGA Needs Immigrants, It Seems

UP NEXT

First US Bird Flu Death Is Announced in Louisiana

Freshman Congressman Adam Gray Lands on Ag, Natural Resources Committees

17 hours ago

Biden Moves to Lift State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation for Cuba, Part of Deal to Free Prisoners

18 hours ago

Capital One Sued by US Watchdog Alleging Bank Cheated Customers Out of $2 Billion

18 hours ago

Millions Under Extreme Fire Weather Alert as Strong Winds Lash Southern California

18 hours ago

How the CIA Director Helps the US Navigate a World of Spies, Threats and Geopolitical Turbulence

18 hours ago

Gov. Newsom, Mayor Bass Targeted in Wildfire Witch Hunt

19 hours ago

Clovis Police Officer Injured While Responding to Suspected DUI Call

19 hours ago

A Possible TikTok Ban Is Just Days Away. A List of Other Apps Available

19 hours ago

Karen Bass Faces Growing Backlash Over Handling of LA Fires. Will She Resign?

20 hours ago

Before Taking Office, LA’s Mayor Said She Would Not Go Abroad

20 hours ago

SEC Sues Elon Musk, Saying He Didn’t Disclose Twitter Ownership on Time Before Buying It

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has sued billionaire Elon Musk, saying he failed to disclose his ownership of Twitter stock in a...

14 hours ago

14 hours ago

SEC Sues Elon Musk, Saying He Didn’t Disclose Twitter Ownership on Time Before Buying It

15 hours ago

Fresno County Man Faces Murder Charges in Crash That Killed Four

The smoldering wreckage of beachfront structures destroyed by the Palisade Fire in Malibu, Calif., on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. The threat of more fires propelled by blistering Santa Ana winds hung over southern California on Friday as firefighters battled to contain the raging blazes that have killed at least 10 people and destroyed thousands of structures. (Loren Elliott/The New York Times)
17 hours ago

An Important Reservoir Was Offline When California Fires Began

17 hours ago

Freshman Congressman Adam Gray Lands on Ag, Natural Resources Committees

18 hours ago

Biden Moves to Lift State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation for Cuba, Part of Deal to Free Prisoners

18 hours ago

Capital One Sued by US Watchdog Alleging Bank Cheated Customers Out of $2 Billion

18 hours ago

Millions Under Extreme Fire Weather Alert as Strong Winds Lash Southern California

18 hours ago

How the CIA Director Helps the US Navigate a World of Spies, Threats and Geopolitical Turbulence

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend