President-elect Joe Biden surpassed 80 million votes, the most votes a candidate has received in U.S. history.
He exceeded President Barack Obama’s record by more than 10 million votes, when the former president won the 2008 election with more than 70 million votes.
Neither Obama in 2012, nor President Donald Trump or Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016, broke this number.
Trump also broke Obama’s 2008 record by surpassing 73 million votes this election, but still fell short of Biden.
The record-breaking numbers are an attestation to how many more Americans participated in the election compared to previous elections. Additionally, the number of voting-eligible Americans has grown, as did voter enthusiasm.
Because some municipalities are still counting ballots, Biden’s record-breaking win could continue to grow. For example, Maine just reported its military and overseas ballots, which Biden won by nearly 80%, and there are still outstanding ballots in New York and California.
Biden can now receive President’s Daily Brief; transition team talking to every federal agency
The Trump administration has cleared the way for President-elect Joe Biden to begin receiving the same daily intelligence briefings that President Donald Trump receives.
“Following the statutory direction of the Presidential Transition Act, ODNI will provide requested support to the transition team,” according to a ODNI spokesperson. “This afternoon the White House approved ODNI to move forward with providing the PDB as part of the support to the transition.”
The briefing is a top-secret document that includes national security and intelligence assessments.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Biden said he has not started intelligence briefings but would soon.
This comes a day after Emily Murphy, the head of the General Services Administration, said she’ll allow Biden to begin his transition to the White House. The GSA holds the keys to transition funds and tools, but Murphy had delayed issuing an official determination recognizing Biden’s win, as the Trump campaign filed a flurry of lawsuits challenging the results.
Additionally, a day after the GSA ascertainment, the Biden transition team is now communicating with all federal agencies.
Trump pardons ‘lucky’ Thanksgiving turkey
This time there were no jokes about recounts and fair elections.
Trump, with first lady Melania Trump at his side, used the Rose Garden ceremony to grant a full pardon to a lucky gobbler named Corn and to celebrate the soaring stock market and the “strength, loyalty and faith” of Americans amid the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
“What we’ve endured and been able to endure, with the vaccines now coming out one after another – it’s an incredible thing that happened,” he said in a rare public appearance since losing the presidential election to Joe Biden earlier this month.
Trump’s serious tone was a marked contrast to his previous turkey pardonings, which he used to make light of his political situations.
