The Big Tech Bias

With Media outlets calling the 2020 presidential race for former Vice President Joe Biden, Florida Democrats finally have something to rejoice about after Republicans crushed them at the ballot box last week.

The actual contest between President Donald Trump and Biden appears far from over as the Trump campaign’s legal contests challenging individual state election results begin to take shape this week, so no one should be counting their chickens yet. Even Mexico’s President Manuel Lopez Obrador said to wait before “all legal issues” are resolved.

But legal issues being resolved or not, Democrats are taking a victory lap, and rightly so because Republicans would be doing the same. It’s politics. We get it.

With Republicans claiming voter fraud, the bias that Big Tech has shown by censoring the president and shutting down the Hunter Biden pay-for-play New York Post story, has come full circle after Apple’s Siri outed the obvious slant against Trump.

You aren’t going to believe this unless you read for yourself. READ MORE

 

And then there is this golden media nugget from this weekend…

Remember when Florida State Rep. Anthony Sabatini (R) was excoriated by Democrats and Progressive bloggers with an appetite for everything edible when as a kid he painted himself in ‘Blackface?”

Well, can you imagine if a Republican activist or elected official posted an image of Senator Kamala Harris in Blackface? All hell would break loose, right?

Now, if a Progressive like Actress Alyssa Milano posts a cartoon image of Sen. Harris looking 20 shades darker than what she actually looks, well, that’s ok and not racist. READ MORE

 

But the hits just keep coming…

Democrats are now trying to blame their Election Day defeats on Senator Marco Rubio and Republicans for peddling “misinformation.”

The misinformation they speak of is effective the anti-Socialism narrative that they tied around the necks of Democrats. Elections have consequences, so when you campaign in favor of Progressive/Socialist-lite economic and social issues, don’t expect people who fled those same oppressive issues to vote for you. READ MORE

THIS >>>Florida Democrats eye Rubio’s Senate seat in 2022

 

Debbie Wasserman Schultz @DWStweets-For women, immigrants and people of color, the importance of Vice President-elect @KamalaHarris cannot be overstated. It’s a thrill to see such an inspirational candidate breaking so many barriers.

US Rep Kathy Castor @USRepKCastor-Congratulations President-Elect Joe Biden and VP-Elect Kamala Harris! Let’s unite America and work together for a stronger, brighter future for all!

Rep. Stephanie Murphy @RepStephMurphy-Congratulations to President-elect Joe Biden & Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. I look forward to working with this new administration to unite this country, rebuild our economy, & improve the lives of American families. #FlaPol #FL07

Ted Deutch @TedDeutch-President-elect Biden & VP-elect Harris will restore America’s place in the world. We will cooperate w/ our allies & oppose our foes. We will build up State Dept, use diplomacy to strengthen our natl security & will stand w/ democracies around the globe in support of human rights

Rep. Lois Frankel @RepLoisFrankel-oe Biden is the next president of our country! My joy is through the roof. Now let’s unite and get to work.

Rep Frederica Wilson @RepWilson-Congratulation to #PresidentElectBiden and #VicePresidentElectHarris! Looking forward to getting to work!

Nikki Fried @nikkifried-Americans have sent a message which cannot be ignored — we must build back better. @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris will start us on the path to reverse the chaos and divisiveness that Donald Trump and his enablers cast across the United States for the past four years.

 

 

 

 

 

“Mucarsel-Powell appears to blame Rubio, anti-Socialism messaging for Election Day defeats” by The Floridian’s Javier Manjarres – The Florida Hispanic vote delivered a huge and unprecedented victory for President Donald Trump and Republicans throughout the state, with almost half of the Latinos that voted having supported the president, including the Cuban-American and Venezuelan-American voters in South Florida. Florida Democrats like Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who lost her reelection bid to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, is still trying to make sense of the loss she endured at the hands of the very same Hispanics that voter her into office in 2018. Rep. Mucarsel-Powell recently teamed up with Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro (D) to call on the FBI to look into the “misinformation” that many Democrats contend was used to target Latino voters in hopes that they would vote against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and other Democrats like herself. “I’ve seen many people trying to understand the Latino vote in FL,” stated Mucarsel-Powell. “A few weeks ago @JoaquinCastrot & I called the FBI to investigate the spread of misinformation specifically targeting Latinos in our State. Having @marcorubio do it too adds to the problem.”

“Florida Democrats eye Rubio’s Senate seat in 2022” by The Floridian’s Javier Manjarres – Regardless of the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, one thing is for sure in Florida, Florida Democrats are licking their wounds in disbelief that Republicans absolutely crushed them in races across the state, and managed to flip to key congressional seats in Miami-Dade County. Because Miami-Dade County Republicans were able to outlast the Progressive agenda that Miami Democrats were pushing, statewide and national Democratic pundits and consultants are now looking to 2022, and no other race is more important to them than Senator Marco Rubio’s senate seat. Yeah, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will also be on the ballot, but in order for presumed President Joe Biden to affect legislation, or “change the world,” as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) recently said, Democrats, need to take the Senate and hope that Republicans don’t gain any more seats in the House of Representatives. For now, all eyes are on Georgia as the state’s two senate seats will be decided in a run-off election later this year. If Republicans manage to stave off what will surely be a massive Democratic push to tip the balance in the U.S. Senate in their favor, Rubio’s 2022 reelection will be one of the most hotly contested races in the nation.

“Progressive Alyssa Milano pushes image of Kamala Harris in Blackface” by The Floridian’s Javier Manjarres – Moments after the Associated Press, NBC News, ABC News, and other media outlets called the 2020 presidential race for former Vice President Joe Biden, Progressive activist and actress Alyssa Milano posted a cartoon image of Senator Kamala Harris in Blackface, pushing the narrative that Harris is an African-American black woman. Both of her parents are immigrants, her father from Jamaica, and her mother from India. Sen. Harris’s complexion is as light as many non-Black Americans, so why is Milano putting forth an image of Harris in blackface? Can you imagine if some non-Democrat or Republican posted the same image of Harris or even of President Barack Obama? There would be hell to pay.

“Congressman Charlie Crist- “Count Every Single Vote”” by The Floridian’s Staff Report – Fresh off his Election Day victory over Republican challenger Ana Paulina Luna, Congressman Charlie Crist has weighed in on the outstanding votes- most of which are mail-in ballots- that are currently being counted in several battleground states. “In the U.S., fair elections mean that w count every single vote. Be patient and optimistic- the outcome will come soon!” – tweeted Congressman Charlie Crist (D-13, FL). Trite commentary from Crist is not unexpected, sounding something like a father talking to his impatient children on Christmas Eve as his Democrat Party senses an imminent victory. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has expressed his concerns with the outstanding ballots that are currently being counted and proceeding towards a final result that will likely be contested to the courts, as the Governor described the “troubling” process that is playing out. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has begun to file multiple court challenges to stop the processing of mail-in ballots that have been cast overwhelmingly for Joe Biden. The President commented in a statement, “This is about the integrity of our entire election process. From the beginning we have said that all legal ballots must be counted and all illegal ballots should not be counted, yet we have met resistance to this basic principle by Democrats at every turn. We will pursue this process through every aspect of the law to guarantee that the American people have confidence in our government. I will never give up fighting for you and our nation.”

“Posey wants DOJ investigation into ‘massive voter fraud’” by The Floridian’s Javier Manjarres – President Donald Trump forewarned the nation that massive voter suppression, fraud campaign was afoot months ago, and according to the Trump campaign and other Republican groups and elected officials, not to mention scores of social media videos showing rampant and suspected voter fraud, the fraud is real Just about every single congressional Democrat in Florida is calling for “every vote” to be counted in the ongoing presidential election, but so are Republicans who want that every ‘legal’ vote is counted. Florida’s Rep. Bill Posey (R) is one of those congressional Republicans who call for the immediate Department of Justice investigation into all of the reported voter fraud incidents across the country. “Reports of massive voter fraud & locking out legal election observers must be investigated immediately by DOJ,” stated Rep. Posey. “ The right to vote is not only a Constitutional Right, but a civil right, & must be protected. Running fair & transparent elections is one thing America MUST live up to.” President Trump tweeted former independent counsel Ken Starr statement about the ongoing vote count, calling the process in Pennsylvania “illegal” that is in flagrant violation of the U.S. Constitution. “This is what we know. We have to go back to the state level and how this morass came to be in the first instance. The Governor, Wolf, and the State Supreme Court, flagrantly violated the Constitution of the U.S. The power to set these rules and regulations is vested in, hopefully, this will be corrected at the Supreme Court of the United States. Also, these late ballots past Election Day are illegal, exactly what the President has been saying. The Supreme Court, in extraordinary circumstances, has been able to render decisions in a matter of days.” Ken Starr, former Independent Counsel.

“Wasserman Schultz loses to Spalding in Early and Election Day voting, wins with mail-ins” by The Floridian’s Javier Manjarres – After the dust settled in many competitive and not-so-competitive municipal, state level, and federal races in Florida, it was clear that the Democratic Party effort to co-opt the long-standing Republican absentee ballot effort worked. Republicans have historically defeated Democrats in absentee ballot mailings but this election cycle it was much different. Democrats crushed Republicans with mail-in votes, but Republicans won in early voting and on Election Day across the state. This was the case in the congressional race between Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) and Republican Carla Spalding. Spalding exceeded expectations and defeated Rep. Wasserman Schultz in both Miami-Dade and Broward Counties in Early Voting and Election Day votes. Yes, Wasserman Schultz would have lost her congressional race if not for an impressive Democratic mail-in ballot effort. Wasserman Schultz’s won the race with mail-in ballots by a whopping 137K to 57K votes, but what does it say about Wasserman Schultz’s possible vulnerabilities for future elections?Wasserman Schultz only beat Spalding in Miami-Dade County by less than 1% of the overall vote or 312 total votes.

“Democrats push Affordable Care Act (ACA) open enrollment season” by The Floridian’s Javier Manjarres – Open enrollment for the controversial Affordable Care Act (ACA) is underway and Americans have until December 15 to finalize their plans and sign up before the end of the year. Once called a flawless healthcare measure by congressional Democrats like Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D), and Ted Deutch (D), who then helped pass it in the House of Representative for President Barack Obama to sign into law, the ACA is far from perfect. Congressional Republicans have failed to “repeal and replace” the law countless times, but after taking office, President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress managed to strip “Obamacare” of the individual mandate within the law that forced Americans to carry health insurance. Trump later backed a lawsuit to entirely strike down President Obama’s legacy legislation because he believed that the law was “a joke” and because Congress struck down the health insurance mandate, the law was now rendered illegal. The Affordable Care Act has proven to be unaffordable to most Americans as healthcare providers were forced to limit their exposure to plans within the healthcare law, and many (if not all) of the Obamacare plans left patients with high co-pays, deductibles to pay, and astronomical out-of-pocket expenses.

“Inside the Dems' Florida flop: Turnout, rural success propelled Trump in the Sunshine State” by Palm Beach Posts’ Wayne Washington, Wayne Washington, Chris Persaud – Former Vice President Joe Biden might have won the presidency after days of counting, but Election Day was a flop for Democrats in Florida. Much has been made of how the Democrats hemorrhaged support from Hispanic voters in Miami-Dade County. But that alone does not explain why Biden lost the state by about 375,000 votes, a substantial gap in a state known for paper-thin margins. An analysis of post-election data shows that several factors played into the Democrats' bad day. Biden did underperform in heavily Hispanic Miami-Dade County, as Republicans were successful in casting the former vice president as a socialist threat in communities where people have up close and personal memories of socialism and communism. Turnout in areas that went for President Donald Trump surpassed turnout in areas that went for Biden. The urban-rural divide colorfully illustrated in the red and blue maps deployed by television networks played out on the ground in Florida. And then there is the enthusiasm factor. Nothing, not his impeachment, not the 230,000-plus coronavirus deaths, not the cratered national economy and not his litany of falsehoods moved Trump's supporters away from him. They waved placards on overpasses, flew flags from the back of their trucks and wore T-shirts with the president's signature phrase, "Make America Great Again." "I've never seen anything like it," said Mike Coleman, vice chairman of the Democratic Party of Palm Beach County. Trump cruised to a margin of victory that was more than twice the combined margin from the last three gubernatorial elections. Trump beat Biden three times more decisively in Florida than he beat Hillary Clinton in 2016, and Democrats lost congressional and other down ballot races, too.

“Florida Lawmakers React To Biden-Harris Win” by WMFE’s Matthew Peddie – Former Vice President Joe Biden and California Senator Kamala Harris have won the race for the White House. The Trump campaign is still contesting the process in several states, including Pennsylvania, with baseless claims that the election is being stolen as legitimate ballots continue to be counted. Florida lawmakers react to the news and reflect on what the next administration may mean for Florida. Joining the show are Republican political analyst Frank Torres and former Democratic state lawmaker Dick Batchelor. We also speak with Republican State Rep. Randy Fine; Democratic State Reps Shevrin Jones and Anna Eskamani; Democratic State Senator Janet Cruz and Democratic Congresswoman Val Demings. Randy Fine said the election is over when states certify their results. “I think the odds are good that that Joe Biden will ultimately win,” said Fine. “And I want to be clear, if he does, I hope that every Republican will not do what many Democrats have done for four years and say, “not my president”; he will be my president. He will be all of our presidents. But I just I caution folks, given the closeness of the results, to allow that process to work itself through because there are some issues that are concerning out there.” Fine said other states should look to Florida as an example of how to run an election. “The fact that the third largest state in the country could count 75% of our ballots, which came in early and absentee and report them within minutes of the election polls closing on election night, these other states just have no excuse,” said Fine. Election officials in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were not able to start processing absentee ballots until election day because of state laws.

“Trump campaign displays doctored newspaper to question election outcome” by Politico’s Nolan D. McCaskill – President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign plastered images of a doctored newspaper inside its headquarters to illustrate its view of where the 2020 election stands. “Greeting staff at @TeamTrump HQ this morning, a reminder that the media doesn’t select the President,” Tim Murtaugh, the campaign’s communications director, wrote in a now-deleted tweet. The post included an image of a doctored Washington Times front page from Nov. 8, 2000, declaring Al Gore the winner over George W. Bush after “Florida pushes Gore over the top with bare majority,” as the text below the headline reads. A second image showed copies of the fake newspaper page taped across the kitchen area of the campaign’s office in Arlington, Va. Bush won the 2000 election against Al Gore after a recount in Florida, and The Washington Times said Sunday that it never ran a “President Gore” headline. The newspaper replied directly to Murtaugh’s post on Sunday afternoon, tagging him and the @TeamTrump account and notifying them: “Those photos have been doctored.” “We also wish to add that Mr. Murtaugh has been officially notified via email about this error,” The Washington Times added in a subsequent reply. Murtaugh deleted his original tweet, according to Twitter, which said the post was removed by its author. The attempt to dismiss the media’s role in presidential elections comes as Trump, his campaign and some of his Republican allies continue to contest the result of Tuesday’s election, even after President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris delivered victory speeches on Saturday after several networks and The Associated Press projected Biden to surpass 270 Electoral College votes with a win in Pennsylvania over the weekend.

“Florida Republicans react to Trump’s election fraud claims” by News 4 Jax’s Kent Justice – News4Jax has been asking Republicans in Florida to respond to the President’s accusations of voter fraud in his race against former Vice President Joe Biden. News4Jax reached out to Gov. Ron DeSantis through his office Friday night. DeSantis, a Trump ally, frequently campaigned in Florida with the President. News4Jax has not received his comments yet, but we did speak with one of President Trump’s big supporters in our area, State Representative Jason Fischer. “There is a process. I do have faith in America to get our election system right,” Fischer said. Fischer represents the Mandarin area of Jacksonville and he’s a big supporter for Trump often appearing at rallies. Fischer on Friday addressed the claims from Trump, who says there is widespread election fraud, a claim the News4JAX Trust Index rates as “not true.” Fischer says there’s cause for concern and called for patience. “Count every legal vote, right, I don’t want a legal vote has been cast to not be counted, but I also don’t want any votes that may not be legal to be counted either,” Fischer said. “And so just going through the process, making sure that there is integrity and using words that don’t escalate things and make it worse.” Republican Congressman Ted Yoho supports the president and he said over the phone Friday that reports of keeping Republicans from viewing ballots as they were processed in various states set up an argument there is fraud and that it looks one-sided.

“DeSantis office ‘leaks’ Florida records to fuel COVID-19 death ‘conspiracy’” by Tampa Bay Times’ Ben Conarck and Nicholas Nehamas – Jennifer Cabrera isn’t an epidemiologist. Although she holds degrees in electrical engineering, she’s not a scientist either. But as the conservative blogger said on Facebook, she has “followers in the governor’s office.” One of them is Gov. Ron DeSantis. So in late October, Cabrera visited Florida’s Capitol and was mysteriously allowed to examine a month’s worth of COVID-19 death certificates — records that the state is not willing to concede are public and that it is not releasing to academics and journalists seeking to better understand the toll of the coronavirus pandemic. Cabrera then wrote a post on her blog with her husband, Len, claiming that the state is overcounting COVID-19 deaths. “We can tell you definitively that Florida is counting deaths that were not directly caused by COVID-19,” the Cabreras wrote, arguing that some people died with COVID-19 but not from COVID-19. That’s a meaningless distinction, according to public health experts. And the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that deaths are actually being undercounted nationwide. But the misleading Oct. 30 blog post fed into a narrative pushed by DeSantis and President Donald Trump, who argue without evidence that scientists are blowing COVID-19 deaths out of proportion. Fred Piccolo Jr., DeSantis' spokesman, shared Cabrera’s post on Twitter — effectively accusing the governor’s own health department of exaggerating the death toll.

“Trump adviser attributes GOP win in Florida to door-knocking, rallies and successfully branding Dems as 'socialists'” by NSF’s Jim Saunders – A top Florida campaign strategist for President Donald Trump credited outreach to a broad swath of voters and sophisticated use of data as playing key roles in Trump’s win Tuesday over Democrat Joe Biden in the state.

Trump senior adviser Susie Wiles, in a three-page memo Thursday, said the campaign focused on reaching out to “non-traditional Republican voter groups,” including conservative Jewish voters, parents of children who attend charter schools, Hispanics and Black voters in targeted counties. At the same time, she said the campaign worked to bring back voters who helped Trump carry the state in 2016. “Focusing on the Trump voter from 2016 was a priority,” Wiles wrote in the memo. “Often these voters were not members of a Republican Club — sometimes not Republicans — and not drawn to GOP ideology but rather to President Trump as a brand. Re-engaging them was important and proved critical to GOTV (get-out-the-vote) and voter contact efforts.” At the same time, Wiles described data as “king” and said the campaign “built margin through hyper-targeted voter registration, messaging, persuasion, and Get-Out-The-Vote efforts.” “We targeted strategic demographic groups that are not traditional Republican supporters with messaging that was uniquely tailored to them,” Wiles wrote. “These targeted messages leveraged the president’s position on issues or amplified negatively our opponent’s position on an issue of importance to targeted voters.” The memo offers a glimpse of behind-the-scenes efforts that helped Trump carry Florida by more than three percentage points, after pre-election polls showed the president and Biden in a toss-up race for the state’s 29 electoral votes. Trump defeated Biden by about 373,000 votes — more than triple the margin of his 2016 victory in Florida over Democrat Hillary Clinton — and carried 55 of the state’s 67 counties

“Election 2020: What Are the Trump Legal Claims?” by WSJ’s Deanna Paul, Brent Kendall and Corinne Ramey – President Trump and his allies have pledged to intensify legal efforts this week to contest the presidential election. Many of the lawsuits they have filed so far are limited in scope, making them unlikely to produce large vote swings even if successful. Facing vote deficits in key states, Mr. Trump would need sweeping legal victories in all of them for any chance at closing the electoral gap with President-elect Joe Biden, who was declared the election’s winner by the Associated Press on Saturday. The campaign over the weekend filed an additional lawsuit in Arizona and promised more elsewhere in the coming days. Judges in Georgia, Michigan and Nevada have already rejected its cases. Rudy Giuliani, one of Mr. Trump’s personal lawyers, said Sunday on Fox News that new legal claims would revolve around three issues: alleged barriers to observing the counting of mail-in ballots, alleged votes cast by the deceased and alleged backdated ballots. He didn’t offer evidence of wrongdoing beyond suggesting one lawsuit would focus on allegations from dozens of witnesses that Republicans were prevented from observing the counting of hundreds of thousands of ballots in Pennsylvania. Republicans already have a suit alleging poll observers weren’t allowed close enough in Pennsylvania. State election officials say GOP watchers weren’t denied access. Even if a judge sided with a claim that GOP poll watchers were treated unfairly, it’s unlikely any judge would invalidate election results without evidence of widespread ballot fraud, said Richard H. Pildes, a constitutional law professor at New York University.

“Top congressional Republicans still haven't acknowledged Biden's victory” by CNN’s Alex Rogers – President-elect Joe Biden urged the country "to lower the temperature" in his victory speech on Saturday night, but Republican leaders he'll have to work with in Congress have either urged President Donald Trump to not concede or stayed silent despite no widespread evidence of fraud in the election. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is likely to limit the scope of Biden's agenda, has not commented since Friday, the day before the race was called, when he called for "every legal" vote to be counted, while House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy echoed Trump's claims that the election isn't over yet. "We've had the most competitive presidential race in our modern history," McCarthy said on Fox News on Sunday. "That's why every vote should be counted, every recount to go forward, and every challenge should be heard." The Republican Party is split over how to handle Biden's victory, as Trump continues to dispute the result. While a small contingent of conservatives want to restore faith in the democratic process, Trump's fiercest supporters have adopted the President's mantra to "fight back very hard" when he feels personally mistreated. "This is a contested election," Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham said on Fox on Sunday. "The media doesn't decide who becomes president, if they did, you would never have a Republican president forever."

"Do not concede, Mr. President, fight hard," the South Carolina Republican added.

“Trump campaign taps Rep. Doug Collins to lead recount team in Georgia” by Fox News’ Thomas Barrabi – The Trump campaign tapped Republican Rep. Doug Collins on Sunday to head its recount efforts in Georgia as the president’s team ramps up their legal challenge of election results in several battleground states. “Republicans stand by the ideal that every eligible voter should be able to vote legally and have it be counted,” Collins said. “During the coming recount, we are confident we will find evidence of improperly harvested ballots and other irregularities that will prove that President Trump won Georgia fairly again on his way to re-election as President. Georgians deserve a free and open process, and they will get one.” Biden became president-elect on Saturday after he surpassed the 270 electoral vote threshold with victories in Pennsylvania and Nevada. However, the Fox News Decision Desk has still not projected a winner in Georgia, where Biden leads Trump by a razor-thin margin of about 10,000 votes. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, announced last Friday that a recount would likely take place due to the thin margin. Under state law, candidates can request a recount if the margin separating two candidates is 0.5% or less. The recount will begin as soon as canvassing has ended, the campaign said in a press release. A Georgia state judge threw out a Trump campaign lawsuit last week that claimed late-arriving ballots were improperly added to Biden’s totals.

“How Democrats Lost So Many South Texas Latinos—the Economy” by WSJ’s Elizabeth Findell – For decades, no Democratic presidential candidate had won Starr County with less than a 48-point margin. Local lore is that the last Republican who came close to winning a partisan race was a sheriff’s candidate gunned down in a saloon in 1907. Yet last week, 8,224 Starr County residents voted for President Trump in a red wave that moved the South Texas county from Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton ’s 60-point margin in 2016 to a 5-point win for Joe Biden, the largest swing to Mr. Trump of any county in the U.S. In nearby Zapata County, Mrs. Clinton won by 33 points in 2016. This year, Mr. Trump took it by 6 points. Though Mr. Biden prevailed, the falloff of support in a historically loyal but socially conservative region signals trouble for a Democratic Party seeking to hold together a broad voter constituency. Many counties in this stretch of South Texas are more than 90% Hispanic and traditionally the state’s bluest—unlike Florida, where there are many more Republican-leaning Latinos. It is a place that Democrats counted on, and, according to residents here, didn’t understand enough to see what was coming. Aside from Mexican heritage and Spanish surnames, much of the Rio Grande Valley has more demographic similarities with some Trump strongholds in white rural communities than the nation’s urban areas. Many South Texans live in communities with lower-income and lower-education rates. In Starr County, just over half of its 65,600 residents graduated high school, and the unemployment rate of 18.5% is the highest in Texas. The region is ethnically homogenous, rural in parts, deeply religious, intensely patriotic, socially conservative and hurting economically.

“Bush congratulates Biden, says election was 'fundamentally fair' and 'its outcome is clear'” by CNN’s Eric Bradner – Former President George W. Bush congratulated President-elect Joe Biden in a phone call Sunday and said that, while President Donald Trump has the right to pursue legal challenges and recounts, the 2020 race was "fundamentally fair" and "its outcome is clear." The gesture by Bush, the only living former Republican president, was a break from his party's outgoing president, Trump, who has so far refused to concede the race.

In the statement, Bush said he had called Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Sunday. "Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man, who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country," Bush said. "The President-elect reiterated that while he ran as a Democrat, he will govern for all Americans. I offered him the same thing I offered Presidents Trump and Obama: my prayers for his success, and my pledge to help in any way I can." Bush also offered congratulations in the statement to Trump "on a hard-fought campaign," nodding to his "extraordinary political achievement" of winning the votes of more than 70 million Americans, the second-most in history behind Biden. "They have spoken, and their voices will continue to be heard through elected Republicans at every level of government," Bush said. Bush in 2000 was elected by a much smaller margin than Biden, with his race against Democratic then-Vice President Al Gore coming down to 537 votes in Florida and a Supreme Court decision in December. He said Trump "has the right to request recounts and pursue legal challenges," but said Biden's win was clear. "The American people can have confidence that this election was fundamentally fair, its integrity will be upheld, and its outcome is clear," Bush said.

“Trump team vows more lawsuits in key states, as top Republicans mum on projected Biden win” by Fox News’s Ronn Blitzer, Evie Fordham – Despite Joe Biden being projected as the next president-elect, President Trump is pushing forward with legal challenges as vote tallies continue, and Republican leaders have largely avoided weighing in on the latest developments. Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney, estimated his team will have four or five lawsuits over alleged voter fraud in battleground states by the end of the week and said Trump is right not to concede on Sunday. "It really would be wrong for him at this point it be wrong for him to concede," Giuliani told "Sunday Morning Futures." "There is strong evidence that this was an election that at least three or four states and possibly 10, it was stolen. In other words it was based on false votes. Now you can't let that election go into history without challenging that." Giuliani said his team may have enough evidence to "change Pennsylvania," claiming that hundreds of thousands of votes were "completely invalid." "There are upwards of 50 witnesses, and this will be the subject of a lawsuit that we file tomorrow for violating civil rights for conducting an unfair election, for violating the law of the state, for treating Pittsburgh and Philadelphia different than the rest of the state, which is an equal protection violation, which goes under Bush v. Gore," Giuliani said on Sunday. "We're at now 450,000 definite mail-in ballots that they separated from the envelope, threw the envelope away. We can never tell if they're valid or not." Trump still leads in North Carolina, but that state continues to accept late mail-in ballots and Biden's leads in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada are growing. The president, however, insists that those leads are the result of illegal ballots.

“Georgia’s Two Runoff Races Become Focus for Senate Control” by WSJ’s Lindsay Wise, Cameron McWhirter and Jennifer Calfas – While the nation is focused on the outcome of the presidential election, political insiders and activists are turning their attention to Georgia where a set of runoff races likely will determine control of the U.S. Senate and whether President-elect Joe Biden will have a Democratic majority in both chambers of Congress when he begins his administration. The partisan breakdown in the Senate is currently a tie, with 48 Republicans and 48 Democrats. Four seats are still outstanding: In addition to the Georgia runoffs, Republicans are leading and expected to win in Alaska and North Carolina, but those races haven’t been called yet by the Associated Press because votes are still being counted. If Republicans hold their seats in Alaska and North Carolina, Democrats would need to win both of the Georgia runoff races on Jan. 5 to control 50 seats in the chamber. That would give their party majority control since Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, in her role as president of the Senate, could cast any tiebreaking votes. The House is expected to remain in Democratic control, albeit with a smaller majority. The Georgia runoffs will test how far the political landscape has shifted in a state where Mr. Biden was leading President Trump on Sunday by about 10,000 votes out of almost 5 million cast. A recount is expected in the state’s presidential contest because of the narrow margin, currently the closest in Georgia since the Civil War. If Mr. Biden ultimately succeeds in winning Georgia’s 16 electoral votes, he will be the first Democratic presidential nominee to capture the state since 1992. While the presidential candidate with the most votes in the general election is the winner, Georgia’s election law is different for Senate and House candidates. If no candidate in those races gets more than 50% plus one vote, the two top vote getters, regardless of party, compete in a runoff. That’s what happened Tuesday in both the re-election bid of GOP Sen. David Perdue, and in a special election to complete the term of retired Sen. Johnny Isakson, a Republican.

“Jared Kushner, Melania Trump advise Trump to accept election loss” by CNN’s  Kaitlan Collins, Kate Bennett, Jeremy Diamond and Kevin Liptak – President Donald Trump's inner circle is beginning to split over his ongoing refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election, as Jared Kushner and first lady Melania Trump advised him to come to terms with President-elect Joe Biden's victory and his adult sons pressed him and allies to keep fighting. Kushner, the President's son-in-law and senior adviser, has approached him to concede, two sources told CNN. The first lady, according to a separate source familiar with the conversations, has privately said the time has come for him to accept the election loss. Meanwhile, Trump's two adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, have urged allies to continue pressing on and they have pushed Republicans and supporters to publicly reject the results even as CNN and other news organizations projected the race for Biden on Saturday. Trump's campaign is planning a messaging blitz to fuel its argument -- unsupported by any evidence to date -- that the President's second term is being stolen from him through corrupt vote counts in battleground states, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN on Sunday evening. One of the ways it plans to do that is presenting obituaries of people the campaign will claim voted in the election and considering having campaign style rallies to amplify the message, according to two of the sources. The goal of the effort is to raise enough doubt about the results that secretaries of state in battlegrounds feel pressure to open investigations or call on their own for recounts -- something that would prolong the process and potentially give the campaign more time to advance its litigation through the courts. A previous fact check by CNN of claims by a handful of prominent Republicans, such as members of Trump's family and supporters like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, of dead people voting in Michigan fell apart under scrutiny. A CNN analysis of the claim and the purported backing for it did not find a single instance of that happening.

“Biden's first move as president-elect? Mask mandate for all. Here's how he plans on doing it.” By Fox News’ Lucas Manfredi – One of Joe Biden's first priorities as president-elect will be implementing mask mandates nationwide by working with governors. The future 46th president, however, says if they refuse than he will go to mayors and county executives and get local masking requirements in place. Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel believes that while masks are "the icing on the physical distancing cake" and should be worn properly both indoors and outdoors, especially when people are too close together, a more punitive approach to mask wearing may have the opposite impact of what the administration intends. "I think masks are quite useful, but they have a place and they're not the be all and end all," Siegel said. "I'm worried that mandating this with fines and such may actually lead to more of a rebellion against it." He noted that the use of masks should be determined based on how much of the risk of exposure to the coronavirus is in a specific area rather than mandating it everywhere. As for social distancing, Biden's plan says it will be used as more of a "dial" approach that will determine the risk of spread using evidence-based guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a move Siegel says is a mistake. "I don't think social distancing is dial. I think masks are a dial," Siegel said. "Social distancing is something we should just be doing right now. You never know how much virus was in the community." He believes physical distancing is actually more important to curbing the spread than masks are. "I think physical distancing is more important than masks," Siegel argued. "If you're 10 feet away from someone, you're not going to get the virus. If you're one foot away with a mask, you might."

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump- STOCK MARKET UP BIG, VACCINE COMING SOON. REPORT 90% EFFECTIVE. SUCH GREAT NEWS!

Joe Biden @JoeBiden-A nation united.

A nation strengthened.

A nation healed.

The United States of America.