Putin, Xi and other strongmen haven't congratulated Biden yet. Their silence speaks volumes
Congratulations have been pouring in for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris from leaders around the world -- but not all have been forthcoming in acknowledging the projected victors of the 2020 US presidential election.
Among the notable holdouts are the strongmen who President Donald Trump has cozied up to and heaped praise upon over the last four years. Trump's affinity for authoritarian leaders across the globe has been one of the few constants during his chaotic time in office.
In staying silent, these leaders have spoken volumes about the types of relationships they anticipate having with the new administration.
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Chinese President Xi Jinping
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador
(CNN)
US election: Trump camp vows legal fight just began
US President Donald Trump's spokeswoman has vowed the legal battle to contest Joe Biden's White House election victory is only just beginning.
"This election is not over," White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told a news conference. "Far from it."
She made a flurry of allegations of election corruption, although no evidence of systemic fraud that might have influenced the result has emerged.
Mr Trump, a Republican, has not conceded the race.
(BBC)
Biden beat Trump by less than 276,000 votes in key swing states
The margins were tighter in the crucial battleground states that Biden secured to win the Electoral College count.
Biden is ahead of Trump by 275,351 votes in six key states – Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada. As of Monday evening Biden was ahead of the president by 15,432 votes in Arizona, a slim 11,595 in Georgia, 45,475 in Pennsylvania, 146,123 in Michigan, 20,540 in Wisconsin, and 36,186 in Nevada.
It was a similar story four years ago, although Trump's margin of victory over Clinton was smaller.
Trump won Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin – three states that had been carried by the Democrats in presidential elections for a quarter century – by just 78,000 votes over 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The combined 46 electoral votes in all three states were enough to put Trump over the top. And Trump carried Florida’s 29 electoral votes by a margin of just under 113,000.
( FOX NEWS )