Page 28 - bon-dia-aruba-20201104

A28 u.s. news
Diaranson 4 november 2020

Trump, Biden cede stage to voters for Election Day verdict

day, Trump and Biden broke as the weather turns cold.
sharply over the mechanics of
the vote itself while visiting In Atlanta, occupational ther-
the most fiercely contested apy practitioner Justin Win-
battleground, Pennsylvania. dom, 29, said he was unsure
if he was going to vote until
The Republican president last night. But after speaking
threatened legal action to with his parents and one of
block the counting of bal- his patients, he said he de-
lots received after Election cided to get up at the crack
Day. If Pennsylvania ballot of dawn and cast his ballot
counting takes several days, for Biden as the “lesser of
as is allowed, Trump claimed two evils.” The campaign has
without evidence that “cheat- largely been a referendum
ing can happen like you have on Trump’s handling of the
never seen.” virus. Trump insists the na-
tion was “rounding the turn”
In fact, there are roughly 20 on the virus. But Dr. Debo-
states that allow mail-in bal- rah Birx, the coordinator of
lots received after Election the White House coronavi-
Day to be counted — up to rus task force, broke with the
nine days and longer in some president and joined a chorus
states. Litigation has centered of Trump administration sci-
on just a few where states entists sounding the alarm
have made changes in large about the current spike in in-
part due to the coronavirus. fections.
Jen O’Malley Dillon, Biden's “We are entering the most
campaign manager, said concerning and most deadly
Biden planned to address the phase of this pandemic,” Birx
(AP) — After a campaign of America for the next four electoral college votes com- nation on Tuesday evening, wrote in a memo distributed
marked by rancor and years. The record-setting ear- pared to Democrat Hillary though the winner might still to top administration offi-
fear, Americans on Tues- ly vote — and legal skirmish- Clinton's 232. The presi- not be clear. She said Biden cials. She added that the na-
day decide between Presi- ing over how it will be count- dent, who returned to the would stress unifying the na- tion was not implementing
dent Donald Trump and ed — drew unsupported alle- White House after 3 a.m. on tion in his remarks. “balanced” measures needed
Democrat Joe Biden, se- gations of fraud from Trump, Tuesday following a busy day to slow the spread of the vi-
lecting a leader to steer a who refused to guarantee he of campaigning, visited his The country braced for what rus. The contents were first
nation battered by a surg- would honor the election’s campaign headquarters in was to come — and a result reported Monday by The
ing pandemic that has result. Virginia and planned to do that might not be known for Washington Post.
killed more than 231,000 interviews with conservative days.
people, cost millions their Fighting to the end for ev- radio hosts later in the day. A new anti-scale fence was In Concord, New Hamp-
jobs and reshaped daily ery vote, Biden headed to Vice President Mike Pence erected around the White shire, 70-year-old Linda
life. Philadelphia and stopped had scheduled at least 21 in- House. And in downtowns Eastman said she was giving
by a carpenters' union hall terviews with local media ranging from New York her vote to Trump, saying,
Nearly 100 million Ameri- and visited his childhood outlets. to Denver to Minneapolis, “Maybe he wasn’t perfect
cans voted early, and now it home and church in his na- Trump invited hundreds of workers boarded up busi- with the coronavirus, but I
falls to Election Day voters tive Scranton on Tuesday as supporters to an election nesses lest the vote lead to think he did the best that he
to finish the job, ending a part of a get-out-the-vote ef- night party in the East Room unrest of the sort that broke could with what he had.”
campaign dominated by the fort before awaiting election of the White House. out earlier this year amid
coronavirus and defined by results in his hometown of protests over racial inequal- In Virginia Beach, it was a
tensions over who could best Wilmington, Delaware. His The first polls close at 6 p.m. ity. Just a short walk from vote for Biden from 54-year-
address it. Each candidate de- running mate, Sen. Kamala Eastern time in swaths of In- the White House, for block old Gabriella Cochrane, who
clared the other fundamen- Harris, was visiting Detroit, diana and Kentucky, followed after block, stores had their said she thought the for-
tally unfit to lead a nation a heavily Black city in battle- by a steady stream of poll windows and doors covered. mer vice president would
grappling with COVID-19 ground Michigan. Both of closings every 30 minutes to Some kept just a front door "surround himself with the
and facing foundational their spouses were headed an hour throughout the eve- open, hoping to attract a little brightest and the best” to
questions about racial justice out, too, as the Democrats ning. The last polls in Alaska business. fight the pandemic.
and economic fairness. reached for a clear victory. shut down at 1 a.m. Eastern
Biden entered Election Day time on Wednesday. Both candidates voted early, The challenge of counting a
with multiple paths to vic- Biden and his wife, Jill, start- and first lady Melania Trump record-setting early vote add-
tory while Trump, playing ed the day with a stop at St. The hard-fought campaign cast her ballot Tuesday near ed a layer of uncertainty to
catch-up in a number of bat- Joseph’s on the Brandywine left voters on both sides eager Mar-a-Lago, the couple’s es- an election marked by suspi-
tleground states, had a nar- in Wilmington, Delaware, to move on. tate in Palm Beach, Florida. cions fueled by an incumbent
rower but still feasible road to with two of his grandchil- “I believe there’s a lot of di- Mrs. Trump, who recently who has consistently trailed
clinch 270 Electoral College dren in tow. The four then vision and separation,” said recovered from COVID-19, in the polls.
votes. Control of the Senate walked to his late son Beau Kelvin Hardnett, who was was the only one not wear- In west Philadelphia, James
was at stake, too: Democrats Biden’s grave, in the church among more than two dozen ing a mask as she entered “Sekou” Jenkins, 68, a retired
needed to net three seats if cemetery. Beau, a former voters who lined up more the polling site. Her spokes- carpenter and mechanic,
Biden captured the White Delaware attorney general, than hour before the poll- woman, Stephanie Grisham, said he didn't want to take a
House to gain control of all died of brain cancer in 2015 ing site at the Cobb County said the first lady was the chance with the mail and cast
of Washington for the first and had encouraged the for- Civic Center outside Atlanta only person at the polling his ballot in person for Biden.
time in a decade. The House mer vice president to make opened on Tuesday morn- site besides poll workers and
was expected to remain un- another White House run. ing. “And I believe that once her staff — all of whom were “I don’t want to see no mail-
der Democratic control. we get past the names and tested. Whoever wins will man," said Jenkins, who
Trump called into “Fox & the titles and the personal have to deal with an anxious waited in line for about an
Voters braved long lines and Friends,” where he predicted agendas, then you know, we nation, reeling from a once- hour to cast his vote. “I like
the threat of the virus to cast he will win by a larger elec- can focus on some real is- in-a-century heath crisis that to stand here, see my own
ballots as they chose between toral margin than he did in sues.” On their final full day has closed schools and busi- people, wait in the line and
two starkly different visions 2016, when he tallied 306 on the campaign trail Mon- nesses and that is worsening do my civil duty.”