Secretary of State indicates Trump administration is on the way out
This shouldn’t be news. But after secretary of state Mike Pompeo talked after the election about a “smooth transition” tiny pause, smirk “to a second Trump administration”, we now see an effective acknowledgement of a changing of the guard in Washington, DC.
Questioned at an event about his legacy in the Trump administration, Pompeo gave a fulsome and plain answer that was all about leaving office.
“I think we’re leaving the world safer than when we came in,” Pompeo said.
He added: “I hope that the policies that we put in place will have the capacity to continue and whoever the next secretary of state is will continue down this path…”
Etc.
Here’s the key tweet from CBS.
Christina Ruffini
(@EenaRuffini)While the president is trying to change the results of the election, @SecPompeo seems to be openly admitting reality. Asked about his legacy, starts by saying “we are leaving— after four years…” pic.twitter.com/A2yAZfpiYd
Joe Biden’s incoming secretary of state has been named, of course, and is the experienced Anthony Blinken.
Georgia voters head to the polls
Good morning, US live blog readers. It’s G-Day! The Georgia runoffs that will determine two US Senate seats and the balance of power in the senate overall after November’s close elections. There will be lots of action in US politics today so please stay with us as we bring you live developments.
And, importantly, we are running this blog non-stop for the next 24 hours to reflect the vital news from Georgia. Do stay tuned for our bloggers as we hand the baton over to each other around the clock.
Here’s what we’re watching this morning.
- Georgians began lining up in the dark this morning outside polling stations in Atlanta before they opened at 7am eastern time across the state for in-person voting.
- Record numbers of people voted early but many will want to cast their ballots on the day – the polling stations are open from 7am to 7pm ET.
- Four candidates are fighting over two seats, with Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue hoping to retain power against Democratic challengers Raphael Warnock and John Ossoff.
- The US Senate in Washington was so closely fought in the November election that the outcome of the Georgia runoffs today (after Loeffler and Perdue failed to get above 50% of the vote in November to win re-election on the spot) will determine whether the GOP or the Democrats have control over the senate in the incoming Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration.
- In Washington, DC, mayor Muriel Bowser has requested National Guard troops to back up local police tomorrow for expected pro-Donald Trump protests coinciding with the vote in Congress to certify the Electoral College vote and formally declare Joe Biden the winner of November’s presidential election.
- In rallies in Georgia yesterday, Biden said: “Georgia, the whole nation is looking to you”, while Donald Trump tried to strong-arm his vice president, Mike Pence, to overturn the election result in Congress tomorrow – a power the vice-president does not possess whether he wanted to or not.
Updated
