Democrats have won one Senate seat in Georgia and are ahead for the second one effectively, should the double win continue, give the Democrats control of the House, the Senate and the Presidency. Today is also the day Mike Pence has admitted he will have to accept Joe Biden as our new President-elect. Boo-hoo, boys.
Georgia's Senate runoffs: Warnock makes history with runoff win, Ossoff ahead Joey Garrison and Nicholas Wu, USA TODAY 22 mins ago
Democrat Jon Ossoff declared victory over Georgia Republican Sen. David Perdue in a Wednesday morning speech to supporters in Atlanta, calling for unity to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic. No major news outlet has projected a win for the Democrat yet.
“It is with humility that I thank the people of Georgia for electing me to serve you in the United States Senate", Ossoff said.
Media outlets projected a win for Georgia’s other Senate runoff race for Democrat Raphael Warnock last night, meaning that if Ossoff's win becomes official, Democrats will begin President-elect Biden’s administration with control of both the House and Senate.
Ossoff currently leads Perdue by about 16,000 votes.
Democrats flip the Senate in a devastating blow to Trump and Republicans ssheth@businessinsider.com (Sonam Sheth,Eliza Relman,Grace Panetta)
The Democratic Party has regained control of the US Senate, according to projected results from two critical runoff elections in Georgia. Since the Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock won their respective runoff elections in Georgia, the party will have 50 Senate seats and effective control of the upper chamber because incoming Vice President Kamala Harris will hold the tiebreaking vote.
The Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock as of early Wednesday were projected to win their races against Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.
The Senate will now consist of 50 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and two independents who caucus with the Democrats, resulting in a 50-50 split. But Democrats will effectively control the chamber because incoming Vice President Kamala Harris holds the tiebreaking vote.
QAnon Figures Share Parody Fake Emails on Mike Pence 'Conspiring' Against Trump Ewan Palmer Newsweek
With just hours to go until Congress meets to count the Electoral College votes to affirm President-elect Joe Biden's election victory, some of the main advocates behind the QAnon conspiracy theory are turning their attention to Vice President Mike Pence amid desperate hopes he will somehow help President Donald Trump overturn the election results.
QAnon conspiracy theorists have shared fake emails which they say prove Pence is a "traitor" to Trump and the country.
Supporters of the radical conspiracy theory have continually pushed disputed claims or just plain misinformation regarding the election since November, fueled by Trump's continuing assertion that he only lost as a result of widespread voter fraud.
The latest prediction from the radical movement—following on from every single claim previously proven completely wrong—is that the outgoing vice president will play the so-called "Pence Card" during his constitutional role as presiding officer of the Senate and reject the Electoral College votes declaring Biden the 306-232 winner.
It is unclear what they expect Pence to actually do during his purely ceremonial role prescribed by law and the Constitution.
This hasn't stopped Trump himself appearing to throw Pence under the bus, tweeting that Pence has the "power to reject fraudulently chosen electors" and telling his supporters at a rally in Georgia on Monday night that he hopes Pence "comes through for us."
Following reports that Pence had to inform the president that he does not have the power to block Congress' certification of Biden's win, Trump issued a statement claiming that he and the vice president are "in total agreement" that he has several options, including decertifying the results or sending them back to the states.
Ahead of Wednesday's session, some of the most prominent figures behind the QAnon movement are now suggesting that if Pence does not stop the democratic process and help Trump remain in the White House, it is not because he is unable to but because he is a "traitor" to the president and their cause.
On Tuesday, Ron Watkins, former administrator of the controversial messageboard site 8Kun which is used as a hub for the QAnon conspiracy, tweeted a link to claims he said was proof that Pence and former House Speaker Paul Ryan had been "conspiring against" Trump in 2016.
The link shows a series of emails claiming to be from the project manager of a Pence-Ryan 2016 campaign website that was "called off after Trump won his second debate." However, the email chain is entirely fake and was created for parody news site RealTrueNews.org.
The fake news website, created by Marco Chacon, duped a number of conservative websites amid the 2016 election, including one which said Hillary Clinton described potential voters as a "bucket of losers" during a speech to Goldman Sachs. The site even has the slogan "fake, but accurate" under its online banner.
Discussing the Pence-Ryan email story picked up by Watkins, Chacon told NBC News: "It's an absurd story told in an absurd manner with absurd trappings. This is a testament to the power of confirmation bias. QAnon supporters literally can't tell the difference between truth and fantasy when it comes to anything with a partisan valence."
Watkins' tweet sharing the fake news was retweeted by attorney Lin Wood, a Trump supporting QAnon follower who has the abbreviation of its slogan "where we go one we go all" in his Twitter bio.
"Answer is YES," Wood tweeted in response to Watkins asking if Pence and Ryan conspired to get Trump "off the ticket" in October 2016.
"Paul Ryan & Mike Pence have been conspiring against Trump since 2016 to defeat President in 2020. These 2 traitors to We The People actually think Pence/Ryan will win 2024. Let them know what you think about their plans," Wood said.
Wood, who worked with fellow QAnon-supporting lawyer Sidney Powell in the widely dismissed and mocked "Kraken" lawsuits attempting to overturn election results, has posted dangerous and unhinged tweets to his 1.1 million followers in recent weeks, resulting in the GOP continually distancing themselves from him.
These include calling for martial law to help Trump win the presidency; wildly claiming Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is being blackmailed by the "liserd Squad" hacking group after being forced to rape and murder a child on video, without offering any evidence; and suggesting Pence could "face execution by firing squad" after being arrested for treason.
The presidential electoral circus draws to an end in Congress By Lauren Fox and Phil Mattingly, CNN
The fallout from Wednesday's congressional session to count the 2020 electoral votes will echo for years to come. The state of the presidential electoral process. The state of the country. The state of a political party. The state of a Congress potentially moving into a new era of Democratic control.
The significance shouldn't be minimized. When the actions of President Donald Trump are factored in, there is no precedent for this moment. Have there been objections in past years? Yes. Have there been objections of this nature, given the pressure from the clearly defeated leader of the country? Nope.
Let's make this abundantly clear: this process ends with the certification of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States. Everything in between now and the final elector tally being read off is noise. Boisterous. Unruly. Likely unseemly. At times barely tethered to reality. But it's not actionable or tangible in terms of having an actual effect. That being said, however long it takes -- and it will not be a short day -- this ends the same way: Biden is inaugurated on January 20.
