Joe Biden: Stumbles, tragedies and, now, delayed triumph

Days before he left the White House in 2017, President Barack Obama surprised Joe Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, declaring his septuagenarian, white-haired lieutenant "the best vice president America's ever had," a "lion of American history." The tribute marked the presumed end of a long public life that put Biden in the orbit of the Oval Office for 45 years -- yet, through a combination of family and personal tragedy, his own political missteps and sheer

Nov. 8, 2020

Harris becomes first black woman, South Asian elected US VP

Vice president-elect Kamala Harris on Saturday paid tribute to the women, particularly Black women, whose shoulders she stands on as she shatters barriers that have kept mostly white men entrenched at the highest levels of American politics for more than two centuries. "Tonight I reflect on their struggle, their determination and the strength of their vision to see what can be unburdened by what has been," Harris said, wearing a white suit in tribute to women's suffrage. She called it

Nov. 8, 2020

Biden defeats Trump for White House, says 'time to heal'

WASHINGTON (AP)-- Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States on Saturday and offered himself to the nation as a leader who "seeks not to divide, but to unify" a country gripped by a historic pandemic and a confluence of economic and social turmoil. "I sought this office to restore the soul of America," Biden said in a prime-time victory speech not far from his Delaware home, "and to make America respected around

Nov. 8, 2020

Biden vows action on 'day one' to halt spiraling coronavirus crisis

Joe Biden said Friday as he closed in on winning the US presidency he would he waste no time in addressing the Covid pandemic upon taking office. "I want everyone, everyone to know on day one we're going to put our plan to control this virus into action," Biden said in a late night address from his hometown Wilmington, in Delaware. Biden expressed confidence that he would defeat President Donald Trump as vote counting dragged on from Tuesday's election but stopped short of declarin

Nov. 7, 2020

Biden says he's preparing for White House

Joe Biden says he is already preparing to assume the presidency even though he has not been declared the winner in his race against President Donald Trump. "I want people to know we're not waiting to get the work done," he said late Friday in remarks to the nation. Biden said he and his running mate, Kamala Harris, have held briefings on the coronavirus and the economy this week as the US records record daily cases. He noted nearly 240,000 people have died from the pandemic and said

Nov. 7, 2020

Trump faces tough road in getting Supreme Court to intervene

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said there's one place he wants to determine the outcome of the presidential election: the US Supreme Court. But he may have a difficult time ever getting there. Over the last two days, Trump has leaned in to the idea that the high court should get involved in the election as it did in 2000. Then, the court effectively settled the contested election for President George W. Bush in a 5-4 decision that split the court's liberals and conservatives. Today, s

Nov. 7, 2020

Biden eases ahead in Georgia; Trump attacks election process

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump is testing how far he can go in using the trappings of presidential power to undermine confidence in this week's election against Joe Biden, as the Democrat gained ground in tight contests in key battleground states -- and then inched ahead in Georgia. With his pathway to reelection appearing to shrink, Trump on Thursday advanced unsupported accusations of voter fraud to falsely argue that his rival was trying to seize power. It amounted to a

Nov. 6, 2020

[Newsmaker] Election officials worried by threats and protesters

Election officials in several states said Thursday they are worried about the safety of their staffs amid a stream of threats and gatherings of angry protesters outside their doors, drawn by President Donald Trump's baseless claims of widespread fraud in the race for the White House. "I can tell you that my wife and my mother are very concerned for me," said Joe Gloria, the registrar in Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas. He said his staff was bolstering security and trac

Nov. 6, 2020

Trump steps to podium, baselessly attacks election

WASHINGTON (AP) -- For 40 hours, President Donald Trump fumed in private and tweeted his grievances in all caps. When he at last emerged, it was to stand behind the presidential seal in the White House and deliver a diatribe most notable for his litany of false statements about the election and his attempt to cast doubt on the integrity of the democratic process. As votes continued to be counted and Democrat Joe Biden edged closer to victory, Trump lashed out Thursday evening in a perfor

Nov. 6, 2020

Biden sees path to 270; Trump attacks election integrity

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump is testing how far he can go in using the trappings of presidential power to undermine confidence in this week's election against Joe Biden, as the Democrat gained ground in tight contests in some key battleground states. With his pathway to re-election appearing to shrink, Trump on Thursday advanced unsupported accusations of voter fraud to falsely argue that his rival was trying to seize power. It amounted to an extraordinary effort by a sitting

Nov. 6, 2020

Biden inches closer to possible victory amid slow vote counting

WASHINGTON,  -- The United States -- and the rest of the world -- continued to wait Thursday for the outcome of the presidential election as vote counting progressed at a snail's pace two days after the polls closed, with Democratic candidate Joe Biden holding razor-thin leads in key states. Both Biden and President Donald Trump still had a chance to win, but the former vice president was nearing a surprise victory in at least three of the six key battleground states that were all won by T

Nov. 6, 2020

Kosovo president resigns to face war crimes charges

PRISTINA (AP) -- Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci, a guerrilla leader during Kosovo's war for independence from Serbia in the 1990s, resigned on Thursday in order to face charges for war crimes and crimes against humanity at a special court based in The Hague. Thaci announced his resignation at a news conference on Thursday in Pristina, Kosovo's capital. He said he was taking the step "to protect the integrity of the presidency of Kosovo." Thaci was indicted by a special Kosovo court

Nov. 5, 2020

Biden closes in on victory

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Democrat Joe Biden took a huge step Wednesday to capturing the White House, with wins in Michigan and Wisconsin bringing him close to a majority, but President Donald Trump responded with fury as his campaign sued to suspend vote counting. In a brief address on national television, flanked by American flags and his vice presidential pick Kamala Harris, Biden said he wasn't yet declaring victory, but that "when the count is finished, we believe we will be the winners.&qu

Nov. 5, 2020

Trump backers converge on vote centers in Michigan, Arizona

Dozens of angry supporters of President Donald Trump converged on vote-counting centers in Detroit and Phoenix as the returns went against him Wednesday in the two key states, while thousands of anti-Trump protesters demanding a complete tally of the ballots in the still-undecided election took to the streets in cities across the US. "Stop the count!" the Trump supporters chanted in Detroit. "Stop the steal!" they said in Phoenix. The protests came as the president insisted

Nov. 5, 2020

[Newsmaker] Trump sues in 3 states, laying ground for contesting outcome

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump's campaign filed lawsuits Wednesday in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia, laying the groundwork for contesting battleground states as he slipped behind Democrat Joe Biden in the hunt for the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House. The new filings, joining existing Republican legal challenges in Pennsylvania and Nevada, demand better access for campaign observers to locations where ballots are being processed and counted, and raise ab

Nov. 5, 2020

Biden wins Michigan, Wisconsin, now on brink of White House

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Joe Biden won the battleground prizes of Michigan and Wisconsin on Wednesday, reclaiming a key part of the "blue wall" that slipped away from Democrats four years ago and dramatically narrowing President Donald Trump's pathway to reelection. A full day after Election Day, neither candidate had cleared the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House. But Biden's victories in the Great Lakes states left him at 264, meaning he was one battleground state a

Nov. 5, 2020

Trump seeks to stop 'all voting,' but only counting remains

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump says he'll take the presidential election to the Supreme Court, but it’s unclear what he means in a country in which vote tabulations routinely continue beyond Election Day, and states largely set the rules for when the count has to end. "We'll be going to the US Supreme Court -- we want all voting to stop," Trump said early Wednesday. But the voting is over. It's only counting that is taking place across the nation. No state will

Nov. 4, 2020

[Photo News] US Election Day gathers supporters across US

The US presidential election battle between incumbent President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was especially fierce in six battleground states on Election Day. Supporters of respective candidates in the US gathered both outdoors and indoors for celebrations after voting, in anticipation of the results. Voters concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic wore masks to such events to prevent further spread of the virus. By Song Donna (donnadsong@heraldcorp.com)

Nov. 4, 2020

Biden, Trump locked in tight races in battleground states

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden were locked in tight races in battleground states across the country Tuesday night as they concluded an epic campaign that will shape America's response to the surging pandemic and foundational questions of economic fairness and racial justice. Trump won the key battlegrounds of Ohio and Iowa while Biden picked up Minnesota and New Hampshire, a pair of modest prizes that the president tried to steal from the Demo

Nov. 4, 2020

Trump leading in all but one of key battleground states

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump was leading in five of six key battleground states, including Florida, while his Democratic rival Joe Biden was projected to win the previously Republican state of Arizona in Tuesday's tight presidential election. Vote counting was still under way in most states, including the battleground states, but Trump was ready to claim victory in a late night press conference. "We were ready to win. Frankly, we did win this election," he said in a White

Nov. 4, 2020