Biden Works on COVID-19, Trump Dismisses Election Results
2020-11-10
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1American President-elect Joe Biden is moving quickly to set up his future administration and discuss policy issues.
2The move comes as President Donald Trump continues to dismiss the election results, taking legal actions and demanding recounts.
3Speaking Monday from Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said, "This election is over. It's time to put aside the partisanship and the rhetoric."
4He also spoke about the COVID-19 health crisis.
5"It doesn't matter your party, your point of view," he said.
6"We can save tens of thousands of lives if everyone would just wear a mask for the next few months. Not Democratic or Republican lives - American lives."
7Biden said, "the goal is to get back to normal as fast as possible."
8He cheered the results announced of Pfizer's vaccine trial as "great news."
9But he warned that it would be many more months before the vaccine is widely available.
10Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have been meeting with 13 scientists and public health experts expected to lead the next administration's COVID-19 effort.
11The group includes former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler and Yale University public health care expert Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith.
12Besides fighting COVID-19, Biden and Harris said the goals of the new administration include economic recovery, racial equality and new climate change policies.
13During the campaign, Biden repeatedly said he will return the United States to the Paris climate agreement and support the World Health Organization.
14He also promised to revisit the Iranian nuclear agreement and rebuild relations with NATO allies.
15Biden also plans to change current immigration policies, raise taxes on the wealthy and expand health care.
16With 270 Electoral College votes needed to win, Biden now has 279 and he continues to lead vote counts in Arizona and Georgia.
17Biden has received more than 75 million votes overall and Trump, 71 million.
18The Trump campaign has dismissed the election results so far, saying, "This election is far from over."
19It said it would begin to argue in court Monday "to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated."
20Courts in several states already have rejected a number of the campaign's legal actions.
21President Trump is facing increasing pressure to concede the election.
22On Sunday, George W. Bush, the only living Republican former president called Biden and Harris to congratulate them on their victory.
23Bush said in a statement, "The President-elect reiterated that while he ran as a Democrat, he will govern for all Americans.
24I offered him the same thing I offered Presidents Trump and Obama: my prayers for his success, and my pledge to help in any way I can."
25The General Services Administration is the agency responsible for helping with the process of putting a new administration in place.
26As of Monday, it had not started the process nor received any guidance on when to do so.
27Trump continued to question the election results and the voting process on the social media site Twitter.
28On Monday, the president also announced he had dismissed the Secretary of Defense from office.
29He wrote on Twitter, "Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service."
30The U.S. Constitution and federal law have established a process to seat a president-elect.
31American states will meet on December 8 to choose electors who will vote for the winner of the presidential election.
32On December 14, the electors will meet to vote in a process known as the Electoral College.
33The entire U.S. Congress will meet on January 6, 2021 to officially count the Electoral College votes.
34The president-elect will be sworn in on January 20 at noon.
35I'm Caty Weaver.
1American President-elect Joe Biden is moving quickly to set up his future administration and discuss policy issues. The move comes as President Donald Trump continues to dismiss the election results, taking legal actions and demanding recounts. 2Speaking Monday from Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said, "This election is over. It's time to put aside the partisanship and the rhetoric." 3He also spoke about the COVID-19 health crisis. "It doesn't matter your party, your point of view," he said. "We can save tens of thousands of lives if everyone would just wear a mask for the next few months. Not Democratic or Republican lives - American lives." 4Biden said, "the goal is to get back to normal as fast as possible." He cheered the results announced of Pfizer's vaccine trial as "great news." But he warned that it would be many more months before the vaccine is widely available. 5Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have been meeting with 13 scientists and public health experts expected to lead the next administration's COVID-19 effort. The group includes former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler and Yale University public health care expert Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith. 6Besides fighting COVID-19, Biden and Harris said the goals of the new administration include economic recovery, racial equality and new climate change policies. 7During the campaign, Biden repeatedly said he will return the United States to the Paris climate agreement and support the World Health Organization. He also promised to revisit the Iranian nuclear agreement and rebuild relations with NATO allies. 8Biden also plans to change current immigration policies, raise taxes on the wealthy and expand health care. 9Trump dismisses election results 10With 270 Electoral College votes needed to win, Biden now has 279 and he continues to lead vote counts in Arizona and Georgia. Biden has received more than 75 million votes overall and Trump, 71 million. 11The Trump campaign has dismissed the election results so far, saying, "This election is far from over." It said it would begin to argue in court Monday "to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated." Courts in several states already have rejected a number of the campaign's legal actions. 12President Trump is facing increasing pressure to concede the election. 13On Sunday, George W. Bush, the only living Republican former president called Biden and Harris to congratulate them on their victory. Bush said in a statement, "The President-elect reiterated that while he ran as a Democrat, he will govern for all Americans. I offered him the same thing I offered Presidents Trump and Obama: my prayers for his success, and my pledge to help in any way I can." 14The General Services Administration is the agency responsible for helping with the process of putting a new administration in place. As of Monday, it had not started the process nor received any guidance on when to do so. 15Trump continued to question the election results and the voting process on the social media site Twitter. On Monday, the president also announced he had dismissed the Secretary of Defense from office. He wrote on Twitter, "Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service." 16The U.S. Constitution and federal law have established a process to seat a president-elect. 17American states will meet on December 8 to choose electors who will vote for the winner of the presidential election. On December 14, the electors will meet to vote in a process known as the Electoral College. 18The entire U.S. Congress will meet on January 6, 2021 to officially count the Electoral College votes. The president-elect will be sworn in on January 20 at noon. 19I'm Caty Weaver. 20Hai Do wrote this story for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. 21_________________________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23partisanship - n. a person who strongly supports a particular leader, group, or cause 24rhetoric - n. language that is intended to influence people and that may not be honest or reasonable 25mask - n. a covering used to protect your face or cover your mouth 26concede - v. to admit that you have been defeated 27reiterate - v. to repeat something you have already said in order to emphasize it 28pledge - n. a serious and formal promise 29terminate - v. to take a job away from someone