President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday promised a group of workers hit by the raging COVID-19 pandemic that more aid would be on the way, while President Donald Trump hinted he may be ready to begin planning another run for the White House in 2024, Reuters informs.
Biden, who has pledged to act quickly to provide more resources to fight the health crisis after he is inaugurated on Jan. 20, told a group of workers and business owners that any emergency aid approved by Congress before he takes office would be only a “down payment.”
Republicans and Democrats are trying to resolve a months-long standoff in Congress over a stimulus package for businesses affected by coronavirus shutdowns as well as the millions who have lost jobs.
“My transition team is already working on what I will put forward to the next Congress to address the multiple crises we’re facing, especially the economic crisis and COVID,” Biden told the workers at a roundtable in his home state of Delaware.
More than 270,000 people in the United States have died of COVID-19, which is resurgent across the country. The United States leads the world in the number of infections as well as the number of deaths reported every day.
“I don’t want you to give up hope,” Biden told the workers. “Hang on, we’ll get through this.”
Trump has refused to concede the Nov. 3 election and his lawyers continue to file legal challenges to the outcome, alleging electoral fraud without providing evidence. State and federal election officials have repeatedly said there is no such evidence. Most of the lawsuits have been rejected by judges.
Trump’s campaign said on Wednesday he had filed suit against the Wisconsin Election Commission and several local officials in the state asking a U.S. District Court to find “constitutional violations” and send the matter to the state legislature to override the state’s results and select Republican electors.
At a White House holiday reception on Tuesday night, Trump appeared to acknowledge that his legal efforts could fail and in that case he would run again.
“We are trying to do another four years,” he told the assembled group, according to a Republican source who was at the event. “Otherwise, I’ll see you in four years.”
A source familiar with the internal debate says Trump has been discussing with advisers not attending the inauguration ceremony on Jan. 20 but instead announcing his 2024 bid that day. The source said there had been no decision. Only a handful of outgoing U.S. presidents have chosen to miss the swearing-in of their successors.
Trump also tweeted a video on Wednesday in which he repeated unfounded accusations about the election being rigged and said he would keep up the fight against the outcome. Trump, who spoke from behind a lectern with the presidential seal, posted a two-minute version of the message on Twitter with a link to a 46-minute version on Facebook.
A day earlier, Attorney General William Barr, who has long been seen as a Trump ally, said the Justice Department has found no evidence of widespread fraud.
Trump’s claims have gained traction among his followers, however, helping to raise as much as $170 million for an “Election Defense Fund” that can be used for a wide variety of future political activities, including another run for the presidency, according to media reports.
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