Daily cases pass 100,000 . . . A fall surge of COVID-19  seems to be in full effect, as the United States reported 100,000 new daily cases for the first time on Thursday. That staggering number comes less than a week after surpassing more than 9 million confirmed cases, which is more than any other country. USA Today

 

New item on your medical bill: "Covid fee" . . . The coronavirus pandemic has made the practice of health care more costly as providers must wear protective gear and sanitize equipment more often, even as they face declining revenue. Two groups of providers have been particularly hard hit. Dentists have lost billions since patients began postponing nonurgent dental care this spring. And assisted living facilities, grappling with lower overall demand, have also been forced to admit fewer residents to help stop the spread of infection To address this financial shortfall, some health providers are turning directly to patients. Surprise “Covid” and “PPE” fees have turned up across the country. New York Times

 

Supreme Court orders Pennsylvania Democrats to respond in ballot dispute . . . The Supreme Court ordered Pennsylvania Democrats to respond by Thursday evening in a case challenging the state’s three-day extension for counting mail-in ballots. President Trump has moved to intervene in a lawsuit brought by Pennsylvania Republicans, arguing the state’s Democratic Party and Secretary of State violated the law by extending the time for counting mail-in ballots to Nov. 6 at 5 p.m., despite the state legislature setting the deadline as Election Day. The lawsuit takes issue with a state Supreme Court ruling that postmarked ballots be presumed to have been mailed before Nov. 3, even if not clearly postmarked to that effect. Washington Times

 

Today's Trump Schedule

 

Trump campaign sues over counting of late votes in Georgia . . . The Trump 2020 Campaign and the Republican Party of Georgia filed a lawsuit in the state Wednesday, alleging that officials in a Democratic-leaning county were counting ballots for the presidential race that were received after polls closed Tuesday. The Trump campaign also filed two other lawsuits -- in the battlegrounds of Michigan and Pennsylvania -- over vote counting. The Fox News Decision Desk has called Michigan for Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Fox News

 

Trump chips away at Biden lead in Arizona . . . The latest update from Arizona’s most populous county shows Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s lead over President Trump further narrowing in the battleground state. As of early Thursday, Mr. Biden led Mr. Trump in Maricopa County by 74,514 votes, almost 11,000 fewer than the previous update on Wednesday night. About 5 percent of the total vote remains to be counted there. Statewide, Mr. Biden leads Mr. Trump by less than three percentage points. Maricopa County’s next update will come after 9 p.m. Eastern on Thursday. New York Times

 

Video || Biden's final campaign gaffe was his worst

 

Biden closes in on Trump on Georgia . . . The presidential race in Georgia appeared headed for a photo finish as former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. steadily gained ground on President Trump. The victor will be awarded 16 electoral votes. Mr. Biden had begun Wednesday morning approximately 100,000 votes behind Mr. Trump, but as county elections workers around the state continued the laborious tabulation of absentee ballots into Thursday morning, Mr. Trump’s lead narrowed to 24,000 votes, or 0.5 percent. New York Times

 

Trump leads in North Carolina but race my not be called for eight days . . . North Carolina elections officials said Wednesday a final vote count might not be not be available for another 8 days, when all mail-in votes have been counted. The state board of elections said as of Tuesday evening 117,000 voters who requested mail-in ballots had yet to vote, CBS17 reported. The state will count all ballots received by Nov. 12 if they were postmarked by 5 pm Nov. 3. Daily Caller

 

Trump demands Wisconsin recount . . . The Trump campaign announced that it will "immediately" request a recount in Wisconsin, a crucial state for Republicans where Democratic nominee Joe Biden currently holds a razor-thin lead. "The President is well within the threshold to request a recount and we will immediately do so," campaign manager Bill Stepien said in a Wednesday statement. Biden leads Trump in the state by about 20,000 votes—0.7 percent of 3.2 million ballots cast. Washington Free Beacon

 

Finally, the Jewish vote starts moving Republican . . . President Donald Trump performed historically well among Jewish voters in Tuesday night's contested presidential election, receiving the highest portion of the Jewish vote for any Republican candidate since 1988, according to early exit polling. Trump won 30.5 percent of the Jewish vote, up from the 24 percent he received in 2016, according to the Republican Jewish Coalition, which conducted an analysis of national exit polls along with analyst groups Basswood Research and McLaughlin & Associates. Washington Free Beacon

 

Miami Cubans disrupted Biden path in Florida . . . After four years of non-stop outreach to Miami’s Cuban exile community, Trump cruised to victory in Florida thanks to their heavy turnout that also helped the GOP flip two congressional seats and win big in state House and Senate races. “Trump did a really good job of staying on message with the socialist, socialist, socialist thing. Florida Democrats did not do a good job combating this. They knew better and should have been less focused on Venezuelans and Cubans and more on Puerto Ricans and Black voters,” said Frederick Vélez III, national director of civic engagement for the Hispanic Federation, a nonpartisan Latino organization.. Politico

 

Trump phoned Rupert Murdoch in a fury over Fox News Arizona call . . . President Trump telephoned Rupert Murdoch on Tuesday night furious that Fox News had called Arizona for the Democratic nominee Joe Biden, according to two sources, but was unable to make the media mogul change the network's decision. The Arizona call triggered boos inside the flag-bedecked East Room of the White House, where the news channel was being broadcast on two big screens to more than 100 people gathered for what was supposed to be a celebration. “It was total BS. I don’t know Fox News could be allowed to get away with it,” said a source familiar with campaign thinking. “Why did they do it so fast? What was going on?” Washington Examiner

 

Biden breaks Obama record for most votes . . . Former Vice President Joe Biden broke the record for the most number of votes cast for any presidential candidate in history by early Wednesday afternoon. The Democratic presidential nominee surpassed 70,330,000 votes as of 2:38 p.m., according to The Associated Press. Biden's total shatters a previous record for the most votes cast for a president set by Democrat Barack Obama in 2008, with nearly 69,500,000 votes, according to the Federal Election Commission. Politico

 

This mentally fading man with a radical agenda got the most votes ever. Not encouraging.

 

Biden already launches transition website . . . Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Wednesday unveiled their presidential transition website, despite there being no winner of Tuesday's vote.

The website, buildbackbetter.com, is designed to keep people informed of what Biden and Harris - if they win - will do in the weeks leading up to inauguration on January 20. Daily Mail

 

Election night disaster for House Dems . . . Democrats in the House of Representatives lost a number of seats they were hoping to win Tuesday night, a blow to the party’s hopes of expanding their majority, as some were projecting Democrats to pick up as many as 15 seats. As states continue to count votes, many House races were decided on election night, showing big losses for a number of Democrats backed by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Daily Caller

 

Democrats mull ousting Pelosi . . . House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is facing tough questions about her ability to win enough votes to retain her leadership, after Democrats shrunk their House majority and moderates in the party plotted to back a challenger. Already, two centrist Democrats in the House say they are contacting colleagues to round up support for House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries, a top Pelosi lieutenant. Daily Mail

 

Dems fail to unseat Kavanaugh backer Susan Collins . . . Republican senator Susan Collins won a tough reelection campaign in Maine, beating out well-funded Democratic rival Sara Gideon on Tuesday. Gideon called Collins to concede on Wednesday afternoon after the Republican took a 51-42 lead with 85 percent of precincts reporting. The AP has yet to declare a winner in the race, but Collins holds a comfortable lead even as Democrat Joe Biden won the state 52-44. Washington Free Beacon

 

Arizona pushes back against Sharpiegate claims . . . Social media users are claiming that ballots in Arizona are invalid because they were filled out with Sharpie markers - but officials were quick to quash such rumors stating they're still valid. #SharpieGate emerged on social media on Wednesday as Donald Trump supporters suggested that election officials in Maricopa County provided voters with the felt-tipped pens to interfere with their ballots. Some people claimed they were targeted because they wanted to vote for Trump. Trump is famous for using the Sharpie permanent marker. Daily Mail

 

Progressive ballot initiatives defeated . . . California voters, while decisively handing their national endorsement to Democrats, beat back ballot initiatives to abolish cash bail and end the state's ban on affirmative action in higher education admissions. In bright-blue Illinois, meanwhile, voters defeated a plan, spearheaded by the state's Democratic governor, to implement a progressive income tax. Washington Free Beacon

 

National Guard called into Portland to address post-election riots . . . The Oregon National Guard was called into the city of Portland after protests in the city turned violent Wednesday night, police said. Local authorities declared a riot after groups of demonstrators destroyed property in the downtown section of the city, which the Multnomah County Sheriff’s office described as “widespread violence.” New York Post

 

US officially withdraws from Paris climate change accords . . . The U.S. officially withdrew from the Paris Agreement on climate change Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. The 2015 agreement was ratified by 189 countries and six more have signed, but have yet to ratify. “We will continue to work with our global partners to enhance resilience to the impacts of climate change and prepare for and respond to natural disasters,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. Daily Mail

 

McConnell calls for coronavirus relief package by end of year . . . Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that Congress should approve a coronavirus relief package before the end of the year, a shift from his recent suggestion that a measure was more likely early next year. During a press conference in Kentucky a day after he won reelection, McConnell expressed optimism that negotiators could reach a deal post-election. The outcome of the presidential contest and control of the Senate remains unknown, though final results are expected within the coming days if not sooner.  “We need another rescue package,” the Kentucky Republican said. “Hopefully the partisan passions that prevented us from doing another rescue package will subside with the election and I think we need to do it and I think we need to do it before the end of the year.” Politico

 

Video shows officers telling Walter Wallace to drop knife before shooting him . . . As two Philadelphia police officers screamed for Walter Wallace Jr. to put a knife down, a woman is heard yelling repeatedly that the 27-year-old man was "mental," according to video from cameras worn by the officers that was released Wednesday. Wallace, a Black man, was shot and killed by police while holding a knife last week during a confrontation in West Philadelphia. HThe first bodycam video shows the view from the perspective of one of the officers as he arrives at Wallace's home, who emerges from the front door holding what appears to be a knife. The officer is heard saying "put the knife down now" multiple times. CNN

 

French bulldog elected mayor of Kentucky town . . . A French bulldog has been elected mayor of a small northern town. Wilbur Beast declared a landslide victory over other candidates, tallying 13,143 out of 22,985 total votes cast, making him the most popular dog in the history of the town of Rabbit Hash. Incumbent mayor, a rescued pit bull called Brynneth Pawltro - who held the position since 2017 - only received 292 votes. Daily Mail

 

 

Man in a “BBQ, BEER, FREEDOM” tank top disrupts Nevada news conference . . . He ranted about Joe Biden conspiracy theories on Wednesday. The unidentified loudmouth ran up behind registrar Joe Gloria, who was speaking about votes left to count in Clark County, and screamed about “the Biden crime family,” according to a video. “The Biden crime family is stealing this election! The media is covering it up!” said the man. “We want our freedom for the world! Give us our freedom Joe Biden,” he ranted. New York Post

 

Admit it. You're a patriot, but the man's T-shirt had priorities in the right order.