16 DECEMBER

Congratulations are in order

In an American milestone that typically goes unnoticed, yesterday the Electoral College voted, upholding the certified results from each state. Biden secured 306 votes to Trump’s 232 – a mirror image of the 2016 results where Trump won with 306 votes in the Electoral College. While the vote will not be formally counted until 6 January before Congress, yesterday’s conclusive results have now led Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to officially congratulate President-elect Biden for the first time. Later, Biden told reporters he had reached out to Senator McConnell to thank him for his congratulations, saying the pair had "always been straight with one another" and he was "looking forward to working with him". Biden's remarks are consistent with with what United States Studies Centre (USSC) CEO Professor Simon Jackman called a long career they have both had in the Senate. In an interview on Channel 7 he noted, "he and McConnell do not get on well on TV and in public, but behind the scenes they've been working with one another back when Biden was in the Senate and even when he was Obama's VP."

As one US focus for the year moves toward resolution, the COVID-19 pandemic is entering a heightened phase of crisis and hope in the United States. On one hand, mare than 300,000 have died from the virus, including more deaths on 9 December in the United States than on the 9/11 attacks. On the other hand, the first vaccines have rolled out. An intensive care unit nurse in New York received the first jab. It is expected to take months to turn the tide on coronavirus, but with both a new vaccine and a new president about to take office, the one thing clear about 2021 is that it will bring significant change.

VIDEO

American power and high-tech
warfare in the Indo-Pacific

Did you miss our webinar on American power and high-tech warfare in the Indo-Pacific? The event featured guest Christian Brose, strategist and author of The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare, and host Ashley Townshend, USSC Director of Foreign Policy and Defence.

How the US proceeds in tackling both China and its involvement in the region will be critical for the incoming administration, though President-elect Joe Biden's choice of retired General Lloyd Austin for Defense Secretary has flagged concern. Townshend recently highlighted the notable omission of China in a Japan Times article where Biden made the case for his selection. Watch the full discussion HERE.

Catch this and other recent webinars on the USSC YouTube channel!

NEWS WRAP

Let's make it official

(Electoral) College finals | Joe Biden's victory was secured after members of the Electoral College submitted the official votes for their states on 14 December. Biden received 306 electoral votes, effectively quashing most lingering attempts to overturn the results. READ MORE HERE
COVID turning point | This week the United States marked two key moments in its battle against COVID-19; the first recipient of the fast-tracked Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was inoculated as the death toll surpassed the 300,000 mark. The vaccine, which was granted emergency use authorisation by the FDA, will be rolled out as part of the biggest vaccination campaign in American history. READ MORE HERE
Bye-bye Barr | Attorney-General William Barr has become the latest US official to exit his post after opposing President Trump. The President announced Barr's departure via Twitter soon after the Electoral College finalised their votes, saying Barr would be leaving "just before Christmas". READ MORE HERE
McConnell makes amends | While President Trump continues to resist calls to concede the election, Mitch McConnell has now acknowledged Biden's victory. The Senate Majority leader congratulated both President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in a floor speech, further affirming the victory in saying "The Electoral College has spoken". Senator McConnell has also allegedly warned his GOP colleagues against objecting during the Congressional joint session to certify the election results. READ MORE HERE

VIRTUAL EVENT

Key players in the Biden administration

President-elect Biden has made clear that his administration will be different than any before. He has also pledged his team will reflect the diversity of America and he is seeking known collaborators, rather than "a team of rivals" that President Obama famously referenced with his first Cabinet. Yet President-Elect Biden was elected by an exceedingly divided and polarised country and he will need to reconcile a number of factions, even within his own party.

Will Biden’s Cabinet reflect his campaign promises? What does the proposed Biden Cabinet mean for Australia and its national priorities? What is the best approach for Australia to engage with new leadership in Washington?

To discuss these issues, please join us for a webinar event with United States Studies Centre experts as we prepare to welcome the new administration.

For our analysis about major policy changes under a Biden administration, make sure to read Red Book / Blue Book: An Australian guide to the next US administration.

WHEN:
Wednesday, 20 January 2021, 10am AEDT (Sydney)
Tuesday, 19 January 2021, 6pm EST (Washington DC)

COST:
Free, but registration is essential

REGISTER NOW

In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed.

President-Elect Joe Biden
Speech following Electoral College vote certification
14 December 2020

ANALYSIS

Ruling cements way for Biden but Trump's not going anywhere

Bruce Wolpe
Non-Resident Senior Fellow

On Monday in the United States, the Electoral College members cast their votes for president, duly electing Joe Biden without any further interruption or challenge after the US Supreme Court dismissed on Friday a lawsuit brought by Texas that challenged Biden's win in four other states.

Even though we in Australia are pining for it, the United States does not have direct election of the president; the founders were wary of the raw exercise of popular will and so instead adopted the Electoral College model, where basically, the presidential candidate who carries each state receives the electoral votes for that state.

On Thursday night, before the United States Supreme Court completed its rout of Donald Trump, the President's press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, who attended Harvard Law School, told Fox News that it would be a "no brainer" for the court to take up the Texas lawsuit and overturn millions of votes cast in the November 3 presidential election. She miscounted the nine brains who voted against her boss.

Hours before the Supreme Court ruled, Trump tweeted his plea: "If the Supreme Court shows great Wisdom and Courage, the American People will win perhaps the most important case in history, and our Electoral Process will be respected again!"

Trump worked this very hard. Through his pressure, 17 states joined the Texas pleading. More significantly, two-thirds of the Republican members of the House of Representatives joined the lawsuit. Trump himself filed a personal brief urging the election be overturned.

The Texas case hoovered up all the alleged frauds that were conjured by Trump’s legal team into an incredulous, highly strung rap sheet of what went wrong when Trump failed to win Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia.

There was only one problem: each and every allegation of the election being stolen had been dismissed by courts in all those states and by several federal courts. As a Pennsylvania judge wrote, "free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof." There was none. Even Attorney-General William Barr broke with Trump and said there was no fraud in the election.

This is an excerpt from Mr Wolpe's recent op-ed in The Sydney Morning Herald.
Click below to read the full article.

BY THE NUMBERS

Far-right domestic terror

US 66% | AUS ~40%

A belief common among QAnon conspiracy theorists is that President Trump is destined to be re-elected and that anything else is either fraudulent or an attack that must be countered. This sentiment is becoming more and more mainstream with the Texas GOP Chairman seeming to suggest secession following the Supreme Court dismissal.

Last week, the report from the inquiry into the Christchurch mass shooting was released and police in Australia also arrested an 18 year-old man for a potential domestic terror attack based on far-right ideology. The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) reported in September that between 30-40 per cent of its caseload relates to far-right terror and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies reported that two-thirds of US terror attacks and plots in 2019 were related to right-wing extremism.

As disinformation and conspiracy theories become more mainstream, both Australia and the United States are grappling with this emerging issue. To read more on what Biden’s victory means for far-right extremism, read our Conspiracy Theories chapter in Red Book / Blue Book or tune in to our latest webinar podcast on Vaccines, democracy and truth: Disinformation and digital disruption after the 2020 election.