Sunday shows – Election results, coronavirus dominate headlines

by The Hill staff - 11/15/20 11:40 AM ET

The 2020 presidential election and surging coronavirus cases dominated the discussions on the Sunday morning political shows.

Multiple guests discussed President Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the election, and his administration’s efforts to delay the transition to President-elect Biden’s team.

Guests also discussed whether another national lockdown would be needed to stem the coronavirus pandemic.

Read The Hill’s complete coverage below.

Bolton: Republican leaders need to explain to voters that Trump lost

By JOSEPH CHOI

“I think it’s very important for leaders in the Republican Party to explain to our voters, who are not as stupid as the Democrats think, that, in fact, Trump has lost the election and that his claims of election fraud are baseless,” said former national security adviser John Bolton.

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Republican Arkansas governor: ‘I expect Joe Biden to be the next president of the United States’

By ZACK BUDRYK

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said on Sunday he “expect[s] Joe Biden to be the next president of the United States,” adding that it was “good” that President Trump seemingly acknowledged Biden’s win in a tweet that the president later walked back.

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Ohio GOP governor says Trump should begin transition process amid legal battles

By REMA RAHMAN

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said Sunday that while President Trump is within his legal right to challenge the 2020 election results, his administration should begin the formal transition process with President-elect Joe Biden’s team “for the country’s sake.”

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Jeh Johnson: Trump administration’s refusal to aid transition a ‘disservice to our national security’

By JOSEPH CHOI

Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said on Sunday that the Trump administration’s refusal to aid in a transition to a Biden presidency is a disservice to Americans as well as national security, stating that a new administration cannot begin without any information.

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Bernie Sanders says Trump denying election results ‘beyond belief in terms of behavior for an American president’

By REMA RAHMAN

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday called President Trump’s denial of election results and refusal to participate in a transition of power to President-elect Joe Biden’s team a “disgraceful” move by an American president.

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Harvard law professor: Trump’s challenges to election results ‘dangerous,’ and ‘going to fail’

By ZACK BUDRYK

“The Republicans themselves know that President Trump’s claims that [President-elect Joe] Biden’s votes were fraudulent are without merit, because if those claims were true, then those Republicans too would have been elected fraudulently or mistakenly because they were the same ballots,” Laurence Tribe, professor emeritus of constitutional law at Harvard said on “Fox News Sunday,” referencing Republicans outperforming expectations in House and Senate races.

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Top Biden aide: Trump tweet ‘further confirmation of the reality that Joe Biden won the election’

By ZACK BUDRYK

“Donald Trump’s Twitter feed doesn’t make Joe Biden president or not president. The American people did that,” Ron Klain said.

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Moore: Trump is ‘a little grouchy’ over election results

By JORDAN WILLIAMS

Stephen Moore, an economist and adviser to President Trump, said the president is “a little grouchy” over the results of the election.

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Fauci: ‘We’re not going to get a national lockdown’

By REMA RAHMAN

As coronavirus cases continue to set records for the number of daily infectious and hospitalizations across the U.S., Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that Americans should not expect a national lockdown and instead anticipate “surgical-type” local restrictions.

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Biden COVID-19 adviser: We can get pandemic under control without another national lockdown

By JOSEPH CHOI

“We are not in support of a nationwide lockdown and believe … there simply isn’t a scenario because we can get this under control,” said Dr. Atul Gawande on ABC’s “This Week.”

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Biden chief of staff: All Americans, state and local governments ‘need to step up right now’ on pandemic

By ZACK BUDRYK

“It’s a very grave situation,” Ron Klain said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Back in September, then-candidate Joe Biden warned that America was headed to a very dark winter if the administration didn’t step up its action.”

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Former surgeon general: Colder weather ‘perfect setup for the virus’

By ZACK BUDRYK

“We never got our caseload down to a level that was truly manageable in the spring and we didn’t actually have the testing and contact traces to prevent subsequent rises in infection,” former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s coronavirus advisory panel, said.

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White House task force physician ‘not concerned’ that Trump doesn’t attend COVID-19 meetings

By JOSEPH CHOI

Admiral Brett Giroir, a physician who is part of the White House coronavirus task force, confirmed a report on Sunday that President Trump has not attended a meeting with the group in several months, but said he is “not concerned” about Trump’s absence.

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