Trump just gave a dishonest address that was as dangerous as it was pathetic

[View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter]( November 5, 2020 To call the speech President Trump gave at the White House Thursday evening a "news conference" wouldn't be right. For 17 minutes, he repeated dangerous lies about the legitimacy of the election results—claims so outrageous that even the conservative New York Post [called]( them "baseless." Fox News anchor John Roberts [noted]( that the president we saw tonight "believes that at the end of the day...the election is not going to go his way" and is trying to plan an "alternate route" to retain the White House. "If you count the legal votes, I easily win," Trump began. "If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us." To be clear, there is no deadline by which votes must be counted, and a person is [more likely to get struck by lightning]( than to commit voter fraud. The president is, again, lying. Trump also claimed that he won the state of Pennsylvania, which has not yet called a winner. His margin of victory in the state did get "whittled down"—his words—following the initial reporting of results, but that's because the state is still continuing to count mail-in votes, which have largely favored Biden. And it's no wonder mail-in votes aren't a boon for the president: Trump has spent the last several months trying to delegitimize mail-in ballots, which offer a safer alternative to voting in person amid a pandemic. After he wrapped up, Trump refused to take questions from the press, slinking out of the briefing room. "Are you being a sore loser?" Jim Acosta [asked futilely](. Trump's comments are as dangerous as they are dishonest—a sitting president attempting to undermine the legitimacy of an election while votes are still being counted is unprecedented in US history. CNN's normally understated Anderson Cooper summed it up: "That is the most powerful person in the world, and we see him like an obese turtle on his back flailing in the hot sun, realizing his time is over, but he just hasn’t accepted it, and he wants to take everybody down with him, including this country." —Abigail Weinberg [World Animal Protection]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [Joe Biden Is Now Winning the Popular Vote by 3.9 Million]( He's currently 2.7 percentage points ahead of Donald Trump. BY ABIGAIL WEINBERG [Trending] [Trump won't succeed in stopping votes from being counted]( BY ARI BERMAN [In 20 years, the Republican Party has gone from "stop the recount" to "stop the count"]( BY TIM MURPHY [This election is so close for one simple reason: White people still love Trump]( BY NATHALIE BAPTISTE [Liberals have some soul-searching to do]( BY KEVIN DRUM [World Animal Protection]( [The Big Feature] [Special Feature]( [“We Shall Overcome”: Raphael Warnock’s (Not-So-Long-Shot) Bid to Be Georgia’s First Black Senator]( The Democrat is preaching his way through a pandemic—and one of the most hellish races in recent memory. BY BECCA ANDREWS [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( [Recharge] SOME GOOD NEWS, FOR ONCE [A Day of Firsts for LGBTQ Candidates, and the Anniversary of “Georgia on My Mind”]( Eighty-nine years ago today, Louis Armstrong [recorded]( “Georgia on My Mind.” Counting in Georgia continues as I write this, and a listener [asks](, “What date did Louis record ‘I’ve Got My Fingers Crossed’?” Answer: November 21, two weeks from now. I heard last night on the radio a back-to-back set of “Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe” by Ella Fitzgerald, “Good for Nothin’ Joe” by Lena Horn, and “Hold ’Em Joe” by Harry Belafonte. “Hey Joe” by Jimi Hendrix was missing. I don’t endorse candidates or radio stations, but I endorse music and justice; while we wait, Armstrong is [here](, Fitzgerald [here](, Horn [here](, Belafonte [here](, Hendrix [here](, and good news here: Earth’s people. Nevada voted to [require]( half of all energy to come from renewable sources in 10 years. The state is also the first to [repeal]( a same-sex marriage ban in its constitution. Path to power. Ohio welcomes its first woman and LGBTQ person as sheriff in the history of Hamilton County. “My role,” Charmaine McGuffey [said](, “is to be an example of what you can accomplish as an LGBT person because there’s a lot of discrimination out there.” 28-year-old Adrian Tam [becomes]( Hawaii’s only declared LGBTQ elected official in the statehouse, beating a leader of the Proud Boys, the violent far-right group that includes white supremacists. And in Oklahoma, 27-year-old Mauree Turner [becomes]( the country’s highest-ranking nonbinary lawmaker. Naming rights. Rhode Island has removed the word “Plantations” from its official name. Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is now just Rhode Island. When the name was adopted in the 17th century, the word didn’t refer [specifically]( to a place where people were enslaved locally, but 53 percent of voters approved the switch, recognizing the role the state played in the transatlantic trade. Moons ago. If the planet is wearing you down, remember that NASA announced last week the discovery of water on the moon’s sunlit surface. When safe travel returns, Recharge party on the moon, your treat. Mother Jones is reader-supported; if you can, [support us]( and I’ll look into a 2021 moon Recharge. Until then, keep [Georgia on your mind](, and keep ideas coming at recharge@motherjones.com. —Daniel King Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755