TOPLINE YouTube has removed two videos from independent journalists documenting the Capitol riots, including one from a progressive news outlet, causing frustration that the Google-owned company’s efforts to combat right-wing misinformation is harming good-faith journalism.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h3>



<ul><li>YouTube removed a video Wednesday from progressive news outlet Status Coup depicting a Capitol police officer getting crushed in a doorway by rioters, which has since been licensed by <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/09/us/officer-crushed-capitol-riot-video/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CNN </a>and the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2021/jan/10/police-officer-crushed-in-doorway-by-rioters-during-capitol-breach-video" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Guardian</a>.</li></ul>



<ul><li>YouTube also took down a video from independent journalist Ford Fischer, who uploaded footage from former President Donald Trump’s speech and the crowd’s reaction before rioters stormed the Capitol—a key moment in the impeachment complaint against Trump.</li></ul>



<ul><li>In notices to both channels, YouTube stated that “content that advances false claims that widespread fraud, errors, or glitches changed the outcome of the U.S. 2020 presidential election is not allowed on YouTube.”</li></ul>



<ul><li>Both Fischer and Status Coup co-founder Jordan Chariton told Forbes they were baffled and angry that YouTube can’t tell the difference between raw footage meant to document a historical event and bad-faith conspiracy theorists intentionally promoting misinformation about the election.  </li></ul>



<ul><li>It’s unclear if YouTube’s algorithm mistakenly flagged both videos in the first place, but in a series of <a href="https://twitter.com/TeamYouTube/status/1356760557454389249?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweets </a>the company said Fischer’s videos don’t “include countervailing views or sufficient context of the claims made in the footage” and then demonized his entire account. (YouTube did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes and it has not responded publicly to Status Coup).</li></ul>



<ul><li>That policy, though, doesn’t appear to be enforced against news outlets, such as <a href="https://youtu.be/5fiT6c0MQ58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NBCNews </a>and the <a href="https://youtu.be/pUXRd2zRVBA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Telegraph</a>, that have uploaded the speech in full without any additional reporting or context.</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h3>



Following the election, YouTube was criticized for moving slower than other platforms in addressing election misinformation. It wasn’t until December when it decided to ban content disputing the election results. And after the January 6 attack, which was caused by conspiracy theories about the election, both Twitter and Facebook banned Trump indefinitely, while it took Youtube a week to announce a suspension. Still, all of the major social media networks have drawn outrage from Republicans and other&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/01/11/problematic-and-perplexing-european-leaders-side-with-trump-over-twitter-ban/?sh=7d8f98313b59">critics&nbsp;</a>who say Big Tech is exerting too much control over the internet. Some already&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90592060/capitol-attack-fascism-surveillance-censorship" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">warned</a>&nbsp;that&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1357148730496069640?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">crackdowns&nbsp;</a>could lead to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/big-tech-censorship-left-conservative-purge-jason-rantz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">unintended&nbsp;</a><a href="https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/01/censorship-big-tech-facebook-twitter" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">consequences</a>.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chief-critics">CHIEF CRITICS</h3>



YouTube’s treatment of Status Coup has caused Chariton to&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/JordanChariton/status/1357066676546723841?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rethink&nbsp;</a>how tech companies handle misinformation. After the Capitol attack, Chariton thought that outlets spreading conspiracy theories should be “taken off the air.” But now he&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/JordanChariton/status/1357067605413101573?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">says&nbsp;</a>those “not directly calling for people to commit violence” have the “right to spew misinformation and/or conspiracies dressed up as journalism.” “You can&#8217;t have Silicon Valley platforms that are frankly making decisions to avoid regulation determining through their algorithm what is and isn&#8217;t trustworthy news,” he said.&nbsp;



Fischer said his video, which showed the crowd chanting “fight for Trump” before the attack, is crucial for the public to see because Trump will stand trial in the Senate over whether he incited the riot.&nbsp;<a href="https://carrcenter.hks.harvard.edu/people/jay-ulfelder" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jay Ulfelder</a>, a fellow at Harvard’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1357098264395448324?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wrote&nbsp;</a>in an email to YouTube that Fischer’s videos also “serve as crucial archival material for future scholars looking to get a better sense of what happened than our data or other news sources can provide.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h3>



This isn’t the first time YouTube has taken action against both Fischer and Status Coup. In 2019, Fischer was <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2019/06/06/in-searching-for-middle-ground-youtube-angers-everyone/?sh=4dc666c524b5">demonetized </a>during a crackdown on Holocaust denialism after two of his videos were removed. The first showed pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protesters shouting down a Holocaust denier at that year’s American Israel Public Affair Committee conference. The other was raw footage of a speech given by neo-Nazi Mike Peinovich Enoch. Fischer wasn’t promoting the views shown in the footage, but it still took seven months for YouTube to re-monetize his channel. Meanwhile, Status Coup had a livestream of a Second Amendment rally <a href="https://twitter.com/JordanChariton/status/1351231373873446914?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">taken down</a> last month because it violated YouTube’s firearms policy.



By Rachel Sandler, Forbes Staff

US-POLITICS-ELECTION-TRUMP

YouTube Is Taking Down Raw Footage From The Capitol Riot As It Tries To Crack Down On Misinformation

TOPLINE After President Joe Biden was sworn into office, his administration immediately began undoing his Trump’s policies and beefing up the federal government’s response to the coronavirus through a slew of executive actions and orders.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h4>



<ul><li>Biden issued a mask and social distancing mandate on all federal lands for federal employees and contractors.</li></ul>



<ul><li>The Biden administration extended eviction and foreclosure moratoriums until March 31 and will continue to suspend student loan repayments until September.</li></ul>



<ul><li>Biden rejoined the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Accord, both of which Donald Trump exited during his presidency.</li></ul>



<ul><li>Through an executive action, Biden revoked permits for the Keystone XL Pipeline and put a temporary moratorium on oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, moves hailed by environmental and indigenous activists.</li></ul>



<ul><li>Biden revoked Trump’s attempt to exclude non-citizens from being counted in the U.S. Census, which affects representation in Congress and the allocation of federal grant money.</li></ul>



<ul><li>Biden reversed Trump’s travel ban from several Muslim-majority countries, including Syria, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen, and told the State Department to start allowing visa applications from these countries again.</li></ul>



<ul><li>Biden ended the National Emergency Declaration that allowed the Trump administration to divert money from the Pentagon to construct the border wall.&nbsp;</li></ul>



<ul><li>Biden sent a sweeping immigration reform bill to Congress that includes an eight-year path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and immediate green cards for DREAMers.</li></ul>



<ul><li>Biden&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2021/01/20/biden-executive-order-overturns-trump-diversity-training-ban/4236891001/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reversed&nbsp;</a>Trump’s ban on diversity training at federal agencies and federal contractors.</li></ul>



<ul><li>The 1776 Commission, the Trump’s administration’s rebuttal of the New York Times 1619 Project, was dismantled and the website was immediately taken down.</li></ul>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">Annnnnnd 1776 commission page is down<a href="https://t.co/tF6h1vZWMz">https://t.co/tF6h1vZWMz</a> <a href="https://t.co/N8Iqu0MY4i">pic.twitter.com/N8Iqu0MY4i</a>&mdash; Logan McDonald (@_loganmcdonald) <a href="https://twitter.com/_loganmcdonald/status/1351941117672124420?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<ul><li>Michael Pack, who oversaw Voice Of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty as CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/biden-administration-asks-agency-for-global-media-ceo-michael-pack-to-resign" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">resigned&nbsp;</a>Wednesday at the request of the incoming Biden administration.&nbsp;</li></ul>



<ul><li>The Biden administration asked National Labor Relations Board general counsel Peter Robb, a Trump-appointee, to resign, Bloomberg Law&nbsp;<a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/biden-moves-to-oust-top-labor-board-attorney-robb" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>.</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">CHIEF CRITICS</h3>



Right-wing pundits&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/dominicholden/status/1351983032673173504?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">questioned&nbsp;</a>Biden’s vow to unify the country amid the flurry of executive orders. Biden’s actions don’t “add much oomph to his ‘unity’ message,” GOP Strategist Karl Rove&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/dominicholden/status/1351983032673173504?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said&nbsp;</a>in a&nbsp;Fox News&nbsp;interview.



Republican lawmakers took aim at Biden’s priorities. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), an outspoken supporter of the Keystone XL Pipeline, said Biden was costing 10,000 blue-collar jobs and making the U.S. “less energy secure.”



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">FIRST DAY: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Biden?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Biden</a> fires opening shot on Texas energy workers. ExecOrder revokes <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KeystoneXL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KeystoneXL</a> pipeline permit. Kills 10,000 blue-collar jobs, many in Texas. Makes U.S. less energy secure. Russia &amp; Middle East cheering. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BidenKillsJobs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BidenKillsJobs</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BidenTargetsTX?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BidenTargetsTX</a>&mdash; Rep. Kevin Brady (@RepKevinBrady) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepKevinBrady/status/1351983718131503109?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



GOP Biden&#8217;s immigration plan sparked immediate criticism from GOP members of Congress. “A mass amnesty with no safeguards and no strings attached is a nonstarter,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">TANGENT</h3>



The official White House website, WhiteHouse.gov, also got some new accessibility changes. The new site has dark mode and a toggle to make the font larger.



-by Rachel Sandler, Forbes Staff

Joe Biden Sworn In As 46th President Of The United States At U.S. Capitol Inauguration Ceremony

Here Are All The Actions Biden Took On His First Day In Office

After Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol last week, Bank of America sent a memo to employees who had donated to the company’s political action committee. The note made it clear there would be financial consequences for legislators who had voted against certifying the 2020 election results. “For upcoming elections,” the message said, “We will take into account the appalling events of January 6 before making any PAC decisions regarding those members.”  



But what about consequences for the president? Bank of America, after all, has significant financial ties to Trump, serving as the biggest tenant inside 555 California Street, a San Francisco skyscraper in which the president holds a 30% stake worth an estimated $442 million. The bank’s annual rent amounts to an estimated $22 million, and Trump’s 30% share of that is roughly $6.5 million. When asked whether the bank planned to continue providing that money to the president, a spokesman didn’t have an answer. “Regarding 555 California, I would have to get back to you,” he said. “We don’t generally disclose rent payments.”



Bank of America isn’t the only company caught in an awkward position—pledging financial consequences for Trump’s acolytes while continuing to pay the president rent. Many of Trump’s tenants are locked into longstanding lease agreements, which makes severing those ties more challenging than simply pledging to withhold future political donations. Further complicating things: the president’s blue-chip tenants are largely inside 555 California Street and New York City’s 1290 Avenue of the Americas, two buildings in which he holds minority interests alongside publicly traded Vornado Realty Trust, which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2019/03/07/trumps-secret-windfall-the-crown-jewels-of-his-fortune-are-2-skyscrapers-he-didnt-wantand-doesnt-control/?sh=6febfbb822e5">manages the buildings</a>&nbsp;on a day-to-day basis.



The amount of money flowing through those leases, however, is far greater than the standard political donation. Plus, the funds ultimately go to Trump personally, rather than to a campaign for his political allies. Cutting off the rental payments, in other words, would send a more significant, personal message to Trump.



But that’s not where companies are focused right now. Take Goldman Sachs. “We put a pause on all PAC activity last Thursday and are reviewing our political contributions going forward, in light of the efforts to block the results of the election,” a representative for the financial giant said in a statement. Goldman remains one of the president’s tenants at 555 California Street, paying an estimated $5.8 million of annual rent. Trump’s 30% share amounts to $1.7 million. Questioned about plans for the lease agreement, a spokesman did not have an answer. “I’ll ask,” he said.



It’s a similar story at Microsoft, which decided on Friday that it would freeze political giving through its PAC. “The PAC regularly pauses its donations in the first quarter of a new Congress, but it will take additional steps this year to consider these recent events and consult with employees,” a spokesperson said in a statement. The technology firm also did not answer whether it will be seeking to change its lease inside 555 California, where it pays an estimated $3.2 million a year—$900,000 of which is attributable to the president.



Ditto for JPMorgan Chase, which has space on the ground floor of 1290 Avenue of the Americas. “The terrible events from the last week have prompted us to pause all contributions from our political action committee and to reevaluate our PAC giving strategies,” a bank representative said in a statement. No word, however, on the rent flowing into the president’s property: “Checking on the lease,” the spokesperson said.



Morgan Stanley, which is also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/11/business/banks-citigroup-goldman-sachs-politicians.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reportedly halting</a>&nbsp;its donations to lawmakers who did not vote to certify the election tally, rents space inside 555 California Street and pays an estimated $10 million annually ($3.1 million of which counts toward Trump’s rent roll). But the firm did not respond to requests for comment about its lease.



Blue Cross Blue Shield’s national organization said it would suspend its donations to legislators who “voted to undermine our democracy,” explaining in a statement, “While a contrast of ideas, ideological differences and partisanship are all part of our politics, weakening our political system and eroding public confidence in it must never be.” The group did not say whether the foundation of one of its companies, Blue Shield of California, would try to change its lease agreement in San Francisco. That space, inside the 555 California Street complex, comes with an estimated $2.1 million price tag per year. Trump’s share of the rent: roughly $600,000.



With additional reporting by Jemima McEvoy and Andrew Solender.



By Dan Alexander, Forbes Staff

President Trump Returns After Border Visit

Big Companies Try To Distance Themselves From Trump—While Still Paying Him Millions In Rent

Although Donald Trump-led arguably the most Africa-adverse American administration in history, analysts warn not to expect too much from his successor, Democrat Joe Biden. A look at the likely impact of his win on the US-Africa economic dynamics.



HISTORICALLY, IT HAS NOT MATTERED MUCH for Africa whether Democrats or Republicans sit in the White House. This is largely because the United States (US) has never really had a coherent and constructive Africa policy. So, although outgoing Republican president Donald Trump led arguably the most Africa-adverse American administration in history, analysts warn not to expect too much from his successor, Democrat Joe Biden.



Biden was vice-president in the Obama administration that preceded Trump. But whereas Trump once called African countries “shitholes”, Biden at least is promising to “reengage with the world”.



“He will be more engaging with countries, including Africa,” believes Jannie Rossouw, interim head of Wits Business School in Johannesburg. “Trump really isolated the US from many regions, from very many continents, it was bad relationship all over the place.”



Judd Devermont, director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC, agrees.



“I think Biden is going to focus on rebuilding partnerships and that includes at the multilateral level to the state level, to the subnational level,” he says.



“So I think you will first see a refocus on climate change and strengthening international adoptions, which will be of benefit to Africans. It’s clear that Biden is very supportive of the Continental Free Trade Agreement. That is incredibly important. But he has also talked about the importance of subnational governance and particularly urbanization. And so I think we have the potential to see the next administration work with African countries at these multiple levels to unlock their economies.”



Devermont expects the biggest African economies – Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya in particular – to receive significant attention, while the prospects for Ethiopia also look promising.



But Biden has his work cut out for him. Domestic challenges like tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, an economic recession and reckoning with racism are likely to keep him busy during his first few months in office. When his attention finally shifts to international affairs, climate change and trade wars with China can expect to dominate the agenda.



But instead of disparaging Beijing at every turn, like Trump did, Devermont expects there will be a focus on “transparency around norms, around standards, ensuring that African economies are open to US investors. And the more negative elements of a Chinese engagement will be blunted or curbed through shared partnerships with Africans around how foreign countries should invest in their countries, how to form partnerships in their countries.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



Another expectation is that American legislation allowing sub-Saharan African countries preferential entry into the US market will be extended.



Rossouw believes that “Biden will try to find a call partner in countries in Africa, and that might be beneficial, especially for the bigger economies in Africa, such as South Africa. If Johannesburg was an independent country, it would be the ninth largest economy in Africa. So naturally, the interest will first be in the big economies and then there will be spillover effects to the smaller economies.”



Biden has in the past committed Washington to helping the continent manage the challenges of a burgeoning population. The United Nations’ projection that Africa will be home to a quarter of the world’s population by 2050 led him to suggest an urbanization initiative. This would include partnerships between African and American cities planning for growth in critical sectors like energy access, climate change, transportation and water management.



“Urbanization is the key transformation that the continent will undergo in this century and ensuring that African cities, most of whom sit on the coasts, are open for business will be a huge opportunity for US companies,&#8221; says Devermont. &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t underestimate how important that initiative, depending on what it develops into, can be for the US-Africa economic relationship.&#8221;



Equally important is that the Biden administration reach out to companies that remain skeptical or ignorant about opportunities in Africa and address some of the risks and myths they have about investing on the continent.



Trump’s mission was to make America great but his administration largely disengaged with one of the world’s fastest-growing regions. Time will tell whether his successor fares any better. 



-By PAULA SLIER AND ALLISON GOSNEY

US dollar on the Africa map background

Will The United States Re-Engage With Africa?

Some of the world’s richest people publicly congratulated Joe Biden’s historic presidential victory over the weekend, even though billionaire Donald Trump hasn’t yet admitted defeat.



One billionaire—hedge fund cowboy Bill Ackman, whose&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/william-ackman/?sh=3e214709298d">net worth</a>&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;estimates at $2 billion—directly advised Trump to concede in a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/billackman/status/1325225698248839168?s=21" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweet</a>. “There comes a time in the battle when one should fold the tent. Instead focus on your accomplishments over the last four years,” Ackman wrote Saturday. “Concede graciously and call for unity from all who have supported you.”



Other billionaires congratulated Biden on his win, including Microsoft cofounder and philanthropist Bill Gates. “I look forward to working with the new administration and leaders on both sides in Congress on getting the surging pandemic under control,” Gates&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/1325138315964682246?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>&nbsp;shortly after Biden was projected as the winner by the Associated Press on Saturday.&nbsp;



It’s a notable reaction from the third richest person in the world. As the coronavirus pandemic took hold, Gates, who’s currently worth $118 billion,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/Media-Center/Press-Releases/2020/04/Gates-Foundation-Expands-Commitment-to-COVID-19-Response-Calls-for-International-Collaboration" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pledged</a>&nbsp;$300 million from his charitable foundation for vaccine development and other efforts. He’s also criticized the U.S. response to date,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattperez/2020/09/20/bill-gates-us-needs-to-own-up-to-the-fact-that-we-didnt-do-a-good-job/?sh=12a76b653fb8">telling</a>&nbsp;Fox News in September that “we did a very poor job” and need to &#8220;own up to the fact.”



The world’s richest person, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, also chimed in on Instagram. “Unity, empathy, and decency are not characteristics of a bygone era,” the ecommerce executive, who we estimate is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-bezos/?sh=451ac1ea1b23">worth</a>&nbsp;$190 billion,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CHTZ-TyHqjN/?igshid=11uu42usw74ba" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wrote</a>&nbsp;as the caption to a photo of Biden and Harris high-fiving.



A few of Biden’s billionaire donors also cheered his win. Philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, whose net worth Forbes estimates at nearly $20 billion, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michelatindera/2020/10/19/at-least-67-billionaires-made-six-figure-donations-to-committees-supporting-joe-biden-in-last-3-months/?sh=5e3944951bd2">donated</a> $100,000 to his campaign. She celebrated Harris’ historic ascendency as the first woman and first Black American and Asian American person to become vice president in a Saturday tweet, describing the achievement as a “glass ceiling shattered once and for all.”



<figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">We celebrate our democracy, our common humanity, and a glass ceiling shattered once and for all. <a href="https://t.co/IhvGLBcALd">pic.twitter.com/IhvGLBcALd</a>&mdash; Laurene Powell Jobs (@laurenepowell) <a href="https://twitter.com/laurenepowell/status/1325124457262850052?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2020</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Former venture capitalist-turned-media personality&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/chris-sacca/?sh=37a2ca44220a">Chris Sacca</a>, who with his wife Crystal Sacca donated $420,000 of their estimated $1.1 billion fortune to Biden, also applauded the election’s outcome. “Joe and Kamala bring science, innovation and an understanding of the climate opportunity back to the White House,”&nbsp; Sacca&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/sacca/status/1325226113119891456?s=21" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>&nbsp;Saturday, saying he gave that statement to a news organization owned by conservative media tycoon (and longtime Trump friend) Rupert Murdoch, but the news organization told Sacca they weren’t going to publish it. “I couldn’t be more bullish” about what Biden’s administration means for investors, he added.&nbsp;



“I want to congratulate @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris on a historic win,” Illinois governor and billionaire J.B. Pritzker&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/GovPritzker/status/1325113433487003657?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>, adding that he’s looking forward to working with their administration.&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;previously reported that Pritzker and his wife&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michelatindera/2020/10/19/at-least-67-billionaires-made-six-figure-donations-to-committees-supporting-joe-biden-in-last-3-months/?sh=5e3944951bd2">donated</a>&nbsp;$1.4 million to Biden’s campaign, and that his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/jb-pritzker/?sh=b22443b38146">net worth</a>&nbsp;is estimated around $3.5 billion.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Entertainment billionaires Oprah Winfrey and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maddieberg/2020/09/01/from-poor-as-hell-to-billionaire-how-tyler-perry-changed-show-business-forever/?sh=6a25b7e234b5">Tyler Perry</a>&nbsp;also weighed in. Winfrey, who we&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/oprah-winfrey/?sh=8e46c155745f">estimate</a>&nbsp;is worth $2.6 billion, hailed Biden’s win as a “reset” for the “soul of America.” Perry, who&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;estimates to be&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/tyler-perry/?sh=5707ea8e13dd">worth</a>&nbsp;$1 billion,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/tylerperry/status/1325165060008783880?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>&nbsp;Saturday that “change is here,” adding, “I’m sitting here in tears!”



Trump wasn’t the only billionaire running in 2020. Climate change activist Tom Steyer and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg also ran against Biden for the Democratic nomination. After dropping out, Steyer and his wife&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michelatindera/2020/10/19/at-least-67-billionaires-made-six-figure-donations-to-committees-supporting-joe-biden-in-last-3-months/?sh=5e3944951bd2">donated</a>&nbsp;$640,000 to Biden from their $1.4 billion&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/thomas-steyer/?sh=396bdad073f5">fortune</a>, while Bloomberg—who spent $1 billion on his own campaign—gave&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/denizcam/2020/10/31/the-top-5-richest-backers-of-joe-biden/?sh=126cecfa6413">$15 million</a>&nbsp;of his nearly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/michael-bloomberg/?sh=15ef5ad61417">$55 billion</a>&nbsp;fortune to various progressive organizations. Both men&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/TomSteyer/status/1325114359832473600?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">congratulated</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/MikeBloomberg/status/1325118275441881088?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Biden</a>&nbsp;on his win.



Virgin founder Richard Branson, who is British (and who we estimate is <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/richard-branson/?sh=1a93afbd6ff5">worth</a> $4.6 billion) offered international best wishes to Biden as president-elect. “Now is the time to bring America together as a United States and start the healing,” Branson <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://twitter.com/richardbranson/status/1325163037607694338?s=20" target="_blank">tweeted</a>. “The world will be rooting for that.”



By Lisette Voytko, Forbes Staff

US-ECONOMICS-GATES

Here’s How Bill Gates And Other Billionaires Are Reacting To Biden’s Election Victory

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) broke his <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/08/politics/biden-victory-congressional-republican-reaction/index.html" target="_blank">silence</a> about the election on Monday, declining to acknowledge President Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden and defending Trump’s court challenges, though McConnell did not endorse outright Trump’s voter fraud conspiracy theories.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h4>



On the Senate floor, McConnell&nbsp;<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4922052/senator-mcconnell-president-trump-within-rights-challenge-election-results-court" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said Trump</a>&nbsp;is “100% within his rights” to open legal challenges into allegations of voter fraud, arguing the courts should weigh these accusations and Trump should not be shamed into conceding to Biden in the meantime.



McConnell said states should count all legal ballots and reject illegal ballots, echoing Trump’s baseless claim that last week’s election was riddled with illegal voting, and he said the process should be observable by all sides, possible alluding to a false claim circulating among Trump and his allies that pollwatchers were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/11/06/trump-and-allies-keep-claiming-republican-poll-watchers-were-banned-thats-a-lie/?sh=2fb971f244da">banned in some states</a>.



Unlike Trump and some of his allies like Rep.&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1325658048585752581" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Matt Gaetz</a>&nbsp;(R-Fla.), McConnell did not repeat any specific fraud allegations or falsely imply Trump was the rightful winner, possibly leaving an exit for himself if the president’s legal challenges are unsuccessful.



He scolded media outlets for projecting a Biden victory and said no state has officially certified its results yet, though in most recent presidential races, news outlets have traditionally called a winner and both candidates have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/4024228/what-time-do-the-losing-candidates-usually-concede-the-long-and-short-of-election-night" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">accepted the outcome</a>&nbsp;well before the weeks-long election certification process wraps up.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h4>



“President Trump is 100% within his rights to look into allegations of irregularities and weigh his legal options,” McConnell said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4922052/senator-mcconnell-president-trump-within-rights-challenge-election-results-court" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Monday</a>. “If any major irregularities occurred this time of a magnitude that would affect the outcome, then every single American should want them to be brought to light.”



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">TANGENT</h4>



McConnell accused Democrats of hypocrisy for demanding a concession from Trump. He pointed to the fact that Al Gore did not concede to George W. Bush until Dec. 13, 2000 — though&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/13/gore-concedes-presidential-election-to-bush-dec-13-2000-287285" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">that concession was stalled</a>&nbsp;due to a recount process that sparked a Supreme Court challenge — and he suggested Democrats never accepted the results of the 2016 election. In reality, 2016 challenger Hillary Clinton&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/11/09/politics/hillary-clinton-concession-speech/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">delivered a concession speech</a>&nbsp;the morning after Election Day, though she still maintained later on that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/nyregion/hillary-clinton-russia-hacking-election-trump.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Russian interference</a>&nbsp;was partly to blame for her loss.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h4>



Trump has not conceded to Biden yet, instead lodging baseless allegations of voter fraud and inaccurately suggesting he would have won if not for a unified Democratic effort to rig the race. His campaign has launched legal challenges in multiple states alleging voter fraud and violations of poll-watchers’ right to observe the counting process, but several of these lawsuits were swiftly rejected last week due to a lack of evidence, and most experts believe these legal efforts are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/election-2020-what-are-the-trump-legal-claims-11604876612" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">unlikely to alter</a>&nbsp;the results of the election. Some close Trump allies like his wife Melania and son-in-law Jared Kushner have privately encouraged the president to concede,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/08/politics/jared-kushner-donald-trump-concession/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CNN reported</a>, though the White House&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/11/08/us/election-results/a-white-house-official-disputed-reports-that-kushner-had-advised-trump-to-concede" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">denied this claim</a>.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">BIG NUMBER</h4>



That’s the number of Republican Senators who have congratulated Biden. Moderate Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Ben Sasse (R-Nev.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) have all acknowledged Biden’s win, though more doctrinaire congressional Republicans have sided with Trump and refused to accept the election’s results.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h4>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/11/09/these-are-the-republicans-who-have-acknowledged-bidens-victory/?sh=63cbf5bacedc">These Are The Republicans Who Have Acknowledged Biden’s Victory (Forbes)</a>



-By Joe Walsh, Forbes Staff

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Holds Media Opportunity With Newly-Elected GOP Senators

McConnell: Trump Has ‘Every Right’ To Challenge Election Loss

There’s a vignette that Senator Kamala Harris likes to tell about her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris. It’s a well-trodden soundbite that has proliferated into hashtags and official 2020 campaign merchandise, but the commercialization shouldn’t detract from its meaning: An immigrant from India who came to the United States with dreams of curing cancer, Shyamala raised Harris and her sister Maya to be strong Black women who are mindful of what their identities mean in American work and life. “My mother would look at me,” Harris has said, “and she’d say, ‘Kamala you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you are not the last.’”



Shyamala was right: Her daughter has been “the first” a number of times. In 2010, Harris became the first African-American and first woman to serve as California’s attorney general. In 2016, she became the first Indian-American woman to be elected to the United States Senate. In August of 2020, she became the first Black woman and first Asian-American woman to appear on the presidential ticket of a major political party.



On Saturday, November 7, the Associated Press projected that former vice president Joe Biden and his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, won the state of Pennsylvania and have earned more than 270 electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election. Senator Harris can therefore add more firsts to her list:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2020/11/07/kamala-harris-makes-history-as-first-female-black-asian-american-vice-president/">she is officially the first female vice president-elect&nbsp;</a>in United States history and the first person of color to earn the distinction as well.



In her first public statement after the race was called—<a href="https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1325119592130252801" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a tweet</a>—Harris didn’t mention these firsts. “This election is about so much more than&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@JoeBiden</a>&nbsp;or me,” she said. “It’s about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let’s get started.”



Harris’s presence in the 2020 race—both for as a candidate for president in the early days of the Democratic primary, and for vice president in the general election race—has been a potent reminder of what has been lacking in our nation’s highest office for more than two centuries.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“It&#8217;s a kind of beautiful, full-circle moment for the story of America because I think women, and more specifically Black women, have done so much work—and are sort of the backbone of this country—without the acknowledgment of the work that we&#8217;ve done,” says Alia Daniels, co-founder of the global queer digital media network Revry. “And so I think being able to see someone who looks like me, in one of those positions, it&#8217;s just a level of pride that I don&#8217;t even know if I can fully express.”</blockquote>



Daniels notes that because we’ve seen women attain powerful positions in the private sector over the past few decades—consider former Pepsico CEO Indra Nooyi, or General Motors chief Mary Barra, to name a few boundary-breaking corporate leaders—it can be all too easy to take female leadership for granted. “But this is the highest position in our country that a woman has held,” she says. “There&#8217;s something to actually seeing it.”



The American public has already witnessed Harris asserting her expertise and authority on the national stage: her use of “I’m speaking” during the vice presidential debate last month was a master class in dealing with a male interrupter, and her questioning of then-U.S. attorney general Jeff Sessions and now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh in Senate hearings in 2017 and 2018 were similar showcases of feminine confidence and capability. But her impending presence in the executive branch of government has the potential to be as instructive as inspirational.



“No one can deny the power of seeing somebody who shares an identity, like your gender or your race, which are so salient in American society, certainly, in a position of power,” says Colleen Ammerman, director of the Gender Initiative at Harvard Business School. Ammerman points to research that has shown how female role models and mentors, as well as mere exposure to portraits of female leaders, can help encourage women to speak up, stand up and perhaps achieve more. “The images of leadership and power that we see are overwhelmingly white and male. Sometimes we don&#8217;t even quite notice that until we see something different,” she says.



Henah Parikh, development and communications manager at She’s the First, a nonpartisan nonprofit devoted to fighting gender inequality through education, puts it this way: “You can’t be what you can’t see.” She points to research that shows that, without female role models, girls stop believing they can be anything they want to be as early as 5 years old. Women like Harris help combat that.



“We talk a lot about these women trailblazers, like Kamala Harris who are the historic first, but they&#8217;re also paving the way for pulling other girls and women up with them,” Parikh says. “And that&#8217;s what&#8217;s so important to me and to a lot of women, but especially for me as a South Asian woman.”



Senator Harris’s election to the vice presidency comes at a moment when a pandemic has killed more than 200,000 Americans and forced thousands more out of work. Women have been disproportionately affected: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 865,000 women dropped out of the labor force in September, compared to 216,000 men. The childcare and remote learning demands on mothers working from home stand to erase <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace#" target="_blank">close to a decade</a> of gains for women in the workplace unless spouses, employers and the government work to find solutions and provide support.



Harris alone cannot fix this. But for Aimee Koval, cofounder and president of Metis Consulting, a B-corp and certified disability-owned enterprise that provides technology and management consulting, Harris’s experience as a daughter, aunt and stepmother makes her more qualified than previous White House occupants to understand the unique challenges facing women.



“For me the big impact of choosing a woman in the White House is that that comes with a perspective that I think that we haven&#8217;t seen enough of, or enough understanding at a federal level from lawmakers who have not taken those concerns into account have not addressed issues such as childcare and the funding of schools,” Koval says.



Koval notes that fairly or unfairly, all eyes will be on Harris when it comes to these issues; this level of scrutiny and pressure is one of the well-documented downsides of being a “first” or “only” within an organization. In the federal government, where Democrats have held onto their majority in the House but control of the Senate is still unclear, women like Cori Bush—the first Black woman&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/elanagross/2020/11/04/the-firsts-of-the-us-2020-election/?sh=3309ce521c89">elected to Congress</a>&nbsp;by Missouri—and the newly-reelected members of “The Squad” (Congresswomen Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib) can use their personal experiences and political sway to advocate for these policies, too. But the rates of women in government, even with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/erinspencer1/2020/11/05/record-number-of-women-to-serve-in-the-117th-us-congress/">a record 131 women</a>&nbsp;so far elected to the 117th Congress, still lag that of the general public. The work is not over.



“I strongly believe that progress isn’t inevitable,” Harvard’s Ammerman says. “And I think it&#8217;s dangerous to sort of think, okay, we&#8217;ve broken one barrier and so we&#8217;ll just automatically keep going.”



Jackie Adams, coauthor of “A Blessing” and the first African-American female correspondent formally assigned to cover the Reagan and H.W. Bush White Houses for CBS News, has watched women vie for positions of power since Geraldine Ferraro was the first female vice presidential candidate on a major party ticket in 1984. Looking at the developments from the 2018 and 2020 election cycles, she finds reasons to be optimistic about female leadership beyond Harris’s fresh status as vice-president elect. “There are more women of color running for office than ever before,” she said. “I think that there is a flywheel that&#8217;s spinning and it might be pushed further ahead a little bit faster, [as] Senator Harris becomes vice president, but even if she doesn&#8217;t, it&#8217;s not gonna be stopped.”



The inspiration that Harris has already instilled in young girls is evident in the tweets and photos depicting Halloween costumes (<a href="https://twitter.com/meenaharris/status/1322297281333272576" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Converse and all)</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/ErinnFHarley/status/1313473405514125313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1313473405514125313" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">driveway stump speeches</a>. But the significance of her election is not limited to the Gen-Z set.



“Senator Harris actually shares a birthday with my mom,” She’s the First’s Parikh says, going on to explain that both her mom and Shyamala Gopalan Harris come from South India, and both came to American with a lot to learn. Parikh describes hearing Harris talk so fondly about Shyamala and then texting her own mother.



“I said, ‘I just hope that you feel like you have seen some growth in this country, just by seeing this on television.’ Millions of Indian people around the country can relate,” she says. “It is something we&#8217;ve never ever experienced before.”



&#8211;By Maggie McGrath, Forbes Staff

kamala harris

Kamala Harris Makes History: What The First Female Vice President-Elect Means For Women

Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is projected to be the next president of the United States based on&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/AP_Politics/status/1325112441928359939?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">election analysis</a>&nbsp;by the Associated Press, defeating incumbent President Donald Trump in what proved to be one of the most brutal campaigns in modern history, throughout which Biden vowed to heal the nation’s deep divisions and respond forcefully and responsibly to Covid-19 pandemic.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h4>



•&nbsp;The Associated Press called the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania for Biden on Saturday after late-counted absentee ballots gave him a come-from-behind victory, also calling Nevada for him shortly after.



•&nbsp;Biden’s path to 270 electoral votes was paved through Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, which Trump won after decades of Democratic dominance, leaving some Democrats to question whether their path to the presidency in future elections would still run through the Midwest.



•&nbsp;But if Biden proved Democrats could win traditional Democratic states, he also blazed the beginnings of a new trail for Democrats by putting Arizona in the blue column for the first time since 1996, and he’s on track to be the first Democrat to win Georgia since 1992.



•&nbsp;The result caps off an election defined by its ugliness, with Trump launching attacks on Biden’s physical and<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/08/26/trumps-latest-trolling-of-bidens-mental-state-calling-for-drug-tests-before-debates/">&nbsp;mental health</a>,<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-election-trump/trump-calls-biden-stupid-demands-apology-for-challenging-him-on-vaccines-idUSKBN25Z0E6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;intelligence</a>,<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/08/28/destroyer-of-american-greatness-trump-savages-biden-as-he-accepts-gop-nomination/">&nbsp;record</a>&nbsp;and even his<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/10/16/lock-up-the-bidens-trump-picks-target-for-final-stretch--his-opponents-family/">&nbsp;family</a>&nbsp;while calling for him to be<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2019/09/25/trump-urged-ukraine-to-investigate-joe-biden-in-phone-call-transcript/">&nbsp;investigated</a>, prosecuted and<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/10/17/trump-calls-the-bidens-an-organized-crime-family-but-here-are-his-run-ins-with-the-law/">&nbsp;imprisoned</a>&nbsp;by the federal government.



•&nbsp;Biden for his part rode a wave of anti-Trump sentiment by excoriating Trump’s record as president, most notably by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/10/23/biden-hits-trump-on-covid-if-this-is-a-success-what-does-a-failure-look-like/">seizing on</a>&nbsp;the&nbsp;<a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#cases_casesinlast7days" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">232,000 U.S. deaths</a>&nbsp;from coronavirus and alleging Trump had failed to adequately respond to the pandemic.



•&nbsp;But even as he clashed with Trump, Biden pledges to voters that in the aftermath of the campaign he would seek to heal partisan wounds and govern not as a Democrat, but as “a president for all Americans,” even those who disagreed with him.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h4>



Born in Pennsylvania in 1942 and raised in Delaware, Biden attended the University of Delaware and Syracuse University Law School, briefly practicing law before entering local Delaware politics as a New Castle County Councilman. Biden was elected to the U.S. senate from Delaware in 1972, defeating a three-term Republican incumbent at age 29 to become the youngest senator in the country – so obscure on the national stage that NBC News anchor Garrick Utley mistakenly called him “<a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1320076660893536260?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">James Biden</a>.” Biden served for 36 years in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/member/joseph-biden/B000444" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Senate</a>, including stints as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations and Judiciary Committees, and ran for president in 1988 and 2008 before serving as President Barack Obama’s vice president from 2009 to 2017. In addition to his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, Biden has two children, Hunter and Ashley, and seven grandchildren.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">TANGENT</h4>



Biden won<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/11/03/biden-racks-up-more-republican-support-in-final-days--the-complete-list-of-his-gop-backers/">&nbsp;endorsements from hundreds of prominent Republicans</a>&nbsp;and former GOP officials, such as former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the family of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain, GOP mega-donor Meg Whitman and former GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina. Even a handful of Trump officials endorsed Biden, including former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci and former Department of Homeland Security Chief of Staff<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/10/29/trump-warns-bad-things-will-happen-to-treasonous-ex-official-miles-taylor/">&nbsp;Miles Taylor</a>.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h4>



“It&#8217;s been a long and difficult campaign, but it’s been a more difficult time for our country, Biden said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1324165787515461634?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">speech</a>&nbsp;on Wednesday, before the race was called for him, calling to “put the harsh rhetoric of the campaign behind us” and “respect and care for one another, to unite, to heal, to come together,” a common theme of his campaign. “I know this won’t be easy. I’m not naive. Neither of us are. I know how deep and hard the opposing views are in our country on so many things. But I also know this as well. To make progress, we have to stop treating our opponents as enemies. We are not enemies. What brings us together as Americans is so much stronger than anything that can tear us apart.”



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">CHIEF CRITIC</h4>



“I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!” Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/11/07/trump-falsely-claims-he-won-by-a-lot-after-telling-biden-not-to-wrongfully-declare-victory/">tweeted</a>&nbsp;an hour before the election was called for Biden. Shortly afterwards, his campaign put out a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1325118083082702850?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a>&nbsp;claiming &#8220;the simple fact is this election is far from over&#8221; and vowing legal action.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">SURPRISING FACT</h4>



Trump is the first president to lose reelection since 1992, when Republican President George H.W. Bush lost to Democrat Bill Clinton. At 77 years old, Biden will be the oldest president in American history. Biden’s running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), will be the first woman, the first Black American and the first Asian American to serve as vice president.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">BIG NUMBER</h4>



306. That’s the number of electoral votes Biden is on track to win if he maintains his lead in Nevada and Georgia. Trump won the same exact number of electoral votes in 2016, which he described as a “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/11/06/biden-on-track-for-what-trump-once-called-massive-landslide-electoral-college-victory/">massive landslide victory</a>.”



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h4>



An uncalled Senate race in North Carolina and two runoffs in Georgia set for Jan. 5 will determine whether Biden comes into office with a Democratic majority in both chambers of Congress. Given the sheer scale of his&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://joebiden.com/joes-vision/" target="_blank">proposals</a>&nbsp;–&nbsp;including a&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://joebiden.com/climate-plan/" target="_blank">$2 trillion climate plan</a>, a&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://joebiden.com/healthcare/" target="_blank">public health care option</a>&nbsp;and a&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://joebiden.com/the-biden-emergency-action-plan-to-save-the-economy/" target="_blank">second coronavirus stimulus package</a>&nbsp;–&nbsp;Democratic control of Congress would be critical for Biden to enact some of his key priorities and to get his desired cabinet secretaries and appointees confirmed, as well as to fill judicial vacancies.



-By Andrew Solender,Forbes Staff

Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden Addresses The Nation As Election Count Continues In Few Key States

Joe Biden Wins Presidency After Recapturing Rust Belt States

As vice president-elect, Kamala Harris&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2020/11/07/kamala-harris-makes-history-what-the-first-female-vice-president-elect-means-for-women/?sh=54e951f26455">makes history</a>&nbsp;in a number of ways: She is the first woman and Asian-American to be part of a winning presidential ticket, and will be the first Black American to become vice president.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h3>



•&nbsp;Biden and Harris secured the presidency on Saturday after an arduous four-day ballot-counting marathon against Republican incumbent Donald Trump.



•&nbsp;This makes Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, both of whom were civil rights activists, the first Black American, Asian American and woman of color to serve as the country’s second-in-command.



•&nbsp;Harris’ victory follows three unsuccessful campaigns from female nominees for the nation’s highest office: Hillary Clinton for president in 2016, Sarah Palin for vice president in 2008 and Geraldine Ferraro for vice president in 1984.



•&nbsp;Harris will also be the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/08/12/here-are-the-firsts-kamala-harris-represents-with-vp-candidacy/?sh=6dc140b83128">first</a>&nbsp;graduate of a historically Black college or university—Howard University in Washington D.C.—to assume the position, making her and Biden the first leadership team without an ivy league degree.



•&nbsp;Harris served as California’s junior senator for four years, during which time she’s sat on the high-profile judiciary and intelligence committees.



•&nbsp;Before she was elected to the senate in 2016, Harris, a career prosecutor, served as San Francisco’s attorney general from 2004 to 2011, and then moved on to become California’s attorney general for six years starting in 2011.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h3>



“That I am here tonight is a testament to the dedication of generations before me,” said Harris when accepting the nomination at the Democratic National Convention. “They organized, marched, and fought—not just for their vote, but for a seat at the table.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Biden’s selection of Harris as his running mate earlier this year drew broad praise, though some on the right criticized her for being too liberal, while some on the left criticized her as being not liberal enough. In particular, Harris’s record as a prosecutor became a source of intense public scrutiny during her own run for president this year, with critics accusing it of contradicting her role as a leading voice against police misconduct. During her first term as California’s attorney general, Harris was <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/09/us/politics/kamala-harris-policing.html" target="_blank">largely adverse</a> to prosecuting police killings, but shifted course slightly in her second term—expanding her office’s involvement in reviewing police misconduct and pushing for modest reform. Over the summer, Harris led calls and sponsored legislation for sweeping changes in policing following the deaths of numerous Black men and women in police custody.



-By Jemima McEvoy, Forbes Staff

Kamala Harris Campaigns In Pennsylvania On Eve Of Election Day

Kamala Harris Makes History As First Female, Black, Asian American Vice President

As a Biden win becomes increasingly likely, investors on Wall Street are turning their focus to the possibility of another round of fiscal stimulus, vaccine data for phase-three candidates and potential central bank measures to boost economic activity and keep inflation in line with targets.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h4>



Vaccination is &#8220;essential for the normalization of the economy,&#8221; Goldman Sachs said in a recent note, and wealth advisory Glenmede doesn’t expect earnings will reach new highs until the second half of 2021, which lines up with estimates for widespread vaccine delivery.



A slew of vaccine data is expected in the coming days and weeks from drug-makers such as Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZenaca and Johnson &amp; Johnson–all of which have said they expect clinical trial results before the end of the year.&nbsp;



Central bank easing from the Federal Reserve is perhaps &#8220;the biggest macro topic not receiving enough attention,&#8221; notes Vital Knowledge Media Founder Adam Crisafulli notes, but that should start to change domestically on Thursday, as the Federal Reserve concludes one of its eight annual Federal Open Market Committee meetings, during which it often makes key monetary policy decisions.



Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), &#8220;an erstwhile obstacle&#8221; to the package, per Crisafulli,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahhansen/2020/11/04/mcconnell-changes-his-tune-on-stimulus-we-need-to-do-it-before-the-end-of-the-year/?sh=30c0b0056e41">changed his tune on stimulus</a>&nbsp;on Wednesday, saying Congress should pass another bill by year&#8217;s end and suggested assistance be given to state and local governments–a sticking point for the Democrats&#8217; lead negotiator, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).



Fiscal stimulus to state and local governments is now expected to be less generous than under a Blue Wave scenario, UBS noted on Wednesday.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h4>



The election outcome that Wall Street thinks is now most likely–a Biden victory and a split Congress–&#8221;couldn’t have been better for stocks,&#8221; Crisafulli noted on Thursday–a sentiment echoed by many Wall Street experts since Wednesday given that a split Congress makes it unlikely Biden&#8217;s proposed corporate tax hike becomes law. The economic recovery, on the other hand, remains sluggish and awash with disparities such as continued job losses despite better-than-expected corporate earnings (especially in tech). Meanwhile, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2020/11/05/day-after-election-us-records-all-time-high-of-103000-new-covid-19-cases/">ongoing surge</a>&nbsp;in new Covid-19 cases further stains the economic outlook, fueling discussions about the need for a coronavirus vaccine and further fiscal relief.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">TANGENT</h4>



Top vaccine candidate AstraZeneca PLC anticipates results from its late-stage trials later this year, the British drug-maker&nbsp;<a href="https://www.astrazeneca.com/content/dam/az/PDF/2020/q3/Year-to-date_and_Q3_2020_results_announcement.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said Thursday</a>&nbsp;when it reported third-quarter earnings. It&#8217;s unclear, however, how soon it could roll those out, and the firm&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/05/astrazeneca-coronavirus-vaccine-drugmaker-under-pressure-to-deliver.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">previously missed</a>&nbsp;a September target to deliver 30 million vaccines in the United Kingdom. &#8220;Even if the vaccine numbers are spectacular,&#8221; Crisafulli says, &#8220;it still won’t be until the spring or summer when these will be made available to the general population.&#8221;



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">BIG NUMBER</h4>



$1.9 trillion. That’s the largest amount Mnuchin offered for the stimulus package before the election, much higher than the amount Senate Republicans have been eyeing (they&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/27/politics/stimulus-negotiations-republican-plan/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">proposed</a>&nbsp;a $1 trillion bill in July), but still below the $2.2 trillion proposal House Democrats&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahhansen/2020/10/01/house-passes-22-trillion-stimulus-bill-but-that-doesnt-mean-1200-checks-and-more-unemployment-benefits-are-on-the-way/">passed</a>&nbsp;in October.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h4>



Morgan Stanley said in a weekend note that it’s unlikely Federal Reserve policymakers will “soften their call for additional fiscal support”, adding that despite a better-than-expected recovery, and a return to pre-Covid economic levels that could happen in the second quarter, “Policymakers have not let this economic momentum distract from the deep structural problems, particularly in the labor market, that could unfold over the longer run in the absence of further fiscal support.”



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">WHAT WE DON&#8217;T KNOW</h4>



Election results. Razor thin margins remain a theme across pending state vote counts. As of early Thursday afternoon, former vice president Joe Biden was leading President Trump in the electoral college,<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/11/04/electoral-college-2020-biden-takes-wisconsin-bringing-him-close-to-electoral-win/?sh=724504634448">&nbsp;with 264 votes</a>, as called by AP, compared with Trump&#8217;s 214. The Senate race, on the other hand, was leaning<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/11/04/6-senate-seats-yet-to-be-called---heres-where-the-race-stands/">&nbsp;solidly Republican</a>.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahhansen/2020/11/04/mcconnell-changes-his-tune-on-stimulus-we-need-to-do-it-before-the-end-of-the-year/">McConnell Changes His Tune On Stimulus: ‘We Need To Do It Before The End Of The Year’</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2020/11/05/stocks-election-results-dow-unemployment/">Stocks Keep Surging As Election Results Appear To Clear Up, But Unemployment Data Is Still Ugly</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahhansen/2020/11/05/unemployment-claims-remain-above-pre-pandemic-highs-with-no-more-federal-aid-in-sight/">Unemployment Claims Remain Above Pre-Pandemic Highs With No More Federal Aid In Sight</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2020/11/04/election-stocks-that-are-surging-and-tanking/">Here Are The Stocks That Are Surging–And Tanking–As Blue Wave Hopes Fade</a> (Forbes)



-By Jonathan Ponciano,Forbes Staff

Genetic test

A Biden Win And Split Congress Is Wall Street’s Best-Case Scenario, Now Investors Turn Focus To These 3 Big Issues

Even with the presidential election in flux, the U.S. stock market—led by a rally in tech shares—jumped on Wednesday, helping America’s ten richest people add billions of dollars to their fortunes.



Both Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden claimed they would win the race, despite several battleground states still not called, including Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.&nbsp;



Despite the uncertainty, markets surged on Wednesday, with shares of major tech companies like Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft leading the rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly 400 points, or 1.3%, as of market close on Wednesday, while the S&amp;P 500 was up 2.2% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite soared 3.9%.



Some experts on Wall Street attributed the strength in tech stocks to the potential for a split Congress—as it looks less and less likely that Democrats will be able to win back control of the Senate. Although Democrats retained control of the House, Republicans won key Senate races in Iowa and Montana, according to NBC News.



With tech shares soaring, America’s ten richest people—including Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg—subsequently gained a combined $28.2 billion in net worth as markets moved higher.



Leading the way was the world’s richest person, Amazon founder and CEO&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-bezos/#683c93f51b23">Jeff Bezos</a>, whose net worth rose by $10.5 billion, to $190.6 billion. Amazon stock was up 6.3% on Wednesday.



Facebook CEO&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/mark-zuckerberg/?list=rtb/#29585cf43e06">Mark Zuckerberg</a>&nbsp;gained $8 billion as Facebook shares rose 8.3%. The world’s fourth richest person, he now has a net worth of $105.5 billion.



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/bill-gates/?list=rtb/#41cb54a7689f">Bill Gates</a>, the world’s third-richest person, saw his fortune rise $663 million—pushing his net worth up to $115.9 billion. Gates, who cofounded Microsoft in 1975, has sold or given away much of his stake in the company—but still owns an estimated 1% of shares, which rose nearly 5% on Wednesday.&nbsp;



Another former Microsoft executive,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/steve-ballmer/?list=rtb/&amp;sh=430303664818">Steve Ballmer</a>, gained $2.8 billion, with his net worth moving up to $73.5 billion amid the market rally. He owns an estimated 3.5% stake in Microsoft.



Google cofounders&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/larry-page/?list=rtb/&amp;sh=2e97a1ec7893">Larry Page</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/sergey-brin/?list=rtb/&amp;sh=d67b8cc4b432">Sergey Brin</a>&nbsp;saw their fortunes rise $4 billion and $3.8 billion, respectively, as Google’s stock jumped over 6%. Both are major shareholders of Google-parent company Alphabet; Page is worth $77 billion while Brin is worth $74.9 billion.



Among America’s ten richest people, four saw a drop in their fortunes on Wednesday. Tesla CEO&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/?list=rtb/&amp;sh=fda57287999b">Elon Musk</a>’s net worth fell by about $560 million as shares of his electric vehicle maker were down 0.7%. He owns a 21% stake in the company and is now worth $93.1 billion.



Renowned investor&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/?list=rtb/&amp;sh=5e3030bb4639">Warren Buffett</a>&nbsp;also saw his fortune drop slightly. His investing conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, saw its stock fall by 0.4%, shaving $215 million off of Buffett’s net worth, which now stands at $78 billion.



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/larry-ellison/?list=rtb/&amp;sh=fa0347724c2c">Larry Ellison</a>, cofounder and chief technology officer of software giant Oracle, lost $391 million, lowering his net worth to $75.1 billion. Ellison owns about 35% of Oracle’s stock, which was down 0.6% on Wednesday.



Walmart heiress <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/alice-walton/?list=rtb/&amp;sh=360204a4eb21">Alice Walton</a>, meanwhile, saw her fortune fall $309 million as Walmart’s stock lost 0.6%, giving her a net worth of $66.6 billion.



-By Sergei Klebnikov, Forbes Staff

Amazon CEO And Blue Origin Founder Jeff Bezos  Speaks At Air Force Association Air, Space And Cyber Conference

America’s Ten Richest People Are $28 Billion Richer As Election Bolsters Big Tech Prospects

After Joe Biden expressed optimism about his prospects of winning the election during remarks in Wilmington, Delaware, President Trump fired off a tweet in which he falsely claimed votes were being “cast after the polls closed” and accused the Democratic nominee of trying to “steal” the election—a baseless accusation that the president has floated for weeks—and Twitter flagged the tweet for spreading misinformation about the election.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h4>



“We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election,” Trump wrote in a tweet without proof, adding “Votes cannot be cast after the Polls are closed!”



<figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1323864823680126977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1323864823680126977%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&#038;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fembedly.forbes.com%2Fwidgets%2Fmedia.html%3Ftype%3Dtext2Fhtmlkey%3Dcfc0fb0733504c77aa4a6ac07caaffc7schema%3Dtwitterurl%3Dhttps3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Frealdonaldtrump%2Fstatus%2F1323864823680126977image%3D
</div></figure>



Twitter slapped a label on the tweet, saying some of the “content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process.”



Facebook followed suit, placing a label on Trump’s tweet that did not comment on the content of the president’s message but did remind users that the results are not final.



<figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">And now an update. Facebook&#39;s label has now changed. It makes no comment about the content of Trump&#39;s post but suggests that the results are not final. <a href="https://t.co/EWw4guUAL0">pic.twitter.com/EWw4guUAL0</a>&mdash; Ryan Mac🙃 (@RMac18) <a href="https://twitter.com/RMac18/status/1323872220821643265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 4, 2020</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



For weeks, Trump has laid the groundwork to object to results of the election he doesn’t like, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/23/916221894/trump-says-he-expect-election-results-to-end-up-at-supreme-court" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">refused</a>&nbsp;repeatedly to commit to a peaceful transfer of power.



The president has also repeatedly argued the results of the election must be known on election night, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/11/01/930140373/fact-check-trump-falsely-claims-that-votes-shouldnt-be-counted-after-election-da" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">falsely claimed</a>&nbsp;&#8220;that&#8217;s the way it&#8217;s been and that&#8217;s the way it should be.&#8221;



Trump put out the tweet after Biden&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/11/04/it-aint-over-till-every-vote-is-counted-biden-says-hes-on-track-to-win-rejects-trumps-victory-declaration/">told</a>&nbsp;a crowd in Wilmington, Delaware that he felt confident about the election results, saying, &#8220;We believe we&#8217;re on track to win this election.&#8221;



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h4>



There is no evidence votes were cast after the polls closed in any state, as the president baselessly claimed. Many states&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackbrewster/2020/11/02/when-well-know-what-on-election-day-a-guide-to-poll-closing-times-vote-counting-procedures-and-the-states-to-watch/">accept ballots</a>&nbsp;postmarked on or before Election Day to account for mail delays.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h4>



Biden currently&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/11/04/electoral-college-2020-trump-takes-florida-biden-wins-minnesota-most-swing-states-too-close-to-call/?sh=2900329f14cd">leads</a>&nbsp;Trump in the electoral college vote 223 to 174, with several key battlegrounds not yet projected, including Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">SURPRISING FACT</h4>



Historian Michael Beschloss notes we did not know the winner on election night during six presidential elections since 1960.



<figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">We did not know Presidential winner for certain before midnight on election nights in 1960, 1968, 1976, 2000, 2004, 2016. No one should pretend there would be anything historically unusual if that happens again in 2020.&mdash; Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/BeschlossDC/status/1322993565199380491?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2020</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h4>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/11/04/it-aint-over-till-every-vote-is-counted-biden-says-hes-on-track-to-win-rejects-trumps-victory-declaration/?sh=15d523062258">‘It Ain’t Over Till Every Vote Is Counted’: Biden Says He’s ‘On Track’ To Win, Rejects Trump’s Victory Declaration</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/11/04/electoral-college-2020-trump-takes-florida-biden-wins-minnesota-most-swing-states-too-close-to-call/?sh=15dcb314cd61">Electoral College 2020: Trump Takes Florida, Biden Wins Minnesota, Most Swing States Too Close To Call </a>(Forbes)



-By Jack Brewster, Forbes Staff

President Donald Trump Holds Election Night Event At The White House

Twitter Flags Trump Tweet Baselessly Accusing Biden Of Trying To ‘Steal The Election’

Former Vice President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he is tapping his former Democratic primary opponent Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) as his vice presidential nominee, ending months of speculation surrounding the first ever female-exclusive VP selection process.



KEY FACTS



“I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked Kamala Harris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate,” Biden&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1293280411150217219?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>.



A former career prosecutor, Harris served as San Francisco district attorney from 2004 to 2011 and California attorney general from 2011 to 2017, before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016.



Harris quickly drew&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/09/kamala-harris-2020-239318" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">headlines</a>&nbsp;for her tough lines of questioning towards Trump administration nominees and officials, such as her 2017&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK_HmEFxCpI" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">grilling</a>&nbsp;of then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his frequent claims that he couldn’t recall details of his discussions with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak.



Harris&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/21/kamala-harris-2020-campaign-1116076" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">launched</a>&nbsp;her campaign in January and was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/15/politics/kamala-harris-democratic-frontrunner/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">instantly cast</a>&nbsp;as a leading contender for the nomination, but failed to garner broad, lasting support for her bid–including among&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/04/kamala-harris-black-voters-2020-075651" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">black voters</a>–particularly sustaining damage for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/22/kamala-harris-health-care-1471421" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stumbling</a>&nbsp;over her position on Medicare-for-All.



Harris’s most notable moment and largest polling bump of the campaign came when she&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/27/harris-attacks-bidens-record-on-busing-and-working-with-segregationists.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">clashed</a>&nbsp;with Biden at a Democratic primary debate over his record on busing in the 1970s and his “hurtful”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/19/democrats-slam-biden-over-comments-on-segregationist-senator.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">anecdotes</a>&nbsp;about rosy relationships with segregationist senators, with Harris accusing him of opposing busing and Biden calling it a “mischaracterization” of his positions and hitting Harris’s record as a prosecutor.



But after&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnbbrandon/2019/12/03/kamala-harris-drops-out-of-presidential-race-on-twitter-meanwhile-tulsi-gabbard-does-yoga/">dropping out</a>&nbsp;in December and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa4htbPxva0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">endorsing</a>&nbsp;Biden in March, Harris’s public relationship with Biden rapidly improved, with Harris frequently and effusively headlining fundraising events for Biden and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/27/kamala-harris-biden-vp-381829" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">brushing off</a>&nbsp;concerns about their clash over busing.



“Back when Kamala was Attorney General, she worked closely with Beau. I watched as they took on the big banks, lifted up working people, and protected women and kids from abuse,” Biden&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1293280412144267264?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;of Harris, adding, “I was proud then, and I&#8217;m proud now to have her as my partner in this campaign.”



Harris&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1293290197103390721?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">praised</a>&nbsp;Biden as someone who can “unify the American people because he&#8217;s spent his life fighting for us,” adding, “I&#8217;m honored to join him as our party&#8217;s nominee for Vice President, and do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief.”



The Trump campaign released an&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1293286684898078722?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ad</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1293286329267216384?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a>&nbsp;claiming Harris “ran for president by rushing to the radical left” and slammed her for joining Biden’s ticket after attacking him during the primary, labelling her “Phony Kamala.”



Some on the left took aim at Biden’s pick as well; Briahna Joy Gray, a former press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)’s 2020 presidential campaign,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/briebriejoy/status/1293286212699136006?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">slammed</a>&nbsp;the Democratic party for running a “a ‘top cop’ and the author of the Joe Biden crime bill to save us from Trump” amid protests against police violence, asserting that it shows “contempt for the base.”



But progressive politicians, including those who ran against Harris for president and vice president, lauded the pick; Sanders&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1293290750982139905?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>&nbsp;that Harris “understands what it takes to stand up for working people,” and Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.)&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/KarenBassTweets/status/1293281471378214912?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">called</a>&nbsp;Harris a “great choice” because of her “tenacious pursuit of justice and relentless advocacy for the people.”



More establishment Democratic politicians were likewise highly supportive of the pick, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/TeamPelosi/status/1293282982564958208?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">saying</a>&nbsp;that Harris will “continue her legacy of trailblazing leadership to move our nation forward,” as vice president, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/chuckschumer/status/1293284297332469762?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeting</a>&nbsp;that Harris has been “an outstanding Senator and will be an outstanding Vice President!”



Former President Barack Obama&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1293295296819220481?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>, “I’ve known Senator Kamala Harris for a long time. She is more than prepared for the job. She’s spent her career defending our Constitution and fighting for folks who need a fair shake. This is a good day for our country. Now let’s go win this thing.”



Harris and Biden are&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1293283786604589057?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">slated</a>&nbsp;to deliver joint remarks on Wednesday in Wilmington, DE, focused on “working together to restore the soul of the nation and fight for working families to move the country forward.”



CRUCIAL QUOTE



“You can’t be successful at the highest levels of national politics for 40 years like he has without the rapid ability to turn yesterday’s rivals into today’s allies,” Harris’s former press secretary Ian Sams&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/kamala-harris-once-went-after-joe-biden-but-now-theres-only-bonhomie-as-the-vice-presidential-tryouts-continue/2020/06/26/9b525566-b6f9-11ea-a8da-693df3d7674a_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;of Biden in June.



KEY BACKGROUND



Biden&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2020/03/15/joe-biden-just-committed-to-picking-a-woman-as-his-vice-president/">pledged</a>&nbsp;to pick a woman in March, and his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/06/18/heres-who-joe-biden-is-considering-for-vp/">rumored shortlist</a>&nbsp;included governors, members of congress and even mayors and state legislators. He also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/06/12/875000650/pressure-grows-on-joe-biden-to-pick-a-black-woman-as-his-running-mate" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">faced pressure</a>&nbsp;to pick a woman of color like Harris, especially in the aftermath of the George Floyd protests, which ignited a national debate over race and policing. But Biden frequently said his top criteria for a running mate were that they were “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-under-pressure-to-shatter-cement-ceiling-by-naming-a-black-woman-to-be-his-running-mate/2020/07/19/7dfb9dcc-c06f-11ea-9fdd-b7ac6b051dc8_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">simpatico with me</a>, both in terms of personality as well as substance,” and had the ability to govern if Biden, 78, were unable to perform the duties of president.



TANGENT



Kamala Harris and her husband, attorney Doug Emhoff, had a fortune of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michelatindera/2019/08/23/heres-how-much-2020-presidential-candidate-kamala-harris-is-worth/#4e25d2293aa6">$6 million</a>&nbsp;as of August, 2019, according to&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;reporter Michela Tindera. The bulk of the money comes from Emhoff’s legal work and profits from several books authored by Harris.



CHIEF CRITIC



Despite&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/2020-election/candidates-views-on-the-issues/kamala-harris/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">advocating</a>&nbsp;firmly progressive positions during her presidential campaign like universal government health care, a $15 minimum wage, legalizing marijuana and debt-free college, the left took aim at Harris most sharply for her tenure as California attorney general. She was&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/01/31/kamala-harris-and-the-myth-of-a-progressive-cop/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">slammed</a>&nbsp;by left-wing activists for contemporaneously&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article243906742.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">calling herself&nbsp;</a>the state’s “top cop,” with “Kamala is a cop”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/12/kamala-was-a-cop-black-people-knew-it-first/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">becoming</a>&nbsp;a viral meme that would come to broadly define the leftist opposition to her candidacy.



BIG NUMBER



32%.&nbsp;A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/15/joe-biden-vice-president-pick-poll-362900" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Politico/Morning Consult poll</a>&nbsp;of 1,992 registered voters pegged Harris at 32% favorability and 34% unfavorability. While she is well known with voters, she lacks universal name recognition, with 1 in 5 voters saying they have never heard of her and another 14% saying they have no opinion. But in the end, Harris may not have an outsized impact on the outcome in November; 54% of registered voters said Biden’s VP pick wouldn’t impact how they vote in November, while 16% said it would have a major impact and 20% said it would have a minor impact.&nbsp;



SURPRISING FACT



Harris is the first woman of color to run for either president or vice president on a major party ticket. Her election as vice president would make her the first Black American to serve in the role and the first woman or Indian-American to serve as either president or vice president.



WHAT TO WATCH FOR



The Trump campaign will doubtless use Harris’s confrontation with Biden over busing against the Democratic ticket, but Harris brings with her numerous advantages as well. Her experience as a large state attorney general and U.S. senator make it difficult to argue against her qualifications for the job, and having run for president before, she rejoins the campaign trail intimately familiar with the scrutiny and spotlight of the national political stage. In that respect, Harris may be what many have described as the “<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/05/04/why_kamala_harris_is_the_do_no_harm_choice_for_vp_143103.html" target="_blank">do no harm</a>” candidate, providing modest benefits to Biden with limited risk.



-Andrew Solender, Forbes Staff

Democratic Presidential Candidates Participate In Third Debate In Houston

Biden Picks Kamala Harris: Trump Responds, Democrats Unite, Harris’s Net Worth, And More

<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



In an exclusive interview, the billionaire rapper says he’s “walking for president” as GOP operatives work to get him on state ballots.



Amid&nbsp;various reports&nbsp;that Republican and Trump-affiliated political operatives are trying to get Kanye West onto various state ballots for November’s presidential election, the billionaire rap superstar indicated, in an interview by text today, that he was, in fact, running to siphon votes from the presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden.



Asked about that directly, West said that rather than running for president, he was “walking,” quickly adding that he was “walking . . . to win.”



When it was pointed out that he actually can’t win in 2020—that he won’t be on enough ballots to yield 270 electoral votes, and that a write-in campaign isn’t feasible—and thus was serving as a spoiler, West replied: “I’m not going to argue with you. Jesus is King.”



West rebuffed various attempts to clarify who was driving his ballot access or strategy and whether it’s being coordinated by or with Republican-affiliated officials. He does, however, appear to have a continuing relationship with the Trump White House. West says that he’s “designing a school within the next month” and that “I’m meeting with Betsy DeVos about the post-Covid curriculum.” (The Secretary of Education’s press office hadn’t responded to a request for comment by the time we published.)



“I like Kanye very much,”&nbsp;<a href="https://news.yahoo.com/trump-kanye-wests-presidential-run-224359051.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">President Trump told reporters</a>&nbsp;at the White House yesterday. “No, I have nothing to do with him getting on the ballot. We&#8217;ll have to see what happens.”



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">West says that he’s “designing a school within the next month” and that “I’m meeting with Betsy DeVos about the post-Covid curriculum.”&nbsp;</blockquote>



West’s intentions have come under increased scrutiny this week, following reports by CNN,&nbsp;<a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/08/two-people-linked-to-kanye-wests-campaign-have-ties-to-gop.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York</a>, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/us/politics/kanye-west-president-republicans.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York Times</a>&nbsp;and others, about efforts by GOP political operatives to get him onto several ballots, including states like Wisconsin that could be pivotal in deciding the next president. West has been a vocal Trump supporter, including visiting the president in the Oval Office. Texts from West to me earlier this summer repeatedly ended with the sign-off “Trump 2020,” and a fist raised high. West’s recent actions have also drawn public focus, given his bipolar disorder—and many, including his wife, Kim Kardashian-West, have expressed concern about his mental health.



West did not respond when asked whether he feels he’s being used. When I pointed out to West that the slapdash operation to get him on the ballot, which includes one operative previously arrested for voter fraud and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2020/08/05/rapper-kanye-west-files-ohio-run-president/3298475001/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">multiple West “electors” from the same address</a>, didn’t feel like a Kanye West production, West replied that it was a “God production.”



In a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2020/07/08/kanye-west-says-hes-done-with-trump-opens-up-about-white-house-bid-damaging-biden-and-everything-in-between/#209366cf47aa">wide-ranging interview with&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;last month</a>&nbsp;about his political aspirations, West, who has never voted before, laid out a platform for his “Birthday Party” that included a pro-life plank that alleged that Planned Parenthood was placed in cities by white supremacists, a management style patterned on the fictional country of Wakanda in&nbsp;Black Panther&nbsp;and anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. In that interview, West also claimed that he was dumping Trump. “I am taking the red hat off, with this interview.” His reason: “It looks like one big mess to me. I don’t like that I caught wind that he hid in the bunker.”



However, he was reticent to criticize Trump besides that. “Trump is the closest president we’ve had in years to allowing God to still be part of the conversation,” he said.



And West was eager to criticize Biden, and expressed comfort with the idea of doing damage to the former vice president’s White House chances. “I’m not denying it; I just told you.”



-Randall Lane, Forbes Staff

Tag: Joe Biden

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA