You’re fired! Don wields his big axe
RACING a calendar that gives him just 71 more days in the White House unless his lawyers can prove their claims of election fraud, Donald Trump has sacked the first in what is predicted to be a conga line of political foes.
The President announced he had pushed out Defence Secretary Mark Esper, with whom Mr Trump had sparred publicly over Mr Esper’s refusal to deploy troops to quell civil unrest in June.
“Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service,” Mr Trump tweeted.
He was also reportedly
considering sacking FBI director Christopher Wray and CIA chief Gina Haspel.
Attorney-general Bill Barr said he had directed the Department of Justice to investigate the Trump campaign’s “substantial allegations” of widespread voter fraud.
He said he was bucking regulations that would usually delay such an investigation until the results had been certified and recounts concluded, which could take weeks.
“Such a passive and delayed enforcement approach can result in situations in which election misconduct cannot realistically be rectified,” he said in a statement.
And a top aide to Mr Trump said the President had no intention of accepting that Joe Biden had won the election and would not “concede”.
“That word is not even in our vocabulary right now,” said adviser Jason Miller.
Republican Senate majority leader Mitch Mcconnell also said Mr Trump’s legal challenges had merit and that the race was not yet over, accusing Democrats of hypocrisy for the four years they spent challenging the Trump administration’s legitimacy.
“President Trump is 100 per cent within his rights to look into allegations of irregularities and weigh his legal options,” Mr Mcconnell said.
But the arguments have started wearing thin in some quarters, with Fox News cutting away from a press conference with White House press secretary Kayleigh Mcenany, accusing her of lying.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa — I just think we have to be very clear. She’s charging the other side as welcoming fraud and welcoming illegal voting. Unless she has more details to back that up, I can’t in good countenance show you this,” said host Neil Cavuto.
It came as Mr Biden said he was preparing to appoint a record number of women to senior roles in his cabinet.
He has vowed to appoint the most diverse cabinet in US history, saying he wants it to “look like America”.
Women are frontrunners for the four most senior jobs: secretary of state, Treasury secretary, defence secretary and attorney-general.
Mr Biden also convened his first coronavirus advisory board meeting and warned that a vaccine was still months from being available, despite Mr Trump’s repeated promises for months that it would be ready “very soon”.
“We’re still facing a very dark winter,” Mr Biden said.