Today on Sojourner Truth, our weekly roundtable. Our panelists are Laura Carlsen, Jackie Goldberg and Dr. Gerald Horne.
Donald Trump is desperately trying to stay in power and prevent President-elect Joe Biden from taking office. In what many are now describing as a slow-motion coup, Trump is using a combination of methods to undermine the results of the 2020 election. Not only is he pushing state legislators to visit him at the Oval Office in an attempt to overturn the Democrats victory. He is also personally calling local election officials who are trying to rescind their certification votes in Michigan, according to the Associated Press. Also, during a press conference hosted by Rudy Giuliani, Trumps personal lawyer, he claimed that the election had been rigged by a company owned by affiliates of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and current President Nicolas Maduro.
Also, a few days after winning the electoral votes needed to win the presidency, Joe Biden appointed adviser and lawyer Ron Klain as his Chief of Staff. He has also tapped former campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon as his deputy chief of staff. She is the first woman to lead a winning Democratic presidential campaign. On Tuesday, November 17, Biden officially appointed three Latinos to be part of his White House senior staff. They include Julie Chvez Rodriguez, Director of Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, Julissa Reynoso Pantaleon, Chief of Staff for the First Lady, and Anthony Bernal, Senior Adviser to the First Lady. Biden also picked Cedric Richmond, a Black man, to serve as Director of the Office of Public Engagement. At the moment, only ten people have been selected, seven of which are women and people of color. However, many in the peace movement are worried about his major candidates for security and defense.
Despite Donald Trump refusing to concede defeat, President-elect Joe Biden is already tackling major world events that will impact his administration upon taking office. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo laid the capstone this week on the Trump administrations four-year ideological project in Israel. Pompeo made a controversial visit to settlements located in the West Bank and the Golan Heights, marking the first time a U.S. secretary of state has appeared at such sites, which much of the world views as illegal.
Although an overwhelming majority of people across the United States voted for Joe Biden instead of Donald Trump, it is not smooth sailing for the President-elect. The progressive and grassroots movement that helped elect Biden into power is now reminding him that he must live up to his promises. This includes the LGBTQ movement, the environmental movement and the progressive anti-war movement.
