Matt McDonald

Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act this afternoon, which designates June 19 as a federal holiday. In recent years, the date has been a cause to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union Maj. Gen. George Granger assumed command of 2,000 federal troops on the island of Galveston in Texas and transmitted the news of the Emancipation Proclamation to the state's residents, freeing the slaves at the end of the Civil War. But in 2021, June 19 falls on a Saturday. According to the US Code (specifically 5 U.S. Code § 6103), 'Instead of a holiday that occurs on a Saturday, the Friday immediately before is a legal public holiday for...employees whose basic workweek is Monday through Friday.

Derek Chauvin was found guilty of the murder of George Floyd in a Minneapolis courthouse on Tuesday. Jurors deliberated for 10 hours before returning a guilty verdict on all counts: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Floyd's death on May 25 last year was witnessed by several bystanders outside of the Cup Foods deli in northern Minneapolis. A video showing the final minutes of Floyd's life, shot by teenager Darnella Frazier, went viral and prompted a wave of summer protests and riots in American cities and worldwide. In the clip, Officer Chauvin restrained Floyd with his knee, pinning his head to the tarmac alongside a car. Floyd had initially been apprehended for use of a counterfeit banknote in the deli.

Donald Trump was over an hour late for his first speech since leaving the White House at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida. The former president finally emerged at 4:47 p.m., kissing the American flag as the PA system blasted Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA’. He waited, applauding the crowd for the duration of the song before beginning his prepared remarks at 4:50 p.m. ‘Hello CPAC — do you miss me yet?’ he asked the crowd. Trump quickly laid to rest some of the stories that have swirled since his departure from office. ’We’re not starting new parties,’ Trump said. ‘We have the Republican party…that was fake news.’ He then launched into the issue everyone expected him to tackle: immigration.

The Houses of Congress finally certified President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the early hours of Thursday morning. The certification process had been disrupted by a mob of Trump supporters who stormed the US Capitol while the two houses were adjourned to debate an objection to the Arizona electoral vote. In the ensuing chaos, an unarmed young woman was shot while climbing through a broken window as lawmakers sheltered in place. The woman, an Air Force veteran and QAnon follower called Ashli Babbitt, later died of her wounds. Three other people died close to Capitol grounds after suffering 'separate medical emergencies', according to police, and 52 arrests were made.

Democrats Revd Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff have won the Georgia Senate runoffs, several pollsters are projecting. CBS, NBC and other major networks declared Warnock the victor in his race against Kelly Loeffler at just before 2 a.m. ET. Perdue and Loeffler's defeat swings the Senate to a 50-50 split, with incoming VP Kamala Harris to break any ties. President-elect Joe Biden therefore enters the White House in two weeks with a much greater chance of delivering on his campaign promises. Biden said the election of Warnock and Ossoff would result in the federal government sending out a third stimulus check of $2,000 when he stumped for the pair in Atlanta on Monday. Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report called Warnock's race at 9:40 p.m. ET.

In a sane world, Andrew Cuomo would be America's least popular politician, a welcome target for a primary campaign or a robust Republican challenge in 2022. Yet the anti-Cuomo chorus has included precious few voices this year. The New York Post has been unrelenting in its criticism, as have conservatives in publications such as this one. ProPublica and the Associated Press rigorously reported out the nursing home debacle. But Cuomo's performance has been largely been lauded by liberal New Yorkers and pundits in the mainstream media. In July the New York governor was the 'politician of the moment', according to the New York Times.

Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States. Decision Desk HQ, a non-partisan election results site, declared that Biden had won the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and therefore the presidency, at 8:50 a.m. ET on Friday morning. AP, CNN, ABC, NBC, Reuters, CBS and the New York Times called Pennsylvania for Biden at 11:30 a.m. ET Saturday morning. A win in Pennsylvania takes Biden to 273 Electoral College votes, past the threshold of 270 needed to secure the White House. The Democratic candidate then won Arizona, Georgia and Nevada, putting him at 306 electoral votes. The Associated Press and Fox News both called Arizona for Biden earlier in the week. Fox's decision is said to have incensed Trump senior advisers.

The 2020 election results have been rolling in. Joe Biden has won California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Washington DC. Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming have been called for the President. CNN called Wisconsin for Biden on Wednesday. The Trump campaign is set to demand a recount of the state, citing ‘reports of irregularities in several Wisconsin counties which raise serious doubts about the validity of the results.

The droplets had barely settled after Wednesday’s vice presidential debate when next week’s head-to-head between Donald Trump and Joe Biden was thrown into doubt.The Commission on Presidential Debates announced a change in format this morning, switching the October 15 debate to a virtual event ‘in order to protect the health and safety of all involved’. Trump currently has COVID-19 and no one on his campaign will tell us when his last negative test was before his diagnosis. The Commission’s concern is understandable.But not so fast. Reacting to the Commission’s change during an appearance on Fox Business, the President declared he would no longer participate. ‘I’m not gonna waste my time on a personal debate.