139-530: On November 7, 2020, four days after the United States presidential election was held, Rudy Giuliani , former mayor of New York City and an attorney for then-president Donald Trump , hosted a press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping , a small business in the Holmesburg neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . The event was held at the company's garage door and parking lot to discuss
278-520: A crematorium , and down the road from the Philadelphia Department of Prisons . Giuliani did not offer any explanation as to why the news conference was being held at that location. In Four Seasons' parking lot, with help from Corey Lewandowski and Pam Bondi, a lectern had been set up in front of a garage door papered over with Trump campaign signs in red and blue. Speakers and a microphone had been installed. Giuliani and Lewandowski came in with
417-551: A joint session to formally open the certificates and count the votes, which began on January 6, 2021, was interrupted by the January 6 United States Capitol attack , and finished the following day. The Democratic Party chose its nominee in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries . Joe Biden became the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party on June 5, 2020, when he secured enough delegates to ensure his nomination at
556-411: A Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, 1MDB . Government officials and American corporate security officers braced for a repeat of 2016's election infrastructure hacking and similar twenty-first century attacks , and in fact conducted what were characterized as preemptive counter-strikes on botnet infrastructure which might be used in large-scale coordination of hacking, and some incidents earlier in
695-630: A belief that has been discredited by a number of media organizations. Government response to the impact of the pandemic from the Trump administration, coupled with the differing positions taken by congressional Democrats and Republicans regarding economic stimulus , became a major campaign issue for both parties. On April 6, the Supreme Court and Republicans in the State Legislature of Wisconsin rebuffed Wisconsin governor Tony Evers 's request to move
834-617: A bike-friendly route using bike lanes and multi-use paths along the Delaware River. A Change.org petition that called for the location to be added to the National Register of Historic Places was launched, and it was jokingly suggested that if Trump were to create a presidential library then it should be built at Four Seasons Total Landscaping. Following the press conference, Four Seasons Total Landscaping posted on Instagram thanking police for their participation. "Would like to thank
973-556: A bill reversing the changes, DeJoy announced that he would roll back all the changes until after the November election. He said he would reinstate overtime hours, roll back service reductions, and halt the removal of mail-sorting machines and collection boxes. The House of Representatives voted an emergency grant of $ 25 billion to the post office to facilitate the predicted flood of mail ballots. Although Trump has repeatedly denounced mail voting, he has mailed in ballots due to being in
1112-565: A certain number of ballots." Lewandowski cited one case of what he said was a documented deceased Pennsylvania voter, Denise Ondick, of Homestead in Allegheny County , near Pittsburgh . According to her online obituary, she died on October 22. Voting records show a mail-in ballot was sent to her two days later; on November 2, the ballot was recorded by the Pennsylvania Department of State 's tracking system. The Inquirer said it
1251-520: A change in date. The House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump on two counts on December 18, 2019. The trial in the Senate began on January 21, 2020, and ended on February 5, resulting in acquittal by the United States Senate . This is the second time a president has been impeached during his first term while running for a second term. Trump continued to hold campaign rallies during
1390-545: A comical aspect to its location, near a sex shop and a crematorium . This site selection led to speculation that the Trump campaign meant to book the upscale Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia , five city blocks from the Pennsylvania Convention Center , where Philadelphia's ballots were being counted. Shortly after Giuliani began talking to the assembled reporters, the Associated Press projected Biden as
1529-401: A concert at the venue to a sold-out crowd of 200 people. The concert was potentially going to be cancelled due to zoning and permitting issues, but they were resolved. A documentary about the press conference, entitled Four Seasons Total Documentary , was aired on MSNBC on November 7, 2021. When Giuliani appeared on the seventh season of The Masked Singer in 2022, one of the clues for
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#17330933103481668-567: A day. His rallies were criticized for their lack of social distancing or mask wearing, and some polls suggested that voters saw him less favorably for potentially endangering attendees. U.S. officials accused Russia , China , and Iran of trying to influence the 2020 United States elections. On October 4, 2019, Microsoft announced that " Phosphorus ", a group of hackers linked to the Iranian government , had attempted to compromise e-mail accounts belonging to journalists, U.S. government officials and
1807-545: A different state than the one where he votes at the time of the election. In August 2020, Trump conceded that the post office would need additional funds to handle the additional mail-in voting, but said he would block any additional funding for the post office to prevent any increase in balloting by mail. In the end, an estimated 42 percent of votes were cast by mail across 41 reporting states, approximately 65.6 million ballots out of 154.6 million cast by all methods. The Trump campaign filed lawsuits seeking to block
1946-529: A federal judge to do so. On Election Day, a judge ordered mail inspectors to search "mail facilities in .... key battleground states" for ballots. The agency refused to comply with the order and nearly 7% of ballots in USPS facilities on Election Day were not processed in time. The Federal Election Commission , which was created in 1974 to enforce campaign finance laws in federal elections, has not functioned since July 2020 due to vacancies in membership. In
2085-418: A full presidential pardon for offenses including tax fraud and lying to White House officials. Before the press conference began, a journalist present announced that CNN had just projected Biden's victory. During the event, while Giuliani was stating how strong their case was, a reporter interrupted to say that all of the major news networks were now joining in projecting Biden's victory. Giuliani asked "Who
2224-602: A full Supreme Court bench was needed to decide the upcoming election. On September 26, the day after Justice Ginsburg's body lay in state at the Capitol , Trump held a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House to announce and introduce his candidate, Amy Coney Barrett . After four days of confirmation hearings, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted the nomination out of committee on October 22, and on October 26, Barrett
2363-439: A group of people the former identified as poll watchers who they said had been prevented from properly observing the counting procedure. In reference to the poll watchers, Giuliani stated "this is only two or three of about 50 people so far that have given us statements, affidavits, recordings. We're going to have many, many witnesses." Also in attendance was a personal friend of Giuliani's, Bernard Kerik , who had recently received
2502-457: A large umbrella as NATO forces began bombing the country to support a 2011 rebellion . "It was intended to project perseverance and strength—it had the opposite effect." Adam Gabbatt of The Guardian reported that the landscaping company's name "swiftly became a byword for politicians' incompetence". The event was also criticized for including Daryl Brooks, a New Jersey–based perennial candidate and convicted sex offender; Giuliani later told
2641-468: A list of others, Republican City Commissioner Al Schmidt told White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins that "Not a single one voted in Philadelphia after they died." The first speaker Giuliani called up to speak about the alleged election fraud was Daryl Brooks, a registered sex offender. Without mentioning a specific amount, Giuliani also stated that "[t]here certainly is enough evidence to disqualify
2780-482: A metaphor for imperfect data transmission over multiple iterations. For example the British zoologist Mark Ridley in his book Mendel's demon used the game as an analogy for the imperfect transmission of genetic information across multiple generations. In another example, Richard Dawkins used the game as a metaphor for infidelity in memetic replication, referring specifically to children trying to reproduce drawing of
2919-480: A mixed online in-person format, with most delegates attending remotely but a few still attending the physical convention site. On August 5, the in-person portion of the convention was scaled down even further; major speeches, including Biden's, were switched to a virtual format. The 2020 Republican National Convention took place from August 24–27 in Charlotte, North Carolina , and various remote locations. Originally,
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#17330933103483058-587: A month prior. In a February 2020 briefing to the House Intelligence Committee, U.S. intelligence officials warned Congress that Russia was interfering in the 2020 campaign to support Trump's reelection campaign; Trump was angered that Congress had been informed of the threat, and the day after the briefing castigated the acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire , for allowing the briefing to go forward. China and some government-linked Chinese individuals have been accused of interfering in
3197-567: A picture of themselves running to social media. The event proved to be more popular than anticipated, eventually raising nearly US$ 63,000 for the food bank Philabundance . The race was held for a second time on November 6, 2021, with a route from the Four Seasons Hotel to Four Seasons Total Landscaping. The "Fraud Street Bike Ride" was organized by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia to provide additional donations and included
3336-516: A rationale behind litigation attempting to stop official vote-counting in some areas, Krebs also affirmed that, "All votes in the United States of America are counted in the United States of America." Acts of foreign interference included Russian state-directed application of computational propaganda approaches, more conventional state-sponsored Internet propaganda , smaller-scale disinformation efforts , " information laundering " and " trading up
3475-446: A record number. The analysis predicted that 80 million ballots could be cast by mail in 2020 – more than double the number in 2016. The Postal Service sent a letter to multiple states in July 2020, warning that the service would not be able to meet the state's deadlines for requesting and casting last-minute absentee ballots. In addition to the anticipated high volume of mailed ballots,
3614-402: A resolution affirming the Senate's commitment to a peaceful transfer of power. Trump also stated he expected the Supreme Court to decide the election and that he wanted a conservative majority in case of an election dispute, reiterating his commitment to quickly install a ninth justice following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg . In April 2020, Biden predicted that Trump would try to delay
3753-436: A result of a large number of mail-in ballots, some swing states saw delays in vote counting and reporting; this led to major news outlets delaying their projection of Biden and Harris as the president-elect and vice president-elect until the morning of November 7, 2020. Major media networks tentatively call a state for a candidate once there is high statistical confidence that the outstanding vote would be unlikely to prevent
3892-454: A sense of paranoia caused by espionage, counterespionage, Red Scare, and other war games, real or imaginary, cold or hot." Usage of the term has been defended as being similar to other expressions such as " It's all Greek to me " and " Double Dutch ". "Double Dutch" as an expression for unintelligibility originated in England as a derogatory smear against Holland , its rival in various wars. As
4031-535: A shortage of election workers able or willing to work during the pandemic, the number of polling places was often greatly reduced. Most states expanded or encouraged voting by mail as an alternative, but many voters complained that they never received the absentee ballots they had requested. The March 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act included money for states to increase mail-in voting. By May, Trump and his campaign strongly opposed mail-in voting, claiming that it would cause widespread voter fraud,
4170-502: A song about the event, and British comedy writer Michael Spicer created a spoof advert. Artist Tracey Snelling created a multimedia diorama model of the site and neighboring businesses, which includes video from the event as well as clips of Giuliani's controversial appearance in the mockumentary Borat Subsequent Moviefilm . A Fiverr commercial featuring Four Seasons' owner Marie Siravo aired during Super Bowl LV . On August 21, 2021, punk rock musician Laura Jane Grace played
4309-537: A supposed inability on the part of Europeans to understand China's culture and worldview. In this view, using the phrase "Chinese whispers" is taken as evidence of a belief that the Chinese language itself is not understandable. Yunte Huang , a professor of English at the University of California, Santa Barbara , has said that: "Indicating inaccurately transmitted information, the expression 'Chinese Whispers' carries with it
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4448-592: A three-day convention was planned to be held in North Carolina, but due to North Carolina's insistence that the convention follow COVID-19 social distancing rules, the speeches and celebrations were moved to Jacksonville, Florida (official convention business was still contractually obligated to be conducted in Charlotte). Due to the worsening situation with regards to COVID-19 in Florida, the plans there were cancelled, and
4587-529: A virtual background for use in the video conferencing software Zoom . Speaking at the start line of the Fraud Street Run, director of sales, Sean Middleton, said "We're from Northeast Philly, we can laugh at ourselves," and "For us to come out and make a political statement as Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Northeast Philly was never our intent." In an interview with Business Insider a month after
4726-445: Is a variant in which the first player produces a text in a given language , together with a basic guide to understanding, which includes a lexicon, an interlinear gloss , possibly a list of grammatical morphemes , comments on the meaning of difficult words, etc. (everything except an actual translation). The text is passed on to the following player, who tries to make sense of it and casts it into their language of choice, then repeating
4865-466: Is called téléphone arabe ("Arabic telephone") or téléphone sans fil ("wireless telephone"). In Germany the game is known as Stille Post ("quiet mail"). In Poland it is called głuchy telefon , meaning "deaf telephone". In Medici -era Florence it was called the "game of the ear". The game has also been known in English as Russian Scandal , Russian Gossip and Russian Telephone . In North America,
5004-540: Is required. In 2008 1,330 children and celebrities set a world record for the game of Telephone involving the most people. The game was held at the Emirates Stadium in London and lasted two hours and four minutes. Starting with "together we will make a world of difference", the phrase morphed into "we're setting a record" part way down the chain, and by the end had become simply "haaaaa". The previous record, set in 2006 by
5143-572: Is then ratified by the delegates at the party's convention (except for the Libertarian Party , which nominates its vice-presidential candidate by delegate vote regardless of the presidential nominee's preference). The general election in November is also an indirect election, in which voters cast ballots for a slate of members of the Electoral College ; these electors then directly elect the president and vice president. If no candidate receives
5282-400: The 2000 election . Telephone (game) Telephone ( American English and Canadian English ), or Chinese whispers (some Commonwealth English ), is an internationally popular children's game in which messages are whispered from person to person and then the original and final messages are compared. This sequential modification of information is called transmission chaining in
5421-462: The Constitution of United States states that for a person to serve as president, the individual must be a natural-born US citizen , be at least 35 years old, and have been a US resident for at least 14 years. Candidates for the presidency typically seek the nomination of one of the various American political parties . Each party develops a method (such as a primary election ) to choose the candidate
5560-523: The Enlightenment . Another theory posits that the game's name stems from the supposed confused messages created when a message was passed verbally from tower to tower along the Great Wall of China . Critics who focus on Western use of the word Chinese as denoting "confusion" and "incomprehensibility" look to the earliest contacts between Europeans and Chinese people in the 17th century, attributing it to
5699-748: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Secret Service (USSS), the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), representatives of vendors of voting machine equipment, and representatives of state and local governments , as well as his agency's analysis preceding and after that day, saying, "It was quiet. There was no indication or evidence that there was any sort of hacking or compromise of election systems on, before, or after November third." Responding to spurious claims of foreign outsourcing of vote counting as
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5838-617: The House of Representatives , the Senate , and various state and local-level elections . The Maine Legislature passed a bill in August 2019 adopting ranked-choice voting (RCV) both for presidential primaries and for the general election. Governor Janet Mills allowed the bill to become law without her signature, which delayed its taking effect until after the 2020 Democratic primary in March and made Maine
5977-615: The New York Daily News that he was unaware of the man's history. On November 12, CNN reported that Corey Lewandowski, one of the speakers at the press conference, had tested positive for COVID-19 . While Lewandowski was present at the Trump election night party, possibly making him a part of the White House COVID-19 outbreak responsible for at least three other diagnoses, he said he may have caught it while in Philadelphia, without specifying Four Seasons Total Landscaping as
6116-455: The Pennsylvania Convention Center in Center City , as downtown Philadelphia is known locally. The streets in the area had been filled with demonstrators supporting each candidate. On November 5, Trump campaign spokespeople Corey Lewandowski and Pam Bondi attempted to talk to the media just outside the convention center about a court ruling that allowed campaign observers to stand closer to
6255-597: The Republican primaries . Jo Jorgensen secured the Libertarian presidential nomination with Spike Cohen as her running mate, and Howie Hawkins secured the Green presidential nomination with Angela Nicole Walker as his running mate. The central issues of the election included the public health and economic impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic ; civil unrest in reaction to the police murder of George Floyd and others;
6394-499: The Supreme Court following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett ; and the future of the Affordable Care Act . Due to the ongoing pandemic, a record number of ballots were cast early and by mail . Thirty-eight states had over half of all votes cast using these methods, and only three states had fewer than 25%. Many more registered Democrats voted by mail than registered Republicans. As
6533-658: The United States Electoral College , gathered in their states' capitols to cast their official votes. Pursuant to the processes laid out by the Electoral Count Act of 1887, certificates of ascertainment listing the names of the electors and separate certificates recording their votes are distributed to various officials across the branches of government. The newly elected Congress, with the Vice President in his role as Senate President presiding, met in
6672-541: The precedent he had set regarding the Merrick Garland nomination was inoperative and that a replacement would be voted on as soon as possible, setting the stage for a confirmation battle and an unexpected intrusion into the campaign. The death of Justice Ginsburg resulted in large increases in momentum for both the Democrats and Republicans. The president, vice president, and several Republican members of Congress said
6811-486: The presidency . Both Trump and Biden ran for their party's nominations in the 2024 election , but Biden dropped out of the race in July 2024. Harris replaced him as presumptive Democratic nominee, with Minnesota governor Tim Walz as her running mate. The Harris/Walz ticket went on to lose to Trump and his running mate, Ohio senator JD Vance , making Trump the first president since Grover Cleveland in 1892 to be elected to two non-consecutive terms. Article Two of
6950-531: The 2020 presidential election were altered or postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and its effects, such as stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines by local governments. On March 10, following primary elections in six states, Democratic candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders cancelled planned campaign night events and further in-person campaigning and campaign rallies. On March 12, Trump also stated his intent to postpone further campaign rallies. The 11th Democratic debate
7089-542: The COVID-19 pandemic suffering from low approval ratings. Being in quarantine also meant Trump was unable to attend rallies, which were a major part of his campaign. As a result of Trump contracting COVID-19, Biden continued campaigning but temporarily ceased running attack ads against him. On October 12, one week after his discharge from the hospital, Trump resumed in-person rallies. Trump continued to travel to battleground states and hold mass rallies, sometimes two or three in
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#17330933103487228-518: The Cycling Club of Chengdu, China, had involved 1,083 people. In 2017 a new world record was set for the largest game of Telephone in terms of the number of participants by schoolchildren in Tauranga , New Zealand. The chain involved 1,763 school children and other individuals and was held as part of Hearing Week 2017. The starting phrase was "Turn it down". As of 2022 this remained the world record for
7367-555: The District of Columbia, representing 381 electoral votes, and write-in access in 16 more states, representing 130 electoral votes. The 2020 Democratic National Convention was originally scheduled for July 13–16 in Milwaukee , Wisconsin , but was delayed to August 17–20 due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic . On June 24, 2020, it was announced that the convention would be held in
7506-492: The Electoral College count. On January 7, Trump acknowledged the incoming administration without mentioning Biden's name. Biden and Harris were inaugurated on January 20, 2021; in a break from tradition, Trump did not attend his successor's inauguration. Trump was indicted in August 2023 on four counts relating to conspiring to overturn the results, which were all dismissed in November 2024, following his reelection to
7645-536: The Global Gossip Game had 840 participants and travelled to all 7 continents. A variant of Telephone is called Rumors. In this version of the game, when players transfer the message, they deliberately change one or two words of the phrase (often to something more humorous than the previous message). Intermediate messages can be compared. There is a second derivative variant, no less popular than Rumors, known as Mahjong Secrets (UK), or Broken Telephone (US), where
7784-631: The Justice Department charged two Iranian hackers with attempting to intimidate American voters ahead of the 2020 U.S. election by sending threatening emails and spreading false information. Throughout the election period, several Colombian lawmakers and the Colombian ambassador to the United States issued statements supporting the Donald Trump campaign, which has been viewed as potentially harmful to Colombia–United States relations . On October 26,
7923-481: The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that the event could go ahead despite continuing concerns over COVID-19. Attendance at the rally was far lower than expected, being described as a "flop", and it led to a significant worsening of relations between Trump and his campaign manager, Brad Parscale . 7.7 million people watched the event on Fox News, a Saturday audience record for that channel. Three weeks after
8062-526: The Republican Party, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania." After FBI agents raided Giuliani's apartment and office on April 28, 2021, Four Seasons posted a meme on Twitter with the caption "Wrong apartment. We kicked him out months ago." CNN reported that the event was "widely ridiculed". It drew humor and parody on social media , where it was assumed the Trump campaign had simply made a mistake with
8201-481: The Trump campaign had assembled to challenge the election results. In response to the press conference, a Four Seasons–themed charity run was created, and the landscaping company capitalized on the newfound attention by selling T-shirts and other merchandise emblazoned with "Make America Rake Again"—a play on Trump's Make America Great Again slogan. After Election Day on November 3, 2020, Philadelphia election officials had set up absentee ballot counting efforts in
8340-488: The Trump campaign. On November 8, Four Seasons announced it would begin selling T-shirts and other merchandise through its website the next day. Some of the items for sale featured wording based on Trump slogans, such as Make America Rake Again and Lawn and Order ! Just three weeks later, over 30,000 shirts had been sold. Merchandise sales, including T-shirts, Christmas sweaters , and face masks, totaled to approximately US$ 1.3 million. The company also created
8479-499: The U.S. Ambassador to Colombia, Philip Goldberg , requested that Colombian politicians abstain from getting involved in the elections. The Department of Justice is investigating whether the Trump Victory Committee accepted a $ 100,000 donation from Malaysian businessman and international fugitive Jho Low , who is accused of being the mastermind behind the multibillion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal involving
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#17330933103488618-486: The absence of a quorum, the commission cannot vote on complaints or give guidance through advisory opinions. As of May 19, 2020, there were 350 outstanding matters on the agency's enforcement docket and 227 items waiting for action. As of September 1, 2020, Trump had not nominated anyone to fill the FEC vacancies. On September 18, 2020, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell immediately said
8757-491: The allegation. In his announcement, Ratcliffe said Iran's intent had been "to intimidate voters, incite social unrest, and damage President Trump", raising questions as to how ordering Democrats to vote for Trump would be damaging to Trump. It was later reported that the reference to Trump had not been in Ratcliffe's prepared remarks as signed off by the other officials on the stage; he had added it on his own. On November 18, 2021,
8896-509: The allocation of Maine's electors ( Nebraska is the only other state that apportions its electoral votes this way). While multiple rounds of vote counting were not needed due to a single candidate receiving a majority of first-choice votes statewide and in each district, use of RCV complicates interpretation of the national popular vote because voters are more likely to vote for third-party or independent candidates. On December 14, 2020, pledged electors for each candidate, known collectively as
9035-413: The booking, and it was compared to similar mishaps in the political satire series Veep and The Thick of It . "Four Seasons Total Landscaping" became the 21st most-popular trending topic on Twitter ; the following day it was at number one. Yelp users posted reviews, activating an "Unusual Activity" alert, which temporarily disabled the posting of content to the page pending investigation to determine
9174-453: The campaign of a U.S. presidential candidate. The American Government owned Voice of America reported in April 2020 that "Internet security researchers say there have already been signs that China-allied hackers have engaged in so-called ' spear-phishing ' attacks on American political targets ahead of the 2020 vote." Chinese spokesman Geng Shuang denied the allegations and said he would "hope
9313-415: The campaign, falsely claiming that the practice contains high rates of fraud; at one point, Trump said, "We'll see what happens ... Get rid of the ballots and you'll have a very peaceful – there won't be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation." Trump's statements have been described as a threat "to upend the constitutional order". In September 2020, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray , who
9452-465: The chain " propaganda tactics employing some government officials, Trump affiliates, and US media outlets . During the campaign, Trump indicated in Twitter posts , interviews, and speeches that he might refuse to recognize the outcome of the election if he were defeated; Trump falsely suggested that the election would be rigged against him. In July 2020, Trump declined to answer whether he would accept
9591-407: The city's annual Broad Street Run ) for November 29, covering the 11 miles (18 km) from the landscaping business to the hotel. Later, the organizers decided to make it a virtual run, as they did not believe it was possible to maintain social distancing during the event. The 2,100 participants from around the world were to run anywhere they chose that day, including the planned course, and upload
9730-418: The context of cultural evolution research, and is primarily used to identify the type of information that is more easily passed on from one person to another. Players form a line or circle, and the first player comes up with a message and whispers it to the ear of the second person in the line. The second player repeats the message to the third player, and so on. When the last player is reached, they announce
9869-526: The convention was moved back to Charlotte in a scaled-down capacity. The 2020 Libertarian National Convention was originally scheduled to be held in Austin, Texas , over Memorial Day weekend from May 22 to 25, but all reservations at the JW Marriott Downtown Austin for the convention were cancelled on April 26 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Libertarian National Committee eventually decided
10008-457: The counting tables. Pro-Biden demonstrators nearby played Beyoncé 's " Party " so loudly that Bondi could not be heard. Lewandowski decided the Trump campaign needed to find a venue where such disruption was less likely, in a part of the city where voters had been more supportive of Trump's candidacy. Early on November 7, Trump tweeted the location of the press conference as "Four Seasons". Shortly afterwards he issued another tweet, clarifying that
10147-542: The election "corrupt" and intervene, objecting to the Electoral College certification in Congress, and refusing to cooperate with the presidential transition of Biden . With Trump vowing that he would never concede the election and after exhorting his followers to "fight like hell", a mob of Trump supporters attacked the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, during the joint session of Congress held to certify
10286-404: The election had been filed. About 250 of these had to do with the mechanics of voting in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Supreme Court ruled on a number of these cases, primarily issuing emergency stays instead of going through the normal process due to the urgency. In October 2020, there was speculation that the election might be decided through a Supreme Court case, as happened following
10425-600: The election should be delayed. Asked whether Trump had the relevant authority, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said "the United States Department of Justice will make that determination." However, only Congress has the power to schedule elections, and the Constitution sets the end of the presidential and vice-presidential terms at January 20, a hard deadline which can only be altered by constitutional amendment. Congress refused to consider Trump's proposal, and
10564-573: The election to either candidate. Biden also became the first Democrat to win a presidential election in Georgia since 1992 and in Arizona since 1996 , as well as Nebraska's 2nd congressional district since 2008 . Before, during, and after Election Day, Trump and numerous other Republicans engaged in an aggressive and unprecedented attempt to subvert the election and overturn the results , falsely alleging widespread voter fraud and trying to influence
10703-404: The election to support the candidacy of both Biden and Trump, though whether it is actually doing so is disputed among the intelligence community. On October 21, threatening emails were sent to Democrats in at least four states. The emails warned, "You will vote for Trump on Election Day or we will come after you." Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe announced that evening that
10842-437: The election went ahead as scheduled. Postal voting in the United States has become increasingly common, with 25% of voters mailing their ballots in 2016 and 2018. By June 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was predicted to cause a large increase in mail voting because of the possible danger of congregating at polling places. An August 2020 state-by-state analysis concluded that 76% of Americans were eligible to vote by mail in 2020,
10981-436: The election, saying he "is gonna try to kick back the election somehow, come up with some rationale why it can't be held". In May, Jared Kushner did not rule out delaying the election, saying "I’m not sure I can commit one way or the other". On July 30, Trump tweeted that "With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history" and proposed that
11120-498: The emails, using a spoofed return address, had been sent by Iran. He added that both Iran and Russia are known to have obtained American voter registration data, possibly from publicly available information, and "This data can be used by foreign actors to attempt to communicate false information to registered voters that they hope will cause confusion, sow chaos and undermine your confidence in American democracy." A spokesman for Iran denied
11259-490: The entertainment comes from comparing the original and final messages. Intermediate messages may also be compared; some messages will become unrecognizable after only a few steps. As well as providing amusement, the game can have educational value. It shows how easily information can become corrupted by indirect communication. The game has been used in schools to simulate the spread of gossip and its possible harmful effects. It can also be used to teach young children to moderate
11398-737: The event came from Larry Kaplan, a West Chester –based volunteer who in 2016 raised nearly US$ 100,000 by doing the Ice Bucket Challenge . On July 30, 2021, Four Seasons Total Landscaping announced "Lawn Jawn ", a craft beer with a label depicting the press conference. The event received broad coverage on American late-night talk shows with mentions on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert , Late Night with Seth Meyers , The Late Late Show with James Corden , The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon , Jimmy Kimmel Live! , and The Daily Show . Saturday Night Live ' s Kate McKinnon mentioned Four Seasons in an appearance as Giuliani on
11537-414: The event, Middleton said they were still receiving calls from major media outlets worldwide. Four Seasons Total Landscaping planned to host a surf and turf gala on May 8, 2021, in order to benefit four ALS -related charities that were unable to do any fundraising activities in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic , but the event was rescheduled to September 25, 2021, and subsequently cancelled. The idea for
11676-402: The fabulous Philadelphia men and women in blue making this event a safe place," they wrote. The company's Instagram bio describes the firm as a "woman-owned, minority business ... that does great landscaping & perfect snow removal" and is "trying to make America green again!" Four Seasons Total Landscaping also clarified that it was not attempting to make a political statement by hosting
11815-410: The first player, usually with amusing or humorous effect. Reasons for changes include anxiousness or impatience, erroneous corrections, or the difficult-to-understand mechanism of whispering. The game is often played by children as a party game or on the playground. It is often invoked as a metaphor for cumulative error, especially the inaccuracies as rumours or gossip spread, or, more generally, for
11954-629: The first state to use RCV for a presidential general election. The Maine Republican Party filed signatures for a veto referendum to preclude the use of RCV for the 2020 election, but Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap found there were insufficient valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. A challenge in Maine Superior Court was successful for the Maine Republican Party, but the Maine Supreme Judicial Court stayed
12093-840: The game is known under the name telephone . Alternative names used in the United States include Broken Telephone , Gossip , and Rumors . This North American name is followed in a number of languages where the game is known by the local language's equivalent of "broken telephone", such in Malaysia as telefon rosak, in Israel as " טלפון שבור " - literally meaning "broken telephone" in Hebrew (" telefon shavur "), in Finland as rikkinäinen puhelin , and in Greece as halasmeno tilefono (χαλασμένο τηλέφωνο) or spasmeno tilefono (σπασμένο τηλέφωνο). The game has no winner:
12232-409: The game is popular among children worldwide, it is also known under various other names depending on locality, such as Russian scandal , whisper down the lane , broken telephone , operator , grapevine , gossip , secret message , the messenger game , and pass the message , among others. In Turkey, this game is called kulaktan kulağa , which means "from (one) ear to (another) ear". In France, it
12371-589: The impeachment. This is also the first time since the modern presidential primaries were established in 1911 that a president has been subjected to impeachment while the primary season was underway. The impeachment process overlapped with the primary campaigns, forcing senators running for the Democratic nomination to remain in Washington for the trial in the days before and after the Iowa caucuses. Several events related to
12510-427: The incumbent Republican president Donald Trump , and vice president Mike Pence . The election took place against the backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic and related recession . The election saw the highest voter turnout by percentage since 1900 . Biden received more than 81 million votes, the most votes ever cast for a presidential candidate in U.S. history. In a competitive primary that featured
12649-439: The judges about his identity was a list of the four seasons, a reference to the press conference's location. 2020 United States presidential election Donald Trump Republican Joe Biden Democratic Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Harris defeated
12788-508: The larger COVID-19 outbreak among White House personnel . Both the president and first lady immediately entered quarantine, which prevented Trump from further campaigning, notably at campaign rallies. Later that day, the President was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with a low grade fever, where he was reported to have received an experimental antibody treatment. Trump's diagnosis came only two days after he had shared
12927-656: The largest game of Telephone by number of participants according to the Guinness Book of Records . In 2012 a global game of Telephone was played spanning 237 individuals speaking seven different languages. Beginning in St Kilda Library in Melbourne, Australia, the starting phrase "Life must be lived as play" (a paraphrase of Plato) had become "He bites snails" by the time the game reached its end in Alaska 26 hours later. In 2013,
13066-501: The legitimacy of the views. Visitors came to the building to take pictures of themselves with the company's gates and logo in the background. The area was recreated in VRChat by YouTuber Coopertom, while others created mock Lego sets. Two Philadelphia runners, Chip Chantry and Jeff Lyons of the Junk Miles with Chip & Jeff podcast , announced the charity "Fraud Street Run" (a pun on
13205-424: The message they just heard, to the entire group. The first person then compares the original message with the final version. Although the objective is to pass around the message without it becoming garbled along the way, part of the enjoyment is that, regardless, this usually ends up happening. Errors typically accumulate in the retellings, so the statement announced by the last player differs significantly from that of
13344-418: The mimed actions, drawing or music performed by the preceding person in line, with the points value awarded based on how far down the line the correct starting prompt had travelled before mutating into something else. A party game variant of telephone known as "wordpass" involves saying words out loud and saying a related word, until a word is repeated. The game of Telephone is used in a number of fields as
13483-462: The minimum 270 electoral votes needed to win the election , the United States House of Representatives will select the president from among the three candidates who received the most electoral votes, and the United States Senate will select the vice president from among the candidates who received the two highest totals. The presidential election occurred simultaneously alongside elections for
13622-417: The moratorium on traditional campaigning, coupled with the effects of the pandemic on the nation, could have unpredictable effects on the voting populace and possibly, how the election will be conducted. Some presidential primary elections were severely disrupted by COVID-19-related issues, including long lines at polling places, greatly increased requests for absentee ballots, and technology issues. Due to
13761-468: The most candidates for any political party in the modern era of American politics , Biden secured the Democratic presidential nomination . Biden's running mate, Harris, became the first African-American, first Asian-American, and third female vice presidential nominee on a major party ticket. Trump secured re-nomination, getting a total of 2,549 delegates, one of the most in presidential primary history, in
13900-549: The national convention. Biden picked Kamala Harris as his vice-presidential nominee, and the ticket was formally nominated at the convention on August 18. Incumbent president Donald Trump and incumbent vice president Mike Pence were able to easily secure the nomination after Trump received enough delegates in the 2020 Republican presidential primaries . They were formally nominated at the Republican National Convention on August 24, 2020. Jo Jorgensen , who
14039-399: The objective is to receive the message from the whisperer and whisper to the next participant the first word or phrase that comes to mind in association with what was heard. At the end, the final phrase is compared to the first in front of all participants. The pen-and-paper game Telephone Pictionary (also known as Eat Poop You Cat ) is played by alternately writing and illustrating captions,
14178-433: The paper being folded so that each player can only see the previous participant's contribution. The game was first implemented online by Broken Picture Telephone in early 2007. Following the success of Broken Picture Telephone , commercial boardgame versions Telestrations and Cranium Scribblish were released two years later in 2009. Drawception , and other websites, also arrived in 2012. A translation relay
14317-399: The party deems best suited to run for the position. Primary elections are usually indirect elections where voters cast ballots for a slate of party delegates pledged to a particular candidate. The party's delegates then officially nominate a candidate to run on the party's behalf. The presidential nominee typically chooses a vice presidential running mate to form that party's ticket , which
14456-507: The party would hold two conventions, one online from May 22–24 to select the presidential and vice-presidential nominees and one at a physical convention in Orlando, Florida , from July 8–12 for other business. The 2020 Green National Convention was originally to be held in Detroit , Michigan , from July 9 to 12. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the convention was instead held online, without
14595-620: The people of the U.S. not drag China into its electoral politics". On February 13, 2020, American intelligence officials advised members of the House Intelligence Committee that Russia was interfering in the 2020 election in an effort to get Trump re-elected. The briefing was delivered by Shelby Pierson , the intelligence community's top election security official and an aide to acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire . On February 21, The Washington Post reported that, according to unnamed U.S. officials, Russia
14734-484: The players have to read their lips. A similar game, Shouting One Out , in which participants wearing noise-canceling headphones had to interpret the lip movements of the preceding player, appeared in multiple editions of the ITV2 panel game series Celebrity Juice . The CBBC game show Copycats featured several rounds played in a Telephone format, in which each player on a team in turn had to interpret and recreate
14873-426: The poll watchers had spoken. Giuliani said that Philadelphia "has a sad history of voter fraud" including ballots submitted by dead people, specifically mentioning boxer Joe Frazier and actor Will Smith 's father. The claims, which potentially originated from a pro-Trump blog the day before the event, were quickly dismissed by Philadelphia city officials. After looking into the cases of Frazier and Smith as well as
15012-477: The prediction was due in part to numerous measures taken by Louis DeJoy , the newly installed United States Postmaster General , including banning overtime and extra trips to deliver mail, which caused delays in delivering mail, and dismantling and removing hundreds of high-speed mail sorting machines from postal centers. On August 18, after the House of Representatives had been recalled from its August break to vote on
15151-526: The president thought they meant the upscale Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia in Center City. "In reality, the mistake was not in the booking, but in a garbled game of telephone ," The New York Times wrote. At 10:45 a.m., the hotel verified that the event was at the landscapers. PBS reporter Daniel Bush said an unnamed company representative told him the Trump campaign had called the landscapers and said their location "was close to an exit on I-95 , and
15290-438: The procedure, and so on. Each player only knows the translation done by his immediate predecessor, but customarily the relay master or mistress collects all of them. The relay ends when the last player returns the translation to the beginning player. Another variant of Telephone is shown on Ellen's Game of Games under the name of Say Whaaat? . However, the difference is that the four players will be wearing earmuffs; therefore
15429-550: The projected winner from ultimately winning that state. Biden received the majority in the Electoral College with 306 electoral votes, while Trump received 232. Trump was the first president to lose re-election since George H. W. Bush in 1992 . Key to Biden's victory were his wins in the Democratic-leaning Rust Belt states of Michigan , Pennsylvania , and Wisconsin , which Trump narrowly carried in 2016 and whose combined 46 electoral votes were enough to swing
15568-505: The rally, the Oklahoma State Department of Health recorded record numbers of cases of COVID-19, and former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain died of the virus, although it was not confirmed that he caught the disease due to his attendance at the rally. On October 2, 2020, Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 following a positive test from his senior advisor, Hope Hicks , as part of
15707-478: The results of the election by filing numerous lawsuits in several states (most of which were withdrawn or dismissed), spreading conspiracy theories alleging fraud, pressuring Republican state election officials (including, notably, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger , in a phone call that later became widely publicized ) and legislators to change results, pressuring the Department of Justice to declare
15846-426: The results, just as he did in the 2016 presidential election , telling Fox News anchor Chris Wallace that "I have to see. No, I'm not going to just say yes. I'm not going to say no." Trump repeatedly claimed that "the only way" he could lose would be if the election was "rigged" and repeatedly refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power after the election. Trump also attacked mail-in voting throughout
15985-468: The ruling pending appeal on September 8, 2020. Nevertheless, ballots began being printed later that day without the veto referendum and including RCV for the presidential election, and the Court ruled in favor of the secretary of state on September 22, allowing RCV to be used. An emergency appeal to the Supreme Court was denied on October 6. The law continues the use of the congressional district method for
16124-440: The show's " Weekend Update " news segment, and made another indirect reference to it a month later during the show's cold open . Conan , on TBS , presented the video "Other Historic Moments That Took Place at Four Seasons Total Landscaping" jokingly acknowledging "Trump isn't the only public figure who likes to make historic announcements at this small landscaping company in Philadelphia." American comedian Tim Heidecker wrote
16263-465: The site of his infection. On November 14, Politico and The Independent reported that many of the lawyers the Trump campaign had spent months recruiting prior to the election decided to withdraw as a result of the press conference, undercutting the Trump campaign's legal strategy for challenging the election results that they had meticulously planned for months. According to a review of Trump campaign financial disclosure reports by NBCLX , there
16402-443: The stage with Biden at the first presidential debate and raised the possibility that Biden had caught the virus from Trump; Biden tested negative. Trump was discharged from the hospital on October 5. Trump being diagnosed with COVID-19 was widely seen as having a negative effect on his campaign and shifted the attention of the public back onto COVID-19, an issue which is generally seen as a liability for Trump, due to his response to
16541-500: The state's spring elections to June. As a result, the elections, which included a presidential primary, went ahead on April 7 as planned. At least seven new cases of COVID-19 were traced to this election. Voting-rights advocates expressed fear of similar chaos on a nationwide scale in November, recommending states move to expand vote-by-mail options. On June 20, 2020, Trump's campaign held an in-person rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma , after
16680-432: The status of the Trump campaign's legal challenges to the ballot-counting process in the state , where the president's apparent lead over Joe Biden in the first ballots counted had shifted to a shortfall as mailed-in ballots were counted for Philadelphia, historically a heavily Democratic city. The site of the press conference, a local landscaping business, was unexpected. Many journalists and others quickly observed
16819-507: The unreliability of typical human recollection. In the UK, Australia and New Zealand, the game is typically called "Chinese whispers"; in the UK, this is documented from 1964. Various reasons have been suggested for naming the game after the Chinese, but there is no concrete explanation. One suggested reason is a widespread British fascination with Chinese culture in the 18th and 19th centuries during
16958-455: The use of official ballot dropboxes in Pennsylvania in locations other than an election office, and also sought to "block election officials from counting mail-in ballots if a voter forgets to put their mail-in ballot in a secrecy sleeve within the ballot return-envelope". The Trump campaign and the Republican Party both failed to produce any evidence of vote-by-mail fraud after being ordered by
17097-420: The venue was Four Seasons Total Landscaping. One of the president's tweets that identifies the landscaping business as the site for the press conference reads: " 'Four Season’s Landscaping! Big press conference today in Philadelphia at Four Seasons Total Landscaping — 11:30am!' ” According to The New York Times , Trump's team had intended to hold the press conference at the landscaper business but
17236-402: The venue was decided on. Journalists who arrived took note of the surrounding neighborhood. "It was in that part of town that every town has, where businesses which have no right being grouped together nonetheless gather due to one reason or another—usually the cheap rent" observed the British newspaper The Independent . Four Seasons is on the same block as a sex shop , across the street from
17375-430: The volume of their voice, and how to listen attentively; in this case, a game is a success if the message is transmitted accurately with each child whispering rather than shouting. It can also be used for older or adult learners of a foreign language, where the challenge of speaking comprehensibly, and understanding, is more difficult because of the low volume, and hence a greater mastery of the fine points of pronunciation
17514-479: The vote-counting process in swing states in what has been described as an attempted self-coup d'état . Attorney General William Barr and officials in each of the 50 states found no evidence of fraud (widespread or otherwise) or irregularities in the election. Federal agencies overseeing election security said it was the most secure in American history. The Trump campaign and its allies, including Republican members of Congress , continued to attempt to overturn
17653-413: The winner of the Pennsylvania vote and thus the nationwide election. Several news outlets characterized the event as the symbolic end of Trump's presidency . The event was ridiculed by journalists and users of social media. It garnered further ridicule after it emerged that one of the witnesses who spoke at the event was a convicted sex offender. It resulted in lawyers withdrawing from the legal team that
17792-539: The year appeared to foreshadow such possibilities. Nonetheless, after his dismissal , in a December 2020 interview, Chris Krebs , the Trump administration's director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), described monitoring Election Day from CISA's joint command center along with representatives from the military's United States Cyber Command , the National Security Agency (NSA),
17931-457: Was appointed by Trump, testified under oath that the FBI has "not seen, historically, any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it's by mail or otherwise". A number of congressional Republicans insisted they were committed to an orderly and peaceful transition of power, but declined to criticize Trump for his comments. On September 24, the Senate unanimously passed
18070-430: Was confirmed on a party-line vote of 52–48, with no Democrats voting for her confirmation. This was the closest Supreme Court confirmation ever to a presidential election, and the first Supreme Court nomination since 1869 with no supporting votes from the minority party. It was also one of the fastest timelines from nomination to confirmations in U.S. history. By September 2020, several hundred legal cases relating to
18209-496: Was held on March 15 without an audience at the CNN studios in Washington, D.C. Several states also postponed their primaries to a later date, including Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, and Maryland. As of March 24, 2020, all major-party presidential candidates had halted in-person campaigning and campaign rallies over COVID-19 concerns. Political analysts speculated at the time that
18348-432: Was interfering in the Democratic primary in an effort to support the nomination of Senator Bernie Sanders . Sanders issued a statement after the news report, saying in part, "I don't care, frankly, who Putin wants to be president. My message to Putin is clear: stay out of American elections, and as president, I will make sure that you do." Sanders acknowledged that his campaign was briefed about Russia's alleged efforts about
18487-748: Was it called by?" Sky News correspondent Mark Stone replied by saying "All the networks." Giuliani then responded by looking heavenward and striking a pose of mock crucifixion, saying: All the, oh my goodness, all the networks. Wow! All the networks! We have to forget about the law. Judges don't count. All the networks, all the networks. All the networks thought Biden was going to win by 10%. Gee, what happened? Come on, don't be, don't be ridiculous. Networks don't get to decide elections, courts do. Giuliani also expressed in reference to Trump that "Obviously he's not going to concede when at least 600,000 ballots are in question." As he spoke, some reporters began packing their equipment and leaving, before he had finished and
18626-447: Was later revealed that an hour before the event was first announced, a Trump staffer had called the former director of sales at Four Seasons Total Landscaping, Sean Middleton, to ask if the company would be willing to host a news conference. After getting permission from the owner Marie, Middleton drove to the venue to meet with Michael Siravo, director of operations and Marie Siravo's son. The meeting lasted around 10 minutes, at which point
18765-459: Was no payment made to Four Seasons for facility rental based on expenses for October 15 through November 23 reported by the campaign or related political action committees (PACs), Trump Victory and Save America . Olivia Nuzzi , of New York magazine, published an extensive report about the event that involved "more than 37 sources spread throughout the White House, the Trump campaign, the president's network of advisers both formal and informal,
18904-466: Was not empirical or anecdotal, and that it was hard evidence, one of many exhibits that would be filed with the court. Election officials in Allegheny County said they would investigate. An official complaint was never filed; the county referred the matter to its police department . One journalist likened the event to an appearance by Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi driving a golf cart and carrying
19043-434: Was secure, and that's why they wanted to use it." The local Republican ward leader told The Philadelphia Inquirer that he was not notified in advance and that neither Four Seasons' owner Marie Siravo nor anyone in her family were particularly involved in local politics. She had expressed support for Trump on a Facebook page in August, but was not exceptionally vocal, saying "we don't need to invite him for dinner." It
19182-515: Was the running mate of author Harry Browne in 1996 , received the Libertarian nomination at the national convention on May 23, 2020. She achieved ballot access in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Howie Hawkins became the presumptive nominee of the Green Party on June 21, 2020, and was officially nominated by the party on July 11, 2020. Hawkins secured ballot access in 29 states and
19321-495: Was unclear whether that meant it had actually been counted. Ondick's family confirmed that she had received an absentee ballot application; her daughter said she had helped her mother, who planned to vote for Trump, fill it out two days prior to her death and the state records show the application was received the day after Ondick died. But she had not mailed the ballot in after her mother died, and she said her father could not recall doing so. Lewandowski said that his cited evidence
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