Twitter to hand @POTUS account to Joe Biden on Jan 20, even if Trump doesn't concede
Los Angeles: Micro-blogging site Twitter will hand control of the presidential @POTUS account to President-elect Joe Biden the moment he is sworn in on inauguration day on January 20, even if President Donald Trump has not conceded his election loss, the company has said.
The @POTUS account is the official account of the President of the United States and is separate from the @realDonaldTrump account that Trump uses to tweet.
Biden, 78, will be the 46th US President when he is sworn in.
The handover requires no sharing of information between the outgoing Trump team and the incoming Biden team, Twitter said, adding that all existing tweets on those accounts will be archived and Twitter will transfer the accounts reset to zero tweets to the Biden White House that day.
"Twitter is actively preparing to support the transition of White House institutional Twitter accounts on January 20th, 2021," Twitter spokesperson Nick Pacilio told Politico in an email.
"As we did for the presidential transition in 2017, this process is being done in close consultation with the National Archives and Records Administration," Pacilio said.
The same goes for @whitehouse, @VP, @FLOTUS, and a handful of other official accounts associated with the presidency, the report said on Friday.
Twitter also confirmed that staffers will meet with representatives from the Biden-Harris transition team in the coming months to review how the new administration plans to use its government-related accounts, The Hill reported.
The @POTUS account has more than 32 million followers and will provide Biden with another way to communicate with the public while in office.
Trump, the 45th US President, has so far refused to concede the November 3 presidential race to Biden, even though results released by election officials clearly give the race to the former US vice president. He has filed multiple lawsuits challenging the poll results in several states.
Biden was declared the winner of the US presidential election on November 7 after flipping the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin to the Democrats' column.
Biden now has 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232 votes. To win the race to the White House, the successful candidate should have at least 270 electoral votes out of the 538-member Electoral College.
An archive of Obama's @POTUS account can be found under the handle @POTUS44.
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Siddaramaiah, I will abide by Cong high command decision on leadership issue, says Shivakumar
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Sunday said both he and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will abide by any decision takeb by the Congress high command on the leadership issue in the state.
Speaking to reporters after returning from Delhi, the Congress state president said, he has full faith in the party leadership and that it would take an approapriate decision at the appropriate time.
The remarks comes amid speculations within the party and political circles about a possible leadership change and cabinet reshuffle after May 4, when the results for assembly elections in four states and one union territory, along with bypolls to two assembly segments in the Karnataka are announced.
"I will not speak about political issues before the media. I have already said that when the time comes you will get to know. So I will not tell you," Shivakumar said in response to a question on discussions with the Congress high command during his Delhi visit over the last couple of days.
He asserted that there are no issues within the party, and whatever has been already decided will take place accordingly.
Responding to a question on senior Minister Satish Jarkiholi's reported statement about internal differences, the Deputy CM said, "nothing like that, they (high command) will do what they have to do at the appropriate time."
"There are no issues, we have faith in our party, they will do what they have to," he added.
Asked about the issue of leadership change as the government is about to complete three years in office, Shivakumar said, "... I have never discussed this issue. The CM and I have both said that we will accept whatever and whenever the high command decides, and we will abide by it."
He declined to comment when asked whether any "good news" can be expected by his birthday on May 15.
The leadership tussle within the ruling party has intensified amid speculation about a possible change of chief minister after the Congress government completed the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20, 2025. The speculation has been fuelled by the reported "power-sharing" arrangement between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar at the time of government formation in 2023.
Responding to a question on the BJP's criticism against the Congress government over its decision on internal reservation for Scheduled Castes, alleging injustice to several communities and questioning its intent behind the revised quota formula, Shivakumar said the BJP could not do anything on internal reservation while in power, but the Congress has kept its promise.
"We have found a solution and tried to do justice to all sections among SCs. We have fulfilled the promise made and every one should go together," he said.
Shivakumar warned his party workers against erecting flex banners for his birthday on May 15.
"For May 15, I want to tell everyone that no one should put up flex banners or advertisements for my birthday. If flex are installed I will ensure that cases are registered by authorities against those responsible, whether they are party workers or followers....no one should put such things on roads, this is my personal request," he said, adding that he has asked commissioners of the city corporations to register cases and impose heavy fines.
