President Donald Trump is working overtime to shed doubt on the election results with a barrage of tweets accusing Michigan and other battleground states of allowing voter fraud.
This has placed Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in the position of defending her state's vote-counting process, which she insists has been transparent.
"What this is really about is more of a political strategy or partisan effort to sow seeds of doubt amongst our voters about the integrity of our election's process," she told Cheddar. "But the bottom line is we've got 1,500 clerks all throughout the state, at the city, and township level who worked tirelessly for months to ensure every strict protocol that we've got in place under the law here in Michigan was met."
While the Trump campaign is demanding access to vote-counting sites in the state, poll watchers from both parties are already present. Shortly after Cheddar spoke with Benson, a Democrat, on Thursday afternoon a Michigan judge denied a suit over the issue brought against her by the Trump campaign
Benson noted that despite record turnout the state was able to tabulate results in less than 48 hours and that the process has been "methodical" and "secure."
"We saw record numbers of people voting in this election, record numbers of people voting absentee, and through that process, our clerks rose and met every challenge," she said.
The state's top election official sees the rhetoric coming from Trump as one of the biggest threats to the security of the voting process, but not one that took her by surprise.
"The bottom line is no one should be surprised that this is happening," Benson said. "Disappointed? Yes. Surprised? No."
The state has asked residents to submit any evidence of misinformation concerning the election to misinformation@michigan.gov.
Going forward, Benson expressed pride in the clerks who pulled off this election but would like to see greater support from the legislature
"In terms of regrets, I wish our state legislature had done more to partner with us and our local clerks to provide more resources and support as we entered this really momentous, historic election," she said.
As gas prices surge amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, other nations could potentially transition faster to using clean energy than previously expected. Philip K. Verleger, a senior fellow at the Niskanen Center, joined Cheddar News to explain how this could be a possibility in the near future. "Part of the reason I think we have this invasion and the tantrum that's being thrown by Russia, terrible tantrum, is because the Russians were trying to slow down the transition," he said. "Ironically they speeded it up."
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PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Starbucks are the latest American food brands to have halted business operations in Russia after having faced scrutiny and criticism for originally failing to do so amid the country's invasion of Ukraine.
As Russia intensifies its war on Ukraine, President Biden announced a ban on oil imported from the aggressor nation. Critics of Russia have said this would be the best way to force Putin to pull back, but curbs on Russian oil exports are expected to send already skyrocketing oil and gas prices even higher, further impacting consumers, businesses, financial markets, and the global economy. Leslie Beyer, CEO of the Energy Workforce and Technology Council, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss. "It's certainly going to increase pricing, but it is the right thing to do," she said. "The industry itself has already pulled out of the significant portion of its operations in Russia."
Sports Betting in the U.S. is booming. According to industry experts, we could see another boom this year as more states move towards statewide legalization of sports wagering. While this comes as huge news for fans, there are some very real concerns as to whether or not sports betting potentially poses a threat to public health. Senior Clinician at the Caron Treatment Centers, Eric Webber, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
The Biden administration has made gender policy a core part of how it governs. The president established the first Gender Policy Council. It's on the same level as the National Security Council, Domestic Policy Council and National Economic Council, putting the interests of women and other underserved groups at the table for the most important policy discussions.
Cheddar News sat down with Jennifer Klein, executive director and co-chair of the White House Gender Policy Council, to discuss the council's work and its significance during Women's History Month.
State Representative Jessica González, Vice Chair of the Texas House LGBTQ Caucus, joins Cheddar News to discuss the latest Texas anti-transgender directive.
