Donald Trump has described his Democratic presidential rival, Joe Biden, as the 'worst candidate in history' at a rally in Wisconsin. 'If I lose … what do I do? I'd rather run against somebody who is extraordinarily talented, at least this way I can go and lead my life.' Trump again insisted that he was immune from Covid-19, saying he 'got better fast' and that he 'can now jump into the audience and give you all a big kiss, the women and the men'
Continue reading...Category Archives: Joe Biden
Biden accuses Trump of trying to wish away Covid ahead of Wisconsin rally – as it happened
- Trump to hold Wisconsin rally despite Covid warnings
- Can Biden overcome racist legacy of crime bill he backed?
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Here’s a summary of the latest events:
Mitch McConnell announced Saturday that the Senate will vote Tuesday on a Paycheck Protection Plan funding bill and Wednesday on the same $500bn Covid-19 aid package that Democrats blocked last month on the grounds that it didn’t go far enough.
“It is long past time for the two parties to agree where we can and get more money out the door,” the Senate majority leader said in a statement.
I just announced the Senate will vote next week on hundreds of billions more dollars for relief programs that Democrats do not even oppose. Working families have already waited too long for Speaker Pelosi’s Marie Antoinette act to stop. Let's make law. pic.twitter.com/iR7OYKuCKw
Continue reading...US records highest daily coronavirus case total since July
- 68,000 new cases on Friday amid Covid-19 resurgence
- Dr Fauci warns of danger of ‘high community infection baseline’
- Trump to hold Wisconsin rally despite public gathering warning
More than 68,000 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the US on Friday, the highest number in a single day since July, further confirmation the country is in the midst of a coronavirus resurgence.
Related: American Crisis review: Andrew Cuomo on Covid, Trump … and a job with Joe Biden?
Continue reading...‘Things have changed’: can Biden overcome the racist legacy of the crime bill he backed?
The 1994 crime bill paved the way to mass incarceration of Black Americans. Biden says his support was a ‘mistake’
In 1994, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware stood proudly behind Bill Clinton as he signed into law a reform bill that touched nearly every aspect of the US criminal justice system.
Related: Trump trails Biden with two weeks to go – but there could yet be surprises
Continue reading...Trump condemned for QAnon dodge as Biden town hall wins TV ratings battle
- President refused to disavow baseless QAnon conspiracy theory
- TV figures show rival Biden event drew about 1m more viewers
Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in their TV ratings battle from their duelling town hall events, figures showed Friday, while the president faced condemnation over his failure to disavow the QAnon conspiracy theory.
Related: Biden's town hall drew 2 million more viewers than Trump's in early figures – live
Continue reading...Trump v Biden at TV town halls: a president kept in check – latest reaction live
- Candidates offer dramatically different visions at town halls
- Biden at ease while Trump struggles under pressure
- Savannah Guthrie hailed for keeping Trump in check
- McConnell says he has votes to confirm Amy Coney Barrett
- Sign up for Fight to Vote – our weekly US election newsletter
Joe Biden said at a town hall event Thursday night that he would announce before election day whether he favors expanding the supreme court.
Biden has repeatedly declined to lay out a stance on the issue amid an ongoing Republican sprint to install a third justice nominated by Donald Trump before the election, in what critics have called a naked power grab.
Related: Biden says he'll lay out stance on expanding supreme court before election
In a new interactive elections timeline, Alvin Chang has explained how various 2020 US election scenarios, including the case of Trump losing but refusing to concede, could play out.
Americans are used to a certain routine with presidential elections – but this year might be different, Alvin writes. If you’re not current on such concepts as the safe harbor deadline and wonder how states select electors, read about it here:
Related: Timeline: how 2020 US election scenarios could play out
Continue reading...Twitter softens policy on hacking after row over blocked New York Post story
Move follows criticism from Republicans and others over story about Joe Biden’s son
Twitter has softened its policies against the sharing of hacked material after the backlash over its decision to block a New York Post story about Joe Biden’s son.
Republican senators declared their intention to subpoena the Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey next week, forcing him to explain the decision, after he apologised for the lack of communication about the blocking.
Continue reading...Joe Biden lays out plans for tax, Covid and the supreme court in town hall event – video
The Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, took to the stage in Pennsylvania in a modified town hall event, following the cancellation of the second debate. Biden gave detailed answers about his proposals on everything, from the coronavirus pandemic to tax reform – in a stark contrast to Donald Trump's combative event that took place in Miami at the same time
Continue reading...US election: Rudy Giuliani’s daughter endorses Joe Biden
‘I’ve come to realize that none of us can afford to be silent right now,’ former New York mayor’s daughter writes in Vanity Fair
Rudy Giuliani’s daughter has endorsed Joe Biden for president in an essay for Vanity Fair, writing that in this historic election “none of us can afford to be silent”.
“My father is Rudy Giuliani,” Caroline Rose Giuliani said in the magazine. “We are multiverses apart, politically and otherwise. I’ve spent a lifetime forging an identity in the arts separate from my last name, so publicly declaring myself as a ‘Giuliani’ feels counterintuitive, but I’ve come to realize that none of us can afford to be silent right now.”
Continue reading...Trump and Biden town halls: two channels, two candidates, two planets
Trump rambled feverishly like ‘someone’s crazy uncle’ as Biden looked relaxed in an armchair like a grandfather with pipe
America is often described as a “split screen nation”, bitterly divided between two political tribes dwelling in echo chambers. But Thursday night at 8pm was a bit too on the nose.
The NBC network hosted a town hall event with Donald Trump. ABC hosted a simultaneous town hall event with his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden. CBS, meanwhile, hosted the reality TV show Big Brother with Julie Chen Moonves.
Continue reading...Trump and Biden offer dramatically different visions at dueling town halls
Combative president defends his record on coronavirus as Biden calls for far more robust national response
In a split-screen display, US voters heard dramatically different visions from Donald Trump and Joe Biden, his democratic challenger, at dueling town hall-style events on Thursday night, less than three weeks before the election.
Related: Trump refuses to disavow QAnon conspiracy theory during TV debate
Continue reading...Biden article row shows how US election is testing Facebook and Twitter
Online giants felt forced to take unprecedented action as they struggle with role during divisive presidential battle
Mere hours after the publication of a controversial New York Post article critical of Joe Biden, both Twitter and Facebook took unprecedented action to restrict distribution of the post.
Facebook, a company spokesman revealed, had immediately begun to “reduce its distribution on our platform”, altering how the company’s recommendation algorithm would normally react to such a viral story in order to buy its third-party fact checkers time to come to a conclusion about its veracity.
Continue reading...Amy Coney Barrett hearing to conclude as Trump and Biden head for TV town halls – US politics live
- Barrett pledges ‘open mind’ and plays down conservative record
- Trump and Biden to hold dueling town halls after canceled debate
- Sign up for Fight to Vote – our weekly US election newsletter
Maggie Miller reports for the Hill this morning on an IT security study that suggests that half of battleground states are facing cybersecurity challenges ahead of the election. She writes:
IT security group SecurityScorecard evaluated and ranked all US states and territories on their overall cybersecurity posture between September and early October, examining state election-related websites, along with network security, information leaks, endpoint security and other cybersecurity issues.
The company awarded 75 percent of all states and territories a “C” rating or below, including traditional swing states such as Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and Ohio. Of these, 35 percent were awarded a “D” or below, with North Dakota, Puerto Rico and American Samoa awarded the lowest scores.
Jason Wilson reports for us on how scores of private actors have aided police in militarizing their operations and expanding their surveillance capacities, in a profit-making industry.
Scores of private firms, consultants and non-governmental organizations have provided software, equipment, training and information to law enforcement agencies in a burgeoning profit-making industry, according to documents from the so-called Blueleaks information dump.
The documents show how private actors – from major corporations to small-scale contractors – have aided police in militarizing their operations, expanding their surveillance capacities, and pursuing the so-called “war on drugs”.
Continue reading...US election: what a Biden or Trump victory could mean for Britain
It could be the most significant election for US foreign policy since 1940, with huge implications for the UK
The British government has a long history of misreading America – from Lord Palmerston expecting the Confederacy to survive the civil war, to Ernie Bevin being shocked that the US would not pay the UK’s postwar bills, to Tony Blair believing in 2003 that he could ride the US military tiger in Iraq and create a democracy.
Few serving or former British diplomats are confidently predicting the outcome of this November’s presidential election, or even whether an increasingly erratic Donald Trump will accept the result as legitimate. The collective delusion about the 2016 election hangs heavy.
Continue reading...Facebook and Twitter restrict controversial New York Post story on Joe Biden
Social media platforms move to limit spread of article amid questions over its veracity
Facebook and Twitter took steps on Wednesday to limit the spread of a controversial New York Post article critical of Joe Biden, sparking outrage among conservatives and stoking debate over how social media platforms should tackle misinformation ahead of the US election.
In an unprecedented step against a major news publication, Twitter blocked users from posting links to the Post story or photos from the unconfirmed report. Users attempting to share the story were shown a notice saying: “We can’t complete this request because this link has been identified by Twitter or our partners as being potentially harmful.” Users clicking or retweeting a link already posted to Twitter are shown a warning the “link may be unsafe”.
Continue reading...Amy Coney Barrett hearing: top Republican praises judge for being ‘unashamedly pro-life’ – live
- Lindsey Graham lavishes praise on supreme court nominee
- Barron Trump had coronavirus, first lady reveals
- Barrett dodges abortion and healthcare questions
- Trump and Biden offer different visions of US role in world
- Trump in trouble as Florida’s seniors shift towards Biden
- Sign up for Fight to Vote – our weekly US election newsletter
Harris took up questioning Barrett on climate change.
Harris: Do you think COVID-19 is infectious?
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
Continue reading...Record turnout as Americans endure long waits to vote early in 2020 election
A ‘pretty staggering’ 14 million Americans have already voted in the general election, according to an analysis
As voters turn out in record numbers to choose between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, Americans continued to endure hours-long waits to vote early.
A record of 14 million Americans have already voted in the general election, according to an analysis of voting information from the US Elections Project. In key swing states such as Florida more than 2 million voters have already cast their ballots.
Continue reading...Trump and Biden offer starkly different visions of US role in world
The world is anxiously watching the election, with the candidates far apart on issues such as the climate crisis and nuclear weapons
Foreign policy barely gets a mention in this US election, but for the rest of the world the outcome on 3 November will arguably be the most consequential in history.
All US elections have a global impact, but this time there are two issues of existential importance to the planet – the climate crisis and nuclear proliferation – on which the two presidential candidates could hardly be further apart.
Continue reading...‘To Donald Trump, you’re expendable’: Joe Biden appeals to seniors – video
Joe Biden says Donald Trump views older voters as 'expendable' and 'forgettable' as the Democratic presidential candidate sought to win fresh support in the battleground state of Florida.
Biden’s visit on Tuesday came a day after the president’s own trip to Florida – his first outside Washington since his Covid-19 diagnosis.
Continue reading...‘How many people’s hearts are broken?’ Biden slams Trump over Covid-19 death toll – video
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has urged his supporters in the battleground state of Florida to vote out 'reckless' Donald Trump after taking aim at his response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Biden accused Trump of not taking the initial response to the coronavirus outbreak seriously, leading to the growing death toll across the United States. "How many empty chairs are around the dining room table tonight because of his negligence?" Biden asked. "How many people's hearts are broken?"
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