Category Archives: Joe Biden

Coronavirus US live: 400,000 cases confirmed in America as Cuomo says New York is flattening curve

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The White House is reportedly having discussions about reopening the economy next month, which could cause friction with health experts who have warned against lifting “stay at home” orders too quickly.

CNN reports:

Officials said the options being discussed on reopening the country vary widely in scope, from recommendations on benchmarks for when individual states can begin easing restrictions to a nationwide ‘big bang’ that Trump previewed Tuesday evening on Fox News. The officials said the conversations were still preliminary and would likely evolve over the course of the next weeks.

Still, some officials have even begun mulling the type of event Trump may want to mark the day when nationwide restrictions are lifted after he suggested a ‘big celebration’ when the crisis is over. ...

At some point, the president is going to have to look at Drs. Fauci and Birx and say, we're opening on May 1. Give me your best guidance on protocols, but we cannot deny our people their basic freedoms any longer.

Barack Obama called for a “robust system of testing and monitoring” to confront the coronavirus crisis.

Social distancing bends the curve and relieves some pressure on our heroic medical professionals. But in order to shift off current policies, the key will be a robust system of testing and monitoring – something we have yet to put in place nationwide. https://t.co/evkTSrzReB

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Bernie Sanders, who reshaped US politics, ends 2020 presidential run

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Inspirational senator’s youth-led movement pushed for sweeping social change but fell far behind Joe Biden in bid for nomination

Bernie Sanders, the 78-year-old senator from Vermont who reshaped American politics with his youth-led movement for sweeping social change, announced on Wednesday that he was ending his presidential campaign for the 2020 Democratic nomination.

Sanders informed staff he was suspending his presidential campaign during a conference call on Wednesday morning, capping what has been an extraordinary rise from relative obscurity to standard-bearer of the American left as an unabashed democratic socialist who championed the working class and called for political revolution.

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Coronavirus US live: Trump reportedly knew pandemic was likely in January

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Joe Biden said he would like Bernie Sanders to be “part of the journey,” although not his running mate, if he wins the Democratic nomination.

Biden has a significant lead in the delegate count, but Sanders remains in the race, despite an increasingly narrow path to the nomination.

President Trump said he had a friendly phone conversation with former Vice President Joe Biden to talk about the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic. Biden told @craigmelvin in a one-on-one interview that he doesn't want the November election delayed. pic.twitter.com/DICLhBafTE

The White House has confirmed Stephanie Grisham is leaving her role as press secretary to rejoin the first lady’s team.

“My replacements will be announced in the coming days and I will stay in the West Wing to help with a smooth transition for as long as needed,” Grisham said in a statement released by the White House.

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Coronavirus US live: Trump says country will reopen ‘sooner than people think’

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Dr Birx shared a personal story about her granddaughter’s current high fever and her inability to visit. Earlier, Trump accidentally referred to her “grandson”.

“I’m sure it’s roseola or something,” Birx says of her 10-month-old granddaughter’s high fever.

She doubts it’s coronavirus because her family is self-isolating.

“No one is allowed into that house or out of that house because there’s too much precious cargo inside,” Birx says https://t.co/zvWlrulgbf

More details from the Guardian’s Sam Levine on the Wisconsin election:

The US supreme court ruled 5-4 that Wisconsin voters have to have their mail-in ballots postmarked by 7 April, election day, in order to have them counted in the state’s closely watched election. The deadline for election officials to receive the ballot is 13 April. The decision, which came shortly after the state supreme court ordered the election to move forward on Tuesday, ends days of legal fighting over the deadline for receiving absentee ballots in the state.

While I do not doubt the good faith of my colleagues, the court’s order, I fear, will result in massive disenfranchisement. A voter cannot deliver for postmarking a ballot she has not received. The question here is whether tens of thousands of Wisconsin citizens can vote safely in the midst of a pandemic.”

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Coronavirus US live: Trump uses Defense Production Act to make ventilators

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The president was tested this morning, according to the White House physician.

True paper statement from the White House, passed out to reporters in the briefing room just now. pic.twitter.com/K0SVhLAk1X

LIVE: Press Briefing with Coronavirus Task Force https://t.co/L80j4W1c8O

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Coronavirus US live: Donald Trump predicts ‘a very, very painful two weeks’

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Dr. Fauci said “I believe we acted early,” in response to a question about whether the US could have done more, earlier. But he conceded that earlier action could have helped.

Dr. Birx, as well, evaded the question, asserting that it remains to be seen whether the disease was spreading through the US in February or earlier.

Fact check: Hydroxychloroquine cure

Trump once again touted hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus cure, asserting that it won’t kill people because it has already been used to treat other conditions. But the drug can have serious side effects even when it is used as recommended, to treat malaria, as well as lupus and arthritis.

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Donald Trump in ‘near tie’ with Joe Biden, new poll finds

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Washington Post-ABC News poll puts former vice-president ahead by 49% to 47% among registered voters

Donald Trump has gained ground on his probable challenger in November’s presidential election and is in a “near tie” with Joe Biden, according to a new poll released on Sunday.

The Washington Post-ABC News poll put the former vice-president ahead by 49% to 47% among registered voters. In February, the same poll put the US president seven points behind.

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#WhereIsJoe: Biden campaign tries to stay relevant amid coronavirus

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The Democratic frontrunner faces an unprecedented political challenge as he seeks traction while working from home

Video conferences from a basement, glitchy internet and bouts of restlessness. Joe Biden, like the rest of America, is working from home.

The former vice-president’s confinement began abruptly on 10 March, when he touched down in Cleveland for a primary-night campaign event only to learn that the state’s governor had called for all major indoor events to be canceled as the nation slowly grasped the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Coronavirus US live: House passes $2.2tn economic stimulus package

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Donald Trump will be signing the stimulus package at 4pm this afternoon.

Will be signing the CARE Act in the Oval Office today at 4:00 P.M. Eastern! https://t.co/0WnTNFZPZD

Donald Trump just released an ad called “Hope” that uses sound bytes from various public figures that make it appear they are praising the president for his efforts combating Covid-19.

Reposting - the president, who has accused Democrats of politicizing the coronavirus, is out with an ad using various public statements in misleading ways to highlight his response https://t.co/QwrG5AivMY

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Coronavirus US live: US now has more cases than any other country – as it happened

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The Guardian’s Vivian Ho reports:

California’s homeless census was already troubled. Covid-19 is making it impossible.

Related: California's homeless census was already troubled. Covid-19 is making it impossible

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Coronavirus US live: stimulus bill fails in Senate as experts urge Trump not to roll back social restrictions

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The death toll in New York City is now approaching 100. The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the city on Monday was 12,339 with 99 deaths. There are just over 20,000 confirmed cases in New York state as a whole and 157 deaths. For context, there are around 41,200 confirmed cases in the entire United States.

The State Department says it is trying to help around 13,500 US citizens who wish to return home from abroad during the Covid-19 pandemic. An official told reporters on Monday that the department is looking at chartering planes to repatriate Americans abroad, and priority would be given to those in need. “If we have somebody who is 70 years old with an underlying condition, such as diabetes or heart disease, that person is going to get a higher priority on one of those flights, than the hale and hearty 20 year old,” the official said.

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Bernie Sanders reassesses campaign after Biden builds formidable lead

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The Vermont senator’s presidential campaign has seen little but bad news recently as it admits ‘losing the battle over electability’

The Vermont senator Bernie Sanders got thumped in the latest round of Democratic presidential primary contests and, once again, Sanders and his team are reassessing their path forward.

It’s becoming a familiar cycle: former vice-president Joe Biden beats Sanders, the darling of progressive grassroots voters; the Sanders campaign concedes the situation isn’t ideal, and spends some time reassessing. That’s what happened earlier this month after the Super Tuesday contests on 3 March, and this Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

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Sanders to ‘assess campaign’ after Biden sweeps to victory amid coronavirus crisis – live updates

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News of Bernie Sanders assessing his campaign comes after Joe Biden made an overture to Sanders supporters last night.

In a video following Biden’s wins, Biden said he and Sanders shared common goals on regarding healthcare, inequality and the climate crisis.

“So let me say especially to the young voters who have been inspired by Senator Sanders, I hear you. I know what to stake, [...]

I know what we have to do. Our goal is as a campaign, and my goal as a candidate for president is to unify this party, and then to unify the nation.

The Sanders’s campaign has just issued the following statement via campaign manager Faiz Shakir:

The next primary contest is at least three weeks away. Sen. Sanders is going to be having conversations with his supporters to assess his campaign. In the immediate term, however, he is focused on the government response to the coronavirus outbreak and ensuring that we take care of working people the most vulnerable

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Sanders pressured to exit in push for unity against twin threats: virus and Trump

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Joe Biden’s latest string of victories prompts renewed calls for senator to call it quits for the national good

For more than three years it seemed impossible to millions of Americans that anything could be more important than voting for an alternative to Donald Trump.

Yet right now the US president is no longer seen as the most pressing threat to national security. The coronavirus crisis has temporarily turned the US presidential election into a sideshow.

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Biden wins Florida and Illinois primaries as he edges towards Democratic nomination – live

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Bernie Sanders is not currently winning a single Florida county, underscoring the scale of Joe Biden’s victory there.

Bernie Sanders got crushed in Florida in 2016, but he still managed to win 9 counties and get 33% of the vote.

Now looks like he's not going to win single county and is just shy of 23%. pic.twitter.com/E5a4iNMKLM

Joe Biden will soon start delivering a primary-night speech after winning Florida and Illinois. (Watch his remarks here.)

Biden is hoping to pull off a sweep tonight once Arizona’s polls close in about 45 minutes.

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Joe Biden’s pledge to pick a female vice-president smells like tokenism | Arwa Mahdawi

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Of course I want him to choose a woman as his running mate. But his grand gesture feels more like pandering than policy

Stacey Abrams? Kamala Harris? Elizabeth Warren? Nobody knows for sure whom Joe Biden will choose as a running mate if – as is almost certain – he wins the Democratic nomination, but we do know it will be a woman.

“I’ll pick a woman to be vice-president,” Biden promised during Sunday’s presidential debate with Bernie Sanders. “There are a number of women qualified to be president tomorrow.” While none of those eminently qualified women will be president any time soon, one lucky lady may have the privilege of playing second fiddle to a gaffe-prone white guy. To cement his position as intersectional male feminist of the year, Biden also promised to appoint an African American woman to the supreme court.

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Three Democratic primaries due but Ohio cancelled amid coronavirus crisis – live updates

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Florida, Illinois, Arizona go to polls against backdrop of emergency measures and disruption that have cancelled Ohio primary

It was an unprecedented move to cancel the Ohio primaries at the 11th hour due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Republican Governor Mike DeWine failed to get a judge to halt the primary Monday evening, even though he contended the election results wouldn’t be viewed as legitimate in light of the pandemic.

“Democrats now must to find a way to complete this primary given the uncertainty of when each state is going to vote and whether we’re even going to be able to have a convention in July.”

That was veteran Democratic consultant Simon Rosenberg yesterday reflecting the reality that the disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak in the US is now so severe that there’s a real possibility that Democrats will have to rearrange their whole plan for nominating a challenger to Donald Trump.

Related: Three states hold primaries as coronavirus upends 2020 election

Related: Coronavirus news: UK measures to last at least 'several months' as restrictions increased globally – live updates

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Coronavirus latest: lockdown declared across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut – live

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Utah senator Mitt Romney appeared to endorse a key component of Democratic presidential platforms Monday: a living wage - if only temporarily.

NEW from @MittRomney:

“Every American adult should immediately receive $1,000 to help ensure families and workers can meet their short-term obligations and increase spending in the economy.”

Thank you Andrew Yang.

But...but...socialism!

Here’s what you may have missed in the rush:

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Biden and Sanders bump elbows in ‘hands-off’ Democratic debate – video

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Democratic president candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders faced off in TV studio without an audience on Sunday night.  The two stood far apart and bumped elbows instead of shaking hands in a nod to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Sanders said the first thing he would do to tackle the crisis is ' shut this president up right now because he is undermining the doctors and scientists who are trying to help the American people'. Biden drew on his experience tackling the Ebola crisis and emphasised the importance of listening to the experts. Biden also said he would pick a woman as his running mate.

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‘Sledgehammer on Trump, scalpel on Sanders’: Biden approaches key debate

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The coronavirus pandemic has shifted Sunday’s Democratic debate behind closed doors – but it is still hugely important

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders will square off in the 11th Democratic debate on Sunday night, in a contest moved from Arizona to Washington DC and held without a live audience due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Related: Can Democrats unite the party in time for November's election?

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