Category Archives: Joe Biden

With the US election a year away, most Americans don’t want Biden or Trump

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Polls continue to show both presidential frontrunners ‘as tied as tied can be’, with third-party candidates tying for a distant third

Americans are one year away from a presidential election that’s shaping up to be a historically unpopular rematch between the oldest ever sitting president, Joe Biden, a Democrat, and his Republican predecessor, the twice-impeached, serially indicted Donald Trump.

With less than 10 weeks to go before Iowa’s caucuses launch the 2024 Republican nominating contest, much can still change. As it stands, the country appears to be hurtling toward an election few Americans want – but that might be one of the most consequential in modern US history.

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Blow to Ron DeSantis as more key Florida backers switch to Trump

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Bad news for Florida governor’s campaign, with favorability falling throughout 2023 and a GOP debate scheduled for Wednesday

Five Republican legislators in Florida have switched their endorsements from rightwing governor Ron DeSantis to former US president Donald Trump before a key party nomination debate in Miami next week.

The move is another boost to Trump – who remains dominant in the 2024 Republican race – and a blow to DeSantis, whose once highly anticipated bid for the White House has recently floundered badly. All recent polling has shown Trump with a strong lead over his rivals and DeSantis being edged out of second place by the former US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley.

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Rashida Tlaib claims in video that Biden supports Palestinian genocide

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Michigan Democrat is only Palestinian American in Congress and warns Biden voters ‘will remember in 2024’

Michigan Democratic congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American member of Congress, has released a video accusing Joe Biden of supporting the “genocide of the Palestinian people”.

Tlaib has been a withering critic of Biden’s staunch backing of the Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza and the White House refusal to listen to demands from some progressive Democrats to back calls for a ceasefire.

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White House denounces Fox News over host’s ‘foul’ remarks on CNN pair

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Mark Levin called Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper ‘self-hating Jews’ on syndicated radio show, prompting furious response

For the second time in two days, the White House denounced Fox News over remarks by a host relating to the Israel-Hamas war, following condemnation of Jesse Watters’ apparent incitement of violence against Arab Americans with condemnation of Mark Levin for calling two CNN anchors “self-hating Jews”.

Andrew Bates, a spokesperson, said: “President Biden believes in an America where we come together against hate and don’t fan its flames. But not only is Fox News aligning with those who fan the flames of hate – Fox is paying their salaries.”

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Democrats grow nervous over Israel’s conduct in Gaza as Senate leader vows not to consider House security bill – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed. For the latest reporting on US politics’ involvement with the Israel-Hamas war, read our latest report:

One minute after the House approved an Israel aid package that excluded providing similar assistance to Ukraine, the top Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, tweeted this:

This what some would call a “subtweet”: McConnell does not mention the House proposal at all nor its architect, Republican speaker Mike Johnson, but he is clearly referring to the just-passed bill. While some Republicans are ready to cut off aid to Kyiv, McConnell remains a steadfast backer of the country’s defense against Russia.

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US House passes $14.3bn aid package for Israel despite Democratic opposition

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Led by House speaker Mike Johnson, Republican plan passes Thursday 226-196 as Biden threatens veto

The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a Republican plan to provide $14.3bn in aid to Israel as it fights Hamas, despite Democrats’ insistence it has no future in the Senate and the White House’s promise of a veto.

The measure passed 226-196, largely along party lines, with most Republicans supporting the bill and most Democrats objecting.

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Biden says 74 Americans with dual citizenship evacuated from Gaza

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The evacuees were able to cross from the Gaza Strip into Egypt, the US president said on Thursday

The United States has been able to get 74 Americans with dual citizenship out of the Gaza Strip, Joe Biden said at the White House on Thursday, one day after evacuees began crossing into Egypt.

“Good news, we got out today 74 American folks, dual citizens,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office at the start of a meeting with the president of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader.

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Biden urges pause in Gaza fighting as Hamas says refugee camp death toll nearing 200

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US president says pause will allow time to rescue hostages, amid fresh Israeli airstrikes on enclave’s Jabalia refugee camp

Joe Biden has said there should be a “pause” in the fighting in Gaza to enable the release of hostages, as Hamas said nearly 200 people had been killed in two days of Israeli airstrikes on the enclave’s Jabalia refugee camp.

The US president was speaking at a campaign fundraiser in Minneapolis on Wednesday when a woman shouted: “Mr President, if you care about Jewish people, as a rabbi, I need you to call for a ceasefire.”

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Top Biden officials urge Congress to pass military aid for Israel and Ukraine

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In hearing interrupted by protesters, Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin try to beat Republican attempts to kill $106bn package

The Biden administration took its quest for emergency military aid for Israel and Ukraine to Capitol Hill on Tuesday in an all-out effort to overcome House Republican attempts to decimate a $106bn package while cutting key parts of the White House’s domestic policy.

In a stormy session interrupted several times by demonstrators, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and defense secretary Lloyd Austin, told a Senate hearing that assistance to both countries was closely linked and should not be decoupled, as demanded by leading Republicans who are keen to back Israel but oppose any further help for Ukraine.

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Biden expected to meet with Xi Jinping next month for ‘constructive’ talks

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White House comments come after China’s foreign minister made rare visit to Washington to pave way for Xi to meet Biden

Joe Biden is expected to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a summit in San Francisco in November for “constructive” talks, the White House said on Tuesday.

The comments came days after China’s foreign minister made a rare visit to Washington to pave the way for Xi to meet Biden at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit.

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Arab American backing for Biden sinks over ‘rock-solid’ Israel support

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Poll from AAI shows increase in discrimination against Arab Americans and increase in support for Donald Trump

Arab American support for Joe Biden has fallen in the wake of his response to the latest bout of violence between Israel and Hamas, a new poll from the Arab American Institute (AAI) shows. The same poll showed a sharp increase in reports of discrimination against members of the community.

Following Hamas’s deadly 7 October attacks, which killed 1,400 Israelis, Biden has repeatedly proclaimed the US’s “rock-solid and unwavering support” for Israel, which has responded by tightening its blockade and bombarding the Gaza Strip. More than 8,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to health officials in the coastal territory.

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Julian Assange’s brother urges Anthony Albanese to ‘up the ante’ over Wikileaks founder’s case

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Prime minister pushed back on idea of US president personally stepping in, but Gabriel Shipton calls prosecution ‘entirely political’

Julian Assange’s brother has urged the Australian government to “up the ante” after the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, confirmed he raised the WikiLeaks founder’s case with Joe Biden last week.

Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, told Guardian Australia: “If his government can get back Cheng Lei from China, why is he so impotent when it comes to Julian and the USA?”

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Does Biden’s unwavering support for Israel risk his chance for re-election?

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Half of young Americans are skeptical of US support for Israel, and campus protesters demand a ceasefire in Gaza

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

On Wednesday night, Joe Biden basked in the pageantry of a state dinner – white-jacketed violinists, golden chandeliers dotted with pink roses, a vivid wall display of 3D paper flowers. But soon after toasting the Australian prime minister in a pavilion on the White House south lawn, the US president had to step away to be briefed on a deadly mass shooting in Maine.

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Joe Biden and Xi Jinping meeting a step closer, says US

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US president and senior aides meet with Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, after which White House says it is ‘working towards’ top-level talks

The US and China have agreed to work towards setting up a meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping after the US president met with China’s foreign minister on Friday.

Biden has invited Xi to San Francisco in November for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit. The Chinese president has not yet confirmed he will come.

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US appeals court tosses lawsuit over Texas migrant transportation restrictions

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A three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based court found that immigration advocates lacked the legal authority to sue Abbott

A US federal appeals court on Friday sided with Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, on technical grounds over a 2021 executive order that restricted transport of migrants through the state, saying a lower court should dismiss a related legal challenge.

In a 2-1 split, a three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based fifth US circuit court of appeals found that immigration advocates lacked the legal authority to sue Abbott over the transportation prohibition.

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Judge orders Ivanka Trump to testify in family’s civil fraud trial – US politics live

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Donald Trump’s daughter could appear on witness stand in New York civil fraud trial as early as next week

George Santos has been a target of protesters and hecklers from practically the day he arrived in the Capitol, and there were plenty of those waiting for him as he departed federal court this morning:

Santos was there to enter a “not guilty” plea to a slate of new federal charges, and learn he would stand trial on the allegations on 9 September.

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‘Difficult and expensive’: US report raises Aukus doubts after Joe Biden reassures Anthony Albanese at White House

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Congressional report says sale of three to five Virginia class submarines would cut the number available to the US navy fleet

The US Congressional Budget Office has raised fresh concerns about Aukus, just one day after the US president, Joe Biden, assured the visiting Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, that the deal would ultimately be approved by congress.

Biden told Albanese after talks at the White House on Wednesday that the passage of legislation allowing for the transfer of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia was a matter of “not if, but when”.

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Congressman Dean Phillips to launch Democratic primary bid against Biden

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Minnesota representative has voted for majority of Biden’s legislative agenda but says it’s time for next generation of leaders

Dean Phillips, a Democratic congressman from Minnesota who is relatively unknown on the national US stage, is set to launch a long-shot campaign to primary Joe Biden in New Hampshire on Friday.

The New Hampshire secretary of state’s office confirmed Phillips is scheduled to file paperwork to get on the ballot there on Friday morning.

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Joe Biden doesn’t trust casualty figures from Gaza’s health ministry. Experts do

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Israel and Joe Biden have shown scepticism about accuracy of rising death toll but others point to historical reliability of data

In this time of war, the health ministry in Gaza has been given its own health warning. Joe Biden has questioned the reliability of its reporting of the number of people killed and wounded during the Israeli assault on Gaza – because the health ministry is run by Hamas.

“I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war,” the US president said. “But I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using.”

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