Category Archives: Joe Biden

Scathing report on US withdrawal from Afghanistan blames Trump and Biden

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State department’s findings also reflect poorly on Antony Blinken as it outlines the agency’s failure to expand crisis taskforce

A US state department report on Friday criticized the handling of the 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan, saying decisions by President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump to withdraw troops had “serious consequences for the viability” and security of the former US-backed government.

Adverse findings in the report also reflected badly on Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, without naming him. They included the department’s failure to expand its crisis-management taskforce as the Taliban advanced on Kabul in August 2021 and the lack of a senior diplomat “to oversee all elements of the crisis response”.

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Joe Biden lays out new student debt relief plan after supreme court ruling

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President says ‘the court misinterpreted the constitution’ as he announces intention to use another law for debt forgiveness

Joe Biden vowed the “fight was not over” on Friday after the US supreme court ruled against his landmark student debt forgiveness plan.

“I think the court misinterpreted the constitution,” the president said, delivering remarks at the White House and announcing his intention to pivot to another law to find another path forward.

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‘This is not a normal court’: Joe Biden condemns affirmative action ruling

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President says he will ask education department to look into ways to maintain student diversity as race-conscious admissions ends

Joe Biden slammed the US supreme court on Thursday as “not a normal court” after it ruled to end race-conscious admissions at universities across the country, and he announced he will ask the Department of Education to look into ways to maintain student diversity in higher education.

“The court has effectively ended affirmative action in college admissions and I strongly, strongly disagree with the court’s decision,” the US president said in a short speech at the White House scheduled specifically for him to react to the decision.

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Biden boasts of successes of ‘Bidenomics’ in key speech – as it happened

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US president lays out ‘economic vision centered around three key pillars’, giving a glimpse at a key piece of his 2024 campaign

Twenty years have passed since the United States invaded Iraq, and the country has dropped substantially in priority among Washington’s foreign policy concerns.

At the White House and in the halls of Congress, you are much more likely to hear about China, Russia and its invasion of Ukraine, or the perennial issue of Iran than about America’s relations with Baghdad. But it’s worth remembering that before he became vice-president under Barack Obama, or president 12 years later, Joe Biden played a major role in getting Congress to approve America’s invasion of Iraq.

Biden did vastly more than just vote for the war. Yet his role in bringing about that war remains mostly unknown or misunderstood by the public. When the war was debated and then authorized by the US Congress in 2002, Democrats controlled the Senate and Biden was chair of the Senate committee on foreign relations. Biden himself had enormous influence as chair and argued strongly in favor of the 2002 resolution granting President Bush the authority to invade Iraq.

“I do not believe this is a rush to war,” Biden said a few days before the vote. “I believe it is a march to peace and security. I believe that failure to overwhelmingly support this resolution is likely to enhance the prospects that war will occur …”

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US intelligence ignored warnings of violence ahead of Capitol attack

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Agencies ‘failed to sound the alarm’ and downplayed threats even as building was being stormed on 6 January, Senate report says

A new report detailing intelligence failures leading up to the January 6 attack on the US Capitol said government agencies responsible for anticipating trouble downplayed the threat even as the building was being stormed, in an attempt to stop certification of Joe Biden’s election victory.

The 105-page report, issued by Democrats on the Senate homeland security committee, said intelligence personnel at the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other agencies ignored warnings of violence in December 2020.

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Biden says US played no role in Russia’s Wagner mutiny: ‘We were not involved’

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The short-lived rebellion by the mercenary group posed a serious challenge to Vladimir Putin’s rule in Russia

Joe Biden has described the Wagner mercenary group’s brief mutiny against the Russian government as part of an internal power struggle, in which he said the US played no role.

“We made clear that we were not involved. We had nothing to do with it,” Biden said during an event at the White House on Monday. “We’re going to keep assessing the fallout of this weekend’s events and the implications for Russia and Ukraine. But it’s still too early to reach a definitive conclusion about where this is going.”

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Biden puts abortion rights at center of campaign on Roe reversal anniversary

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President announces executive order to boost access to contraception as Republicans call for national restrictions

Joe Biden on Friday put reproductive rights squarely in the middle of his 2024 re-election campaign as the US president hosted a rally based around defending abortion rights, notched three high-profile endorsements from groups dedicated to the issue, and announced an executive order aimed at boosting access to contraception.

The moves came in stark contrast to the Republican field of candidates, many of whom were attending the Faith & Freedom Coalition annual conference in Washington DC.

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China reportedly rebukes US ambassador after Biden called Xi a ‘dictator’

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US president sought to play down the impact of his comments, saying ‘I don’t think it’s had any real consequence’

The Chinese government has reportedly reprimanded the US ambassador to China over comments made by President Joe Biden in which he referred to President Xi Jinping as a “dictator”.

Nicholas Burns received the diplomatic note hours after Biden made comments about Xi at a fundraiser in California, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing three unnamed US officials.

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New Zealand PM disagrees with Joe Biden over Xi Jinping ‘dictator’ remark

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Chris Hipkins, who is about to meet the Chinese president on a trip to Beijing for the first time, said China’s system of government is ‘a matter for them’

New Zealand prime minister Chris Hipkins has disagreed with US President Joe Biden’s remark that Xi Jinping is a “dictator”, as he prepares to meet the Chinese leader on an official trade trip to China.

“No, and the form of government that China has is a matter for the Chinese people,” Hipkins told reporters when asked about Biden’s description. Asked whether the Chinese people had a say in the form their government took, he said: “if they wanted to change their system of government, then that would be a matter for them.”

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‘It’s not going to happen’: Ben Wallace expects hopes of top Nato job to be dashed

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UK defence secretary had earlier shown interest in the role, but the US is believed to want Jens Stoltenberg to stay in post

The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, has said he does not expect to be the next head of Nato, amid claims that the US wants the current leader to stay.

In an interview with the Economist, the Conservative MP said “it’s not going to happen”, adding that he thinks the United States wants the current secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, to remain in post for another year.

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‘India is now a linchpin’: US looks to Narendra Modi’s visit to counter China

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The Biden administration will try to strengthen US-India ties while the Indian leader looks to shore up votes for next year’s election

The symbolism of the visit will be hard to avoid. As Narendra Modi arrives in Washington DC on Wednesday – the capital of a country he was once prohibited from visiting for almost 10 years – he will join the ranks of Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and Volodymyr Zelenskiy as one of the few leaders to address a joint session of Congress more than once.

Statements from US officials ahead of the visit have been rapturous on the subject of US-India relations, praising the “significant defence partnership” and describing it as “a unique connection between the world’s oldest and largest democracies”. Before his departure from India, Modi said: “This special invitation is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between our democracies.”

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Republicans crying wolf over Hunter Biden have hurt their own cause

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The GOP is obsessed with the president’s son, but the party’s attacks make it difficult to discern legitimate concern from crazy conspiracies

“Sweetheart deal!” “Two-tiered justice!” “Mere traffic ticket!”

Republicans had their applause lines ready on Tuesday when Joe Biden’s son Hunter struck a plea deal over unpaid taxes, and gun possession while being a drug user, that is likely to keep him out of prison.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Russia fires at rescue workers in Kherson; drone attacks reported across Ukraine – as it happened

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One person killed and seven injured while clearing mud, officials say; Air raids reported in Lviv, Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia

Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, reports that yesterday Russia shelled 19 settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region, and that one person was injured in Orikhiv as a result. It cited the local authority. Zaporizhzhia is one of four Ukrainian regions that the Russian Federation claimed to annex late last year.

This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.

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Flamin’ not? Critics say popular snack founding myth is a hoax

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White House denies cover-up, but critics say Eva Longoria-helmed Cheetos docu-drama distorts the true story of the spicy snack

When Joe Biden welcomed actor-director Eva Longoria to the White House for a screening of her Flamin’ Hot drama-documentary last week, the president hailed the story of the Mexican-American one-time janitor Richard Montañez as a tale of “courage”.

“When I think about tonight’s movie, I think about courage. So many of you, your ancestors left behind all that they knew to start a new life in the United States,” Biden told the crowd, before the president gave the Desperate Housewives star a hug and made an incomprehensible joke about when she was 17 and he was 40.

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Joe Biden rallies with union workers in Philadelphia: ‘You built America’

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President enlists support of union members against GOP tax cuts for the wealthy at first political rally of 2024 re-election campaign

At his first political rally since announcing his re-election campaign for president in April, Joe Biden told a crowd of labor union supporters: “Wall Street didn’t build America – you did.”

“If the investment bankers of this country went on strike tomorrow, no one would notice,” Biden said on Saturday during a speech which alluded to his blue-collar childhood roots in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Renewing his longstanding vocal support for labor unions, he continued: “If this room didn’t show up to work tomorrow, the whole country would come to a grinding halt, so tell me – who matters more in America?”

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Biden begins re-relection campaign – does he have what it takes to win again?

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The oldest president in history is ditching his Covid-imposed ‘basement strategy’ for the most gruelling campaign of his life

It became known as the “basement strategy”. As the coronavirus pandemic raged outside, presidential candidate Joe Biden addressed the nation from a makeshift studio under his Delaware home, avoiding off-the-cuff gaffes and allowing rival Donald Trump to self-destruct.

But three years on, with lockdowns lifted and America mostly back to a new version of normal, Biden knows that speeches on glitchy Zoom calls or in empty auditoriums will not be enough. The president, who at 80 is the oldest in American history, is facing the final, most gruelling campaign of his life.

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Joe Biden says mass shootings plague the US ‘every damn day’ – as it happened

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President makes speech in Connecticut at summit marking passage of tougher gun control law last year

The Minneapolis police force use excessive force and discriminate against marginalized groups, including Black and Native Americans and people with behavioral issues, attorney general Merrick Garland said as he announced the findings of the justice department’s investigation following George Floyd’s death.

“We found that MPD … engages in a pattern or practice of using excessive force, unlawfully discriminating against Black and Native American people in enforcement activities, violating the rights of people engaged in protected speech and discriminating against people with behavioral disabilities and … when responding to them in crisis,” Garland said.

The city council approved the court-enforceable agreement on Friday on an 11-0 vote, but not before several members expressed harsh criticism of the Minneapolis police department and other city leaders over the years.

“The lack of political will to take responsibility for MPD is why we are in this position today,” council member Robin Wonsley said.

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Donald Trump indictment: Merrick Garland defends special prosecutor Jack Smith in first comments on charges – live

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US attorney general praises Smith’s independence and accountability; Republican senators step up threats over Trump charges

Joe Biden has refused to publicly comment on the federal charges leveled against his predecessor Donald Trump over allegedly hoarding government documents from his time in the White House, and Politico reports the president has also instructed Democratic party offices to do the same.

While many top Democratic lawmakers have condemned the allegations against Trump, neither Biden nor top officials at the White House or his re-election campaign have spoken out about the indictment and his arraignment in Miami yesterday. Politico reports that some Democrats – none of whom would allow their names to be used – believe the strategy is a missed opportunity to cast Trump as reckless and boost Biden’s re-election chances.

Biden has privately told aides that he is disgusted by Trump’s behavior but is adhering to his promise that the Department of Justice would have independence from the White House. The DNC, meanwhile, has advised members of Congress seeking guidance on what to say that they should not comment on the Trump probes if they are speaking publicly in their role as Biden campaign surrogates.

While Biden has framed his stance as in line with longstanding tradition, it is not uncommon for presidents to occasionally weigh in on ongoing criminal investigations. Biden has at times done so himself – including weighing in before the verdict was announced in the 2021 trial of the white Minneapolis police officer who killed George Floyd.

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Donald Trump arrives in Florida on eve of arraignment; Miami police say they can handle crowds of up to 50,000 – live

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Former US president lands in Miami ahead of court appearance on Tuesday; Miami officials detailed security measures in press briefing

The White House said Joe Biden will not be under anesthesia during his root canal today, meaning the 25th amendment won’t be invoked.

Ratified in 1967, the amendment is one of the most recent additions to the constitution, and outlines the procedure for the vice-president to temporarily assume the president’s duties at the chief executive’s request. In November 2021, Biden used its authority to hand power to Kamala Harris while he underwent a colonoscopy.

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Donald Trump kept boxes with US nuclear program documents and foreign weapons details, indictment says – as it happened

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Indictment accuses former president of risking national security, foreign relations, safety of US military and intelligence gathering

The US senate judiciary committee chairman, Dick Durbin, has said the investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith should be allowed to continue “without interference”.

In a statement on Friday, Durbin added that Donald Trump “should be afforded the due process protections that he is guaranteed by our constitution, just like any other American”.

I think before the sun sets today, the attorney general of the United States should be standing in front of the American people, should unseal this indictment, should provide the American people with all the facts and information here.

And the American people be able to judge for themselves whether this is just the latest incident of weaponization and politicization at the justice department or it’s something different.

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