Category Archives: Joe Biden

Rising stars have the chance to shine at Democratic convention

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Speeches can boost state politician to national prominence, despite awkward challenge with Harris nomination

In 2004, Barack Obama was a relatively unknown state legislator trying to become Illinois’ next senator – until his speech at the Democratic convention. When Democrats gathered in Boston to nominate John Kerry, many Americans heard Obama speak for the first time. And they were mesmerized.

“I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that, in no other country on earth, is my story even possible,” Obama said that evening.

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Trump reportedly considers endorsing expanded child tax credit after Harris unveils economic plan – as it happened

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Joe Biden is expected to jump on the phone later today with the leaders of Qatar and Egypt amid a glimmer of progress towards a deal for a ceasefire deal in Gaza, including the return of remaining hostages, according to a report.

An Axios reporter has posted about this, citing a source with knowledge of the situation.

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Biden and Harris celebrate landmark deal to lower medication prices

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President declares ‘we finally beat big pharma’ as he joins Harris on stage in Maryland for first time since exiting race

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Thursday cast themselves as the champions of American seniors in a David-and-Goliath fight against big pharmaceutical companies, at a joint event touting a landmark deal to lower the cost of prescription drugs.

“We finally beat big pharma,” the US president declared, sharing the stage with his vice-president for the first time since he abandoned his re-election bid in late July and Harris replaced him as the Democratic nominee.

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Trump repeats attacks and falsehoods in free-wheeling press conference at his golf club – as it happened

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Donald Trump’s campaign has made a slew of new hires as he looks to get his footing against Democrat Kamala Harris, including bringing Corey Lewandowski, who managed part of his 2016 run, on to its leadership team.

Other hires on the team include Washington Times columnist and communications strategist Tim Murtaugh, political consultant Alex Bruesewitz and Taylor Budowich and Alex Pfeiffer, both of whom are associated with the Make America Great Again Super Pac.

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Biden calls for ‘immediate release’ of US journalist Austin Tice from Syria

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Syrian government denies claims that Tice, who vanished while reporting in Daraya 12 years ago, is being held captive

Joe Biden has called for the immediate release of Austin Tice, the American journalist and former marine who disappeared in Syria in 2012, and who US authorities believe is being held by the Syrian government.

“This week marks 12 long, terrible years since American Austin Tice was abducted in Syria,” the US president said on Wednesday. “We have repeatedly pressed the government of Syria to work with us so that we can, at last, bring Austin home. Today, I once again call for his immediate release.”

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Hunter Biden sought US government help for Ukrainian company Burisma

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Biden wrote to then US ambassador to Rome on behalf of the energy firm while his father was vice-president

Hunter Biden lobbied the US government for help in securing a lucrative energy contract in Italy while his father Joe Biden was vice-president, newly released documents show.

A tranche of previously undisclosed documents now made public under a Freedom of Information Act (Foia) request reveals that the president’s son wrote to the then US ambassador to Rome, John Phillips, in 2016 seeking assistance on behalf of the Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, of which he was a board member.

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‘She makes us proud’: Harris raises over $12m in California as Pelosi welcomes her home

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Vice-president returns to San Francisco for event attended by ex-House speaker Pelosi and governor Gavin Newsom

Kamala Harris returned home to the San Francisco Bay area for a Sunday fundraiser that drew top California Democrats and captured more than $12m for the conclusion of a swing state tour by the vice-president and her running mate, Tim Walz.

Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi and California governor Gavin Newsom attended the event in San Francisco at the Fairmont Hotel, where nearly 700 people had purchased tickets that cost at least $3,300 and as much as $500,000.

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Biden says it was his ‘obligation to the country’ to drop out of presidential race

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In interview, president says if Trump wins a second term it would be ‘a genuine danger to American security’

Joe Biden has said it was his “obligation to the country” to drop out of the 2024 presidential election and prevent what he said would be “a genuine danger to American security” if Donald Trump won a second term of office.

The US president gave his reasoning for stepping aside in at-times an emotional interview with CBS News on Sunday, his first since quitting the race in July. He explained that losing the confidence of senior House and Senate Democrats, who feared his unpopularity would hurt them at the polls in November, had weighed on his mind.

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Polls show Kamala Harris building lead over Trump in 2024 election

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Democratic party’s presumptive nominee 2.1 points over Trump in FiveThirtyEight’s national average

Kamala Harris continues to gain strength in the US presidential election, as polls nationally and in battleground states show her building leads or catching Donald Trump.

On Friday morning, FiveThirtyEight, a leading polling analysis site, puts Harris, the Democratic party’s presumptive nominee for president, up by 2.1 points over her Republican rival in its national average.

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Migrant crossings have plunged after Biden’s asylum ban. But top Democrats are asking: at what price?

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Congress members are saying asylum seekers are ‘forced to wait in danger’ as advocates try to get them legal protection

In early June, Ofelia Arrellano said a gang in Mexico City threatened to kidnap her younger son if she didn’t pay a $160 monthly fee for keeping her toy store afloat.

Arellano, 37, and her two sons gathered enough money and fled. She feared the gangs’ reach if she stayed in Mexico, so they went north, towards the US, she said.

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Uncommitted voters respond to Harris-Walz ticket with hope and reservations

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Harris expresses openness to discussing Israel-Gaza stance with movement leaders, who are torn over Walz as VP pick

Leaders of the “uncommitted” campaign spoke with Kamala Harris and her newly announced running mate, the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, before a rally in Detroit on Wednesday to discuss their calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo on Israel.

Harris “shared her sympathies and expressed an openness to a meeting with the Uncommitted leaders to discuss an arms embargo”, the organization said in a statement.

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Biden ‘not confident at all’ in peaceful transfer of power if Trump loses race

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President says in CBS News clip that Trump ‘means what he says’ about ‘a bloodbath for the country’ if he loses election

Joe Biden has said he is not confident there will be a peaceful transfer of power after the November presidential election.

“If Trump wins, no, I’m not confident at all. I mean, if Trump loses, I’m not confident at all,” the president said in an interview with CBS News that is due to air in full this Sunday.

Reuters contributed reporting

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Tim Walz thanks Kamala Harris for ‘honor of a lifetime’ as she praises running mate for ‘fighting for middle-class families’ – live

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Democrats welcome choice of Minnesota governor to be Harris’s running mate in race against Donald Trump and JD Vance

As we await Kamala Harris’s running mate announcement, Americans in some states are heading to the polls today.

Voters in Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington state will cast ballots in their congressional primaries today. Results in Michigan will be especially scrutinized, as the battleground state will play a key role in the presidential election.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) pumped more than $8.5m into the race in Missouri’s first congressional district in support of Bush’s rival, St Louis prosecutor Wesley Bell, through its campaign funding arm, the United Democracy Project (UDP). …

The UDP accounts for more than half of all the money spent on the race outside of the campaigns themselves. Much of it comes from billionaires who fund hardline pro-Israel causes and Republicans in other races, including some who have given to Donald Trump’s campaign.

With the support of 99% of all participating delegates in the virtual roll call, Vice-President Harris has historic momentum at her back as we embark on the final steps in officially certifying her as our Party’s nominee.

We thank the thousands of delegates from all across the country who took seriously their responsibility throughout this process to make their voices – and the voices of their communities – heard.

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US supreme court won’t stop Trump sentencing from going ahead – as it happened

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Climate activist, feminist and screen legend Jane Fonda has put out a video message endorsing Kamala Harris to win the White House in November.

“Today I’m proud to endorse Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States,” Fonda begins, talking to camera in close-up.

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Iran says it has duty to punish Israel over killing of Hamas leader in Tehran

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Crisis meeting of Arab states this week may set agenda for retaliation as countries urge Iran to show restraint

Iran has called in foreign ambassadors based in Tehran to warn of the country’s moral duty to punish Israel for what it sees as its “adventurism” and law-breaking in assassinating Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader, a week ago in the Iranian capital.

Iran has also secured an emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Wednesday where it will try to press Arab states to back its right to take reprisal actions against Israel.

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Justice Neil Gorsuch: Americans are ‘getting whacked’ by too many laws

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Supreme court justice says ‘too much law’ impairs liberties and talks about importance of an independent judiciary

US supreme court justice Neil Gorsuch has said ordinary Americans are “getting whacked” by too many laws and regulations in a new book that underscores his skepticism of federal agencies and the power they wield.

“Too little law and we’re not safe, and our liberties aren’t protected,” Gorsuch told the Associated Press in an interview in his supreme court office. “But too much law and you actually impair those same things.”

Guardian staff contributed.

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Assassination again shows Netanyahu’s disregard for US-Israel relations

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Hamas killing is further snub to Biden administration, which does not share methods or objectives of Israeli leader

Standing alongside Donald Trump in Florida a week ago, Benjamin Netanyahu was vague on the latest prospect of a ceasefire in the war in Gaza.

“I hope we are going to have a deal. Time will tell,” the Israeli prime minister said, two days after his controversial address to a joint session of the US Congress.

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Kamala Harris ‘honored’ after earning enough votes to become Democratic nominee – as it happened

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Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, is widely speculated to be among Kamala Harris’s vice-presidential finalists.

Martin Pengelly explores Shapiro’s background for the Guardian:

July was the best grassroots fundraising month in presidential history.

Team Harris raised more across grassroots channels in the four days following President Biden’s endorsement of Vice-President Harris than Trump’s big donor-reliant operation raised in the entire month.

More than 3 million donors made over 4.2m contributions – with more than 2 million donors making their first donation this cycle.

This month, 94% of all our donations were under $200, and teachers and nurses continue to be among the most common donor occupations.

Compared with June, we saw more than 10 times the number of gen Z donors, and more than eight times the number of millennial donors.

Sixty per cent of all donors in July were women.

Coalition groups that organized calls since launch – like Black Women for Harris, Latinas for Harris, and White Dudes for Harris – raised more than $20m for Team Harris.

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Russian prisoner swap deal was to have included Alexei Navalny

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Negotiations, which began months earlier, originally included release of late opposition leader

At Cologne airport on Thursday evening, a group of associates of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny gathered waiting for a plane to arrive from Ankara. On board were 13 people who, until that morning, had been incarcerated in Russian prisons, including three people who had worked as Navalny’s regional coordinators in various Russian cities and been jailed for “extremism”.

After a swap in Turkey, they were now free, along with the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and two other Americans, who were heading back home on a separate plane.

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Evan Gershkovich’s most tireless advocate to secure his release: his mother

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Ella Milman pressed world leaders and researched the scheme that would eventually lead to the release of her son

Much has been made of the public diplomacy behind the largest prisoner swap between Russia and the US since the cold war, with officials from at least seven countries spending years making calls and holding secret meetings in far-flung capitals.

But since Evan Gershkovich, the formerly imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter, and others stepped off the plane in Maryland on Thursday, new details have emerged about the role of a crucial player in that effort: his mother.

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