Category Archives: Democrats

Trump hankers for roar of the crowd while Biden takes campaign virtual

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Despite the pandemic, the president can’t wait to get back packed rallies while his Democratic rival practices caution. Each thinks he has a winning strategy

Donald Trump wants to be nominated by a Republican national convention with all the trappings of a normal, packed event: the thronging crowds, the balloon drop, the scores of sideshow events. Meanwhile, former vice-president Joe Biden and senior Democratic officials are strongly considering a partially or completely virtual convention.

Related: Can Joe Biden convince protesters he would be a 'transformational' president?

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Can Joe Biden convince protesters he would be a ‘transformational’ president?

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‘It’s not enough to just be better than Trump’ Democratic hopeful told amid anti-racist uprising sparked by killing of George Floyd

Hours before peaceful protests against police brutality were forcibly dispersed so that Donald Trump could pose with a Bible in front of St John’s church, Joe Biden also went to church. 

Head bowed, Biden prayed with community leaders at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal church in his home town of Wilmington, Delaware. For days the nation had been convulsed over the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man pinned under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer for a fatal eight minutes and 46 seconds. 

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‘A wake-up call for the nation’: Joe Biden addresses the killing of George Floyd – video

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Joe Biden has addressed the killing of George Floyd and the protests that his death has sparked. During a speech in Philadelphia, the Democratic presidential candidate said Floyd’s last words, 'I can’t breathe', were a 'wake-up call for our nation'. Biden also sought to draw a clear distinction between himself and Donald Trump, saying the US president was 'part of the problem'

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America’s seniors ebb away from Trump as coronavirus response disappoints

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The country’s most reliable voting bloc are also the most vulnerable to the virus, which looks to be benefiting Biden

At a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden last week, a maskless Donald Trump appealed directly to a constituency that could determine his political fate in November’s election: America’s seniors. 

Related: Biden sets solemn tone as Trump waits 15 hours to mark Covid-19 milestone

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‘A national crisis’: how the killing of George Floyd is changing US politics

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As people protest across the US, Donald Trump and Joe Biden have offered divergent responses that point to a divisive political debate on race relations

Riots in Minneapolis and across the US triggered by video footage showing George Floyd, a black man, killed under the knee of a police officer, has caused a dramatic shift in the national political debate in America and thrust race to the center of the stage.

Donald Trump and Joe Biden offered divergent responses that point to an even more divisive political debate on race relations and between Democrats and Republicans playing out in the months ahead.

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George Floyd killing: Trump calls protesters ‘thugs’ as fires erupt in Minneapolis on third night of unrest – live

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Completely surreal. Watching the Third Precinct burn surround by thousands of people in complete anarchy. pic.twitter.com/qNVNAJIlA7

Reports that Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey will hold a press conference shortly.

Mayor Frey will hold a news briefing, set to start in a few minutes, about tonight's protests/burning of the 3rd Precinct. @ChaoStrib will have the livestream.

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Biden sets solemn tone as Trump waits 15 hours to mark Covid-19 milestone

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As the toll of Americans killed by the coronavirus passed 100,000, the president was lashing out at Twitter for factchecking his posts

Four hours after Johns Hopkins University recorded that 100,000 American lives were lost to the coronavirus, Joe Biden released a solemn speech.

“My fellow Americans, there are moments in our history so grim, so heart-rending, that they are forever fixed in each of our hearts as shared grief. Today is one of those moments,” said Biden, speaking directly to the camera from an office adorned with American flags.

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Democratic VP contender Demings slams Trump ‘gall’ over Biden black voters gaffe

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Val Demings, a Democratic representative from Florida among contenders to be Joe Biden’s presidential running mate, has castigated Donald Trump for having the “gall and nerve” to use a gaffe by Biden as a weapon on the campaign trail.

Related: Jeff Sessions protests loyalty to Trump – again – despite Twitter abuse

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CDC reports more than 1.5 million cases – as it happened

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Here’s a look at today’s main stories:

After Donald Trump said on Friday that he believes places of worship should be deemed as essential services, Minnesota’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, issued an executive order addressing the issue. Places of worship in the state will now be able to open at 25% of capacity. Individuals or households in the buildings must maintain six feet distance.

Walz said he still encouraged citizens to worship remotely. “I am under no illusion whatsoever: Every move we make that loosens up increases the risk,” Walz said.

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Barack Obama poised to add his star appeal to Joe Biden’s campaign

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The former president, the most popular politician in America with a huge social media following, can bolster the Democratic nominee with key groups and drive voter registration

Former president Barack Obama has dipped his toes into the 2020 presidential campaign recently and is positioned to do more in the coming months as Joe Biden’s effort to defeat Donald Trump gathers steam.

Interviews with about a dozen Democratic strategists, officials and people close to Obama indicated members of the party want the popular former president to use his powerful online presence and focus on rallying key Democrat constituencies that are critical to a Biden victory.

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Biden tells voters ‘you ain’t black’ if you’re still deciding between him and Trump – video

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Joe Biden has been criticised after saying,'If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black'. The former vice-president made the comment in an interview with Charlamagne tha God, a co-host of the radio show 'The Breakfast Club'.

After a campaign aide said Biden had to wrap up the conversation, Charlamagne said: 'Listen, you’ve got to come see us when you come to New York, VP Biden. It’s a long way until November. We’ve got more questions.' 

'You’ve got more questions?' Biden replied. 'Well I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.' He said Charlamagne and voters should 'take a look at my record, man!'

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Biden draws criticism for saying voters who back Trump ‘ain’t black’

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Former vice-president said in an interview ‘If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black’

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden triggered a fresh controversy on Friday morning when he suggested that if American voters supported Donald Trump “then you ain’t black”.

The former vice-president did an interview with Charlamagne tha God, a co-host of the radio show The Breakfast Club. Charlamagne had pressed Biden on a number of issues, including the legalization of marijuana and his choice of running mate.

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Joe Biden pushed to embrace radicalism of FDR by scale of economic crisis

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The presumptive Democratic nominee who once promised ‘nothing would fundamentally change’ now has a different tune

When Joe Biden launched his campaign for president in April last year, the unemployment rate was 3.6%, the lowest it had been in nearly half a century. Now, months into a once-in-a-century public health crisis, unemployment in the US is nearly four times that, soaring to levels not seen since the Great Depression.

Related: Coronavirus US live: experts urge caution on first holiday weekend of summer as deaths pass 94,000

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Trump sons provoke outrage with baseless attacks on Biden and lockdown

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  • Donald Trump Jr says pedophile allusion was ‘joking around’
  • Eric Trump claims coronavirus is a political hoax

Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, the US president’s oldest sons, have attracted fierce criticism for attacking Joe Biden and Democrats in terms most observers considered beyond the pale even in America’s toxic political climate.

Related: ‘They don’t give him enough credit’: the voters who back Trump, even through the pandemic

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Democrats feel tide turning their way in battle to flip US Senate

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The electoral map does not favor Republicans and the pandemic has helped put them on defense in states they once thought safe

Just three months ago, centrist Democrats were panicking. After strong performances in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders appeared poised to sail away with the nomination for president. Some in the party feared the self-identified democratic socialist would wreak havoc down the ballot.

Related: Could Susan Collins' vote for Kavanaugh help the Democrats flip the Senate in 2020?

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California special election: Republicans take back Katie Hill’s House seat

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Mike Garcia will replace Hill, who resigned amid scandal in 2019 after securing the first Democratic victory in district in decades

Republican Mike Garcia has beat Democrat Christy Smith in the special election to fill the seat of the former US representative Katie Hill, who resigned amid scandal in late 2019.

After a bitter political battle complicated and constrained by the pandemic, Garcia’s win was a blow for Democrats who in 2018 had secured the suburban Los Angeles district for the first time in since 1990. But the candidates will soon have a rematch. Garcia will serve only five months before the seat is up for a vote again in November.

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Republicans appear on track to win two congressional seats in boost to Trump

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Mike Garcia leading in California’s special election while Tom Tiffany easily won a special congressional election in Wisconsin

Republicans appeared on track for a pair of congressional wins on Wednesday, after notching an easy victory in a Wisconsin House seat and appearing poised to take a seat away from the Democrats in California.

The wins would be seen as a boost to the party and President Donald Trump, whose re-election campaign has been battered by outrage over his response to the coronavirus pandemic and whose popularity has been dipping in many recent polls.

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Coronavirus US live: death toll nears 80,000 as Trump rages over Russia

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Precautions against Covid-19 infection have been stepped up at the White House but are hampered by the cramped and poorly ventilated conditions in the West Wing, Kevin Hassett, a special adviser to Donald Trump on the pandemic response, said on Sunday.

Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin has been talking to Fox News Sunday about the Trump administration’s attempts to reopen and restart the stalled US economy, and whether there will be another huge stimulus bill. Democrats who control the House want one of those but the White House doesn’t – that’s the short version.

The White House is “absolutely pushing for a payroll tax cut”, Mnuchin says. Most observers think that is a non-starter, because Democrats won’t let it. Payroll taxes, meaning deductions from regular paychecks, include funds for Social Security and Medicare, vital social benefits.

Related: US job losses have reached Great Depression levels. Did it have to be that way?

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Veep impact: battle to be Joe Biden’s running mate plays out in public

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The presumptive Democratic nominee has said his No2 will be a woman and Warren, Abrams, Harris, Whitmer and Klobuchar lead the contenders

Traditionally, American presidential candidates pick vice-presidential running mates largely in secret, outside the view of the public or even members of their own party so as to maximize news value – and not offend those passed over for the job.

But in 2020 – during a campaign already driven mostly online due to the coronavirus pandemic – Joe Biden’s quest to make a vice-presidential pick has been an unusually open, vocal and public audition, both within the campaign and outside it.

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Biden sexual assault claim divides Democrats as Republicans pounce

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While high-profile Democrats voice support for the presumptive presidential nominee, some progressives call for a closer look at Tara Reade’s allegations

The allegations of sexual misconduct by Tara Reade against the former vice-president Joe Biden have caused new fault lines within the Democratic party, especially between its left wing and the establishment.

Reade is a former Biden Senate staffer who has accused the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee of sexually assaulting her while she worked in his office in the 1990s. Biden and his campaign have flatly denied the allegations and major news outlets have continued to investigate.

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