Category Archives: Republicans

Coronavirus US live: Georgia Senate candidate awaiting Covid-19 results after wife tests positive

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Among real storms blowing around the US today, hurricanes are approaching Texas and Hawaii while a tropical storm heads for the Caribbean. The Associated Press is keeping watch here.

Among other kinds of storm, the kinds that blow themselves out on Twitter, the billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and his partner, the musician Grimes, appear to have had a public argument about pronouns.

Related: Explain it to me quickly: did Elon Musk and Grimes really name their baby X Æ A-12?

Miami Dade county has now recorded more than 100,000 cases of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic. According to the Miami Herald, there were 3,424 new cases reported on Saturday. The county’s population is around 2.7 million.

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Ocasio-Cortez delivers powerful speech after Republican’s sexist remarks

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Congresswoman condemned ‘violent language against women’ after Ted Yoho berated her on the House steps on Monday

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s outrage over a Republican lawmaker’s verbal assault broadened into an extraordinary moment on the House floor on Thursday as she and other Democrats assailed a sexist culture of “accepting violence and violent language against women” whose adherents include Donald Trump.

A day after rejecting an offer of contrition from Republican congressman Ted Yoho for his language during this week’s Capitol steps confrontation, Ocasio-Cortez and more than a dozen colleagues cast the incident as all-too-common behavior by men, including the president and other Republicans.

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Ocasio-Cortez speaks about ‘culture of violence against women’ after Republican’s insults – video

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The New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the insults a Republican colleague was heard saying to her on the steps of the US Capitol on Monday are part of a larger problem faced by all women.

The Hill reported that Ocasio-Cortez was confronted by the Florida Republican congressman Ted Yoho. He apparently said she was 'disgusting' for saying of spiking gun violence in New York this month 'is a problem of a diseased society, which neglects its marginalized people … policing is not the solution to crime'.

Speaking on the House floor on Thursday morning, Ocasio-Cortez said: 'In front of reporters, Representative Yoho called me, and I quote, a "fucking bitch"'

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As Covid-19 moves into swing states, is Trump’s campaign in trouble?

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Latest data shows virus hitting Republican heartlands as well as key battleground states

“I said it’s going away – and it is going away,” a defiant Donald Trump claimed about Covid-19 on 3 April, when about 300,000 cases of the virus had been reported across the country.

At the time, Trump was enjoying a brief surge in approval ratings. But the virus obviously did not go away – more than 3.8m cases have now been reported, and latest polls show that Trump may pay the price for his handling of the crisis in the November elections.

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Revealed: states’ restrictive voter ID laws have cost taxpayers $36m

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The Guardian has found that millions have been spent to implement and defend laws widely regarded to be ineffective and discriminatory

Restrictive ‘voter identification’ laws pushed by Republicans, and widely regarded to be ineffective and discriminatory, have cost taxpayers at least $36m in just a few states, the Guardian can reveal.

It’s well documented that restrictive voter ID laws are ineffective and discriminatory. The type of voter fraud they claim to prevent is a myth, and the burden of showing an ID disproportionately lands on students, low-income voters, and African Americans.

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Barack Obama leads tributes to civil rights leader John Lewis – live

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Donald Trump has broken his silence on the passing of John Lewis with a tweet posted moments ago.

“Saddened to hear the news of civil rights hero John Lewis passing,” he wrote. “Melania and I send our prayers to he and his family.

Saddened to hear the news of civil rights hero John Lewis passing. Melania and I send our prayers to he and his family.

Joe Biden will run campaign ads during Donald Trump’s eagerly awaited interview with Fox News Sunday tomorrow – to go a bit Friends for a second, that being The One In Which Trump Says Biden Wants To Defund The Police And Chris Wallace Says Hang On A Minute, Not So, And Trump Gets A Little Testy.

Related: Trump clashes with Fox News interviewer over false claim about Biden

Related: 'The virus doesn't care about excuses': US faces terrifying autumn as Covid-19 surges

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New California coronavirus rules will prevent most schools from reopening in autumn – live

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The White House will not allow the CDC to testify at next week’s hearing fo the Committee on Education and Labor about how to safely reopen schools.

Virginia representative Bobby Scott joined other lawmakers Friday in speaking out against the Trump administration’s efforts to block theCDC from appearing before the committee.

A judge on Friday ruled the Trump administration cannot block a California program that caps carbon emissions from the transportation sector.

The cap and trade program aims to improve air quality and allows California companies to trade emissions credits with companies in Quebec. The administration sued to block it, saying it intrudes on the federal government’s foreign policy authority – particularly its withdrawal from environmental treaty the Paris agreement.

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‘Nervously optimistic’: Democrats eye blue wave but 2016 memories are fresh

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Joe Biden is polling well ahead of Donald Trump, potentially putting more states in play – but complacency has been banished

Less than four months out from the November election, the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has been consistently polling ahead of Donald Trump.

The president’s approval numbers remain underwater, and Democrats believe they can seriously compete in traditionally red states including Texas, as Trump faces sustained criticism for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the economic crisis linked to it, as well as the ongoing anti-racism protests against police brutality.

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The Trump supporters who changed their minds: ‘I’d rather vote for a tuna fish sandwich’

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Frustrated, some Republicans have become anti-Trumpers: ‘This guy couldn’t lead his way out of a wet frickin’ paper bag’

The anti-Trumpers are at it again – only this time, they’re Republicans.

Kevin, a lifelong Republican voter and pastor from Arizona, says he voted for Trump in 2016 “with high hopes for the future”. He knew that Trump didn’t have the same political experience as the other contenders, but he was optimistic he could grow into his new role.

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‘He’s in trouble here’: can Trump win this critical swing state again?

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If he’s to stay in power, Trump needs to repeat his victory in Wisconsin. But the landscape is very different now – and support is shrinking

Donald Trump claimed to have done so much for African Americans that his campaign decided to open the first ever Republican office in a black neighbourhood of Milwaukee.

Related: White House attacks Fauci as states see record new coronavirus cases – live updates

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Anne Applebaum: how my old friends paved the way for Trump and Brexit

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In a powerful new book, the journalist and historian reveals how her former friends and colleagues became agents of populism

Anne Applebaum can look at the wreck of democratic politics and understand it with a completeness few contemporary writers can match. When she asks who sent Britain into the unending Brexit crisis, or inflicted the Trump administration on America, or turned Poland and Hungary into one-party states, she does not need to search press cuttings. Her friends did it, she replies. Or, rather, her former friends. For if they are now embarrassed to have once known her, the feeling is reciprocated.

Applebaum’s latest book, Twilight of Democracy: The Failure of Politics and the Parting of Friends, opens with a scene a novelist could steal. On 31 December 1999, Applebaum and her husband, Radosław Sikorski, a minister in Poland’s then centre-right government, threw a party. It was a Millennium Eve housewarming for a manor house in the western Poland they had helped rebuild from ruins. The company of Poles, Brits, Americans and Russians could say that they had rebuilt a ruined world. Unlike the bulk of the left of the age, they had stood up against the Soviet empire and played a part in the fall of a cruel and suffocating tyranny. They had supported free markets, free elections, the rule of law and democracies sticking together in the EU and Nato, because these causes – surely – were the best ways for nations to help their people lead better lives as they faced Russian and Chinese power, Islamism and climate change.

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Donald Trump wears mask in public for first time – as it happened

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We’ll be shutting down the blog shortly. Here’s a look at today’s top news lines:

Donald Trump was wearing a black mask as he walked down the entryway of Walter Reed medical center accompanied by hospital staff, marking the first time he has been seen wearing a protective face covering in public.

The president did not stop to take questions from the White House pool before turning down a hallway. His meeting with injured troops and staff is closed to the press.

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Trump’s New Hampshire rally delayed by weather, White House claims

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White House says Saturday event postponed due to tropical storm despite weather forecasts showing area not expected to be affected

Donald Trump has postponed a planned campaign rally in New Hampshire, the White House said, citing bad weather.

The president was set to appear at a campaign event in Portsmouth on Saturday night, as the number of new coronavirus cases in the US continued to hit record daily highs this week and polls continued to show his popularity faltering.

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Trump claims victory as US nears 130,000 coronavirus deaths – live

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Houston mayor Sylvester Turner has appeared on CBS’s Face The Nation to discuss the Covid-19 outbreak in his city. He says staffing at the city’s hospital is a particular problem.

“If we don’t get our hands around this virus quickly, in about two weeks our hospital system could be in serious, serious trouble,” he says. “... We can always provide additional beds, but we need the people, the nurses and everybody else, the medical professionals to staff those beds. That’s the critical point right now.”

New Jersey’s Democratic governor, Phil Murphy, has appeared on NBC’s Meet The Press. New Jersey has been one of the worst-hit states in the US during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, and he says a national strategy is needed to combat Covid-19.

“This thing is lethal,” he says. “New Jersey’s paid an enormous price. We’ve [had] 13,000 confirmed fatalities from Covid-19. We’re starting to see small spikes in reinfection from folks coming back from places like Myrtle Beach and as well as in Florida, other hotspots.

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Trump claims US on way to ‘tremendous victory’ over Covid-19 as cases surge – live

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The White House is set to host its largest event since the start of the coronavirus pandemic with tonight’s Salute to America. Hundreds of chairs and tables have been set up on the South Lawn, where Trump will deliver a speech he says will celebrate American heritage. An administration spokesperson says social distancing “will be observed” and face masks will be offered but not mandatory.

Trump was first inspired to stage a mass display of pop and power on America’s birthday when attended the Bastille Day military parade as the guest of French president Emmanuel Macron back in 2017. An initial 2018 push to stage a parade that would have seen soldiers marching and tanks rolling down the streets of Washington was scuttled amid accusations that he was politicizing an important holiday, emulating displays in authoritarian countries and wasting taxpayers’ money.

President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, along with the Department of Interior, will host the 2020 Salute to America on the South Lawn of the White House and Ellipse on Saturday, July 4. In addition to music, military demonstrations, and flyovers to honor our Nation’s service members and veterans, the President will deliver remarks that celebrate our independence and salute our amazing heritage. The evening will culminate with a spectacular fireworks display over the National Mall.

For 4 July, in the summer of protests over the killing of George Floyd, a picture gallery from Jameelah Nuriddin and Erin Hammond.

The eight images capture a giant 200-year-old flag, a young black woman with a giant afro, and various postures combining the pledge of allegiance and black power poses. They are accompanied by a manifesto that mirrors the preamble to the US constitution, written by Nuriddin, who is also the model in the series:

Related: Imagine a 'New America': reclaiming the American flag – in pictures

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‘Russian bounties’ intelligence was in Trump written daily briefing – reports

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  • Evidence of alleged plot was in a February briefing, say officials
  • Trump claimed he was not told because advisers ‘did not find this info credible’

Donald Trump was given a written briefing months ago about intelligence suggesting Russia offered bounties for attacks on US forces in Afghanistan, multiple US media have reported on Monday night. The president said on Sunday he was not told of the allegations because the information was not “credible”.

The New York Times quoted two sources as saying details were included in a daily intelligence briefing the president received in late February. CNN said an official with direct knowledge told them it was included in the briefing – a written document – briefing “sometime in the spring”.

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Republicans told to wear masks in House panel or be barred from speaking

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  • Democratic chair warns after all GOP members flout guidelines
  • Jim Clyburn expresses ‘profound disappointment’ at actions

After every single Republican on the coronavirus subcommittee turned up to a Friday meeting without wearing a mask, the Democratic chair has threatened to stop them from speaking at future meetings if they fail to do so again.

Not wearing a mask in a confined space such as a committee hearing room violates rules written by Congress’s attending physician, if attendees intend to be in the space for more than 15 minutes.

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How damaging is John Bolton’s scathing account of Donald Trump’s presidency?

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The publication of former US national security adviser John Bolton’s White House memoir has caused a sensation. Jonathan Freedland assesses the lurid claims of cosying up to authoritarian leaders as well as descriptions of the ‘stunning’ ignorance of Donald Trump

This episode first aired on Today in Focus, the Guardian’s global daily news podcast made by the Guardian team in London.

Despite a last-ditch attempt to prevent publication, John Bolton’s tell-all book about his time in Donald Trump’s White House has landed with a bang. He claimed that as well as witnessing ‘stunning’ ignorance from the president, he also saw up close how Trump tried to ingratiate himself with authoritarian leaders, at the expense of the US.

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‘Please for the love of God do not vote for my dad’: Republican’s daughter voices opposition

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Conservative Robert Regan blames daughter’s ‘socialist university’ but says he’s ‘happy she feels confident’ to oppose him publicly

It’s not the usual rallying cry one might expect from a political candidate’s child as their father runs for office, but the daughter of a Republican candidate has urged people in Michigan to “please for the love of god” not vote for her father.

“Tell everyone,” Stephanie Regan wrote in a viral tweet – which has now been liked more than 180,000 times on Twitter.

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Republican congressman Louie Gohmert repeatedly bangs on desk during House hearing on Barr – video

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Louie Gohmert bangs his desk during the opening statement of former deputy attorney general Donald Ayer at a hearing into the politicisation of the Department of Justice under current attorney general, William Barr. Gohmert was threatened with removal after he complained Ayer exceeded his allotted time

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