Category Archives: US elections 2020

Sean Conley: who is the Trump doctor whose updates are raising questions

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Physician’s press briefings leave medical experts, analysts and the public searching for the truth as to how sick the president really is

Donald Trump has often boasted of surrounding himself with “the best people” and the medical skills of Dr Sean Conley, the personal physician now charged with steering the US president back to health through his encounter with Covid-19, have never been called into question.

Related: Trump's steroid Covid treatment adds to confusion over health

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Trump 14 points behind Biden a month before election, new poll shows

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Trump’s advisers scramble to find a strategy for final weeks, saying ‘it’s important that our campaign vigorously proceed’

Donald Trump’s beleaguered campaign team woke up to another setback on Sunday as the president began his second full day in hospital: a new national poll showing their candidate 14 points behind his challenger Joe Biden with less than a month until the election day.

The NBC/Wall Street Journal survey indicating a 53-39% advantage for the Democratic party’s nominee injected urgency for Trump’s advisers already scrambling to find a strategy for the final weeks of the campaign until 3 November.

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Revealed: Trump-linked consultant tied to Facebook pages warning election will cause civil war

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Network run by fake news-publishing father and son spreads word to Trump supporters they should prepare for violence in November

A militia-promoting father and son duo of fake news publishers and a Trump-connected social media consultant are linked to pages which promote the idea of an American civil war with material presented in a way that appears to be an effort to sidestep Facebook’s fact-checking system.

Comments on their Facebook pages and other materials obtained by the Guardian show that some rank and file Donald Trump supporters are enthusiastically receiving the message that they should prepare for violence against their perceived political enemies in November.

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Trump’s New Jersey event showed perilous neglect for his staff, supporters – and himself

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Why did the White House allow a fundraising event to go on after one of Trump’s closest aides tested positive for Covid?

On Thursday afternoon Donald Trump held a roundtable of 19 top Republican donors at Bedminster, his 36-hole golf course in New Jersey, where he vented his frustrations about how his push for a rapid vaccine against Covid-19 was being undermined by the deep state.

According to a description of the meeting recorded on video by one of the donors present, “the president said that the approval for vaccines has been slowed down for political reasons by people who wanted to hurt him”.

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Coronavirus: ‘I’ll be back, I think I’ll be back soon,’ says Trump as Victoria records 12 new cases – live

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A couple of follow ups to those White House photos of Trump Signing Things.

The photos released by the WH tonight of the president working at Walter Reed were taken 10 minutes apart at 5:25:59 pm and 5:35:40 pm ET Saturday, according to the EXIF data embedded in both @AP wire postings that were shared by the White House this evening. pic.twitter.com/EzeqIkGdf7

ZOOM: @realDonaldTrump appears to be signing his name to a blank sheet of paper in this photo. pic.twitter.com/xlNX24CXn4

In the UK, millions of employees preparing to work from home this winter will face a collective hike of almost £2bn on their energy bills, and tougher working conditions, with only a “pittance” in compensation from their employers.

Half the UK’s workforce is likely to work primarily from home over the coming months as they help to contain the spread of the coronavirus, and may see their winter energy bills rise by a fifth as radiators and boilers are kept running through the day.

Related: Working from home in UK over winter ‘will add £100 to fuel bills’

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‘I feel much better’: Trump releases first video message from hospital room

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President says next few days will be the ‘real test’ as he battles Covid-19

Donald Trump released a new video message on Saturday evening saying that he is “doing well”, his wife Melania is “doing very well” and the next few days will be the “real test” after he was taken to hospital with Covid-19.

“I came here, wasn’t feeling so well, I feel much better now. We’re working hard to get me all the way back,” Trump said from behind a desk in his suite at the Walter Reed hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.

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Trump films first message from hospital: ‘We’re going to beat this coronavirus’ – video

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Donald Trump has posted his first video message from Walter Reed hospital, saying: 'I came here, wasn’t feeling so well. I feel much better now. We’re working hard to get me all the way back ... I’ll be back, I think I’ll be back soon.'

During the four-minute video posted to Twitter, the president said that he could have stayed isolated at the White House after his Covid-19 diagnosis, but that he 'can't be locked up in a room and totally safe' - adding that 'as a leader you have to confront problems'. 

Trump acknowledged that the 'next few days will be the real test' and said the first lady, Melania Trump, who also tested positive for coronavirus, was 'really handling it very nicely' – with the president joking about their 24-year age gap during his video message

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Chaotic Trump-Biden debate may count for little – voters have already decided

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Interruptions, bickering and a shocking tone may ultimately not matter, pollsters say, as most people have already made up their minds

First-time independent voter Benaja Richardson tuned into Tuesday’s now infamous debate between US presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden hoping to be presented with a vision of the future and unity amid the turbulence of the current climate.

Instead the 18-year-old student from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a potential swing state, said it opened her eyes to “truly what catastrophic times we’re in”.

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Trump in quarantine as Covid diagnosis throws US into fresh upheaval

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America’s leadership has been plunged into extraordinary uncertainty after Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, raising questions over how far the infection has penetrated the heart of government.

Related: Donald and Melania Trump showing 'mild' Covid symptoms as Joe and Jill Biden test negative – live

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Donald and Melania Trump showing ‘mild’ Covid symptoms as Joe and Jill Biden test negative – live

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Here’s where the day stands so far:

Democratic nominee Joe Biden is moving forward with his plans to travel to Michigan today, after testing negative for coronavirus.

According to a pool report, Biden’s motorcade was en route to the airport as of about 20 minutes ago.

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Trump’s Covid diagnosis throws final month of campaign into total confusion

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Huge questions over practical matters of rallies and travel, but also of whether Trump falls ill – and what that means for the election

Hours after the announcement that he had tested positive for Covid-19, Donald Trump canceled a planned trip to Florida for a campaign rally on Friday and announced that he and the first lady, Melania Trump, who also tested positive, would enter quarantine.

Related: What happens if Trump is incapacitated and how would it impact the election?

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What happens if Trump is incapacitated and how would it impact the election?

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Donald Trump has tested positive for Covid-19 – but what happens if he can’t carry out his presidential duties?

Under the 25th amendment to the US constitution the president himself – or the vice-president with the agreement of eight cabinet officers, supported by Congress – can ask the vice-president, in this instance Republican Mike Pence, to take over as acting president.

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Trump joked while people suffered with Covid. Well, is now the time to stop? | Marina Hyde

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Maybe the real victims of the president’s diagnosis are his MAGA disciples who don’t believe the virus even exists

Well, it’s definitely a plot twist. Like a lot of people who sat through Tuesday’s presidential debate, I’m amazed the week has ended with Donald Trump ingesting bleach, and not me.

As you may vaguely have heard, the US president and his wife, Melania, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus – which feels untimely given that, mere hours earlier, Trump had been declaring: “The end of the pandemic is in sight.” Perhaps this is a one-last-job movie. Alternatively, picture a Wuhan bat staring pensively into the fireplace as its butler suggests not thinking too hard about Trump’s motivations. Some poorly facepainted men just want to watch the world burn.

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Trump throws baseball caps into crowd days before announcing positive Covid test – video

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Two days before announcing he had contracted Covid-19, Donald Trump tossed two campaign baseball caps into the crowd with his bare hands while at a rally in Duluth, Minnesota. 

The venue was crowded with hundreds of supporters on Wednesday and Trump, who did not wear a face mask, entered the stage smiling and waving to the crowd before addressing the rally. The president frequently minimised the seriousness of the pandemic in its early stages and has repeatedly predicted it would go away. 

Trump announced he and his wife, Melania, tested positive for Covid-19 in a tweet on Friday

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Trump rejects change to rules despite chaos and cringe of first debate

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  • President interrupted and talked over Biden and moderator
  • Commission wants changes for ‘more orderly discussion’

Donald Trump’s re-election campaign has rejected calls to change the rules of the next two presidential debates with Democratic challenger Joe Biden after the first chaotic event in Cleveland was marred by constant interruptions and outbursts.

Related: Trump signals he won't agree to rules changes for debates – live

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Trump signals he won’t agree to rules changes for debates – as it happened

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From me and Joan E Greve:

In a memorable moment from the Republican National Convention, Guilfoyle rallied supporters in what Guardian Washington bureau chief David Smith described as “a high-octane audition for Evita – without an audience”.

She said that Democrats “want to destroy this country and everything that we have fought for and hold dear” and later screamed, “Ladies and gentlemen, leaders and fighters for liberty and the American Dream: the best is yet to come!”

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A contrast of styles: New Zealand v US leaders’ election debate – video

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New Zealand and the United States both had leaders' debates this week, and some political junkies noticed a distinct difference in tone. In New Zealand, where the Labour leader and incumbent prime minister Jacinda Ardern faced off against National leader Judith Collins, the pair exchanged compliments in a debate described by Collins as 'robust and a win for politics'. Meanwhile, in America, president Donald Trump's attacks on his Democratic rival Joe Biden turned highly person 

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Joe Biden tells white supremacist groups to ‘cease and desist’ – video

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Joe Biden warned white supremacist groups including the Proud Boys to 'cease and desist', in Alliance, Ohio, the second stop of his Build Back Better train tour to Pennsylvania.

Donald Trump refused to condemn white supremacists and the Proud Boys during Tuesday night’s election debate, and on Wednesday Trump claimed he had never heard of Proud Boys, after saying on Tuesday they should 'stand back and stand by'.

The Proud Boys have since offered for sale T-shirts with the motif 'standing by'

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Biden tells white supremacist groups to ‘cease and desist’ after Trump’s debate ’embarrassment’ – live

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When a reporter asked Trump about his comments on the Proud Boys last night, the president asked for a “definition” of the extremist far-right group.

Trump says he does "not know who the Proud Boys are," but they should "stand down and let law enforcement do their work."

(He said they should "stand by" last night.) pic.twitter.com/kgi2R8DgN9

Trump just spoke to reporters on the South Lawn before leaving for Minnesota, where he will hold campaign events this evening.

Addressing his comments last night on the Proud Boys, Trump claimed he did not know who the extremist far-right group was.

Related: Trump's refusal to condemn white supremacy fits pattern of extremist rhetoric

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What does the first climate question at a US debate in 20 years reveal?

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The question framed the existence of a human-made climate crisis as something that is for some Americans still debatable

The long-awaited climate question in last night’s presidential debate broke a 20-year silent streak from moderators on the crisis – thrusting it into prime time but also revealing just how stuck in the past much of the US is on the issue.

After more than an hour of chaos as the candidates talked over each other, the Fox News anchor Chris Wallace asked Donald Trump: “What do you believe about the science of climate change and what will you do in the next four years to confront it?”

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