Category Archives: US elections 2020

Governor signs historic bill to remove Confederate emblem from Mississippi flag – live

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Colorado, Utah and Oklahoma are having primaries today.

Here’s what we’re watching:

Bernie Sanders wants lawmakers to cut the US military budget by 10%. In an opinion piece published in the Guardian, he writes:

At this unprecedented moment in American history – a terrible pandemic, an economic meltdown, people marching across the country to end systemic racism and police brutality, growing income and wealth inequality and an unstable president in the White House – now is the time to bring people together to fundamentally alter our national priorities and rethink the very structure of American society.

In that regard, I have been disturbed that for too long, Democrats and Republicans have joined together in passing outrageously high military budgets while ignoring the needs of the poorest people in our society. If we are serious about altering our national priorities, then there is no better place to begin with than taking a hard look at the bloated $740bn military budget that is coming up for a vote in the Senate this week.

Related: A 10% cut to the US military budget would help support struggling Americans | Bernie Sanders

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Supreme court strikes down abortion restriction in major victory for campaigners – live

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A vigil held in the memory of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old who black man who was killed by police in Aurora, Colorado, turned violent when police pepper began to pepper spray the crowd, saying that those at the vigil were unlawfully gathering in front of a police station.

Here’s a look at the scene:

Jacksonville, Florida, the city that is slated to host the Republican National Convention in August, announced that it will adopt a mandatory mask requirement for all indoor locations where social distancing is not possible.

That makes things a bit awkward since the Republican National Committee actually moved its convention to Jacksonville after the state it was supposed to be held in, North Carolina, said it would likely impose some restrictions to shrink the size of the convention. North Carolina governor Roy Cooper said he could not agree to guarantees Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee were seeking that would allow the convention to be the big, people-packed convention it was planned to be.

At 5 p.m. today, the City of Jacksonville will be adopting a mandatory mask requirement for public & indoor locations, and in other situations where individuals cannot socially distance.

Please continue to practice personal responsibility to help stop the spread of this virus. pic.twitter.com/dcAuolVMyZ

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If Donald Trump’s down, how dirty will he fight to win?

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Protest and pandemic are hurting the US president in the polls. His inability to gauge the national mood could be his undoing

Looked at objectively, it’s an odd choice. On 3 November, the American public, whose median age is around 38 and whose makeup is increasingly ethnically and racially diverse, will be asked to pick one of two elderly white men, each well into his 70s, to run the country for the next four years.

If one of the candidates was much younger – think Bill Clinton versus George HW Bush in 1992 – it might be a big deal. But since both Donald Trump and Joe Biden are relatively old, any negative impact will likely cancel itself out. If Biden wins, he will, at 78, be the oldest president ever to take office, breaking the previous record set by Trump who was a mere 70 in 2017.

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Coronavirus US: Florida again breaks one-day record for new cases – live

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The Mississippi state government has started a process that will see the Confederate battle emblem removed from the state’s flag.

Breaking: House passed it with the two-thirds majority it required. It got immediate release, meaning Senate could take it up as soon as they want.

The latest: https://t.co/Jgcddn3i34 #msleg https://t.co/rKwKGkMmWt

The legislature has been deadlocked for days as it considers a new state flag. The argument over the 1894 flag has become as divisive as the flag itself and it’s time to end it.
If they send me a bill this weekend, I will sign it. pic.twitter.com/bf3vyzuObt

The Winston-Salem Journal reports on a disturbing development in the Bubba Wallace story. Wallace, Nascar’s only black driver, led a successful campaign to rid the stock-car racing series of the Confederate flag. Last week, a noose was found in his team’s garage although a subsequent investigation found the rope had been there since last fall, and Wallace was not the subject of a hate crime. Here’s what the Associated Press has to say on the latest development:

A North Carolina racetrack has lost some partnerships after its owner advertised “Bubba Rope” for sale online days after Nascar said a noose had been found in the garage stall of Bubba Wallace, the top series’ only Black driver.

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European Union reportedly set to ban US travelers over Covid-19 concerns – as it happened

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We’re ending our live coverage for the day, thanks for following along. A summary of some key events:

California’s governor has granted clemency to 21 prisoners as Covid-19 outbreaks have continued to infect thousands behind bars in an escalating public health crisis.

Gavin Newsom, who has faced mounting pressure to release people en masse from state prisons, announced Friday that he is granting commutations to 21 people, a move that reduces their sentences and creates a potential path for their release. He also announced pardon grants for 13 people, a step that restores some rights for those who have already served sentences.

There's growing pressure on @GavinNewsom to grant clemency to elderly + vulnerable women who are domestic violence survivors and at high risk of death in prison.

I spoke directly with some of them. LISTEN to their own words ⬇️ (thread):https://t.co/btI8Ns7wMw #SixNineteen

Patricia Wright has terminal liver cancer, is currently in chemotherapy and likely has months to live. She told me she just wants to see her children and grandchildren before she dies: pic.twitter.com/0ydwwgCem1

Related: California governor grants clemency to 21 prisoners as thousands infected with Covid-19

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Trump is in a precarious position for re-election – but he still has a chance

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The numerous challenges of 2020 have hit Trump hard – but the conditions are ripe for a repeat surprise victory, some experts say

If Donald Trump wins the 2020 election and returns to the White House it won’t be by a landslide. And if he’s going to win at all he will need the US economy to rebound, to see suburban voters swing back in his direction, and overwhelm voters with a sense of optimism about another term under Trump.

That’s the verdict of about a dozen Republican veteran political strategists and operatives spoken to by the Guardian. Those priorities underscore the precarious situation the US president finds himself in. Most national and statewide polls show the former vice-president Joe Biden leading Trump, often by comfortable margins.

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Joe Biden and Barack Obama raise $11m in first 2020 fundraiser together

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In official return to the campaign trail, former president urged 175,000 viewers not to be ‘complacent’ about 2020 race

Barack Obama made his first campaign appearance alongside Joe Biden since endorsing him for president in April, helping raise more than $11m while warning Democrats against being “complacent or smug” about the presidential race.

The virtual fundraiser collected $7.6m from 175,000 grassroots contributors according to the Biden campaign. The former president and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee also hosted a private online portion for high-dollar donors, which was not open to reporters, and brought in more than $3.4m.

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Trump faces pressure to reset campaign after Tulsa rally caps gloomy week

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President heads to Arizona for border-wall event in what amounts to a relaunch of a relaunch

Donald Trump flies to Arizona on Tuesday under pressure to change course in his re-election bid after a dismal week culminated in the debacle of thousands of empty seats at a campaign rally.

The US president was reportedly angry on Saturday when his first rally in three months, a defiant gamble amid the coronavirus pandemic intended as a daunting show of force, backfired with poor attendance in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a Republican heartland.

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John Bolton calls Trump incompetent as president plans Phoenix speech amid pandemic – live

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White House press secretary Kayleigh McEanny said Trump was “very pleased” with his Saturday rally, even though there were thousands of unfilled seats in the Tulsa arena.

McEnany’s claim is at odds with multiple reports that Trump has privately lashed out against campaign officials for reports highlighting the event’s attendance.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany defended Trump’s use of the racist phrase “kung flu” to describe coronavirus during his Saturday rally.

“He is linking it to its place of origin,” McEnany said of the president’s use of the phrase.

Related: Donald Trump calls Covid-19 'kung flu' at Tulsa rally

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Voting in the New York primary is by no means futile for Sanders supporters | Billy Richling and Francisco Navas

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Voters need to understand that Sanders’ delegate candidates aren’t running against Biden’s delegate candidates – they’re running against each other

Although Joe Biden is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, voting in the New York primary on Tuesday (or during early voting) is by no means futile for progressives who were largely supporting Bernie Sanders and policies such as the Green New Deal and Medicare for All.

Related: 'Just ridiculous': what it’s like to wait five hours in line to vote in the US

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Trump and Navarro condemn John Bolton’s China claim

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The White House fired back at John Bolton on Sunday, seeking to rubbish a key claim in the former national security adviser’s bombshell new book, that Donald Trump asked Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, for help in winning re-election.

Related: Trump's Berman-SDNY disaster suggests William Barr is not so smart after all | Lloyd Green

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Peter Navarro: Trump call to slow Covid-19 testing was ‘tongue-in-cheek’

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Trade adviser also claims without foundation that the virus ‘was a product of the Chinese Communist party’

White House adviser Peter Navarro claimed Donald Trump was being “tongue-in-cheek” when he claimed to have asked public health officials to slow down coronavirus testing.

Related: Donald Trump sows division and promises 'greatness' at Tulsa rally flop

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Brad Parscale faces Trump ‘fury’ after Tulsa comeback rally flops

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Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Brad Parscale, was under pressure on Sunday after claiming hundreds of thousands of people had applied for tickets to the president’s return to the campaign trail in Tulsa, only for the rally to attract a sparse crowd.

Related: Trump 'played' by K-pop fans and TikTok users who disrupted Tulsa rally

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Meet Samelys López, the ex-homeless candidate running for New York’s most contested seat

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She is backed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and represents a voice much needed in the south Bronx - but can López beat the nine others vying for the seat?

The first time Samelys López stood up for an adult she was eight years old. She and her mother were waiting in the welfare office for food stamps when López overheard the case officer speaking down to her mother.

Their lives before they got there hadn’t been easy. López and her mother moved from Puerto Rico when López was a baby, relocating to Williamsburg in New York. Back then, Williamsburg was the most densely populated city in the US: a by-word for poverty rather than trendy coffee shops and vintage boutiques as it is today. It was also host to a fierce sweatshop trade, and López’s family were privy to its harsh hours and low pay.

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Donald Trump sows division and promises ‘greatness’ at Tulsa rally flop

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US president’s much hyped return turned to humiliation when he failed to fill arena in Republican stronghold of Oklahoma

Donald Trump declared “the silent majority is stronger than ever before” at his comeback rally on Saturday, but thousands of empty seats appeared to tell a different story.

The US president’s much hyped return to the campaign trail turned to humiliation when he failed to fill a 19,000-capacity arena in the Republican stronghold of Oklahoma, raising fresh doubts about his chances of winning re-election.

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Juneteenth: rallies and celebrations across America commemorate end of slavery – live

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In Oakland, thousands rallied with members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), whose workers arranged a strike at 29 ports up and down the West Coast.

I was there, earlier today. The union workers were joined by a motorcycle brigade, a car caravan, a fleet of cyclists, and thousands on foot. Activist and scholar Angela Davis and filmmaker Boots Riley addressed the crowd.

pic.twitter.com/ggfrz1bV9Q

In Wisconsin, governor Tony Evers called on the state legislature to ban police chokeholds, among reforms that he unveiled today.

The Democratic governor did not ask for a special legislative session to take up the policy as soon as possible, as the Brack Legislative Caucus had requested.

Our country promises the opportunity of justice and equity and in the wake of the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the calls for justice across our state and nation, and as we celebrate Juneteenth today, we are called to deliver on that promise.

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On eve of Trump visit, Tulsa still haunted by memory of white supremacist massacre

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The president prepares to hold a rally in a city where, in 1921, up to 300 people were murdered in one of the most horrific acts of racist violence in US history

Brenda Alford stood at the spot where her grandfather’s business was burned to the ground.

Related: Why is Trump's comeback rally in Tulsa: the site of a massacre?

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Trump was willing to halt criminal investigations as ‘favor’ to dictators, Bolton book says

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Donald Trump was willing to halt criminal investigations to “give personal favors to dictators he liked”, according to a new book written by his former national security adviser John Bolton.

Related: How Trump's missteps undermined the US's recovery from pandemic

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Facebook unveils plans to boost voter turnout in US elections

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Firm aims to double number of registered voters of previous drives and prevent ‘malicious’ interference

Facebook will launch “the largest voting information effort in US history” in the run-up to November’s general election, the company has said, aiming to help 4 million Americans register to vote with a new voting information centre.

That goal, spread across Facebook, Instagram and Messenger, is double the number of voters registered as a result of its previous drives, in the 2016 and 2018 elections. The company is also hoping it can prevent a repeat of the foreign interference that plagued the last US presidential election.

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Trump administration sues former adviser John Bolton to block his book – live

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The lawsuit filed by the US against John Bolton aims to stop the former administration official “ from compromising national security by publishing a book containing classified information.”

But it states that “on or around” 27 April, Ellen Knight, who was reviewing Bolton’s manuscript, “had completed her review and was of the judgment that the manuscript draft did not contain classified information”.

Bolton’s book The Room Where It Happened will be a critical account of the Trump administration, according to the publisher.

Bolton “shows a president addicted to chaos, who embraced our enemies and spurned our friends, and was deeply suspicious of his own government”, according to Simon and Schuster.

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