Formally launching his third presidential campaign, Joe Biden appealed for party and national unity while accusing Donald Trump of leading America with “a clenched fist, a closed hand and a hard heart”.
Related: Could climate change submerge Joe Biden's presidential bid?
Continue reading...State’s Republican-led House joins states such as Alabama by passing sweeping bill, which does not include exceptions for rape or incest
The bill just passed in Missouri is designed not to go into effect – but to go to court. It is unconstitutional.
We published this analysis of near total abortion bans from Prof. B Jessie Hill this week. Hill is a professor at Case Western Reserve school of law and an expert in reproductive rights law.
Related: Could abortion become illegal in America? All signs point to yes | B Jessie Hill
Rather than pursuing the sort of incremental strategy that anti-abortion activists have favored in the past – such as banning abortions late in pregnancy, or attempting to gradually regulate abortion clinics out of existence with increasingly burdensome regulations – these newer laws are written to prohibit virtually all abortions in the state.
Fetal cardiac activity can be detected beginning at about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they’re pregnant. By banning all abortions after that point, “heartbeat” bans, if they take effect, would stop all but a very small percentage of abortions.
In addition to everything happening in Missouri today, the House debated the Equality Act, to expand protections for LGBT people.
The House just approved the Equality Act, a bill that would expand gay rights, extending to areas like employment, housing, loan applications, education and public accommodations.@SarahEMcBride of @HRC broke down the Equality Act for us ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/ctY0DPxjqu
Continue reading...New York mayor has traveled to early primary states such as Iowa and Nevada with a message centered on economic inequality
New York’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, has jumped into the 2020 presidential race, joining at least 21 other declared Democratic candidates for the party’s nomination.
The mayor announced his run with a video released by his campaign.
Continue reading...Attorney general’s new investigation follows years of Trump and supporters claiming justice department and FBI spied on his campaign
On the subject of markets – the Dow Jones Industrial Average has opened up slightly, a half a point in the green on the day so far. It fell a bit more than three points on Monday.
Donald Trump spent at least an hour and some 1,400 characters on Tuesday morning tweeting a defense of his tariffs on Chinese goods, which China has responded to with retaliatory tariffs, precipitating a dive on Monday in the US markets. Asian markets fell less sharply and European markets opened Tuesday slightly up.
Trump said on Tuesday that “Tariffs have rebuilt our Steel Industry - it is booming!”, “we are in a fantastic position”, “We are in a much better position now than any deal we could have made” and “Other countries are already negotiating with us because they don’t want this to happen to them.”
Related: Trump defends China tariffs as trade war leaves allies and opponents in bind
Continue reading...Steve Bullock, the Democratic governor of Montana, announced on Tuesday that he is entering the presidential race after pushing a progressive agenda in a conservative state.
Among a crowded field of more than 20 Democratic candidates, Bullock attempted to distinguish himself in his campaign launch video by touting his ability to work with Republicans and his record of fighting corporate spending in elections.
Continue reading...#Betomania became #Betofatigue in six short months – can the Texas Democrat rise again and show voters what type of president he’d be?
When Beto O’Rourke travelled to Yosemite in California to unveil his $5tn plan on climate change, a ripple of surprise crossed America. How did the tall white guy with the funny first name known for his punk past, Beatnik road trips and fondness for campaigning atop counters get to be the first Democratic candidate to proclaim on the crisis of our age?
This wasn’t the O’Rourke that the country had grown used to during his battle with Ted Cruz last November for a US Senate seat. Then, the Texas Democrat had propelled himself to within three percentage points of victory, and with it national stardom, by making viral speeches about NFL players taking a knee and by instilling hope through a feel-good but rather wishy-washy call to unity.
Continue reading...The former vice-president has yet to put forward a plan to address global warming, which polls suggest is the single most important issue for Democrats
Climate change is transforming life by redrawing coastlines, turning vast areas of forest into infernos, stirring enormous storms and spreading exotic diseases. An indirect casualty of this upheaval could be Joe Biden’s hopes of becoming US president.
Biden, frontrunner in the polls to secure the Democratic nomination, has not laid out a plan to address the crisis.
Continue reading...O’Rourke condemned protesters at Buttigieg’s Dallas event while the mayor has been shutting down hecklers on the campaign trail
Pete Buttigieg has faced homophobic heckling during one of his latest 2020 presidential campaign events.
“Marriage is between a man and a woman!” one protester yelled during the mayor’s speech at an event in Dallas, Texas, on Friday, according to a CNN reporter who filmed the event. Another protester yelled: “Repent!”
Continue reading...Sarah Sanders says pair had ‘very good’ talk on Friday morning in which Venezuela was also discussed
Here’s an updated recap of today’s political news as we close out the Friday night live politics blog:
The president elaborated his complaints about conservative “censorship” on social media, highlighting his concerns about the treatment of Diamond and Silk, two online commenters who have been championed by Republicans for being black women who support Trump, James Woods, and Paul Watson, a British editor of Infowars, Alex Jones’ conspiracy site.
Trump appeared on Infowars, which has promoted multiple conspiracy theories, including the conspiracy that the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting was a hoax, in 2015, and told host Alex Jones “Your reputation is amazing. I will not let you down.”
The wonderful Diamond and Silk have been treated so horribly by Facebook. They work so hard and what has been done to them is very sad - and we’re looking into. It’s getting worse and worse for Conservatives on social media!
So surprised to see Conservative thinkers like James Woods banned from Twitter, and Paul Watson banned from Facebook! https://t.co/eHX3Z5CMXb
He is very very very very very very very very very very very obviously an extremist. https://t.co/4pK2klhbqi
Continue reading...Over 25,000 Californians donated to his Senate run. Now as O’Rourke visits the state, he’s focused on voters rather than their wallets
For a moment, Beto O’Rourke, fresh faced and with a natural gift for cadence, was America’s great liberal hope – the consensus pick to be the next big thing. The two-time congressman from El Paso raised over $80m in 2018, more than any previous candidate for the US Senate, in his bid to unseat Ted Cruz. And he almost won, too, with whispers of a presidential run coming months before the vote.
But when he arrives in Los Angeles on Saturday, the first stop in a four-day swing through California, O’Rourke will be coming as not just a charismatic underdog, but as someone desperate to show he is still a rising star and not a has-been. Since launching his presidential campaign in March, O’Rourke has discovered that almost becoming a senator, and being slightly too liberal for Texas, have not proved to be standout attributes in a crowded field of contenders for the Democratic nomination.
Continue reading...Hill said ‘I will be satisfied when I know there is real change’ after former vice-president’s campaign said he spoke to her
Charlottesville was a main focus in Joe Biden’s video announcing his run for president. It’s the first word he utters on camera, and the video features footage from the right-wing marches that took place in Charlottesville in 2017.
The core values of this nation… our standing in the world… our very democracy...everything that has made America -- America --is at stake. That’s why today I’m announcing my candidacy for President of the United States. #Joe2020 https://t.co/jzaQbyTEz3
“But I wasn’t surprised,” Bro, co-founder of the Heather Heyer Foundation set up in her daughter’s memory, told The Daily Beast. “Most people do that sort of thing. They capitalize on whatever situation is handy. He didn’t reach out to me, and didn’t mention her by name specifically, and he probably knew we don’t endorse candidates.”
In yet another instance of men telephoning women in performative but ultimately empty gestures, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey reportedly called Congresswoman Ilhan Omar regarding a tweet that President Trump broadcasted to his millions of followers that sparked a spike in death threats to the freshman lawmaker.
The Washington Post is reporting that in the phone call, Dorsey “stood by the company’s decision”:
Omar pressed Dorsey to explain why Twitter didn’t remove Trump’s tweet outright, according to a person familiar with the conversation who spoke on condition of anonymity because the call was private. Dorsey said that the president’s tweet didn’t violate the company’s rules, a second person from Twitter confirmed.
Dorsey also pointed to the fact that the tweet and video already had been viewed and shared far beyond the site, one of the sources said. But the Twitter executive did tell Omar that the tech giant needed to do a better job generally in removing hate and harassment from the site, according to the two people familiar with the call.
Continue reading...Biden, who handled her testimony before the Senate in 1991, contacted Hill to express ‘regret for what she endured’
Former vice-president Joe Biden, who launched his third campaign for president on Thursday, told Anita Hill he regretted the way he handled her testimony against Clarence Thomas at the 1991 supreme court hearings but she was not “satisfied” by the conversation.
Biden contacted her earlier this month to express his “regret for what she endured” during the hearing, an attempt to reckon with a defining moment from his past that looms over his present bid for the White House.
Continue reading...Barack Obama's former vice-president has entered the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. It is his third presidential campaign – after two unsuccessful attempts at earning the nomination in 1988 and 2008. He joins a crowded and diverse field. If successful, the 76-year-old would become the oldest person to be elected president in US history
Continue reading...Former vice-president to officially launch bid for president, while Jared Kushner says Mueller investigation ‘just a big distraction’
Beto O’Rourke, the Texas congressman and presidential candidate, is jumping into the race for big donor $$$ with a New York City fundraiser next month in which hosts are asked to raise $25,000. The New York Times reports:
NEW: Beto O'Rourke will be holding private big $$$ fundraisers (his campaign has not previously held any).
Hosts are asked to raised $25,000 for a New York City event next month on May 13. pic.twitter.com/RbMpNz8DX8
The Guardian can confirm reports that former vice president Joe Biden will launch his 2020 campaign this week.
Sources close to Biden said he will make his announcement in a video to be released on Thursday and plans to hold an event in Pittsburgh on Monday.
Biden was initially expected to kick off his campaign on Wednesday before delaying his launch. Early polling shows Biden in the top tier of the Democratic field but in close competition with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for frontrunner status.
The Massachusetts congressman Seth Moulton has become the 19th person to declare their intention to seek the Democratic presidential nomination. Watch the decorated Marine Corps veteran talk about his fame in Iraq, his attempt to stop Nancy Pelosi's re-election as House Speaker and what makes him stand out in a crowded Democratic field
Continue reading...Democrats will discuss whether to initiate impeachment proceedings, a move opposed by House speaker Nancy Pelosi, at afternoon conference call
Donald Trump tweets a clip of a Fox News host arguing that Democrats will “never stop” focusing on Russian election interference because “they do not care about you or your life.”
“So true,” Trump wrote.
So true - thanks @SteveHiltonx @NextRevFNC! pic.twitter.com/2UK8RgzRQL
Iowa state Rep. Jennifer Konfrst endorsed Senator Cory Booker for president.
Cory Booker nets his second state leg endorsement out of Iowa ⬇️ https://t.co/tzHC3suYPf
Continue reading...Fueled by the ambition of two teenagers, ex-Alaska senator Mike Gravel is running for president with the explicit intention of entering Democratic debates
In 2008’s Democratic race for the White House, a little-known former senator from Alaska, Mike Gravel, barnstormed the party debates, railing against America’s foreign wars and slamming his rival candidates as elitists out-of-touch with ordinary Americans.
Related: Who is running for president? The full list of 2020 Democratic candidates
Continue reading...Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana and Democratic presidential candidate, was heckled by a protester at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa. The person shouted: 'Remember Sodom and Gomorrah' – a reference to two biblical cities – to which Buttigieg responded: 'The condition of my soul is in the hands of God but the Iowa caucuses are up to you'
By many measures, Buttigieg’s mayoral career has been a success – but his policies have not pleased everyone and poverty and crime are still high
Jack Colwell was a young reporter with a big story. Trade union sources told him that the Studebaker car plant, the beating heart of South Bend, Indiana, was closing down with a loss of nearly 7,000 jobs that would devastate the community. On 9 December 1963, above his byline, the front page headline on the South Bend Tribune newspaper read: “Auto output to end here.”
Related: 'They call me Mayor Pete': Buttigieg launches 2020 presidential run
Continue reading...The setup looked potentially hostile but became a free, hourlong commercial for the Sanders candidacy, broadcast to Fox viewers
At every turn they clapped and cheered, enamored with the candidate’s prescriptions for universal healthcare, a humane attitude toward immigrants and the rejection of climate change denialism.
Bernie Sanders was the candidate, and the people clapping and cheering were audience members who turned out in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for a televised town hall on Monday night sponsored by none other than Fox News.
Continue reading...