Category Archives: US elections 2020

Bernie Sanders and Beto O’Rourke release decade worth of tax returns

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Returns shows Sanders’ family made $566,000 in 2018, while O’Rourke paid $81,000 in taxes on $366,00 in 2017

Bernie Sanders, the Democratic socialist senator from Vermont, released a decade of tax returns on Monday, showing his family made $566,000 in 2018.

According to returns provided by his campaign, Sanders reported he paid $137,573 in federal taxes in 2018 and owed $8,267 in taxes for the year. Sanders and his wife, Jane Sanders, reported paying a 26% effective tax rate on his adjusted gross income. The couple reported donating $18,950 to charity, or 3.2%.

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Get to know 2020 candidate Pete Buttigieg in nine clips – video

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Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, officially launched his White House campaign on Sunday. If he is successful he will become the youngest and first openly gay president of the United States. In these nine clips, 'Mayor Pete' covers his religious beliefs, the seven languages he can speak and why running as a millennial candidate is a good thing

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Bernie in the Fox’s den: Sanders takes anti-Trump pitch straight to ‘state TV’

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The Democratic frontrunner will speak at a Fox News town hall. He says it’s necessary to speak to Trump voters. Others disagree

Bernie Sanders will finish a four-day tour of Trump Country on Monday, with a town hall on the president’s favorite network: Fox News.

Related: Ilhan Omar has had spike in death threats since Trump attack over 9/11 comment

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Kamala Harris: presidential candidate releases 15 years of tax returns

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Donald Trump continues to refuse to release his since the 2016 campaign, as Democrats press for access to his tax returns

The Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has released 15 years of tax returns, including her returns for 2018. The California senator reports that she and her husband had a federal tax bill of about $700,000 on an adjusted gross joint income of about $1.9m last year.

Related: Democrats set new deadline for release of Trump tax returns

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Buttigieg v Pence: Indiana politicians put faith on the election front line

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The vice-president and the Democratic hopeful are both Christian and have worked together but in the age of Trump, they and their fellow Hoosiers sense a looming battle

Both are from modestly sized cities in Indiana. Both were baptised Catholic but came to embrace other branches of Christianity. Both found inspiration in former president John F Kennedy as they launched political careers of their own.

The parallels between Mike Pence and Pete Buttigieg stop there.

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How Sanders left political wilderness to become leader of Democratic pack

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The senator has effectively not stopped campaigning since 2015 as the political landscape has shifted – but can he grow his 2020 support?

There is an saying in US politics, perhaps truer now than ever: every senator looks in the mirror and sees a president looking back. Before Bernie Sanders ran for the White House, his rumpled appearance and shock of unruly white hair suggested that this US senator gave his reflection no more than a fleeting glance each morning.

And yet, nearly two months into his second presidential run Sanders sits atop an unsettled Democratic field. It is a remarkable transformation for a democratic socialist from Vermont, deep into his 70s, who spent most of his decades-long career in the political wilderness.

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‘I won’t be silent’: Ilhan Omar answers Trump 9/11 attack

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Congresswoman says rightwing vitriol cannot threaten her ‘unwavering love for America’ as president pushes video

In the face of attacks from Donald Trump, Republicans and rightwing media outlets, the Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar said on Saturday no one could “threaten” her “unwavering love for America”.

Related: Yemeni bodegas boycott New York Post over attacks on Ilhan Omar

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Barack Obama warns progressives to avoid ‘circular firing squad’

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  • Remarks come as Democrats battle for 2020 nomination
  • Former president was addressing young Europeans in Germany

Barack Obama warned on Saturday that US progressives risk creating a “circular firing squad” at a time when prospective presidential candidates are competing fiercely against each other to run against Donald Trump.

Related: 'Our mantra is chaos': Republican researchers target 2020 Democrats

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‘Our mantra is chaos’: Republican researchers target 2020 Democrats

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The America Rising committee monitors everything the candidates do, hoping the large field will work in Trump’s favor

Democrats are more than a year away from selecting their presidential nominee. Nonetheless, Republicans are already taking aim at the leading contenders.

Related: 'He gave me permission': Joe Biden jokes about touching complaints

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‘He gave me permission’: Joe Biden jokes about touching complaints

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Former vice-president’s comments came during first public appearance since allegations from at least seven women surfaced

Joe Biden on Friday twice made joking references to complaints from women that his physical behavior made them uncomfortable.

The former vice-president’s comments came during his first public appearance since the allegations began to surface last week.

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Joe Biden issues statement on misconduct allegations – video

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The former vice-president and potential 2020 presidential candidate says it is his ‘responsibility’ to be more careful after several women said his touching made them uncomfortable. Biden used the video to say 'social norms have begun to change. They have shifted, and the boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset, and I get it' 

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Biden vows to respect women’s personal space amid new allegations

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The former vice-president issued a video after two more women described interactions that made them feel uncomfortable

Joe Biden doubled down on his defense as he faced fresh allegations from women who said their past physical interactions with him left them uncomfortable, foreshadowing the former vice-president’s perils as he weighs a bid for the Democratic Party’s 2020 nomination.

In a video and statement released to his Twitter feed Biden said that he had always seen politics as about “personal connection” and defended his habit of hugging and touching people he met. But he also added that he would change his habits in the future.

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Ex-Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe reportedly ‘leaning toward’ 2020 run – live

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Meanwhile, key Republican reportedly tells Trump renewed plan to scrap Affordable Care Act ‘makes no sense’

Gabrielle Canon here, taking over for Jessica Glenza

Former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe is getting closer to a decision on whether or not to enter the already heavily-saturated Democratic race for the white house in 2020, CNN reports.

While McAuliffe has spent the last week on a spring break vacation with his family, he has also been making calls to donors and longtime friends as he comes closer to making a final decision. One friend described him as ‘almost ready to jump in — he sees no reason not to’”.

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Biden condemns ‘white man’s culture’ as he laments role in Anita Hill hearings

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Potential 2020 contender regrets not giving Hill ‘the hearing she deserved’ during Clarence Thomas confirmation process

The former vice-president Joe Biden condemned “a white man’s culture” on Tuesday night as he lashed out against violence against women and, more specifically, lamented his role in the supreme court confirmation hearings that undermined Anita Hill’s credibility nearly three decades ago.

Biden, a Democratic presidential prospect who often highlights his white working-class roots, said Hill, who is African American, should not have been forced to face a panel of “a bunch of white guys”.

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Bernie Sanders visit shows California could hold key to 2020 victory

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Weekend of rallies highlight how state’s diverse electorate and new early spot on primary calendar make it a prize for Democratic candidates

Bernie Sanders brought his anti-establishment message and calls for progressive reform to California, no longer as a long-shot presidential candidate but as a frontrunner with a good chance to win it all.

On Friday evening, Sanders kicked off a rally in sunny San Diego by thanking the thousands of supporters who had gathered, alongside a handful of right-wing protesters, for joining his “political revolution”.

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Joe Biden lets slip that he will run for president – or does he?

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Former vice-president tells Delaware crowd he has ‘the most progressive record of anybody running’ – then corrects himself

Joe Biden has appeared to confirm he will mount another campaign for the White House, telling guests at a Delaware Democratic party dinner he has “the most progressive record of anybody running”. Biden indicated the remark was a slip of the tongue but many in the crowd stood to cheer regardless.

Related: Joe Biden: can a veteran centrist win in the polarised age of Trump?

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Beto O’Rourke apologises for teen writings and joke about his wife

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Democratic presidential contender is forced on to the defensive as he kicks off campaign in Iowa

Democratic presidential contender Beto O’Rourke has acknowledged making mistakes as a teen and as a candidate as he responded to criticism of his campaign rhetoric toward his wife as well as writings he produced online when he was young.

During a taping of the Political Party Live podcast in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he addressed criticism of his campaign-trail joke that his wife, Amy, has raised their three kids “sometimes with my help”.

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Beto O’Rourke kicks off 2020 bid in Iowa – in a voter’s living room

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Texas Democrat said he has ‘some unique things’ to bring to race on his first day of campaigning to a crowd of about 125 people

Randy Naber is really a Joe Biden man, although he could also see himself voting for Kamala Harris. But here was former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke, America’s newest presidential candidate, in Naber’s living room, and the retired teacher wasn’t sure what to make of it.

Related: O'Rourke enters race with natural skills, eager support and some big challenges

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O’Rourke enters race with natural skills, eager support and some big challenges

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Former congressman from El Paso enters a crowded Democratic field – can he solidify his platform and take it to a national level?

Losing a federal election in your home state is not normally seen as a ticket to the White House. But then not everybody is capable of being defeated in the style of Beto O’Rourke.

Related: Beto O'Rourke announces 2020 run for presidency

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Who is 2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke? – video profile

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The Texas Democrat who narrowly lost to Ted Cruz in the 2018 midterms, has announced he is to run for president in 2020. The former congressman gained a national following with his campaign for the Senate, outperforming expectations for any Democrat in the deeply conservative state of Texas

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