Category Archives: US elections 2020

Why women 2020 candidates face ‘likability’ question even as they make history

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A record number of Democratic women intend to run for the White House at the next election, illuminating the gendered scrutiny they face

When Elizabeth Warren declared her intention to run for president in the 2020 US election, a debate swiftly followed over whether the Democratic Massachusetts senator could pass a “likability test”.

New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand was asked by a reporter if she was perhaps too “nice” to take on Donald Trump immediately after making her own announcement on her intention to run.

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Howard Schultz called ‘billionaire elite’ by heckler in New York – video

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A day after the former Starbucks chief Howard Schultz said he might run independently for US president, a heckler at a book launch in Manhattan shouted at him: 'Don't help elect Trump.' Schultz has faced fierce criticism from Democrats who say his candidacy may help Donald Trump win re-election in 2020. 'Go back to Davos with the rest of the billionaire elite who think they know how to run the world,' the heckler added before being pulled aside by security

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Trump-Russia investigation almost complete, says acting attorney general – as it happened

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Thanks for staying with us through another eventful day. We’ll see you tomorrow.

The Guardian’s Erin Durkin is at former Starbucks CEO and possible independent 2020 presidential candidate Howard Schultz’s first stop of his book tour, which has turned into a town hall of sorts.

Speaking at a New York Barnes and Noble, he ruled out any possibility that he would run as a Democrat, despite his life-long affiliation with the party.

In 2020, the great likelihood is that an independent would just split the anti-Trump vote and end up re-electing the President. That's a risk I refused to run in 2016 and we can't afford to run it now. https://t.co/SmHM6cYUg7 pic.twitter.com/iQ2CK5o2k6

Howard Schultz doesn’t have the “guts” to run for President! Watched him on @60Minutes last night and I agree with him that he is not the “smartest person.” Besides, America already has that! I only hope that Starbucks is still paying me their rent in Trump Tower!

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Kamala Harris kicks off 2020 US presidential campaign – video

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Kamala Harris drew a bigger crowd at her presidential campaign launch in Oakland than Barack Obama did when he launched his run for president in Illinois in 2007. At least 20,000 people turned up to hear the California senator outline her plan for winning the White House in 2020, according to an estimate from local police. She would be the first African American woman and first South Asian American to be chosen as a presidential nominee

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Kamala Harris kicks off 2020 campaign with hometown Oakland rally

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If estimates are correct, Kamala Harris drew a bigger crowd at her presidential campaign launch in Oakland than Barack Obama did when he announced his run for president in Illinois in 2007.

Harris, the second African-American woman elected to the US senate, has drawn comparisons to Obama since early in her political career. And on Sunday, at least 20,000 people flooded the streets of downtown Oakland to hear the California senator outline her plan for winning the White House in 2020, according to an estimate from local police. Obama’s 2007 campaign launch attracted an estimated 15,000 people.

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MLK’s son criticizes Pence for using father’s memory to push for border wall – live

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King’s oldest son rejects vice-president’s comparison of civil rights leader to Trump: ‘MLK was a bridge builder, not a wall builder’

The Guardian’s Hubert Adjei-Kontoh reports:

At a packed Harlem church this afternoon congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sat down with the award-winning writer Ta-Nehisi Coates at an event marking Martin Luther King’s legacy.

About those 8,000-plus false and misleading statements from Donald Trump during his presidency: It makes for grueling work for the fact checkers.

The Guardian’s Adam Gabbatt reports:

Since taking office, the president has lied about everything from immigration figures to the number of burgers he served to the Clemson football team at the White House last week.

“It takes up a lot of our time just because he is constantly talking,” said Glenn Kessler, editor and chief writer of the Washington Post’s Fact Checker column.

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Kamala Harris enters 2020 US presidential race – video profile

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The Democratic senator has officially launched her 2020 campaign, entering a crowded field of candidates vying to take on Donald Trump. Harris portrays herself as a fighter for justice and equality. She was the first woman of colour to become attorney general for California

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Top Democrat claims the State of the Union ‘is off’ – live

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Steny Hoyer, the Democratic majority leader in the House, State of the Union address is off in an interview with CNN

Steny Hoyer, the Democratic majority leader in the House, makes plain “the State of the Union is off” in an interview with CNN.

.@KateBolduan: "The letter sounds like she’s asking, but isn’t she just telling him?"
Rep. Hoyer: "The speaker is the one who invites the president…”
Kate: "So, the State of the Union is off?"
Hoyer: "The State of the Union is off."

It’s worth looking at this time capsule at the shock felt in Washington in 1913 when Woodrow Wilson became the first president to deliver the State of the Union in person since John Adams.

WASHINGTON IS AMAZED. Pelosi proposal to delay the SOTU gives me a chance to once again tweet my favorite WaPo story ever, about how the city was "agape" when a pressident (Wilson) showed up to give a speech at the Capitol: https://t.co/8A1qsRYbsl

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Tulsi Gabbard: Democrat says she will run for president in 2020

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The Iraq war veteran and US representative for Hawaii made announcement in a CNN interview scheduled to air Saturday

Tulsi Gabbard, the Democratic US representative from Hawaii, said she will run for president in 2020, CNN reported on Friday.

“I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week,” she said in an interview with CNN that is scheduled to air on Saturday.

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Democrats reclaim power as Nancy Pelosi elected House speaker

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House tests new power by passing bills to end the government shutdown, but legislation is unlikely to break impasse

Democrats reclaimed power in the House on Thursday and officially elected Nancy Pelosi to be the next speaker, returning her to a position for which she made history as the first woman elected to the office.

The California Democrat earned 220 votes from a total of 430 members present, while Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader, won 192.

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