Category Archives: US Politics

Senate Republicans appear to resume efforts to investigate Biden and family – live

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A new post-South Carolina poll shows Joe Biden pulling nearly even with Bernie Sanders.

According to the Morning Consult poll, Biden has climbed up to 26%, while Sanders has dropped slightly to 29%. Those numbers represent a 7-point bump for Biden and a 3-point slump for Sanders.

NEW: Biden at 26%, Sanders at 29% in First National Poll Since South Carolina Primary

While Biden saw no significant uptick in support among black voters, Hispanic voters became 9 points more likely to say they’d vote for him.https://t.co/6bwULwgjbd pic.twitter.com/pwRP9tSaOb

Here’s where the day stands as of now:

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Mike Bloomberg: four issues that could derail White House race – video

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Billionaire Mike Bloomberg has launched one of the most audacious campaigns for the US presidency in modern times – pouring almost half a billion dollars of his vast fortune into creating the most expensive nomination bid in US history. But the former mayor of New York is under intense scrutiny: here’s a look at the key issues that could derail his race to the White House

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Mike Bloomberg: four issues that hindered his presidential hopes – video

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The billionaire Mike Bloomberg has suspended his Democratic presidential campaign after launching one of the most audacious political campaigns in modern times – pouring almost half a billion dollars of his vast fortune into creating the most expensive nomination bid in US history. The former mayor of New York has come under intense scrutiny and failed to seize the moderate lane from his rival Joe Biden: here's a look at the key issues that hurt his race to the White House

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Peter Buttigieg bows out of Democratic race – video

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Pete Buttigieg has dropped out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination on Sunday, saying he no longer saw a chance of winning, the day after fellow moderate Joe Biden won a big victory in South Carolina.

The move shook up the Democratic contest to pick a candidate to take on Republican president Donald Trump in November's election and came two days before the 14-state Super Tuesday nominating contests that will offer the biggest electoral prize so far.

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Pete Buttigieg drops out of 2020 race to be Democratic presidential nominee

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Former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, leaves the race to take on Donald Trump after a poor showing in the South Carolina primary

Pete Buttigieg has ended his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination with a call for Democrats to unite in their fight to beat Donald Trump in the election.

Related: People turn backs on Mike Bloomberg at Bloody Sunday church service in Selma

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After early Iowa success, Pete Buttigieg’s fiery campaign floundered in more diverse states

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The 38-year old former Indiana mayor has dropped out of the Democratic primary race after early success in Iowa and New Hampshire

Pete Buttigieg, the former Indiana mayor whose long-shot bid for the presidency saw brief success in Iowa and New Hampshire, has dropped out of the Democratic primary.

When Buttigieg launched his campaign in April of last year, the millennial mayor of the fourth-largest city in Indiana acknowledged his relative lack of experience in a growing primary field that came to include a former vice president, multiple senators and mayors of much larger cities.

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Trump tweets praise for under-fire Mexican restaurant – but gets city wrong

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  • Sammy’s owner pictured at rally in ‘Latinos Love Trump’ hat
  • President promises visit when in Phoenix but grill near Tucson

The owners of a Tucson-area Mexican restaurant are fending off social media attacks after appearing in the VIP area at a Trump rally in Phoenix last month.

The Arizona Daily Star reported that a Facebook group posted a screenshot image from the rally that showed Sammy’s Mexican Grill co-owner Betty Rivas standing behind Trump, wearing a red cowboy hat emblazoned with “Latinos Love Trump”.

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Joe Biden breathes new life into his campaign with landslide South Carolina win

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  • Biden wins by large margin and says: ‘We are very much alive’
  • Victory means he becomes Sanders’ main centrist challenger

Joe Biden delivered a landslide victory in the South Carolina primary vote on Saturday, breathing new life into his presidential campaign and establishing himself as the main moderate competitor to Bernie Sanders in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Related: Decisive South Carolina win puts Biden at front of Democrats' centrist pack

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Trump nominates John Ratcliffe for top intelligence officer post – as it happened

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  • This is the second try to name the Republican as DNI
  • Court ruled 2-1 to block Trump Remain in Mexico policy
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It’s been a busy day in US politics. Here’s a rundown of the top stories:

Trump is ad-libbing on the coronavirus at his rally in South Carolina, Oliver Laughland reports.

Trump is ad libbing significantly. Breaking off from prepared remarks on coronavirus to ask Graham and Scott to pass legislation that allows him to serve for 25 years

“Lets term limit ourselves at 25 years. Tim pass it in the senate with Lindsey. A 25 year term limit, please.”

We are doing everything in our power to keep the infection and those carrying the infection from entering the country. We have no choice. Whether it’s the virus that we’re talking about, or the many other public health threats, the Democrat policy of open borders is a direct threat to the health and wellbeing of all Americans.

Now you see it with the coronavirus… when you have this virus, or any other virus, or any other problem coming in, it’s not the only thing that comes in through the border… and we’re setting records at the border, we’re setting records, and now, just using this, important, so important.

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Ted Cruz tried to mock AOC’s scientific knowledge – it didn’t end well

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The Texas senator tried to pick a fight after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called out Mike Pence’s coronavirus credentials

If you were in search of a scientifically minded, steadying presence to guide the country through the potential fallout of the coronavirus, you could not do much worse than Vice-President Mike Pence. This being the Donald Trump administration, however, where qualifications and expertise are often seen as prohibitive factors for top jobs, that’s exactly who we’ve been given.

Cutting to the heart of the matter with her characteristic bluntness, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez this week pointed out the absurdity of placing Pence in charge of a potentially looming health crisis.

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Self-belief surges as Trump’s conservative faithful plan four more years

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At the annual CPAC conference in Maryland, Republicans were in buoyant mood about the president’s re-election prospects

“Four more years!” the crowd chanted at Mike Pence, the vice-president. “Four more years!”

Not so long ago, under the shadow of investigations, impeachment and dismal approval ratings, Donald Trump’s re-election seemed a long shot. But at the biggest annual gathering of grassroots conservatives on Thursday, self-belief was surging and some were already looking ahead to what a second term might bring.

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Obama takes legal action over ‘misleading’ Republican attack ad on Joe Biden – live updates

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  • Vice-President Pence to take charge of US response to coronavirus
  • Poll shows widespread concerns about election security and integrity
  • UN chief Michelle Bachelet criticises Trump’s weakened environmental protection standards
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The US Dept. of Justice announced it had created a division tasked with denaturalizing immigrants.

The Denaturalization Section “underscores the department’s commitment to bring justice to terrorists, war criminals, sex offenders and other fraudsters who illegally obtained naturalization” officials said in a statement.

Denaturalizations have ramped up under the Trump administration: Of the 228 denaturalization cases that the department has filed since 2008, about 40 percent of them were filed since 2017, according to official department numbers.

According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, actor Steven Seagal allegedly failed to disclose a promotional agreement related to cryptocurrencies.

The SEC alleges Seagal accepted $250,000 in cash and $750,000 worth of Bitcoiin2Gen (B2G) tokens in exchange for online promotion of the currency, including “posts on his public social media accounts encouraging the public not to ‘miss out’”.

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Trump campaign sues New York Times for libel over Russia story

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  • Suit alleges ‘extreme bias’ in knowingly publishing falsehood
  • Opinion piece titled ‘The Real Trump-Russia Quid Pro Quo’

Donald Trump’s re-election campaign said on Wednesday it had filed a libel suit against the New York Times accusing the newspaper of intentionally publishing a false opinion article related to Russian interference in the 2016 US election.

In an escalation of the Republican president’s long-running battle with the news media, campaign officials said the lawsuit was being filed in New York state supreme court, the state’s trial-level court.

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Democrat challengers face fall-out from rowdy TV debate – live updates

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  • Sanders and Bloomberg bear brunt of attacks in ‘messy’ TV debate
  • Trump defending administration’s handling of coronavirus
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Back to the fall-out from last night’s Democratic debate. With a crowded field it was the last TV opportunity for one of the candidates who isn’t Bernie Sanders to have a break-out moment that could propel them towards next week’s Super Tuesday.

That, according to Ryan Lizza in Politico, is not what happened.

By the end, it was clear that there was no Bernie slayer at the lecterns in Charleston, someone who alone had the time and skills to convince Democratic voters that the democratic socialist was a radical whose nomination would forfeit the party’s chance to defeat Trump.

The court hearing in London into the US attempt to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is underway again. Journalist James Doleman is tweeting from the court.

Judge returns to court and proceedings resume.#Assange

Related: Julian Assange was 'handcuffed 11 times and stripped naked'

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Messy Democratic debate leaves lack of clarity and benefits Trump

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Amid crosstalk and occasional shouting, a continuing lack of clarity over which candidate will emerge as the nominee

Tuesday night’s Democratic presidential debate was chaotic and messy, underscoring the continuing lack of clarity over which candidate could emerge as the nominee to take on Donald Trump in November’s election.

Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, a self declared Democratic socialist considered the current frontrunner after his win in Nevada last week, found himself the main target of attacks from more centrist contenders, but was closely followed by billionaire New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was pummelled again for his past statements on women and support for Republicans.

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Bernie Sanders faces onslaught from rivals in chaotic South Carolina debate

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Candidates bickered and shouted over each other in sharp exchanges in debate before Super Tuesday contests

The Democratic presidential candidates engaged in a series of chaotic and fiery exchanges on Tuesday night, in the final debate before the critical South Carolina presidential primary and Super Tuesday contests that could represent a make-or-break moment.

Senator Bernie Sanders, the frontrunner who cruised to victory in Nevada last week, bore the brunt of criticism from a number of his centrist rivals, including the former vice-president Joe Biden, the ex-New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

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Sanders and Bloomberg come under attack in chaotic Democratic debate – live

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Bernie Sanders was asked why he voted to protect gun manufacturers from legal liability, which other candidates have criticized him for.

Sanders initially tried to pivot to criticizing Joe Biden for his record on trade deals, which prompted boos from the Charleston audience.

Elizabeth Warren has so far directed more criticism at Mike Bloomberg than Bernie Sanders, the frontrunner in the primary race.

As another progressive senator, Warren will likely need to pick off some of Sanders’ supporters to have any chance of the nomination.

The difference between how aggressively Warren goes after Bernie (the front runner & existential threat to her candidacy), and Bloomberg (who she clearly despises), is something to behold.

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Ex-White House doctor: to help Trump’s diet I hid cauliflower in his mash

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  • Ronny Jackson says he encouraged president to eat vegetables
  • ‘The exercise stuff never took off as much as I wanted it to’

A former White House physician who memorably said Donald Trump might have lived to 200 if he had improved his junk-food heavy diet has confessed to sneaking cauliflower into the president’s mashed potatoes.

Related: Trump lashes out at Schumer as Democrats slam 'no plan' on coronavirus – live

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The era of ‘whites-only’ elections in America has returned | Carol Anderson

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As we head back to South Carolina, the state that fought to protect the white primary until the 1950s, it’s as if black voters don’t matter – again

In 1896, a moment marked by increased lynchings, violence and disfranchisement, South Carolina added to the woes and created the white primary. The law, which the rest of the one-party south would adopt throughout the Jim Crow era, said only white people could vote in the Democratic primary election.

White people, mostly men, would alone choose who would go on to the general election in November. Then, and only then could African Americans and others, who had managed to squeeze through the array of voter suppression tactics such as the poll tax and the literacy test, cast their meaningless ballots. But make no mistake, the real contest was in the primary, and whites had already determined the ultimate winner.

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