Category: 2020 Election

Trump folly steps on Senate GOP message again

Questions over Woodward revelations overshadow Republican effort to show unity on coronavirus relief

Senate Republicans spent a month developing a coronavirus relief bill that their conference could unify around and go on record as supporting to show voters they were trying to help families and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

But as the messaging vote arrived Thursday, Republicans couldn’t talk to reporters about Democrats blocking their bill — which fell short on a 52-47 procedural votewith only one GOP senator in opposition — without also having to dodge or defend President Donald Trump’s latest folly.

Washington’s press corps was still consumed with news that broke the day before about Trump admitting to journalist Bob Woodward back in February that COVID-19 “is deadly stuff” and then in March that he was intentionally understating the danger of the novel coronavirus in his public comments. Continue reading.

Nothing Is Normal: The Final Push to Election Day

The presidential campaign is full of drama, but it might not matter to voters already hardened in their beliefs.

TIME ZONE-DEFYING, cross-country travel that leaves little time for sleep. Big rallies of sweaty crowds interspersed with tony, high-dollar fundraisers at celebrity homes. Obsessive poll-tracking, September scares and October surprises.

That’s the typical post-Labor Day path for presidential candidates as they embark on what is traditionally the final, frenetic sprint to Election Day, all with the presumption that one of the contenders would declare victory under a cascade of balloons, while the other affects a gracious demeanor in conceding. The loser heads home to contemplate a post-campaign career, and the winner moves to Cabinet-making or preparation of a second-term agenda.

Not this year. A confluence of factors, including the coronavirus, an escalation of early balloting and an unusually firmly decided electorate have made this presidential election like no other in modern history. Continue reading.

As Clock Ticks, Trump Engulfs Himself in Chaotic News Cycles

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With early voting about to begin in some states, the days President Trump can afford to be consumed by crises of his own making are dwindling. But he has spent the last week in reaction mode.

President Trump is running out the clock on his own re-election campaign.

For much of the Trump presidency, days and controversies have run together until they’ve become an indistinguishable blur: a bombshell revelation from a former aide, or a self-sabotaging news conference, canceling out the last one. Time has seemed to pass quickly or not at all, as the constant churn of scandals, resignations, tell-all books and racist or sexist tweets has created its own political ecosystem.

At times, the constant noise has helped Mr. Trump, who thrives on chaos and wants the spotlight always on himself, and he believes he has faced few consequences for it. Continue reading.

New poll confirms Republicans’ wariness of voting by mail

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Why that should concern Republicans hoping to get out the vote.

Republican officials have been worried for weeks that President Trump is scaring his supporters (and theirs) away from voting by mail with his near-constant, baseless warnings that it will lead to widespread fraud.

Now we have solid evidence that Republicans are way less likely than Democrats to vote by mail in the fall. They would much rather vote in person.

A new Washington Post-University of Maryland poll finds that while Democrats are split on whether they prefer to vote in person or by mail, 71 percent of Republicans say they prefer to vote in person, with 21 percent preferring to vote by mail and 9 percent preferring to drop off their ballot. Continue reading.

Trump makes wild claims about revitalizing auto industry at Michigan rally

FREELAND, Mich. — President Donald Trump made wildly inaccurate claims at a rally outside Saginaw on Thursday night, suggesting he has revitalized auto manufacturing in the state when it actually lost jobs even before coronavirus hit in March.

“We brought you a lot of car plants, we brought you a lot … and we’re going to bring you a lot more,” Trump began his speech at MBS International Airport in Freeland.

But only one new major assembly facility, a Jeep plant on Detroit’s east side, has been announced during Trump’s term, while General Motors underwent a divisive 40-day strike last year and announced the idling of four U.S. plants, including two in Michigan. One of those, Detroit-Hamtramck, has since been revived and is being retooled to build electric cars and SUVs. Warren transmission was revived most recently to make face masks, though its future is uncertain. Continue reading.

Trump fumes over ‘very disgraceful’ questions as he gets grilled for lying about risks of COVID-19

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President Donald Trump fumed during the Thursday press conference when the first question from the press was “why did you lie to the American people and why should we trust what you have to say now?”

“What a terrible question. I didn’t lie,” said Trump.

ABC News’ Jon Karl hammered Trump on the tapes that were released by Bob Woodward showing Trump intentionally downplayed the coronavirus, he claims, to not cause “panic.” While people panicked, rioted about masks and attacked state capitols doing lockdowns, Trump was egging them on with demands to “liberate” states. Meanwhile, he knew that the virus was five times more deadly than the worst case of the flu. Continue reading.

Trump seeks to shift scrutiny amid Woodward fallout

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President Trump is going on the offensive after revelations from Watergate journalist Bob Woodward that he deliberately misled the public on the severity of COVID-19.

Both the White House and Trump’s campaign are attempting to change the narrative after excerpts and audio recordings of Trump’s interviews with Woodward showed him admitting to publicly downplaying the threat from the virus despite knowing the danger it posed.

For a second consecutive day, Trump on Thursday called a previously unscheduled news conference, where his comments to Woodward took center stage as reporters pressed the president about whether he misled the American public during crucial stages of the pandemic. Continue reading.

Microsoft warns Russia, China and Iran targeting US election

TheHill.com

Microsoft on Thursday reported that it is seeing “increasing” cyberattacks originating in Russia, China and Iran targeting its customers, including attacks against political groups and the presidential campaigns of President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.

Tom Burt, corporate vice president of customer security and trust at Microsoft, detailed in a blog post the efforts by three major foreign hacking groups to target the campaigns, along with other political organizations and individuals.

“The activity we are announcing today makes clear that foreign activity groups have stepped up their efforts targeting the 2020 election as had been anticipated, and is consistent with what the U.S. government and others have reported,” Burt wrote.  Continue reading.

#EndorseThis: How Trump Encourages White Nationalist Violence And Terror

Now a Department of Homeland Security whistleblower has pointed America’s attention to what has been obvious for years: White nationalist terrorism is a major threat to our lives and liberty — and the Trump administration has done far too little to address this burgeoning menace. In fact, as this MeidasTouch video shows, Donald Trump has provoked and encouraged racist violence from the beginning of his presidency. 

Trump deserves plenty of blame for this toxic excrescence, but too many of his fellow Republicans have gone along. The Republican leadership even allows QAnon, the anti-Semitic and racist conspiracy movement, to co-opt the party’s Congressional candidates. Continue reading.

Trump payroll-tax deferral for federal workers sparks backlash

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The Trump administration’s decision to require the deferral of payroll taxes for federal workers and military members is creating more divisions around the president’s attempt to provide short-term economic relief for workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

While many private sector employers are not expected to defer their employees’ Social Security payroll taxes under Trump’s order, the federal government is making it mandatory for its employees. Federal agencies have indicated that the deferral will apply to all eligible civilian employees and service members.

The federal government is the most prominent employer to announce it’s participating in the deferral, and the administration’s move to defer the payroll taxes of executive branch workers increases the impact of an action by Trump that may have little effect beyond government. Continue reading.