Category: 2020 Election

Peter Strzok would like to clear a few things up

Peter Strzok would like to clear a few things up

“I’m sorry to bother you. But it turns out Trump just accused me of treason.”

Peter Strzok, who was still an FBI employee that day in January 2018 and couldn’t respond to the president’s attack, was appealing to his boss: “The bureau can’t let this stand,” he pleaded.

“I’m sorry, Pete,” came the response. “We’re not going to say anything.”

Nearly three years later, Strzok — who led the FBI’s Russia investigation, dubbed Crossfire Hurricane, until he was removed over several anti-Trump texts he’d sent during the election amid an affair with a colleague — is finally able to speak publicly and on his terms for the first time since he joined the FBI more than two decades ago. Continue reading.

Statement by Vice President Joe Biden on The Atlantic’s Article on Donald Trump’s Troop Statements

Below is a statement released by Vice President Biden last week:

If the revelations in today’s Atlantic article are true, then they are yet another marker of how deeply President Trump and I disagree about the role of the President of the United States. I have long said that, as a nation, we have many obligations, but we only have one truly sacred obligation — to prepare and equip those we send into harm’s way, and to care for them and their families, both while they are deployed and after they return home. That’s the foundation of what Jill and I believe. It’s why we’ve always prioritized the health and well-being of our service members, veterans, and military families. We’ve visited troops coming home wounded in Walter Reed. We’ve hosted wounded veterans in our home to share a Thanksgiving meal. And, as the proud parents of a son who served in Iraq, we’ve made supporting military spouses, caregivers, and children a focus of our service. 

Generations of American troops have shed blood around the world in defense of our freedoms and to protect U.S. vital interests. From the frontlines of our own Revolution to Belleau Wood to the Normandy beaches to the mountains of Afghanistan, the sacrifice and bravery of our troops and their willingness to serve our nation should be honored. Duty, honor, country — those are the values that drive our service members. Those are the values that have formed the core of America’s defense for centuries. And if I have the honor of serving as the next commander in chief, I will ensure that our American heroes know that I will have their back and honor their sacrifice — always. 

Now In Government Food Aid Boxes, A Letter From Trump

Millions of Americans who are struggling to put food on the table may discover a new item in government-funded relief packages of fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy and meat: a letter signed by President Donald Trump.

The message, printed on White House letterhead in both English and Spanish, touts the administration’s response to the coronavirus, including aid provided through the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, a U.S. Department of Agriculture initiative to buy fresh food and ship it to needy families.

The letter is reminiscent of Trump’s effort to put his signature on stimulus checks and send a signed letter to millions of recipients. It’s the latest example of the president blurring his official duties with his reelection campaign, most prominently by hosting Trump’s acceptance speech for the Republican nomination last week on the White House lawn. Continue reading.

Trump Again Mocks Biden For Wearing Mask, Protecting Others

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have repeatedly called on Americans to wear a mask in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. “All Americans have a responsibility to protect themselves, their families, and their communities,” said the CDC director. Wearing a mask doesn’t primarily protect the mask-wearer—it protects others. As Joe Biden has made clear, wearing a mask isn’t just a symbol, it’s an active part of good citizenship. 

“Every single American should be wearing a mask when they’re outside for the next three months, at a minimum. Every governor should mandate mandatory mask-wearing,” said Biden. Doing so could save at least 40,000 American lives, according to the latest estimates.

So, of course, Donald Trump is mocking Biden for wearing a mask. Because, after all, why would anyone do something for other people? Trump is attacking Biden because he’s simply incapable of inconveniencing himself in the slightest to protect American lives. Continue reading.

GOP-slanted mailers to Minnesotans have tie to Kanye West campaign

Mailers, funded by GOP PAC that worked for West, include ballot application while bashing Joe Biden and Tina Smith. 

A political mailer encouraging Minnesota voters to apply for an absentee ballot and support Republican candidates for president and the U.S. Senate this fall appears to be connected to Kanye West’s bid for president.

The multiple-page mailer is being sent to households across the state from a group called Common Sense Voters of America LLC, an Ohio-based political advocacy group that was registered in June by the same law firm that is working to get West on the Ohio ballot, reports CNN.

Mailers from the group have popped up in Minnesota and Pennsylvania, two key battleground states in this year’s presidential race. Continue reading.

Is it a coincidence that Moscow is peddling the same lies as the Trump campaign?

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No journalist has done a better job of fact-checking Donald Trump during his presidency than Daniel Dale. But now the CNN reporter, formerly of the Toronto Star, has done an invaluable service by outlining the nine conspiracy theories the president is continuously peddling. As Dale suggests, “Trump has been a conspiracy theorist for years.” but never before has he pushed so many at one time.

Two of them align completely with disinformation campaigns coming out of Moscow. For example, we learned that the Russian government began promoting the lies about mail-in ballots as early as last March.

Russia has sought to “amplify” concerns over the integrity of U.S. elections by promoting allegations that mail-in voting will lead to widespread fraud, according to an intelligence bulletin obtained by ABC News, again echoing a frequent and unfounded complaint raised by President Donald Trump.

Continue reading.

Fox Is So Rattled By Trump Military Story That It Confirms, Debunks, Then Reconfirms It

Fox News was so flustered by The Atlantic article on insults by President Donald Trump against military service members that it initially didn’t know where to land on the report.

It attacked the article, then eventually confirmed it. Then it bashed it again soon afterward — before reconfirming it.

Fox News’ national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin posted a long Twitter thread Friday afternoon confirming key points of the bombshell article that cited multiple reports of Trump denigrating fallen service members by saying they were “losers” and “suckers,” and details of the president’s refusal to visit the graves of America’s war dead at Aisne-Marne Cemetery while he was in France in 2018. Continue reading.

‘Trump is a fraud’: Trade deficit soars to 12-year high despite the president’s promises

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Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail in 2016 that, if elected president, he would bring about a rapid and unprecedented decline in the U.S. trade deficit.

But new figures released by the Commerce Department on Thursday—nearly four years after Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election—show that the trade deficit soared to a 12-year high in July due in large part to a surge in imports, bringing the total negative trade balance in the first seven months of 2020 to $340 billion.

“Trump pledged to eliminate the trade deficit and end job outsourcing, but the overall 2020 deficit is on track to be larger than when he took office, and his Labor Department has certified more than 300,000 American jobs were lost to outsourcing and imports during his presidency,” Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, said in a statement. Continue reading.

White House directs federal agencies to cancel race-related training sessions it calls ‘un-American propaganda’

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Administration seeks list of contracts for those that refer to ‘white privilege,’ according to memo

President Trump is moving to revamp federal agencies’ racial sensitivity trainings, casting some of them as “divisive” and “un-American,” according to a memo by the White House Office of Management and Budget.

In the two-page memo, OMB Director Russell Vought says Trump has asked him to prevent federal agencies from spending millions in taxpayer dollars on these training sessions. Vought says OMB will instruct federal agencies to come up with a list of all contracts related to training sessions involving “white privilege” or “critical race theory,” and do everything possible within the law to cancel those contracts, the memo states.

The memo, released on Friday, also tells all federal agencies to identify and if possible cancel contracts that involve teaching that America is an “inherently racist or evil country.” Continue reading.