Category: 2020 Election

New info deepens the mystery around Trump’s unexpected and suspicious hospital visit

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On Saturday, November 16, 2019, President Donald Trump made an unexpected visit to Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. That visit is among the many things that author Michael S. Schmidtdiscusses in the new book, “Donald Trump v. the United States: Inside the Struggle to Stop a President.”

New York Times reporter Gabriel Debenedetti, discussing Schmidt’s book, notes that it “reports the White House wanted Mike Pence ‘on standby to take over the powers of the presidency temporarily if Trump had to undergo a procedure that would have required him to be anesthetized.’ The vice president never had to take this step.”

The fact that Trump’s visit to Walter Reed in November 2019 was unannounced raised questions about the president’s health. But Dr. Sean Conley, Trump’s physician, described the visit as “routine” that month and wrote, in a memo, that it was only kept secret because of “scheduling uncertainties.” And Trump described the visit as a “very routine physical.” Continue reading.

Biden criticizes violence while blaming Trump for fomenting it

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Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Monday blamed President Trump for escalating violence at protests in cities across the country, while condemning the destructive elements of the racial justice demonstrations that he said are counterproductive to the cause.

Speaking at a steel mill in Pittsburgh, Biden placed the blame for the civil unrest in the country squarely on Trump, saying the president has inflamed tensions since the police killing of George Floyd in May.

“This president long ago forfeited any moral leadership in this country,” Biden said. “He can’t stop the violence because for years he’s fomented it.” Continue reading.

Biden calls Trump ‘a toxic presence’ who is encouraging violence in America

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Joe Biden excoriated President Trump on Monday as a threat to the safety of all Americans, saying he was a “toxic presence” who has encouraged violence in the nation’s streets even as he has faltered in handling the coronavirus pandemic.

The direct repudiation of Trump came as Biden and the president launched into a caustic debate over violent protests that have escalated across the country in recent days, thrusting the presidential campaign into a new and more combustible phase centered on which man represents the biggest danger to America.

For his most extensive remarks since violence has broken out in recent days, Biden traveled to Pittsburgh and struck a centrist note, condemning both the destruction in the streets and Trump for creating a culture that he said has exacerbated it. Continue reading.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Endorses Dean Phillips for Re-Election

Chamber lauds Phillips as a “friend of business” 

MINNETONKA, MINNESOTA – Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce officially endorsed Dean Phillips (D, MN-03) for re-election. A business leader and entrepreneur before running for office in 2018, Phillips refuses all campaign contributions from special interests, PACs, and federal lobbyists, and has emerged as a pragmatic, independent-minded leader on small business issues and government reform in Congress. Recognizing Phillips for his strong support of small business and economic growth, and his commitment to working across the aisle on issues of national importance, the nation’s largest business organization took the rare step of endorsing a freshman Democrat. 

“As one of the few entrepreneurs in Congress, I’m especially grateful to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for their endorsement,” said Phillips. “My thirty years of experience creating, leading, and growing businesses in Minnesota brings a unique perspective to policy-making and illuminates my mission to inspire a new era of collaboration in Congress. I’m grateful to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for recognizing and supporting the need for bipartisanship as we pave the path to prosperity for all Americans.” 

Continue reading “U.S. Chamber of Commerce Endorses Dean Phillips for Re-Election”

Trump and allies keep accusing Biden of not condemning violence — shortly after Biden condemns violence

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On Sunday at 4:13 p.m. Eastern time, Joe Biden issued a broad denunciation of the violence that has occurred at racial justice demonstrations across the country, saying, “I condemn violence of every kind by anyone, whether on the left or the right.”

About six hours later, at 10:36 p.m., President Trump asked, “When is Slow Joe Biden going to criticize the Anarchists, Thugs & Agitators in ANTIFA?”

We can parse these statements all day long, and the Trump argument seems to be that Biden needs to more explicitly condemn antifa — however much the amorphous group is actually responsible for the unrest. But practically speaking, he condemned violence by them, too. Continue reading.

As clashes between armed groups and leftist protesters turn deadly, police face complaints of tolerating vigilantes

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In a video recorded shortly before two people were fatally shot last week in Kenosha, Wis., the accused gunman — Kyle Rittenhouse, 17 — circulates among a group of gun-wielding men who claim to be guarding a service station amid protests against police brutality.

Although it is well past curfew, police passing in an armored vehicle offer the group bottles of water and some friendly encouragement, saying over a loudspeaker: “We appreciate you guys. We really do.”

As protesters march against racism and police violence in cities and towns across the nation, they are being confronted by groups of armed civilians who claim to be assisting and showing support for police battered and overwhelmed by the protests. The confrontations have left at least three people dead in recent days: In addition to the two protesters killed Tuesday in Kenosha, a man thought to be associated with a far-right group called Patriot Prayer was fatally shot late Saturday in Portland, Ore. Continue reading.

US surpasses 6 million coronavirus cases nationwide

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The United States has passed six million confirmed cases of the coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The country has also passed 183,000 deaths nationwide.

President Trump and his 2020 Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, have battled for months over the U.S.’s coronavirus response, with allies of the Democratic nominee hammering the administration over the U.S.’s status as the country with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world.

In July, Biden accused Trump of giving up on the U.S.’s efforts to control the disease’s spread, claiming that the president “raised the white flag.” Continue reading.

Trump, Vicar of Fear and Violence

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He continues the old practice of stoking white victimhood for votes.

The use of white fear and white victimhood as potent political weapons is as old as the country itself. Donald Trump is just the latest practitioner of this trade.

As Robert G. Parkinson wrote in “The Common Cause,” his book about patriot leaders during the American Revolution, politicians used fears of insurrectionist enslaved people, Indian “massacres” and foreign mercenaries to unite the disparate colonies in a common fight.

Does this sound similar to Trump’s rhetoric on Mexicans, Muslims, immigrants, Black Lives Matter and supposed anarchists? Continue reading.