Category: 2020 Election

Trump directs a campaign ad in Portland

At White House briefings, in far-right outlets and among Republicans, Trump’s allies have made a sound stage out of protests across four city blocks.

President Donald Trump is conjuring up an American dystopia — using the government and his supporters as producers.

At White House briefings, in far-right outlets and among Republicans, Trump’s allies have made a sound stage out of four blocks in Portland, turning it into a campaign ad for the president. On Friday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany showed a video of Portland protesters yelling obscenities at police. On Capitol Hill, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz on Thursday announced he would hold a hearing on “antifa terrorism” and wrote an op-ed promising to “take back Portland.” On Fox News, pundits have turned attention to other cities, such as Chicago, that they claim are in similar situations. In short, they say, it’s the America Joe Biden would create.

The theatrical display is giving Trump the ammunition he needs to fight perhaps his most aggressive culture war against urban, liberal voters. The effort is a subset of the broader “law and order” platform he is trying to create after the coronavirus pandemic decimated the economy — previously seen by Republicans as his best selling point — and massive anti-racism protests broke out across the country. It’s a foray Trump essentially launched the day he marched from the White House to the vandalized St. John’s Church, stopping to hold up a Bible and have his photo taken. Continue reading.

The F.B.I. Pledged to Keep a Source Anonymous. Trump Allies Aided His Unmasking.

New York Times logoWASHINGTON — Not long after the early 2017 publication of a notorious dossier about President Trump jolted Washington, an expert in Russian politics told the F.B.I. he had been one of its key sources, drawing on his contacts to deliver information that would make up some of the most salacious and unproven assertions in the document.

The F.B.I. had approached the expert, a man named Igor Danchenko, as it vetted the dossier’s claims. He agreed to tell investigators what he knew with an important condition, people familiar with the matter said — that the F.B.I. keep his identity secret so he could protect himself, his sources and his family and friends in Russia.

But his hope of remaining anonymous evaporated last week after Attorney General William P. Barr directed the F.B.I. to declassify a redacted report about its three-day interview of Mr. Danchenko in 2017 and hand it over to Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Mr. Graham promptly made the interview summary public while calling the entire Russia investigation “corrupt.” Continue reading.

Operation Diligent Valor: Trump showcased federal power in Portland, making a culture war campaign pitch

Washington Post logoPORTLAND, Ore. — As statues of Confederate generals, enslavers and other icons tumbled from their pedestals amid protests last month, President Trump issued an executive order meant to break the cascade. It enlisted the Department of Homeland Security, created in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks to protect the country against external threats, to defend U.S. monuments and federal property against “anarchists and left-wing extremists” who he said are advancing “a fringe ideology.”

The order signaled Trump’s eagerness to mobilize federal power against the societal upheaval that has coursed through America since George Floyd’s death. He sought to frame and create a culture war — right vs. left, right vs. wrong — and was taking a stand at the monuments that some view as historical homages and many others view as symbols of oppression.

But Trump’s June 26 declaration came too late. The momentum of the protests was fading in many U.S. cities, and confrontations between federal authorities and civilians were becoming less frequent. Then Trump found Portland, according to administration and campaign officials. Continue reading.

C.D.C. Calls on Schools to Reopen, Downplaying Health Risks

The agency’s statement followed earlier criticism from President Trump that its guidelines for reopening were too “tough.”

WASHINGTON — The nation’s top public health agency issued a full-throated call to reopen schools in a statement that aligned with President Trump’s pressure on communities, listing numerous benefits of being in school and downplaying the potential health risks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published the statement, along with new “resources and tools,” Thursday evening, two weeks after Mr. Trump criticized its earlier recommendations on school reopenings as “very tough and expensive.” His words ratcheted up what was already an anguished national debate over how soon students and teachers should return to classrooms.

“Reopening schools creates opportunity to invest in the education, well-being, and future of one of America’s greatest assets — our children — while taking every precaution to protect students, teachers, staff and all their families,” the agency’s new statement said. Continue reading.

NOTE:  At the end of this article, it states “A federal official familiar with the group said it included minimal representation from the C.D.C., which had already written most of the other material released on Thursday.”

Mary Trump brilliantly shuts down Meghan McCain’s accusation that she’s attacking the president to get rich

AlterNet logoConservative Republican activist Meghan McCain, co-host of ABC’s “The View,” is no fan of President Donald Trump, who she continues to hold in very low regard because of all the derogatory things he said about her late father, Sen. John McCain of Arizona. But when the president’s niece, Mary Trump, appeared on “The View” this week, McCain was critical of her new tell-all book, “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man” — which is the top-selling book on Amazon and sold 1.35 million copies during its first week, according to publisher Simon & Schuster.

In a tense interview, the 55-year-old author pushed back against McCain’s insinuation that she was motivated by a desire for some type of “revenge” and to get rich.

“I think I’ve made it clear to your publishers: I don’t like books like this,” McCain told Mary Trump. “I don’t like family tell-all books, especially when it comes to families with fame and power, because they’re told from the one side — and often, the subjects are villainized to the point that I don’t actually end up believing the stuff written. There’ve been books written about my family which are complete and total garbage, told from a skewed perspective. And at the end of the day, you get a really good paycheck out of it. But I don’t think it’s that legitimate. What do you say to people like me who think this is just a really good way for you to get a paycheck right now?” Continue reading.

Trump Flubs Desperate Appeal For ‘Housewives’ Vote

Almost nothing President Donald Trump ever does is subtle. When he tries to appeal to specific voting demographics, he often lacks the finesse to communicate the essential idea that he doesn’t just care about them for their votes — he actually shares their values.

That’s why he can easily espouse bigoted ideas even when trying to court specific groups of voters, such as when he told African-Americans that they are “living in hell in the inner cities” or when he told Jewish voters that supporting Democrats demonstrates “either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.”

So it was little surprise that, when Trump tried on Thursday to reach out to suburban women voters, he botched it: Continue reading.

Ivanka Trump’s Find Something New career campaign is more hype than help

Washington Post logoPeople who’ve lost their jobs because of the coronavirus don’t need a new website. They need better guidance.

Two rich people have decided to tell millions of unemployed people that all they need to do to feed their families and put a roof over their heads is “find something new.”

White House adviser Ivanka Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross are co-chairs of the American Policy Workforce Advisory Board, which this month launched the Find Something New ad campaign with a website aimed at helping people find a fresh career path.

The initiative didn’t go over so well on social media. In defense of the effort, the first daughter tweeted to one critic: “I suggest that you visit http://FindSomethingNew.org. This initiative is about challenging the idea the traditional 2 and 4 yr college is the only option to acquire the skills needed to secure a job. This work has never been more urgent.” Continue reading.

Fox’s Kilmeade rebukes Trump 2020 press secretary on air: ‘Don’t call Fox News pollsters fake’

The Hill logoFox News host Brian Kilmeade on Friday sparred with Trump campaign press secretary Hogan Gidley for suggesting a recent Fox News poll was “fake.”

The exchange came the same week that a Fox News survey found President Trump trailing presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in key battleground states, with the former vice president holding a 9-point lead in Michigan and an 11-point lead in Pennsylvania — two states Trump won in 2016.

“You touched on some polls. Most of those are fake,” Gidley said Friday on “Fox & Friends.” “They oversample Democrats.” Continue reading.