Category: 2020 Election

The Rising Trump Lawyer Battling to Reshape the Electorate

New York Times logoAs victory laps go, it was remarkably low-key.

In the summer of 2013, a young lawyer named William Consovoy appeared on a Brookings Institution panel to discuss his leading role in a recently decided voting-rights case. Just days earlier, the Supreme Court had ruled that certain states, particularly in the South, would no longer need Justice Department approval before redrawing districts, moving polling places or making other electoral changes.

“From my perspective,” Mr. Consovoy said, “this is what I would call a modest decision by the court.” Continue reading.

Democrats increase pressure on Facebook over content policies and Trump posts

Democrats also question the company’s paid advertising policies and its ‘micro-targeting’ practices, which allow advertisers to aim divisive messages at specific users

As the 2020 presidential election approaches, Facebook is emerging as a key target of Democrats who say the social media giant’s passive approach to President Donald Trump’s provocative online statements is endangering American lives and the state of American democracy.

In the two weeks since Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg declined to take action on a post by Trump that appeared to endorse the shooting of protesters against police brutality who engaged in looting, Democrats in Congress and former Vice President Joe Biden, the party’s presumptive nominee to run against Trump, have turned on Facebook’s content policies.

In a letter to Zuckerberg last week, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, D-Mo., and other House Democrats wrote that the company’s response to violent content and the spread of disinformation on its platform, such as Trump’s recent false statements about mail-in voting, “are extremely troubling.” Continue reading.

A Conspiracy Made in America May Have Been Spread by Russia

New York Times logoThe Americans who pushed a conspiracy theory the night of the Iowa caucuses have migrated to coronavirus conspiracies on Twitter, with help from a very Russia-friendly account.

The night of the Iowa caucuses in February, Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign manager, logged into Twitter to find the hashtag #RobbyMookCaucusApp trending across the country. Pundits on both sides of the aisle accused him of developing a mobile app to rig the Democratic primary against Senator Bernie Sanders.

Soon his phone was buzzing with calls from reporters demanding to know what role he had played in creating the app, a flawed vote-reporting system that delayed caucus results for days.

But he had never even heard of the app, which was developed by a company called Shadow Inc. This mattered little to the thousands of Twitter users attacking him online. Four months later, Mr. Mook said with a sigh, “There are still people out there who believe I developed that app.” Continue reading.

‘We’re thinking landslide’: Beyond D.C., GOP officials see Trump on glide path to reelection

Conventional indicators suggest the president’s bid for a second term is in jeopardy. But state and local GOP officials see a different election unfolding.

By most conventional indicators, Donald Trump is in danger of becoming a one-term president. The economy is a wreck, the coronavirus persists, and his poll numbers have deteriorated.

But throughout the Republican Party’s vast organization in the states, the operational approach to Trump’s re-election campaign is hardening around a fundamentally different view.

Interviews with more than 50 state, district and county Republican Party chairs depict a version of the electoral landscape that is no worse for Trump than six months ago — and possibly even slightly better. According to this view, the coronavirus is on its way out and the economy is coming back. Polls are unreliable, Joe Biden is too frail to last, and the media still doesn’t get it. Continue reading.

ICYMI: MN GOP Recruits Conservatives to Run 3rd Party and Siphon DFL Votes

DFL Party Calls on MN GOP to Claim Candidates or Disavow Dirty Tricks

Yesterday, the Minnesota Reformer reported that Republicans have actively recruited far-right candidates to run as 3rd party, pro-marijuana legalization candidates in swing districts for Congress and the Minnesota legislature. In Minnesota, candidates do not need to collect nomination signatures or receive the approval of the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party or Legal Marijuana Now Party in order to run under their banner.

Ken Martin, Chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, released the following statement:

“Instead of running on the strength of their values and ideas, Republicans have recruited third party candidates in order to deceive Minnesotans and steal votes. Senator Paul Gazelka, Representative Kurt Daudt, and the Republican Party must level with the people of Minnesota – did you or your allies recruit these candidates or do you disavow these dirty tricks? Continue reading “ICYMI: MN GOP Recruits Conservatives to Run 3rd Party and Siphon DFL Votes”

Trump Campaign Manager Says 800,000 Registered for Tickets to Tulsa Rally—But the Venue Only Seats 19,200

TOPLINE — The Trump campaign has put out conflicting figures on how many tickets have been registered for their June 20 rally in Tulsa, with campaign manager Brad Parscale now claiming 800,000 people registered for tickets despite the venue seating just over 19,000.

KEY FACTS

  • “Trump #MAGA Rally in Tulsa is hottest ticket ever!” Parscale tweeted on Friday. “Over 200K tickets already & it’s not even political season.”
  • He added that they are “looking at a 2nd event in town to get more people to be with Donald Trump,” likely because the venue, the BOK Center, only seats 19,200 people.

Continue reading.

Only one in six say their financial situation improved after three years of Trump: report

According to a report at Bloomberg, few Americans believe their financial situation improved after over three years under the administration of Donald Trump.

The report notes that a survey commissioned by Bankrate.com revealed that, “The ‘Trump Bump’ hasn’t benefited most Americans, with fewer than one in six saying their personal finances have improved since Donald Trump became president.”

According to the survey, despite claims from the president that he has led America to its best economy ever, few are reaping the rewards if there are any. Continue reading.

Trump’s Halting Walk Down Ramp Raises New Health Questions

New York Times logoThe president also appeared to have trouble raising a glass of water to his mouth during a speech at West Point a day before he turned 74, the oldest a president has been in his first term.

>President Trump faced new questions about his health on Sunday, after videos emerged of him gingerly walking down a ramp at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and having trouble bringing a glass of water to his mouth during a speech there.

Mr. Trump — who turned 74 on Sunday, the oldest a U.S. president has been in his first term — was recorded hesitantly descending the ramp one step at a time after he delivered an address to graduating cadets at the New York-based academy on Saturday. The academy’s superintendent, Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Williams, walked alongside him. Mr. Trump sped up slightly for the final three steps, as he got to the bottom.

Another video circulated of Mr. Trump taking a sip of water from a glass tucked inside his lectern on the dais at West Point. Mr. Trump held the glass with his right hand and brought it to his mouth, but appeared to momentarily have trouble lifting his arm farther. He used his left hand to push the bottom of the glass so that it reached his lips.

Trump says he’ll leave office peacefully if he loses in November

“Certainly, if I don’t win, I don’t win,” Trump said Friday.

President Donald Trump sought to brush aside fears he might not leave office willingly if November’s election doesn’t go his way.

“Certainly, if I don’t win, I don’t win,” he told Fox News’ Harris Faulkner in an interview that aired Friday. If he doesn’t win the election, Trump continued, “you go on, do other things.”

Though the president has never given any serious indication that he might not leave office if he were to lose reelection, his comments aired Friday appear to be the first time he has publicly committed to doing so. Continue reading.