Category: Joe Biden

Joe Biden for president

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In order to expel the worst president of modern times, many voters might be willing to vote for almost anybody.

Fortunately, to oust President Trump in 2020, voters do not have to lower their standards. The Democratic nominee, former vice president Joe Biden, is exceptionally well-qualified, by character and experience, to meet the daunting challenges that the nation will face over the coming four years.

Those challenges have been, to varying degrees, created, exacerbated or neglected by the incumbent: the covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed more lives in this country than anywhere else in the world; rising inequality and racial disparities; a 21st-century, high-tech authoritarianism ascendant in the world, with democracy in retreat; a planet at risk due to human-caused climate change. Continue reading.

For Democrats, infrastructure equals fighting climate change, creating jobs

Joe Biden is putting an infrastructure proposal that calls significant green investments front-and-center in his campaign

In Democratic politics, infrastructure and fighting climate change have become increasingly synonymous: You can’t have one without the other.

Take the $494 billion surface transportation bill that House Democrats passed July 1. Republicans criticized it as an outgrowth of the Green New Deal. Democrats embraced it for the same reason, with House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Peter A. DeFazio, D-Ore., insisting that climate change “is absolutely key for my side of the aisle.”

The Democrats’ 2020 standard-bearer, Vice President Joe Biden, is putting front-and-center in his campaign his “Build Back Better” infrastructure proposal that calls not only for building roads and bridges but also for investments in electric vehicle charging stations, zero-emission buses, transit and zero-carbon electricity generation by 2035. Continue reading.

Nearly 500 former senior military, civilian leaders signal support for Biden

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Nearly 500 retired senior military officers, as well as former Cabinet secretaries, service chiefs and other officials, have signed an open letter in support of former vice president Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, saying that he has “the character, principles, wisdom and leadership necessary to address a world on fire.”

The letter, published Thursday morning by National Security Leaders for Biden, is the latest in a series of calls for President Trump’s defeat in the November election.

“We are former public servants who have devoted our careers, and in many cases risked our lives, for the United States,” it says. “We are generals, admirals, senior noncommissioned officers, ambassadors and senior civilian national security leaders. We are Republicans and Democrats, and Independents. We love our country.

“Unfortunately, we also fear for it.”

The letter has been signed by 489 people. Continue reading.

Secret CIA assessment: Putin ‘probably directing’ influence operation to denigrate Biden

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and his top aides are “probably directing” a Russian foreign influence operation to interfere in the 2020 presidential election against former vice president Joe Biden, which involves a prominent Ukrainian lawmaker connected to President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, a top-secret CIA assessment concluded, according to two sources who reviewed it. 

On Aug. 31, the CIA published an assessment of Russian efforts to interfere in the November election in an internal, highly classified report called the CIA Worldwide Intelligence Review, the sources said. CIA analysts compiled the assessment with input from the National Security Agency and the FBI, based on several dozen pieces of information gleaned from public, unclassified and classified intelligence sources. The assessment includes details of the CIA’s analysis of the activities of Ukrainian lawmaker Andriy Derkach to disseminate disparaging information about Biden inside the United States through lobbyists, Congress, the media and contacts with figures close to the president.

“We assess that President Vladimir Putin and the senior most Russian officials are aware of and probably directing Russia’s influence operations aimed at denigrating the former U.S. Vice President, supporting the U.S. president and fueling public discord ahead of the U.S. election in November,” the first line of the document says, according to the sources. Continue reading.

Cindy McCain endorses Biden: He’s only candidate ‘who stands up for our values’

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Cindy McCain, the wife of the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), officially endorsed Joe Biden for president on Tuesday evening, saying the former vice president “stands up for our values.”

“My husband John lived by a code: country first. We are Republicans, yes, but Americans foremost. There’s only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is @JoeBiden,” Cindy McCain tweeted.

Biden thanked her for her support in a later tweet, adding, “This election is bigger than any one political party. It requires all of us to come together as one America to restore the soul of the nation.” Continue reading.

Trump’s falsehoods about Biden’s plan for prisons

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Democrats “want to get rid of the prison system. They want to — free federal housing for former inmates, so you get all of this free housing. They want to create housing for inmates; they want to do more for inmates than they do for you.” 

— President Trump, in remarks to a tele-rally in Nevada, Aug. 31

Joe Biden “wants prisons closed, and [to] provide free federal housing for former inmates.” 

— Trump, in remarks to a tele-rally in North Carolina, Aug. 11

This claim has been popping up in the president’s stump speech recently, but, once again, Trump is mischaracterizing Biden’s positions with wild exaggerations.

Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee and former vice president, says he would end the federal government’s use of private prisons and increase funding for halfway houses and transitional programs for former prisoners.

What Trump is describing — an emptying of prisons and free housing for all former inmates — is a flat-out false rendition of Biden’s plan, going far beyond the usual license politicians take on the campaign trail. Continue reading.

GOP set to release controversial Biden report

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Republicans are preparing to release a report in a matter of days on their investigation focused on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, a move they hope will put fresh scrutiny on the Democratic nominee just weeks from the election.

The controversial probe, spearheaded by Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), is focused broadly on Obama-era policy and Hunter Biden’s work for Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings.

The GOP report, which is set to be released this week, is expected to argue that Hunter Biden’s work impacted Obama-era Ukraine policy and created a conflict of interest given then-Vice President Joe Biden’s work in the area.

Right-Wing Media Figures Promote ‘Antifa Arsonist’ Hoax

The latest right-wing “antifa” hoax—namely, the claim that leftist arsonists have been secretly behind the wildfires that have swept the West Coast this month—is now being broadcast to millions of people. It bubbled up from the fever swamps of the far right, broadcast widely by key figures atop the media food chain: Donald Trump, Joe Rogan, Fox News, and leading Republican political candidates.

Trump retweeted an alt-right-flavored anti-Biden video suggesting he was ignoring antifa arsonists threatening the suburbs. Rogan, a wildly popular podcast host, told his audience that “left-wing people” were responsible for the fires (and apologized for it the next day). Fox News appeared especially eager to blame antifa for the wildfires as a way of denying the role of climate change. And in Washington state, where the fires have hit hard, the Republican nominee in the governor’s race joined in spreading the claims through a campaign video.

The hoax—which originated with far-right conspiracy theorists in the Pacific Northwest already on the warpath with antifascists—has been denounced by law-enforcement and firefighting officials throughout the West Coast, notably in the rural areas threatened most by the wildfires. Sheriffs in most of these areas have taken to the same social-media platforms (particularly Facebook) where the false rumors have spread to plead with their constituents to stop spreading false information. Continue reading.

Tickets to Hear Sen. Harris at the October 1 Humphrey-Mondale Dinner

This year’s Humphrey-Mondale dinner will be held virtually on Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 5:30 PM. The party is pleased to welcome Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Tina Smith, Gov. Tim Walz, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and many more special guests. Click on the graphic above for more information.

Sen. Kamala Harris to Keynote 9th Annual Humphrey-Mondale Dinner

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party is pleased to announce Senator Kamala Harris will be the keynote speaker at the Party’s Ninth Annual Humphrey-Mondale Dinner on Thursday, October 1st, at 5:30 PM. In addition to Senator Harris, the DFL Party will be joined by Senators Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, Elizabeth Warren, and Governor Tim Walz.

In keeping with the DFL Party’s ongoing work to limit the spread of COVID-19, this year’s dinner will be entirely virtual. Tickets are available here and the event will be livestreamed for members of the media.

“I’m honored that Senator Harris will be our keynote speaker for the DFL Party’s Ninth Annual Humphrey-Mondale Dinner,” said DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin. “Our Humphrey-Mondale Dinner is a celebration of the accomplishments of leaders and activists within our party and Kamala Harris has a tremendous record of delivering real change for the American people.

Continue reading “Sen. Kamala Harris to Keynote 9th Annual Humphrey-Mondale Dinner”