Tag: Joe Biden
Trump-Biden race tightens as both sides expect close contest
President Trump has lagged Democratic presidential nominee Joe Bidenbadly in the polls for much of 2020, but strategists in both parties predict his numbers will rise and the race will tighten as the Republican Party consolidates further behind him this fall.
There are already signs that the race is tightening.
In Michigan, Biden’s average polling lead dropped from 8.4 percentage points on July 28 to 2.6 percent a month later, according to the average of polls kept by RealClearPolitics, while in Pennsylvania Biden’s average lead dipped from 7.4 points to 5.8 points during the same period. Continue reading.
Biden accuses Trump of ‘recklessly encouraging violence’ in response to Portland shooting
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden condemned the violence in Portland, Ore., accusing President Trump of “fanning the flames of hate and division in our society” and “recklessly encouraging violence.”
“We must not become a country at war with ourselves,” Biden said in a statement. “But that is the America that President Trump wants us to be, the America he believes we are. … All of us are less safe because Donald Trump can’t do the job of the American president.”
His response came after Trump denounced Black Lives Matter protesters as “agitators and thugs” on Sunday morning, calling for a federal crackdown on demonstrations in cities such as Washington and Portland, where a man died after tensions between pro-Trump and liberal groups burst into violence. Continue reading.
Biden condemns violence on all sides after deadly Portland shooting
Democratic nominee Joe Biden issued a statement unequivocally condemning violence on all sides after a man was fatally shotSaturday night during a clash between supporters of President Trump and anti-racism protesters.
Why it matters: As Biden prepares to address civil unrest this week, he is looking to set a marker for Trump and put the burden on him to speak to all sides on an issue that is roiling America and the presidential campaign.
- The Trump campaign has sought to paint Biden as unwilling to condemn the violent protests that have unfolded in places like Portland and Kenosha, despite the former vice president having done so several times.
- In the wake of a flood of tweets and retweets by Trump that defended aggressive actions by his supporters in Portland, Biden demanded that the president help “lower the temperature.” Continue reading.
Biden to resume in-person campaigning as race with Trump kicks into gear
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will resume in-person campaigning across the country in coming days amid the still-raging coronavirus pandemic, an answer to allies imploring him to meet voters where they are and a sign that his race with President Trump is tightening as the general election contest begins in earnest.
Coming out of back-to-back national conventions that both parties considered successful, Trump aides said the president is determined to exploit the racial unrest in Kenosha, Wis., and other places where Black Lives Matter protesters have been active to amplify his “law and order” message.
Trump aims to cast Biden and running mate Kamala D. Harris as agents of far-left radicals in a bid to scare suburban White women and other key voters back into the Republican fold. The president plans to press his case Tuesday by visiting Kenosha to meet with law enforcement and survey damage there. Continue reading.
Tax experts dispute Trump’s claims about Biden’s tax plan
On the final night of the Republican National Convention, president Donald Trump warned that former vice president and Democratic candidate Joseph Biden would raise taxes on “almost all American families” and impose corporate taxes that would lead to the collapse of the stock market and the economy.
This isn’t true, experts say. And when it comes to tax plans, Trump offered little in the way of concrete policy or figures.
Craig Wild, senior partner at Wild, Maney & Resnick, LLP, said the President’s accomplishments on the tax front promised more than they delivered, particularly for ordinary Americans.
“The tax reductions, first of all did not help the middle class,” Wild said. That’s especially true in high cost-of-living states where the amount of property tax and mortgage interest taxpayers could deduct dropped sharply. “Wealthier people were helped, as were corporations.” Continue reading.
Top general says no role for military in presidential vote
The U.S. armed forces will have no role in carrying out the election process or resolving a disputed vote, the top U.S. military officer told Congress in comments released Friday.
The comments from Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, underscore the extraordinary political environment in America, where the president has declared without evidence that the expected surge in mail-in ballots will make the vote “inaccurate and fraudulent,” and has suggested he might not accept the election results if he loses.
Trump’s repeated complaints questioning the election’s validity have triggered unprecedented worries about the potential for chaos surrounding the election results. Some have speculated that the military might be called upon to get involved, either by Trump trying to use it to help his reelection prospects or as, Democratic challenger Joe Biden has suggested, to remove Trump from the White House if he refuses to accept defeat. The military has adamantly sought to tamp down that speculation and is zealously protective of its historically nonpartisan nature. Continue reading.
Trump draws fewer viewers than Biden for convention speech
President Trump‘s convention speech drew fewer views than former Vice President Joe Biden‘s, according to preliminary numbers released by Nielsen Media Research.
Trump accepted his party’s nomination from the south lawn of the White House on Thursday night.
An estimated 19.9 million Americans watched Trump’s speech on television, while Democratic nominee Joe Biden drew 21.7 million viewers the week before. Continue reading.
Biden: Trump ‘rooting for more violence’
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Thursday accused President Trump of “rooting” for violence amid the unrest in Kenosha, Wis., following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
“He views this as a political benefit to him. You know, he’s rooting for more violence, not less. And he’s clear about that. And what’s he doing, he’s pouring more gasoline on the fire,” Biden said on MSNBC.
The former vice president cited comments from White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, who told Fox News earlier in the day that “the more chaos and anarchy and vandalism and violence reigns, the better it is for the very clear choice on who’s best on public safety and law and order.” Continue reading.
Coronavirus concerns fall and Trump approval ticks higher in swing states, CNBC/Change Research poll finds
Voters’ concerns about the coronavirus have fallen and President Donald Trump’s approval rating has ticked higher in six swing states over the last two weeks, according to a new CNBC/Change Research poll.
Still, the improvement has not helped the president overcome a polling deficit against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
In Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, 66% of likely voters said they have serious concerns about Covid-19, the survey released Wednesday found. The share fell from 69% in a poll taken two weeks earlier. The share of respondents who said they have “very serious” concerns about the coronavirus dropped to 45% from 49%. Continue reading.