Author: PolitCens

Israelis and Palestinians are closely following the U.S. elections. For many in Israel, incumbent Donald Trump is the most pro-Israeli U.S. president in history. Some in the Jewish state fear that a Joe Biden victory could mean a change in U.S. foreign policy – one that Palestinians would welcome. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Jerusalem.Videographer: Ricki Rosen
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Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are set to question U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on a range of issues Tuesday during the second day of her confirmation hearings. Expected topics include health care, her approach to legal precedent and the court’s potential role in sorting out any legal challenges that may arise from the November election. Senators will have 30 minutes each to ask their questions Tuesday, with a similar session to follow Wednesday.Senate Judiciary Committee holds confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 12, 2020.Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham has set an initial vote for Thursday on Barrett’s nomination. That would allow final approval late next week and a vote by the full Republican-majority Senate before the end of the month. What Barrett said Monday
The confirmation hearings opened Monday with Barrett telling senators that courts “should not try” to make policy and should leave that to American presidents and Congress.    Barrett laid out a strict interpretation of the high court’s role, saying it is “not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life.”    Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the lead Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, immediately signaled that the minority Democrats plan to sharply question Barrett about one major policy dispute — her view that a 2012 Supreme Court decision upholding the legality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a national health care law affecting millions of Americans, was wrongly decided.Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., speaks Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., during the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett at the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Oct. 12, 2020.The court is considering a new challenge to the ACA on Nov. 10, by which time Barrett could be a justice on the nine-member court, deciding whether to overturn the statute or allowing it to stand.  Possible bias against Affordable Health Care Act
Feinstein noted that before Trump named Barrett to a federal appellate court judgeship in 2017, she wrote a law review article contending that Chief Justice John Roberts cast the deciding vote upholding the health care law with what she claimed was contorted reasoning so that the law would remain in effect.  Barrett claimed that Roberts pushed the interpretation of the law “beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute.”  “I hope you will clarify that in this hearing,” Feinstein said in her opening statement. The 48-year-old nominee, however, has declined in conversations with lawmakers in recent days to tip her hand on how she might vote on any case that might come before her if she is confirmed.    The ACA, popularly known as Obamacare, won congressional approval in 2010 over the unanimous opposition of Republicans, who have sought since then to invalidate it.  Supreme Court conservative majority
In nominating Barrett, Republican President Donald Trump hopes to cement a 6-3 conservative majority on the court before Election Day. His Democratic challenger in the presidential campaign, former Vice President Joe Biden, insists that either he or Trump should make the Supreme Court appointment after the inauguration in January. “Voting is underway in 40 states,” Feinstein said, adding, “Let the American people be heard” by delaying consideration of a replacement for liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last month.    More than 10 million voters have cast early ballots in the presidential election. A Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that 44% of registered voters say the Senate should hold hearings and vote on Barrett’s nomination, while 52% say the nomination should be left to the winner of the presidential election and a Senate vote next year.  In his opening remarks, Graham said the hearings would be “a long, contentious week,” but added, “I think I know how the vote will come out.”     He predicted that all 12 Republicans on the panel would vote for Barrett’s confirmation, with the 10 Democrats uniformly opposed.     Trump complained Monday on Twitter about the Democrats’ objections to the nomination.    “The Republicans are giving the Democrats a great deal of time, which is not mandated, to make their self-serving statements relative to our great new future Supreme Court Justice,” Trump tweeted.  Barrett is a devout Catholic, but Biden said Monday her “faith should not be considered. No one’s faith should be questioned.”WATCH: Katherine Gypson’s report on Barrett conformation hearing Monday Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 13 MB480p | 18 MB540p | 22 MB720p | 42 MB1080p | 92 MBOriginal | 281 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioEnough Republican votes for approval
Republican leaders say they have enough votes in the full Senate to confirm Barrett’s nomination days before the election, a stance at odds with their position in 2016 when they refused to consider former Democratic President Barack Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland that came eight months before the presidential election that Trump won.    “The bottom line is the Senate is doing its job” in considering Barrett’s nomination, Graham said. “I feel we’re doing this constitutionally.”   Republicans say their push to confirm Barrett is in line with 17 of 19 past election-year Supreme Court nominations throughout U.S. history, because the White House and Senate were controlled by the same political party, as is the case now.  In her opening statement, Barrett talked about her husband and seven children, two of whom they adopted from Haiti, and then delved into her view of how a judge should rule in cases. She has said a judge should be someone who interprets the words of the U.S. Constitution and laws as written, not as how they personally might like the outcome of a legal dispute to be.    Instead, she said in her statement Monday, “The policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches elected by and accountable to the people. The public should not expect courts to do so, and courts should not try.” 
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U.S. Senate Republicans kicked off a sprint Monday to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. Just three weeks before Election Day, Senate Judiciary Committee hearings began amid continuing concerns about the impact coronavirus infections will have on Barrett’s final nomination vote. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson has more.Produced by: Katherine Gypson, Taameen Mohammed, Tressie Rhodes                                Camera: Adam Greenbaum  
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U.S. Senate Republicans kicked off a sprint Monday to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. Just three weeks before Election Day, Senate Judiciary Committee hearings began amid continuing concerns about the impact coronavirus infections will have on Barrett’s final nomination vote. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson has more.Produced by: Katherine Gypson, Taameen Mohammed, Tressie Rhodes                                Camera: Adam Greenbaum  
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Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are set to question U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on a range of issues Tuesday during the second day of her confirmation hearings. Expected topics include health care, her approach to legal precedent and the court’s potential role in sorting out any legal challenges that may arise from the November election. Senators will have 30 minutes each to ask their questions Tuesday, with a similar session to follow Wednesday.Senate Judiciary Committee holds confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 12, 2020.Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham has set an initial vote for Thursday on Barrett’s nomination. That would allow final approval late next week and a vote by the full Republican-majority Senate before the end of the month. The confirmation hearings opened Monday with Barrett telling senators that courts “should not try” to make policy and should leave that to American presidents and Congress.    Barrett laid out a strict interpretation of the high court’s role, saying it is “not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life.”    Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the lead Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, immediately signaled that the minority Democrats plan to sharply question Barrett about one major policy dispute — her view that a 2012 Supreme Court decision upholding the legality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a national health care law affecting millions of Americans, was wrongly decided.Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., speaks Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., during the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett at the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Oct. 12, 2020.The court is considering a new challenge to the ACA on Nov. 10, by which time Barrett could be a justice on the nine-member court, deciding whether to overturn the statute or allowing it to stand.  Feinstein noted that before Trump named Barrett to a federal appellate court judgeship in 2017, she wrote a law review article contending that Chief Justice John Roberts cast the deciding vote upholding the health care law with what she claimed was contorted reasoning so that the law would remain in effect.  Barrett claimed that Roberts pushed the interpretation of the law “beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute.”  “I hope you will clarify that in this hearing,” Feinstein said in her opening statement. The 48-year-old nominee, however, has declined in conversations with lawmakers in recent days to tip her hand on how she might vote on any case that might come before her if she is confirmed.    The ACA, popularly known as Obamacare, won congressional approval in 2010 over the unanimous opposition of Republicans, who have sought since then to invalidate it.  In nominating Barrett, Republican President Donald Trump hopes to cement a 6-3 conservative majority on the court before Election Day. His Democratic challenger in the presidential campaign, former Vice President Joe Biden, insists that either he or Trump should make the Supreme Court appointment after the inauguration in January. “Voting is underway in 40 states,” Feinstein said, adding, “Let the American people be heard” by delaying consideration of a replacement for liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last month.    More than 10 million voters have cast early ballots in the presidential election. A Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that 44% of registered voters say the Senate should hold hearings and vote on Barrett’s nomination, while 52% say the nomination should be left to the winner of the presidential election and a Senate vote next year.  In his opening remarks, Graham said the hearings would be “a long, contentious week,” but added, “I think I know how the vote will come out.”     He predicted that all 12 Republicans on the panel would vote for Barrett’s confirmation, with the 10 Democrats uniformly opposed.     Trump complained Monday on Twitter about the Democrats’ objections to the nomination.    “The Republicans are giving the Democrats a great deal of time, which is not mandated, to make their self-serving statements relative to our great new future Supreme Court Justice,” Trump tweeted.  Barrett is a devout Catholic, but Biden said Monday her “faith should not be considered. No one’s faith should be questioned.”WATCH: Barrett confirmation hearingSorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 13 MB480p | 18 MB540p | 22 MB720p | 42 MB1080p | 92 MBOriginal | 281 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioRepublican leaders say they have enough votes in the full Senate to confirm Barrett’s nomination days before the election, a stance at odds with their position in 2016 when they refused to consider former Democratic President Barack Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland that came eight months before the presidential election that Trump won.    “The bottom line is the Senate is doing its job” in considering Barrett’s nomination, Graham said. “I feel we’re doing this constitutionally.”   Republicans say their push to confirm Barrett is in line with 17 of 19 past election-year Supreme Court nominations throughout U.S. history, because the White House and Senate were controlled by the same political party, as is the case now.  In her opening statement, Barrett talked about her husband and seven children, two of whom they adopted from Haiti, and then delved into her view of how a judge should rule in cases. She has said a judge should be someone who interprets the words of the U.S. Constitution and laws as written, not as how they personally might like the outcome of a legal dispute to be.    Instead, she said in her statement Monday, “The policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches elected by and accountable to the people. The public should not expect courts to do so, and courts should not try.” 
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Confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett opened Monday in Washington, with Barrett telling senators that courts “should not try” to make policy and should leave that to American presidents and Congress. Barrett laid out a strict interpretation of the high court’s role, saying it is “not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life.” As the hearings started, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the lead Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, immediately signaled that the minority Democrats plan to sharply question Barrett about one major policy dispute — her view that a 2012 Supreme Court decision upholding the legality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a national health care law affecting millions of Americans, was wrongly decided.  Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett arrives for her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 12, 2020.The court is considering a new challenge to the ACA on Nov. 10, by which time Barrett could be a justice on the nine-member court, deciding whether to overturn the statute or allow it to stand. Wearing a black face mask, Barrett listened as senators made their opening statements regarding her nomination, and when they finished, she offered hers.  The stakes for her nomination are high. The Republican-controlled Senate is looking to confirm her appointment just days ahead of the Nov. 3 national presidential election.  In nominating Barrett, Republican President Donald Trump hopes to cement a 6-3 conservative majority on the court before Election Day. His Democratic challenger in the presidential campaign, former Vice President Joe Biden, insists that either he or Trump should make the Supreme Court appointment after the inauguration in January.  “Voting is under way in 40 states,” Feinstein said, adding, “Let the American people be heard” by delaying consideration of a replacement for liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last month. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., speaks during a confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett before the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 12, 2020.More than 7 million voters have cast early ballots in the presidential election. A Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that 44% of registered voters say the Senate should hold hearings and vote on Barrett’s nomination, while 52% say the nomination should be left to the winner of the presidential election and a Senate vote next year. In his opening remarks, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said the hearings would be “a long, contentious week,” but added, “I think I know how the vote will come out.”He predicted that all 12 Republicans on the panel would vote for Barrett’s confirmation, with the 10 Democrats uniformly opposed.   Committee Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks to the media during a break in the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, before the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Capitol Hill, Oct. 12, 2020.Trump complained Monday on Twitter about the Democrats’ objections to the nomination. “The Republicans are giving the Democrats a great deal of time, which is not mandated, to make their self-serving statements relative to our great new future Supreme Court Justice,” Trump tweeted.Barrett is a devout Catholic, but Biden said Monday her “faith should not be considered. No one’s faith should be questioned.” Republican leaders say they have enough votes in the full Senate to confirm Barrett’s nomination days before the election, a stance at odds with their position in 2016 when they refused to consider former Democratic President Barack Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland that came eight months before the presidential election that Trump won. “The bottom line is the Senate is doing its job” in considering Barrett’s nomination, Graham said. “I feel we’re doing this constitutionally.”  Republicans say their push to confirm Barrett is in line with 17 of 19 past election-year Supreme Court nominations throughout U.S. history, because the White House and Senate were controlled by the same political party, as is the case now. Feinstein noted that before Trump named Barrett to a federal appellate court judgeship in 2017, she wrote a law review article contending that Chief Justice John Roberts cast the deciding vote upholding the health care law with what she claimed was contorted reasoning so that the law would remain in effect. Barrett claimed that Roberts pushed the interpretation of the law “beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute.” “I hope you will clarify that in this hearing,” Feinstein said in her opening statement. The 48-year-old nominee, however, has declined in conversations with lawmakers in recent days to tip her hand on how she might vote on any case that might come before her if she is confirmed. The ACA, popularly known as Obamacare, won congressional approval in 2010 over the unanimous opposition of Republicans, who have sought since then to invalidate it. After opening day remarks by the 22 Judiciary Committee members, they plan to question Barrett on Tuesday and Wednesday. Testimony for and against her nomination is set for Thursday. Democrats, including vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris, will assuredly question her about the health care law, as well as whether Barrett, an abortion rights foe in her writings, will seek to overturn the court’s landmark 1973 ruling legalizing abortion rights in the United States. Harris, Biden’s running mate, said in her opening statement that Republicans “are trying to get a justice onto the court in time to ensure they can strip away the protections in the Affordable Care Act. And if they succeed, it will result in millions of people losing access to health care at the worst possible time in the middle of a pandemic.” Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks virtually during a confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Oct. 12, 2020; Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., listens.In her opening statement, Barrett talked about her husband and seven children, two of whom they adopted from Haiti, and then delved into her view of how a judge should rule in cases. She has said a judge should be someone who interprets the words of the U.S. Constitution and laws as written, not as how they personally might like the outcome of a legal dispute to be.  The children of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett arrive on Capitol Hill before she begins her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 12, 2020.Instead, she said in her statement Monday, “The policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches elected by and accountable to the people. The public should not expect courts to do so, and courts should not try.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing to see Barrett confirmed before the election while his party still holds the Senate and the White House, something that could change with the election, if Biden wins and Democrats take control of the Senate in January. Even so, no matter the election results, Republicans will still control the Senate in the post-election session of Congress and could confirm Barrett then if they fail to do so before the election. “President Trump has been trying to throw out the Affordable Care Act for four years. Republicans have been trying to end it for a decade,” Biden said in a statement. “She has a written track record of disagreeing with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision upholding the Affordable Care Act.”  Barrett’s confirmation would likely result in a distinct conservative ideological edge on the court that could shape American law for decades on such issues as health care, abortion and gay rights, immigration and gun restrictions. Court analysts say Barrett would likely be a polar opposite vote on the court to Ginsburg, a liberal icon. Referring to Ginsburg in her statement, Barrett said, “No one will ever take her place.” But Barrett held out the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a strict constitutionalist, as her mentor, a jurist who adhered to the words in the U.S. Constitution when it was adopted. Barrett said Scalia, for whom she was once a law clerk, was “devoted to his family, resolute in his beliefs and fearless of criticism.”  
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Many people assume the winner of the U.S. presidential contest is determined once the media calls the race and the losing candidate delivers a concession speech. But the truth is that formally declaring a presidential winner is a months-long process that won’t be completed until January.   That process essentially involves Americans voting for electors, the electors voting for the president, and then Congress declaring the winner.  FILE – Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, signs an official tally to count Electoral College votes, certifying Donald Trump’s presidential victory, Jan. 6, 2017.“There’s Election Day, where those electors are elected; there’s the date in December where the electors meet and then vote for president; and then there’s the date in January where the Congress certifies that election,” says Amy Dacey, executive director of the Sine Institute of Policy and Politics at American University.   In addition to the Electoral College, certifying the winner of the presidential election involves the Senate, House of Representatives and the National Archives.  This four-month process is the result of a compromise among the Founding Fathers, who weren’t convinced voters could be trusted to choose a worthy leader. “This was first created because there wasn’t that confidence in the citizenry to make that decision,” Dacey says. “They didn’t believe the American people should directly choose the president and vice president, but they didn’t want to give Congress the sole power of selection, either.” COVID-19 could complicate counting Election experts predict counting the ballots will take longer this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased number of voters that are expected to cast mail-in ballots.  FILE – A poll worker wears personal protective equipment as she monitors a ballot drop box for mail-in ballots outside of a polling station during early voting, in Miami Beach, Florida. Aug. 7, 2020.“These are legal procedures that have to be followed,” says Lia Merivaki, assistant professor of American Politics at Mississippi State University. “Pushing for the election to be called on election night will create more confusion and will create distrust and … possibly, many are going to start suing the states because they expect the results to be announced on election night. So it will make the job of election officials and the states harder as they try to keep the process transparent and fair.”  Once the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, tally the in-person, mail-in and provisional ballots, each state governor draws up a list of electors. Copies of this list, known as the Certificate of Ascertainment, are submitted to the U.S. Archivist, the head of the FILE – The U.S National Archives building in Washington, D.C.The electors in each of the states complete Certificates of Vote and send them to the U.S. Senate, the National Archives and state officials. Once that is done, the Electoral College has no further duties until the next presidential election. The final step in the process occurs on Jan. 6, 2021, when Congress meets to count the electoral votes and officially certify the winner. The process is ordinarily ceremonial, but there can be objections. There were FILE – President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Duluth, Minnesota, Sept. 30, 2020.“This is uncharted territory and I hope we don’t get to that because you really are overhauling years of democratic norms and procedures,” Merivaki says. “I think that it would be very extreme if the Senate is going to take an action that really cancels the will of the people. I think that will be very problematic for the status of democracy in the United States … I mean, that’s not a democracy anymore.”  Dacey thinks complications could arise if the winner of the popular vote doesn’t also win the Electoral College. President Trump won the Electoral College in 2016 but lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton.FILE – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, stands with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton before the first presidential debate at Hofstra University, Sept. 26, 2016, in Hempstead, N.Y.The same occurred in 2000, when Republican George W. Bush won the Electoral College but narrowly lost the popular vote to Democrat Al Gore. FILE – Texas Governor and Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush (R) and Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Al Gore speak during their presidential debate at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, Oct. 3, 2000.“I think the biggest question is, ‘Do voters feel like when they cast their ballot on Election Day, it is a deciding factor in who represents them?’ In every other election, it is, because it is that popular vote that’s the determiner,” Dacey says. “I do think that it can diminish people’s faith in the process, and it could diminish the engagement, and I want more people voting. And if they think their popular vote, their vote on Election Day, doesn’t actually make that decision, I think it’s just going to cause a challenge for participation and people’s faith in the system.” 
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A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Saturday threw out a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump’s campaign, dismissing its challenges to the battleground state’s poll-watching law and its efforts to limit how mail-in ballots can be collected and which of them can be counted.The ruling by U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan — who was appointed by Trump — in Pittsburgh also poured cold water on Trump’s election fraud claims.Trump’s campaign said it would appeal at least one element of the decision, with barely three weeks to go until Election Day in a state hotly contested by Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.The lawsuit was opposed by the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, the state Democratic Party, the League of Women Voters, the NAACP’s Pennsylvania office and other allied groups.”The ruling is a complete rejection of the continued misinformation about voter fraud and corruption, and those who seek to sow chaos and discord ahead of the upcoming election,” Wolf’s office said in a statement.The state’s attorney general, Josh Shapiro, a Democrat whose office fought the Trump campaign’s claims, called the lawsuit a political stunt designed to sow doubt in the state’s election.No proof”We told the Trump campaign and the president, ‘Put up or shut up,’ to his claims of voter fraud in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro told The Associated Press. “It’s important to note they didn’t even need to prove actual voter fraud, just that it was likely or impending, and they couldn’t even do that.”Trump’s campaign said in a statement that it looked forward to a quick decision from the appeals court “that will further protect Pennsylvania voters from the Democrats’ radical voting system.”The lawsuit is one of many partisan battles being fought in the state Legislature and the courts, primarily over mail-in voting in Pennsylvania, amid concerns that a presidential election result will hang in limbo for days on a drawn-out vote count.FILE – An employee of the Philadelphia Commissioners Office examines ballots at a satellite election office at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, Oct. 1, 2020.In this case, Trump’s campaign wanted the court to bar counties from using drop boxes or mobile sites to collect mail-in ballots that are not “staffed, secured and employed consistently within and across all 67 of Pennsylvania’s counties.” Trump’s campaign said it would appeal the matter of drop boxes.More than 20 counties — including Philadelphia and most other heavily populated Democratic-leaning counties — have told the state elections office that they plan to use drop boxes and satellite election offices to help collect the massive number of mail-in ballots they expect to receive.Trump’s campaign also wanted the court to free county election officials to disqualify mail-in ballots where the voter’s signature may not match their signature on file and to remove a county residency requirement in state law for certified poll watchers.In guidance last month, Wolf’s top elections official told counties that state law does not require or permit them to reject a mail-in ballot solely over a perceived signature inconsistency. Trump’s campaign had asked Ranjan to declare that guidance unconstitutional and to block counties from following it.Just ‘uncertain assumptions’In throwing out the case, Ranjan wrote that the Trump campaign could not prove its central claim: that Trump’s fortunes in the Nov. 3 election in Pennsylvania are threatened by election fraud and that adopting changes sought by the campaign will fix that.Ranjan wrote Trump’s campaign could not prove that the president has been hurt by election fraud or even that he is likely to be hurt by fraud.”While plaintiffs may not need to prove actual voter fraud, they must at least prove that such fraud is ‘certainly impending,’ ” Ranjan wrote. “They haven’t met that burden. At most, they have pieced together a sequence of uncertain assumptions.”Ranjan also cited decisions in recent days by the U.S. Supreme Court and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in hot-button election cases, saying he should not second-guess reasonable decisions by state lawmakers and election officials.The decision came as Trump claims he can lose the state only if Democrats cheat and, as he did in 2016’s campaign, suggests that the Democratic bastion of Philadelphia needs to be watched closely for election fraud.On Friday, Trump’s campaign lost a bid in a Philadelphia court to force the city to allow campaign representatives to monitor its satellite election offices.Democrats accuse Trump of trying to scuttle some of the 3 million or more mail-in votes that are expected in the election in Pennsylvania, with Democrats applying for mail-in ballots by an almost 3-to-1 rate over Republicans.
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An alleged plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor has put a focus on the security of governors who have faced protests and threats over their handling of the coronavirus pandemic. While the alleged plot against Gretchen Whitmer is the most specific and highest profile to come to light, it’s far from the first threat against state officials, particularly Democrats who imposed business closures and restrictions on social gatherings. In New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said this week that news of the arrest of 13 men accused of planning the overthrow of Michigan’s government rattled members of her family. “I started to get calls from both my daughters who were terrified and who were often included in some of the negative messaging,” Grisham said this week. “Early on in this pandemic, one of the threats that we got was ‘I hope your grandchildren, get COVID.'” FILE – New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham puts on her face mask when not speaking during an update on the COVID-19 outbreak in the state during a news conference in Santa Fe, N.M., April 15, 2020.In August, a man pleaded guilty to making threats against the Democratic governor on social media and was sentenced to 14 months in prison. During the pandemic, the state Capitol that houses her office has been closed to the public. But its grounds have been the site of protests, including by some who carried weapons and are militia members. Even with the glass doors locked, State Police have at times deployed additional security measures, such as putting up opaque screens inside the doors to hide their exact location from protesters. Across the country, armed protesters have rallied this year against coronavirus-related shutdowns. In Michigan, some protesters with guns were allowed inside the statehouse in April after passing temperature screenings. Some lawmakers wore bulletproof vests. Protests both against virus restrictions and racial injustice this year have targeted not just the offices but also the homes of government executives. Fourteen unarmed protesters calling for the release of prison inmates, for instance, were arrested outside the gates of the residence of California Gov. Gavin Newsom in July. The offices of governors and those in charge of protecting them have declined to say how security has changed because of specific threats they face or the Michigan case. Pointing finger at TrumpBut some governors are linking the threats to President Donald Trump, who on Twitter late Thursday condemned “extreme violence” while also blasting Whitmer, saying she has done a “terrible job.” Whitmer herself pinned some of the blame on the president and his remarks. However, there is no indication in the criminal complaint that the men arrested were inspired by Trump. At a briefing Friday, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, said elected officials “but especially at the top, must realize that words matter” and that rhetoric can lead to violence. FILE – Vermont Gov. Phil Scott speaks to reporters in his offices at the State Legislature in Montpelier, March 13, 2018.”We are reaching a boiling point in this country,” he said. “So it’s up to all of us to lower the temperature.” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee singled out the president, who has often criticized Whitmer, for responsibility. “It is very unfortunate that she has been troubled not just directly by these threats, but constant barrage of, frankly, incendiary criticism from the president, and I think that’s been very unfortunate,” Inslee said. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who also serves as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, called on Trump to denounce extremist groups. FILE- New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy speaks at Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J., Aug. 25, 2020.”This shocking development is the most disturbing of the increasingly violent threats being made against Democratic governors by some of the most extreme and violent fringes of the right,” Murphy said in a statement. “Unless and until President Trump openly denounces such right-wing extremism, groups like the Michigan Militia will continue to act as if they hold a permission slip from him to openly engage in such terrorist plots.” Addressing threatsThe threat this year against public employees has risen enough that the bipartisan National Governors Association sent its members a memo in August laying out ways to try to discourage and deal with threats. Among them: Encouraging civil discourse with protesters, personally complying with mask and social distancing orders and prosecuting threats. Over the nation’s history, violence against governors has been rare. The only time a sitting U.S. state governor was assassinated was in Kentucky in 1900, when Kentucky Gov. William Goebel was shot in the chest near the state capitol building just three days after he was sworn into office. In the same area this spring, current Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, was hanged in effigy from a tree on the state Capitol grounds in Frankfort. In April, a man was charged after being accused of making threats against Beshear and Kentucky State Police troopers online. This week, a fence began going up around the state’s executive mansion. 
 
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President Donald Trump is scheduled to host hundreds of people Saturday on the South Lawn of the White House and deliver remarks, a senior administration official confirmed to VOA. This would be the president’s first in-person event since he announced a week ago that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, triggering a multiday hospital visit and aggressive medical treatments for COVID-19.As first reported by ABC News, the event will feature “remarks to peaceful protesters for law and order” by the president. Trump is expected to deliver his speech from one of the balconies of the White House.The latest update from the president’s physician, Dr. Sean Conley, on Thursday evening said that Trump’s “physical exam has remained stable and devoid of any indications to suggest progression of illness.” Conley’s memo also noted that “Saturday will be day 10 since Thursday’s diagnosis and based on the trajectory of advanced diagnostics the team has been conducting, I fully anticipate the president safe return to public engagements at that time.”Trump ended his four-day stay at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday and since then his doctors have provided the public with upbeat updates on his condition. Still public health experts question the judgment of holding a public event so soon after his diagnosis.“I would certainly be very cautious and suggest that people err on the side of caution rather than on the side of boldness,” said William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “I would certainly not recommend that anyone who has recently recovered, even 11 days after having a positive test, be out in any sort of a crowd,” he added.President Donald Trump, center, stands with Judge Amy Coney Barrett as they arrive for a news conference to announce Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, Sept. 26, 2020.According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, “available data indicate that persons with mild to moderate COVID-19 remain infectious no longer than 10 days after symptom onset.” But questions remain on the timeline of the president’s illness. While his physicians say that Trump was diagnosed on Thursday, White House officials have refused to say when the president had last tested negative. Questions also remain about the severity of Trump’s illness, particularly as the drugs he was given are generally administered only to those with moderate to severe symptoms.In another development Friday, the U.S. Commission on Presidential Debates confirmed that the Oct. 15 presidential debate is officially canceled after Trump said he would not participate in a virtual format.The commission announced earlier this week that the debate would take place virtually because Trump had contracted the coronavirus. Trump rejected that plan, and the White House later argued that since Trump’s doctor cleared him to hold public events, the debate should be held in person. However, the commission said it would not reverse its decision.A debate scheduled for Oct. 22 in Nashville, Tennessee, is still scheduled between Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.Trump’s Saturday event will come two weeks after a Rose Garden event marking Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court. Officials are looking into the Sept. 26 ceremony as a potential source of a coronavirus outbreak. More than 30 staffers and Trump campaign aides have been infected since then, including first lady Melania Trump, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and adviser Stephen Miller.Two Republican senators who attended the event have also tested positive.There are also concerns for Trump’s own health if he were to resume public duties too soon. COVID-19 is often unpredictable, with some patients’ condition deteriorating during the second week of illness.“We would always urge patients who are recovering from an illness that’s as severe as COVID to take it easy and recover gradually for the benefits of their own health and the people around them,” Schaffner said. “Remember, it can have some long-term effects, even in people who have mild symptoms.”While convalescing, Trump has sought to project the image of an active president on a swift road to recovery, spending some time in the Oval Office every day since Wednesday and releasing several video announcements that highlight his physical well-being.TO MY FAVORITE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD! pic.twitter.com/38DbQtUxEu— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2020In a telephone interview Thursday night on Fox News, Trump said that he wants to hold a rally in Florida on Saturday and another in Pennsylvania on Sunday. He is scheduled to have an in-person interview with the same network Friday night, where the outlet’s resident medical expert would examine him.The New York Times reports that the crowd for the Saturday White House South Lawn gathering would include people attending an event elsewhere in Washington, organized by a Trump supporter, Candace Owens. Owens is an activist from the group Blexit, a campaign to urge Black Americans to leave the Democratic Party.After the Republican National Convention in August, during which Trump delivered his acceptance speech on the South Lawn in front of supporters, he was criticized for using the White House grounds for political purposes.According to a source with knowledge of the event’s planning, attendees must wear a mask and submit to a COVID-19 screening, which consists of “a temperature check and a brief questionnaire.”
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U.S. officials who analyze and combat disinformation aimed at undermining democracies say foreign actors are now focusing on two topics: spreading falsehoods about coronavirus vaccine development and the U.S. elections.In an interview with VOA, the State Department’s special envoy and coordinator for Global Engagement Center Lea Gabrielle said President Donald Trump’s health also is an active topic of online discussion among overseas audiences.“When we see the trending narratives, we are seeing that news of the president being infected with COVID is trending in the online information space,” Gabrielle told VOA State Department correspondent Nike Ching on Wednesday during a Skype interview.After years in which American intelligence focused on Russian-style disinformation tactics, U.S. officials say during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party has learned from the Kremlin’s approach, even using it to shape online narratives inside China’s tightly controlled domestic internet.In recent days after Trump announced that he and the first lady had tested positive for coronavirus, gloating postings appeared on social media closely controlled by the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda networks. When online users started engaging in more serious discussions about the president’s illness and its ramifications, Chinese censors shut them down.The following are excerpts from VOA’s interview with Gabrielle. It has been edited for brevity and clarity.Ching: From what we have seen – some gloating social media postings after President Trump and senior U.S. officials tested positive for the coronavirus – is there indication that U.S. foreign adversaries are pushing out certain narratives, taking advantage of this moment to sow discord in the United States, and to undermine Americans’ confidence in the political system?Gabrielle: When we see the trending narratives, we are seeing that news of the president being infected with COVID is trending in the online information space. We’ve seen within mainland China’s social media space that there has been a variation of different types of narratives.But I think it’s also very important to recognize that the Chinese Communist Party very closely controls those narratives, that the Chinese Communist Party censors narratives within the Chinese information landscape and on Chinese social media. So it’s really hard to tell what’s actually happening in the minds of the Chinese people.And, quite frankly, I think that it would be beneficial to the people of China to be able to have open discourse rather than being trapped inside that great firewall of China.Ching: How are U.S. adversaries changing or adjusting their disinformation campaigns and influence operations as we get closer to the Nov. 3 election?Gabrielle: Our (Global Engagement Center) mission is to directly synchronize and coordinate efforts of the U.S. federal government to counter foreign disinformation and propaganda that’s aimed at undermining the security or the stability of the United States and its partners and allies.So we focus on that foreign disinformation aimed at foreign audiences.Adversaries and malign actors, competitors that use disinformation or use the information space as a weapon, tend to target elections. Democratic values, democratic principles and democratic elections go hand in hand with malign actors trying to use disinformation and propaganda to undermine those processes.The GEC has been tracking a lot of different disinformation narratives over the past several months. Of course, around COVID-19 we’ve seen a lot of disinformation narratives being pushed by Russia, China and Iran as well.Now what we’ve seen most lately is a trend towards disinformation narratives around vaccine development.From the Chinese Communist Party, we’ve seen an effort to reshape the global narrative to try to make the Chinese Communist Party look like the global leader in the response, rather than as being responsible for the spread of the virus.We see Russia continuing to use disinformation narratives to try to undermine democratic institutions. And we’ve seen a lot of Russian disinformation narratives around COVID-19, as well as around vaccine development.We’ve also seen Russian disinformation narratives focus around unrest in Belarus and on other global topics.Ching: What are other focuses of U.S. elections-related narratives?Gabrielle: During the COVID crisis we’ve seen the Chinese Communist Party go to great lengths and adopt Russian style disinformation tactics. So the tactics are adapting and changing as the social media environment changes. But we’re working very closely with our partners within the US interagency, and globally, to make sure that they are up to date on what we’re seeing in the disinformation and propaganda space.Ching: What keeps you up at night these days?Gabrielle: I love that question and thank you so much for asking. I am very concerned about how this wonderful social media environment and this connectivity that we have that connects people worldwide is being manipulated by bad actors.And I think it’s really important that we increase resiliency in populations and we decrease vulnerability by training people to better understand how the information space is being manipulated. Because ultimately technology is going to change, malign actors that want to manipulate people and that want to push their agendas forward are going to continue.And the best resistance to that, the best way to protect against disinformation, is really having an educated, informed and resilient audience. So I think we have to focus on making sure people are aware of how the information space is manipulated. And we all have a responsibility to think before we share information and to really vet the source to make sure it’s truthful before we spread it.
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U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin unveiled legislation Friday to create a commission that would be empowered by the Constitution’s 25th Amendment to act in concert with the Vice President Mike Pence to strip the president of his duties.  
 
Pelosi announced the legislation after she called on the Trump administration earlier this week to disclose more information about the health of President Donald Trump, who was recently diagnosed with COVID-19.
 
“Clearly he is under medication. Any of us who is under medication of that seriousness is in an altered state,” Pelosi told reporters Friday on Capitol Hill. “He has bragged about the medication he has taken and, again, there are articles by medical professionals saying this could … have an impact on judgment.”
 
Pelosi also said the introduction of the measure was not directed at Trump but rather an effort to codify procedures to help protect the security of the country in the future.
 
“This is not about President Trump,” she said. “He will face the judgment of the voters, but he shows the need for us to create a process for future presidents.”
 
Raskin, who is also a constitutional lawyer, said Trump’s COVID-19 infection “has focused everybody’s mind on the need for following through on this suggestion in the 25th Amendment that Congress set up its own body. And I think again in the age of COVID-19, where a lot of government actors who have been afflicted by it, we need to act.”
 
Trump took to Twitter after the legislation was unveiled, saying “Crazy Nancy Pelosi is looking at the 25th Amendment in order to replace Joe Biden with Kamala Harris. The Dems want that to happen fast because Sleepy Joe is out of it!!!”FILE – President Donald Trump walks out of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to return to the White House after receiving treatments for COVID-19 in Bethesda, Maryland, Oct. 5, 2020.Opponents of the president have for some time considered invoking the amendment. Introducing the measure at this time, however, appears intended to focus public attention on Trump’s health and his administration’s handling of the coronavirus just weeks before the Nov. 3 presidential election.  
 
Congress is not in session, casting doubt on whether lawmakers will seriously consider the legislation and bring it to a vote in the House or in the Senate, where Trump’s Republican party is in the majority. Nor is there any indication that Pence would be willing to participate in a move to replace Trump.  
 
The 25th Amendment, which provides for continuity of government, includes a provision under which the vice president and a majority of cabinet secretaries can declare the president unable to perform his duties. In that case the vice president immediately becomes acting president.  
 
The amendment also allows for the Congress to create a new body in place of the cabinet secretaries which, together with the vice president, could declare the president unable to perform his duties. In either case, the president can challenge the declaration and reclaim his office.  
 
If the vice president and the cabinet secretaries or the new body created by Congress again declare the president unable to perform his duties, the Congress can again transfer his powers to the vice president with a two-thirds vote.  
 25th Amendment, Article 4
 
Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
 
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.
 
Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office. 
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U.S. officials who analyze and combat disinformation aimed at undermining democracies say foreign actors are now focusing on two topics: spreading falsehoods about coronavirus vaccine development and the U.S. elections.In an interview with VOA, the State Department’s special envoy and coordinator for Global Engagement Center Lea Gabrielle said President Donald Trump’s health also is an active topic of online discussion among overseas audiences.“When we see the trending narratives, we are seeing that news of the president being infected with COVID is trending in the online information space,” Gabrielle told VOA State Department correspondent Nike Ching on Wednesday during a Skype interview.After years in which American intelligence focused on Russian-style disinformation tactics, U.S. officials say during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party has learned from the Kremlin’s approach, even using it to shape online narratives inside China’s tightly controlled domestic internet.In recent days after Trump announced that he and the first lady had tested positive for coronavirus, gloating postings appeared on social media closely controlled by the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda networks. When online users started engaging in more serious discussions about the president’s illness and its ramifications, Chinese censors shut them down.The following are excerpts from VOA’s interview with Gabrielle. It has been edited for brevity and clarity.Ching: From what we have seen – some gloating social media postings after President Trump and senior U.S. officials tested positive for the coronavirus – is there indication that U.S. foreign adversaries are pushing out certain narratives, taking advantage of this moment to sow discord in the United States, and to undermine Americans’ confidence in the political system?Gabrielle: When we see the trending narratives, we are seeing that news of the president being infected with COVID is trending in the online information space. We’ve seen within mainland China’s social media space that there has been a variation of different types of narratives.But I think it’s also very important to recognize that the Chinese Communist Party very closely controls those narratives, that the Chinese Communist Party censors narratives within the Chinese information landscape and on Chinese social media. So it’s really hard to tell what’s actually happening in the minds of the Chinese people.And, quite frankly, I think that it would be beneficial to the people of China to be able to have open discourse rather than being trapped inside that great firewall of China.Ching: How are U.S. adversaries changing or adjusting their disinformation campaigns and influence operations as we get closer to the Nov. 3 election?Gabrielle: Our (Global Engagement Center) mission is to directly synchronize and coordinate efforts of the U.S. federal government to counter foreign disinformation and propaganda that’s aimed at undermining the security or the stability of the United States and its partners and allies.So we focus on that foreign disinformation aimed at foreign audiences.Adversaries and malign actors, competitors that use disinformation or use the information space as a weapon, tend to target elections. Democratic values, democratic principles and democratic elections go hand in hand with malign actors trying to use disinformation and propaganda to undermine those processes.The GEC has been tracking a lot of different disinformation narratives over the past several months. Of course, around COVID-19 we’ve seen a lot of disinformation narratives being pushed by Russia, China and Iran as well.Now what we’ve seen most lately is a trend towards disinformation narratives around vaccine development.From the Chinese Communist Party, we’ve seen an effort to reshape the global narrative to try to make the Chinese Communist Party look like the global leader in the response, rather than as being responsible for the spread of the virus.We see Russia continuing to use disinformation narratives to try to undermine democratic institutions. And we’ve seen a lot of Russian disinformation narratives around COVID-19, as well as around vaccine development.We’ve also seen Russian disinformation narratives focus around unrest in Belarus and on other global topics.Ching: What are other focuses of U.S. elections-related narratives?Gabrielle: During the COVID crisis we’ve seen the Chinese Communist Party go to great lengths and adopt Russian style disinformation tactics. So the tactics are adapting and changing as the social media environment changes. But we’re working very closely with our partners within the US interagency, and globally, to make sure that they are up to date on what we’re seeing in the disinformation and propaganda space.Ching: What keeps you up at night these days?Gabrielle: I love that question and thank you so much for asking. I am very concerned about how this wonderful social media environment and this connectivity that we have that connects people worldwide is being manipulated by bad actors.And I think it’s really important that we increase resiliency in populations and we decrease vulnerability by training people to better understand how the information space is being manipulated. Because ultimately technology is going to change, malign actors that want to manipulate people and that want to push their agendas forward are going to continue.And the best resistance to that, the best way to protect against disinformation, is really having an educated, informed and resilient audience. So I think we have to focus on making sure people are aware of how the information space is manipulated. And we all have a responsibility to think before we share information and to really vet the source to make sure it’s truthful before we spread it.
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When he set out to plant his crops earlier this year, Illinois farmer Ron Moore was preparing for another year of trade uncertainty with China, one of the largest purchasers of the more than 300 hectares of soybeans he grows on a family farm he has tilled since 1977.The year 2020 would prove to be unlike any growing season Moore had witnessed. A global pandemic upended the food supply chain, pushing down wholesale prices for livestock and the foodstuffs they consume.“They [thinned herds] are not going to eat a lot of corn and they’re not going to eat a lot of soybean meal,” Moore explained to VOA during a break in this year’s harvest. “So that decimated demand for the grains that provide the feed for the livestock.”The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported a 35% drop in soybean prices that coincided with a multiyear trade war with China that saw Beijing turn increasingly to Brazil and other U.S. competitors for the staple. The pandemic reduced Chinese purchases even further.“It was a double whammy, so to speak, and we were terribly affected by the pandemic in the livestock and grain industry,” Moore said.Despite such hardships in recent years, polls show a majority of American farmers remain loyal to President Donald Trump. While Trump has slipped in recent national surveys, he retains core support among farmers who praise his administration for aggressive federal measures that have helped them survive adversity.For many, the challenges continue. Some 30 kilometers from Moore’s operation, farmer Wendell Shauman has seen prices for corn, one of his primary crops, fall 44% since 2014. Hopes for a rebound in 2020 have been dashed.“It’s been a pretty ugly year pricewise,” Shauman said. “Most of what I’ve sold is way below what I’d hoped for.”’It was a big help’Keeping farmers afloat, according to Moore and Shauman, are payments since 2018 from the USDA’s Market Facilitation Program to compensate them for losses suffered as a result of foreign tariffs and the erosion of export markets.“While it wasn’t make or break, it was a big help,” Shauman told VOA. “I’m sure there are people that wouldn’t have had anything to eat if it didn’t happen.”“It gives us a lifeline,” Moore said. “We’re still treading water. We need more profitability and better markets to get out of the water and get on dry land. When government intervenes into our marketplace, I believe it’s up to the government to find solutions to bring our market back to where it was before they intervened.”The USDA unveiled a $19 billion aid package earlier this year as the pandemic constricted the nation’s food supply. Another round of $14 billion in agricultural assistance followed last month.Illinois Farm Bureau’s National Legislative Director Adam Nielsen says that since 2016, the government has spent nearly $100 billion to prop up America’s agricultural sector and save family farms.“We’ve been able to stem the tide of farm bankruptcies,” Nielsen told VOA, speaking from Bloomington. “Farmers, while they haven’t been spending extravagantly, they’ve been able to pay for feed, seed and fertilizer to get another crop in the ground.”While grateful for the assistance, Shauman said the program can’t go on forever.“We’ve increased the debt a huge amount in a very short amount of time, almost in a World War Two type of crisis. There’s not enough money for the government to just keep giving everybody a living,” he said.Hoping for a semblance of normalcyMeanwhile, a few encouraging signs have emerged. China recently increased purchases of U.S. grain products, modestly boosting prices. Continued testing of coronavirus vaccines gives farmers hope that the pandemic will ebb and the domestic market for foodstuffs will return to some semblance of normalcy in the year to come.For now, with weeks to go before the Nov. 3 presidential election between Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, Shauman holds out hope for a permanent U.S. trade agreement with China. He believes Trump’s trade battles with Beijing will benefit farmers in the long run and that the president has demonstrated he understands their plight.“The way he treated farmers and kept us going, that didn’t have to happen,” Shauman said. “It’s pretty surprising for a guy who has a New York history and knows very little about agriculture to be as supportive of agriculture.”He added, “I like what he’s done. I don’t like the way he talks sometimes. I get frustrated with that. He could have some better manners.”Shauman finds Biden’s message of bipartisan cooperation appealing, noting, “You’ve got to have compromise. You’ve got to have people working together.”But he rejects demands to overhaul the U.S. economy to combat climate change, part of the so-called Green New Deal that Biden has distanced himself from but which some Democrats support.”I haven’t heard anybody talking about a battery-powered tractor yet,” Shauman said.  “What I am going to plant with? Talk often seems nonsensical to me.”A September poll found Trump leading Biden 50% to 33% among rural adults, with 11% undecided. In the same poll, conducted by DTN/Progressive Farmer and Zogby Analytics, 59% of farmers said they would struggle financially without the USDA’s Market Facilitation Program and the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.Ron Moore hopes for better times if Trump wins a second term. “We are anticipating that when we get all these trade deals in place, that will bring us from a supply-side marketplace to a demand-driven marketplace, and so that’s why, I think in lots of surveys, that’s why farmers are supporting the president in this election,” he said.While many Illinois farmers voice support for Trump, the most recent poll in the state that includes America’s third-largest city, Chicago, gives Biden a commanding 25-point lead, 61% to 36%.Nationally, farm and ranch operators account for less than 2% of the U.S. population, according to USDA statistics. More broadly, roughly 20% of Americans reside in rural areas. 
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U.S. officials who analyze and combat disinformation aimed at undermining democracies say foreign actors are now focusing on two topics: spreading falsehoods about coronavirus vaccine development and the U.S. elections.In an interview with VOA, the State Department’s special envoy and coordinator for Global Engagement Center Lea Gabrielle said President Donald Trump’s health also is an active topic of online discussion among overseas audiences.“When we see the trending narratives, we are seeing that news of the president being infected with COVID is trending in the online information space,” Gabrielle told VOA State Department correspondent Nike Ching on Wednesday during a Skype interview.After years in which American intelligence focused on Russian-style disinformation tactics, U.S. officials say during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party has learned from the Kremlin’s approach, even using it to shape online narratives inside China’s tightly controlled domestic internet.In recent days after Trump announced that he and the first lady had tested positive for coronavirus, gloating postings appeared on social media closely controlled by the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda networks. When online users started engaging in more serious discussions about the president’s illness and its ramifications, Chinese censors shut them down.The following are excerpts from VOA’s interview with Gabrielle. It has been edited for brevity and clarity.Ching: From what we have seen – some gloating social media postings after President Trump and senior U.S. officials tested positive for the coronavirus – is there indication that U.S. foreign adversaries are pushing out certain narratives, taking advantage of this moment to sow discord in the United States, and to undermine Americans’ confidence in the political system?Gabrielle: When we see the trending narratives, we are seeing that news of the president being infected with COVID is trending in the online information space. We’ve seen within mainland China’s social media space that there has been a variation of different types of narratives.But I think it’s also very important to recognize that the Chinese Communist Party very closely controls those narratives, that the Chinese Communist Party censors narratives within the Chinese information landscape and on Chinese social media. So it’s really hard to tell what’s actually happening in the minds of the Chinese people.And, quite frankly, I think that it would be beneficial to the people of China to be able to have open discourse rather than being trapped inside that great firewall of China.Ching: How are U.S. adversaries changing or adjusting their disinformation campaigns and influence operations as we get closer to the Nov. 3 election?Gabrielle: Our (Global Engagement Center) mission is to directly synchronize and coordinate efforts of the U.S. federal government to counter foreign disinformation and propaganda that’s aimed at undermining the security or the stability of the United States and its partners and allies.So we focus on that foreign disinformation aimed at foreign audiences.Adversaries and malign actors, competitors that use disinformation or use the information space as a weapon, tend to target elections. Democratic values, democratic principles and democratic elections go hand in hand with malign actors trying to use disinformation and propaganda to undermine those processes.The GEC has been tracking a lot of different disinformation narratives over the past several months. Of course, around COVID-19 we’ve seen a lot of disinformation narratives being pushed by Russia, China and Iran as well.Now what we’ve seen most lately is a trend towards disinformation narratives around vaccine development.From the Chinese Communist Party, we’ve seen an effort to reshape the global narrative to try to make the Chinese Communist Party look like the global leader in the response, rather than as being responsible for the spread of the virus.We see Russia continuing to use disinformation narratives to try to undermine democratic institutions. And we’ve seen a lot of Russian disinformation narratives around COVID-19, as well as around vaccine development.We’ve also seen Russian disinformation narratives focus around unrest in Belarus and on other global topics.Ching: What are other focuses of U.S. elections-related narratives?Gabrielle: During the COVID crisis we’ve seen the Chinese Communist Party go to great lengths and adopt Russian style disinformation tactics. So the tactics are adapting and changing as the social media environment changes. But we’re working very closely with our partners within the US interagency, and globally, to make sure that they are up to date on what we’re seeing in the disinformation and propaganda space.Ching: What keeps you up at night these days?Gabrielle: I love that question and thank you so much for asking. I am very concerned about how this wonderful social media environment and this connectivity that we have that connects people worldwide is being manipulated by bad actors.And I think it’s really important that we increase resiliency in populations and we decrease vulnerability by training people to better understand how the information space is being manipulated. Because ultimately technology is going to change, malign actors that want to manipulate people and that want to push their agendas forward are going to continue.And the best resistance to that, the best way to protect against disinformation, is really having an educated, informed and resilient audience. So I think we have to focus on making sure people are aware of how the information space is manipulated. And we all have a responsibility to think before we share information and to really vet the source to make sure it’s truthful before we spread it.
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President Donald Trump says he will not participate in the next presidential debate, after the U.S. Commission on Presidential Debates announced Thursday the debate will be virtual “in order to protect the health and safety of all involved.” The commission said Trump, who is being treated for COVID-19, and Democratic challenger Joe Biden would participate from separate remote locations. In a statement, the commission said the debate, which is scheduled for next Thursday, will be held as originally planned at the Adrienne Arsht Performing Arts Center in Miami, Florida. The “town hall” format, with the candidates taking questions from audience members, will also remain the same. The John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is shown, in Miami, Oct. 8, 2020.Asked about the announcement on Fox Business, Trump said, “I’m not going to waste my time in a virtual debate. That’s not what debating is all about. You sit behind a computer and do a debate is ridiculous. And then they cut you off whenever they want.” The Biden campaign has said the former vice president will participate.  In a statement, the Biden campaign said “given the President’s refusal to participate on October 15th, we hope the Debate Commission will move the Biden-Trump Town Hall to October 22nd so that the President is not able to evade accountability.”Trump has been recovering from COVID-19 and has been confined to the White House since returning Monday from the Walter Reed Medical Center.   He said he is doing well and is ready to hold campaign rallies.  “I think I’m better to the point where I’d love to do a rally tonight,” he said. Trump’s doctors have not said if he is ready to hold rallies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines say a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 should be isolated for at least 10 days. Trump’s positive COVID-19 test was revealed late last week. 
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With less than a month before the election, President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis has returned the pandemic to the forefront of the presidential race. While his administration sought to project an image of a president who is recovering quickly, his campaign is working to frame his illness as an electoral asset.Since his return Monday from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Trump has projected an image of an incumbent ready to return to the job. On Wednesday he left the executive residence to work briefly from the Oval Office, where he received updates on Hurricane Delta and the ongoing negotiation with congressional Democrats on the emergency economic rescue package.Throughout his convalescence Trump has remained very active on Twitter, with posts that included attacks on his political opponents, statements on his nomination of conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, as well as several assurances of his physical well-being.FEELING GREAT!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2020Strength in sicknessTrump’s messaging included a video released Monday showing his discharge from the hospital and arrival back to the White House, climbing stairs rarely used when returning to the executive residence. His main message to Americans, delivered after taking off his mask, is not to be afraid and not to allow the coronavirus to “dominate your lives.”In a video released Wednesday evening, Trump called his illness a “blessing from God.” He highlighted the drugs he said have helped him “a lot” and characterized them as “a cure.”A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT! pic.twitter.com/uhLIcknAjT— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2020“Trump is trying to portray himself as a kind of Superman,” said Norman Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He is “vanquishing the virus, while also downplaying the deadly quality of it to make his administration’s failed approach look better,” he said.Trump’s allies see it as a president doing his best as he battles adversity.“We’re not going to surrender to it like Joe Biden would surrender to this virus,” Mercedes Schlapp, a Trump campaign adviser, said Monday on Fox News. “And at the end of the day, we know that the president is doing well.”The White House physicians’ daily updates on the president’s condition have been rosy. On Wednesday, Dr. Sean Conley, the president’s doctor, said that his “physical exam and vital signs, including oxygen saturation and respiratory rate, all remain stable and in normal range.” Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who along with several of her staff, tested positive for the coronavirus this week, tweeted the memo.A Wednesday update from President @realDonaldTrump’s physician: pic.twitter.com/IEn3Clv9yg— Kayleigh McEnany (@PressSec) October 7, 2020While the Trump administration sought to project an image of a strong and swift recovery, his campaign is working to leverage the president’s illness. During a segment on Fox News on Monday, Trump campaign communications director Erin Perrine presented the president’s diagnosis as a competency that Joe Biden lacks.“He is battling it head on, as toughly as only President Trump can,” Perrine said. “He has experience now of fighting the coronavirus as an individual. Those firsthand experiences, Joe Biden, he doesn’t have those,” she added.Republican strategist Amanda Iovino of the Market Research firm WPA Intelligence said that as the president seeks to use his personal battle against the virus as a metaphor for how the country is fighting the pandemic, there is an opening for the campaign to use the president’s diagnosis in “relating to and empathizing with Americans who have had the virus or who have had loved ones infected,” in particular seniors — a key demographic in the 2020 election — who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.Trump won the senior vote by 7 percentage points in 2016, but an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday showed Biden leading Trump in this group by 27 points, while a CNN/SSRS poll released Tuesday showed Biden leading by 21 points.Pandemic overblownAs the Trump campaign calculates that the president’s projection of strength in his battle against the virus will secure support from his base and possibly win sympathy from undecided voters, they are also hoping that Trump’s rapid recovery will prove that the pandemic threat has been overblown.Trump’s approach is to project triumph, said Jennifer Mercieca, a professor of communication at Texas A&M University.“He’s trying to convey that the virus is trivial, and we can easily overcome it and get back to normal,” she added.Mercieca calls that approach “a hard sell” because the virus rampaged through Trump’s inner circle, with the first lady and at least 11 White House staff and Trump campaign aides contracting the virus so far. Three Republican senators who attended a White House event on September 26 and 11 people involved in the first presidential debate on September 29 have also tested positive.“People will ask ‘If the White House isn’t safe, then can my house be safe?’” Mercieca added.Logistically, Trump’s diagnosis has changed plans for the last weeks of campaigning before the November 3 election. With a candidate unfit to travel at least temporarily, the campaign is relying on Vice President Mike Pence and other surrogates, including family members Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric and Lara Trump to continue “Operation Make America Great Again.”The Trump campaign has also moved away from the “Biden is hiding in his basement” line of attack, which compares the energy of Trump’s massive rallies and his opponent’s smaller, socially distanced events.Biden’s limited exposureIn the past six months, the Biden campaign strategy has been to limit their candidate’s exposure, adhering to strict health protocols outlined by state and national guidelines. Following Trump’s diagnosis, the Biden campaign has stayed the course and stuck to campaign travel plans, either virtually or meeting supporters in small groups in outdoor venues where masks are worn.As news of Trump’s illness broke, Biden offered his thoughts and prayers for the president’s and first lady’s “swift recovery.”Jill and I send our thoughts to President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for a swift recovery. We will continue to pray for the health and safety of the president and his family.— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 2, 2020Biden has been cautious about commenting on Trump’s illness but on Monday he faulted the president for failing to wear masks and follow social distancing guidelines, saying that Trump is “responsible” for contracting the virus.“Anybody who contracts the virus by essentially saying, ‘Masks don’t matter, social distancing doesn’t matter,’ I think is responsible for what happens to them,” Biden said in an NBC town hall in Miami.John Fortier, director of governmental studies at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said the Biden campaign would be wise to avoid using Trump’s illness as political leverage.“I expect that they will simply wish the president well and wait and see what the limitations on campaigning and debates are,” he said.Trump said he is looking forward to the second debate even as concerns surface about the advisability of meeting his opponent while still in recovery.On Tuesday, Biden, who has had at least four negative tests since his first face-off with Trump, said that if the president still has COVID-19, “we shouldn’t have a debate.” His campaign is demanding proof that the president does not pose a threat to Biden and the attendees at the town hall-style debate scheduled for October 15.“There will be citizens there in attendance asking questions,” said Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield in an interview Wednesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America. “So, the obligation is on Donald Trump to prove that he is not contagious.”Wednesday night, Vice President Mike Pence and Biden’s running mate California Senator Kamala Harris faced each other in a debate. Despite the candidates being 12 feet apart, Pence’s team reluctantly allowed a plexiglass divider between them, a request made by the Biden-Harris team.
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