Author: PolitCens

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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Republican Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic challenger California Senator Kamala Harris squared off Wednesday evening in Salt Lake City, Utah, ahead of the November 3 election. Here are some of key quotes from the debate, which was moderated by USA Today journalist Susan Page.The coronavirus pandemicHarris: “On January 28, the vice president and the president were informed about the nature of this pandemic. They were informed that it’s lethal. In consequence that it is airborne that it will affect young people, and that it would be contracted, because it is airborne. And they knew what was happening and they didn’t tell you.”Asked about the COVID-19 death toll, Pence: “I want the American people to know that from the very first day President Donald Trump has put the health of America first.”Pence: “The reality is when you look at the Biden plan [for dealing with the pandemic]  it reads an awful lot like what President Trump and I and our task force have been doing every step of the way. … it looks a little bit like plagiarism.”Harris: “The American people have had to sacrifice far too much because of the incompetence of this administration.”VaccineHarris on vaccine: “If the public health professionals, if Dr. Fauci, if the doctors tell us that we should take it, I’ll be the first in line to take it absolutely, but if Donald Trump tells us to take it, I’m not taking it.”Pence: “The fact that you continue to undermine public confidence in a vaccine — if the vaccine emerges during the Trump administration — I think is unconscionable … stop playing politics with people’s lives.”Economic recoveryHarris: “On the issue of the economy I think there couldn’t be a more fundamental difference between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Joe Biden believes you measure the health and the strength of America’s economy based on the health and the strength of the American worker and the American family. On the other hand, you have Donald Trump, who measures the strength of the economy based on how rich people are doing.”Pence: “More taxes, more regulation, banning fracking, abolishing fossil fuel, crushing American energy and economic surrender to China is a prescription for economic decline. President Trump and I will keep America growing. The V-shaped recovery that’s underway right now will continue with four more years of President Donald Trump.”TaxesPence: “On Day One, Joe Biden’s going to raise your taxes.”Harris: “Joe Biden has been very clear: he will not raise taxes on anybody that who makes less than $400,000 a year.”Foreign policyHarris: “You’ve got to know who your adversaries are and keep them in check. But what we have seen with Donald Trump is that he has betrayed our friends and embraced dictators around the world. Let’s take, for example, Russia.”NAFTAPence: “Everybody knows that NAFTA cost literally thousands of American factories to close. We saw automotive jobs go south of the border. President Trump fought to renegotiate NAFTA, and the United States, Mexico, Canada agreement is now the law of the land. … It was a huge win for American farmers, especially dairy in the upper Midwest, but senator you said it didn’t go far enough on climate change.”Climate changePence: “Now with regard to climate change, the climate is changing. But the issue is, what’s the cause? And what do we do about it? President Trump has made it clear that we’re going to continue to listen to the science.” Harris: “We have seen a pattern with this administration, which is they don’t believe in science.”ChinaHarris: “You lost that trade war, you lost it. What ended up happening is because of a so-called trade war with China, America lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs. Farmers have experienced bankruptcy because of it. We are in a manufacturing recession because of it.”Pence: “Look, lost the trade war with China? Joe Biden never fought it. Joe Biden’s been a cheerleader for communist China over the last several decades.”The US militaryHarris: “This is about a pattern of Donald Trump’s, where he has referred to our men who are serving in our military as suckers and losers. Donald Trump, who went to Arlington Cemetery, and stood above the graves of our fallen heroes and said, ‘What’s in it for them?'”Pence: “President Donald Trump not only respects but reveres all of those who served in our armed forces and any suggestion otherwise is ridiculous.”
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Vice President Mike Pence defended the Trump administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed more than 210,000 Americans while his Democratic challenger, Kamala Harris, condemned “the greatest failure of any presidential administration” during a largely civil debate Wednesday night dominated by the coronavirus.  With Trump recovering from the virus in Washington, Harris declared she would not take a vaccine if the Republican president endorsed it without the backing of medical professionals.  Pence, who leads the president’s coronavirus task force, acknowledged that “our nation’s gone through a very challenging time this year.”  But he added, “I want the American people to know, from the very first day, President Trump has put the health of America first,” Pence said, promising millions of doses of a yet-to-be-announced treatment before the end of the year.  He also condemned Harris’ skepticism of Trump’s bragging about vaccines-to-be: “Senator, I ask you: Stop playing politics with peoples’ lives.”  There were heated exchanges early on, but overall it was a far more respectful affair than the opening presidential debate eight days earlier. While Trump was the aggressor then, butting in and almost yelling, Pence demonstrated more discipline.  The candidates debated in an auditorium where any guest who refused to wear a face mask was to be asked to leave, an extraordinary backdrop for the only vice presidential debate of 2020.  Ultimately, the prime-time meeting was a chance for voters to decide whether Pence or Harris, a U.S. senator from California, is ready to assume the duties of the presidency before the end of the next term. It’s hardly a theoretical question: President Donald Trump, 74, is recovering from the coronavirus, and 77-year-old Joe Biden has not been infected but would be the oldest president ever.  For those reasons and more, the debate at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City shaped up as the most meaningful vice presidential debate in recent memory. It came at a precarious moment for the Republicans in particular, with growing concern that Trump’s position is weakening as more than a dozen senior officials across the White House, the Pentagon and inside his campaign are infected with the virus or in quarantine.  Trailing in polls, Trump and Pence have no time to lose; Election Day is less than four weeks away, and millions of Americans are already casting ballots.  Before Harris said a word, she made history by becoming the first Black woman to stand on a vice presidential debate stage. The night offered her a prime opportunity to energize would-be voters who have shown only modest excitement about Biden, a lifelong politician with a mixed record on race and criminal justice, particularly in his early years in the Senate.  Harris, 55, is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. She is also a former prosecutor whose pointed questioning of Trump’s appointees and court nominees helped make her a Democratic star.  Pence is a 61-year-old former Indiana governor and ex-radio host, an evangelical Christian known for his folksy charm and unwavering loyalty to Trump. And while he is Trump’s biggest public defender, the vice president does not share the president’s brash tone or undisciplined style.  The candidates also clashed on taxes — or specifically, Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns four years after repeatedly promising to do so. The New York Times reported last month that the president pays very little personal income tax but owes hundreds of millions of dollars in debt.  “It’d be really good to know who the president owes money to,” Harris said.  “The one thing we know about Joe, he puts it all out there. He is honest, he is forthright,” she added. “Donald Trump, on the other hand, has been about covering up everything.”  Pence defended Trump as a job creator who has paid more than his fair share of taxes and shifted toward Biden: “On Day One, Joe Biden’s going to raise your taxes.”  While the debate covered a range of topics, the virus was at the forefront.  Trump released a video just three hours before the debate calling his diagnosis “a blessing in disguise” because it shed light on an experimental antibody combination that he credited for his improved condition — though neither he nor his doctors have a way of knowing whether the drug had that effect.  Pence serves as chair of the president’s coronavirus task force, which has failed to implement a comprehensive national strategy even as Trump himself recovers from the disease and the national death toll surges past 210,000 with no end in sight.
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With election day less than a month away, many Americans have voted early or voted by mail, and many more are expected to do so between now and November 3.  Former vice president and Democratic candidate Joe Biden has been campaigning in the swing state of Florida, while President Donald Trump, who is recovering from COVID-19, has vowed to be back on the campaign trail soon. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has more. 
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Negotiations for a potential new round of U.S. coronavirus relief funding appeared to come to a halt Tuesday with President Donald Trump saying Democratic proposals were not acceptable, and that he was directing administration officials to halt talks until after next month’s election. Trump’s statements came in a series of tweets, including one later in which he proposed approving several individual relief provisions instead of a larger collection of measures like the government has done several times this year.If I am sent a Stand Alone Bill for Stimulus Checks ($1,200), they will go out to our great people IMMEDIATELY. I am ready to sign right now. Are you listening Nancy? Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks to the media after the Republican policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 22, 2020.“Walking away from coronavirus talks demonstrates that President Trump is unwilling to crush the virus, as is required by the Heroes Act,” Pelosi said. “He shows his contempt for science, his disdain for our heroes – in health care, first responders, sanitation, transportation, food workers, teachers, teachers, teachers and others – and he refuses to put money in workers’ pockets, unless his name is printed on the check.” Trump, in his tweets, accused the Democrats of “playing ‘games’’ with the stimulus payments to individuals. “They just wanted to take care of Democrat failed, high crime, Cities and States. They were never in it to help the workers, and they never will be!” he said. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said it is Trump who is not interested in helping Americans, and he accused the president of failing to lead during the pandemic. “Make no mistake: if you are out of work, if your business is closed, if your child’s school is shut down, if you are seeing layoffs in your community, Donald Trump decided today that none of that — none of it — matters to him,” Biden said in a statement. 
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U.S. President Donald Trump, infected with the coronavirus, declared from the White House on Tuesday that he is planning to show up for his second debate with Democratic Party presidential nominee Joe Biden.  “I am looking forward to the debate on the evening of Thursday, October 15th in Miami. It will be great!” the president said on Twitter.I am looking forward to the debate on the evening of Thursday, October 15th in Miami. It will be great!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) FILE – U.S. Navy Commander Dr. Sean Conley, the White House physician, is flanked by other doctors as he speaks to the media at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Oct. 4, 2020.Monday morning on social media, Trump wrote that the coronavirus in most populations is “far less lethal” than seasonal influenza. Facebook deleted the message.  “We remove incorrect information about the severity of COVID-19 and have now removed this post,” said Andy Stone, a Facebook spokesman. Twitter restricted Trump’s tweet, applying a warning label that noted it violates the social media platform’s guideline “about spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19.”  Trump urged Americans not to “be afraid” of COVID-19 after he returned to the White House.  In a show of fitness, he climbed the steps of the South Portico, standing on the Truman Balcony, where he removed his mask, gave a double thumbs-up gesture and saluted the Marine One helicopter as it prepared to take off from the South Lawn. Without putting his face mask back on, the president then walked into the White House where others were awaiting his arrival.  FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump salutes without a face mask on the Truman Balcony of the White House after returning from being hospitalized at Walter Reed Medical Center for coronavirus, in Washington, Oct. 5, 2020.Earlier, as he walked out of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Trump said, “Thank you very much, everybody.”  Stepping off the helicopter and walking toward the White House residence, the president paused and turned to the cameras, waved and gave a thumbs-up. Asked by VOA how he was feeling, a muffled reply of “real good” could be heard.   Later in the evening, he tweeted out a recorded message about COVID19, saying ”Don’t let it dominate you. Don’t be afraid of it.”  “We’re going back, we’re going back to work. We’re going to be out front,” he said. “Don’t let it dominate your lives. Get out there, be careful,” he added.  Trump’s primary physician gave an update of his condition Monday afternoon before he was discharged from Walter Reed.   “Though he may not entirely be out of the woods yet, the team and I agree that all our evaluations, and most importantly, his clinical status, support his return home” to the White House, which has medical facilities and practitioners to monitor the president around the clock,” Conley told reporters.   “Every day a patient stays in the hospital unnecessarily is a risk to themselves,” he added. ”Right now, there’s nothing being done upstairs here that we can’t safely conduct down home.”   The White House is “taking every precaution necessary” to protect not just Trump and  first lady Melania Trump, who also tested positive for the coronavirus, but “every staff member working on the complex” consistent with CDC guidelines and best practices, according to Judd Deere, a White House spokesman.  Deere said that physical access to Trump is being significantly limited, and appropriate protective equipment is being worn by those near him.  Several White House officials and other staff are known to be currently infected with the virus, including press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and presidential adviser Hope Hicks.  FILE – Kayleigh McEnany speaks after U.S. President Trump announced he tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Washington.Speaking with reporters at the hospital prior to Trump’s discharge, Conley, an osteopath and a commander in the U.S. Navy, declined to answer some questions, such as the condition of the president’s lungs, citing patient confidentiality.     The president has been taking a steroid, dexamethasone, which is typically not administered in mild or moderate cases of the coronavirus, along with a five-day course of remdesivir, an antiviral medication.      Trump’s campaign on Friday put a hold on all previously announced events involving the president’s participation.    Vice President Mike Pence is making campaign appearances this week, as well as facing off Wednesday evening against Sen. Kamala Harris of California, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee.       FILE – U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen arrive ahead of the vice presidential debate in Salt Lake City, Utah, Oct. 5, 2020.”As far as travel goes, we’ll see,” Conley replied when asked how soon Trump could get back on the campaign trail with less than a month before the November 3 presidential election.    Doctors said it is important to ensure that the president is no longer shedding virus and that he is in good enough physical shape before getting medical permission to travel.    Trump and Biden were about 4 meters apart on a debate stage last Tuesday in Cleveland, Ohio. The CDC suggests at least 2 meters for social distancing purposes.      The coronavirus has killed 210,000 people in the United States and infected nearly 7.5 million across the country, according to Johns Hopkins University data. 
 
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Top U.S. intelligence and security officials say the country’s adversaries are intensifying their efforts to meddle with the country’s upcoming presidential election, indicating the threat may be changing with less than a month until voters go to the polls. The dangers, outlined in a video shared on social media by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Tuesday, are twofold – influence operations designed to change the way voters think as they fill out their ballots, and heightened attacks on U.S. election infrastructure, something that officials have tried to downplay until now. “There is no doubt adversaries are trying to undermine our democracy and democratic values as we approach our elections,” said William Evanina, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC). NEW #Election2020 security message from @FBI Dir Christopher Wray, @CYBERCOM_DIRNSA Gen. Nakasone, @CISAKrebs and @ODNIgov Nat’l Counterintelligence & Security Center Dir William Evanina – part of #Protect2020 campaign https://t.co/94jMeksiMB
— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) October 6, 2020 “The American voter is the primary target,” he added, updating an August 7 statement on election threats. “Foreign actors are spreading disinformation and attempting to sway voters.” Official: US Adversaries Taking Sides, Wielding Influence Ahead of Election  US counterintelligence officials, splitting with President Trump, warn Russian-linked actors are pulling for his reelection as China and Iran aim to put Democrat Joe Biden in the White House .@FBI’s Washington Field Office warning about #Russia|n malign influence operations targeting #Election2020 using #Protect2020
It is at least 2nd time @FBIWFO has sent out this tweet… https://t.co/vWj5ryExBo
— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) October 5, 2020 But Evanina, the nation’s top counterintelligence official, also warned that foreign adversaries are looking to infiltrate U.S. voting systems. “They are using an array of cyber activities with the intent to gain access to our election infrastructure,” he said on the video, declining to rule out the possibility that some of those attacks could succeed, if only on a limited basis. Still, Evanina noted, “It would be very difficult for adversaries to interfere with or manipulate voting results at scale. Our election systems remain resilient.” The NCSC, when contacted by VOA, declined to elaborate on Evanina’s warning about foreign adversaries – a warning that would seem to contradict elements of previous statements from other top officials, including assurances from FBI Director Christopher Wray. “We haven’t seen cyberattacks to date this year on voter registration databases or on any systems involved in primary voting,” Wray told an online forum last month (September).  “To our knowledge, no foreign government has attempted to tamper with U.S. vote counts,” he said. “We’ve been fighting the cyber threat for years now & its all too often been a game of whack-a-mole” @FBI Dir Christopher Wray tells @CISAgov Cybersummit
“We investigate one major hack only to uncover another one…”
— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) September 16, 2020 But a separate threat assessment, shared Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security, indicated such attacks could be imminent. “China, Russia and Iran may seek to use cyber capabilities to compromise or disrupt critical infrastructure used to support the 2020 elections,” the department said in a statement. NEW: @DHSgov issues “first-of-its-kind” Homeland Threat Assessment, w/warning about #Election2020:
“#China#Russia & #Iran may seek to use cyber capabilities to compromise or disrupt critical infrastructure used to support the 2020 elections…”
— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) October 6, 2020 Until now, U.S. officials have blamed the majority of attempts to hack into or take down critical election systems or election-related systems on unnamed cyber actors who appeared to be operating without any direction from adversaries like Russia, China or Iran. Cyber Operatives Target US Voting Systems US officials warn unidentified cyber actors are probing for vulnerabilities, trying to trap state and local officials To safeguard against such intrusions, U.S. election officials have installed special sensors to monitor cyber activity, in real time, in all 50 states and across more than 2,500 local jurisdictions. And as late as last month, those scanners were picking up indications something might have been brewing. “While we have no evidence of direct targeting of election infrastructure by nation states, we know and continue to see reports of scanning,” Matt Masterson, the Department of Homeland Security’s senior election security adviser, said during an online event last month. “What keeps me up at night is, is there something we’re not seeing? Is there something we’re not tracking?” he said at the time. Still, other key officials say after four years of security preparations, U.S. voters have little to worry about. “My confidence in the security of your vote has never been higher,” Christopher Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said on the video distributed by the FBI Tuesday. Krebs, who has previously assured U.S. voters that the upcoming presidential election will be “the most secure election in modern history,” also urged Americans to remain calm, noting that unlike in past years, the outcome of the election may not be known until well after the polls close. US Officials Promising ‘Most Secure Election in Modern History’The officials say while the November presidential election will not be risk free, defense and back-up systems should guarantee a free and fair result“Because of the changes due to COVID, on November 3, we might not know the outcome of our election, and that’s OK,” he said. “We’re going to need your patience until official votes are announced.” Due to the pandemic, a record number of Americans are expected to vote by mail. One count, by the U.S. Elections Project, said that as of Tuesday, at least 4.5 million voters had cast their ballots by mail – 50 times more than at the same time in 2016.  
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Americans are rushing to cast ballots ahead of the Nov. 3 election at an unprecedented pace, early voting numbers show, indicating a possible record turnout for the showdown between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
 
With four weeks to go before Election Day, more than 4 million Americans already have voted, more than 50 times the 75,000 at this time in 2016, according to the United States Elections Project, which compiles early voting data.
 
The shift has been driven by an expansion of early and mail-in voting in many states as a safe way to cast a ballot during the coronavirus pandemic and an eagerness to weigh in on the political future of Trump, said Michael McDonald of the University of Florida, who administers the project.
 
“We’ve never seen this many people voting so far ahead of an election,” McDonald said. “People cast their ballots when they make up their minds, and we know that many people made up their minds long ago and already have a judgment about Trump.”
 
The early surge has led McDonald to predict a record turnout of about 150 million, representing 65% of eligible voters, the highest rate since 1908.
 
Biden leads Trump in national opinion polls, although surveys in crucial battleground states indicate a tighter race.
 
The numbers reported so far come from 31 states, McDonald said, and will grow rapidly as more states begin early in-person voting and report absentee mail-in totals in the next few weeks. All but about a half-dozen states allow some level of early in-person voting.
 
The percentage of voters who cast their ballot at a voting machine on Election Day already had been in steady decline before this year, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, a federal agency.
 
The total number of early or mail-in votes more than doubled from nearly 25 million in 2004 to 57 million in 2016, it said, representing an increase from one in five of all ballots cast to two in five of all ballots cast.
 
Trump has railed against mail-in voting, making unfounded accusations that it leads to fraud. Experts have said such fraud is rare.
 
Those attacks by the president have shown signs of depressing Republican interest in voting by mail. Democrats have more than doubled the number of returned mail-in ballots by Republicans in seven states that report voter registration data by party, according to the Elections Project.
 
In the crucial battleground state of Florida, Democrats have requested more than 2.4 million mail-in ballots and returned 282,000, while Republicans have asked for nearly 1.7 million and returned more than 145,000.
 
A national Reuters/Ipsos poll taken last week found 5% of Democrats nationwide said they had already voted compared to 2% of Republicans. About 58% of Democrats planned to vote early compared to 40% of Republicans.
 
McDonald said early voting typically starts strong, then drops before surging just ahead of the election. But in some states, rates of participation already have skyrocketed a month out.
 
In South Dakota, early voting this year already represents nearly 23% of the total turnout in 2016. It is nearly 17% of total 2016 turnout in Virginia and nearly 15% of total 2016 turnout in the battleground state of Wisconsin.
 
“That’s just nuts,” McDonald said. “Every piece of data suggests very high turnout for this election. I think that’s just a given.”
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This kind of political event tends to make politicians anxious ahead of November elections. What is it? VOA explains.
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U.S. President Donald Trump, after 72 hours of hospitalization for the coronavirus, is to return to the White House on Monday evening.  “Though he may not entirely be out of the woods yet, the team and I agree that all our evaluations and, most importantly, his clinical status support his return home” to the White House, which has medical facilities and practitioners to monitor the president around the clock, his primary physician, Dr. Sean Conley, told reporters Monday afternoon. “Every day a patient stays in the hospital unnecessarily is a risk to themselves,” he added. “Right now, there’s nothing being done upstairs here that we can’t safely conduct down home.”  FILE – President Donald Trump works in his conference room at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Oct. 3, 2020, after testing positive for COVID-19. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)Trump tweeted earlier Monday, ”I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. … I feel better than I did 20 years ago!”  Conley, an osteopath and a commander in the U.S. Navy, speaking with reporters at the hospital, declined to answer some questions, such as the condition of the president’s lungs, citing patient confidentiality.   The president is taking a steroid, dexamethasone, which is typically not administered in mild or moderate cases of the coronavirus, along with a five-day course of remdesivir, an antiviral medication.    Trump’s physicians remain “cautiously optimistic and on guard, because we’re in a bit of unchartered territory when it comes to a patient that received the therapies he has so early in the course,” Conley said. “If we can get through to Monday with him remaining the same or improving, better yet, then we will all take that final deep sigh of relief.” On Sunday, after tweeting a video that he is “getting great reports” from his doctors, Trump promised a little surprise for his supporters outside the hospital where he is being treated.    pic.twitter.com/0Bm9W2u1x7
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) FILE – President Donald Trump drives past supporters gathered outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Oct. 4, 2020.Dr. James Phillips, who is also chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University in Washington, tweeted that the special vehicle the president was riding in is sealed against chemical attack.     “The risk of COVID19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures. The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play,” said Phillips, referring to the driver and an accompanying agent in the front seat who appeared to be wearing masks, face shields and gowns.    That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack. The risk of COVID19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures. The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play.— Dr. James P. Phillips, MD (@DrPhillipsMD) FILE – Counselor to the President Hope Hicks walks from Marine One to accompany President Donald Trump aboard Air Force One as he departs Sept. 30, 2020, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md.The doctor declined again on Monday, when pressed by reporters, to answer when Trump last tested negative for COVID-19, something considered important for doing adequate contact tracing to try to limit the spread of the virus.  “I don’t want to go backwards,” the physician said. “The contact tracing, as I understand it, is being done. I’m not involved with it.”  Trump’s campaign on Friday put a hold on all previously announced events involving the president’s participation.  Vice President Mike Pence is making campaign appearances this week, as well as facing off Wednesday evening against the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris of California.     Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen, along with Sarah Pence and her husband Michael Pence and their daughter, right, arrive on Marine Two at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Oct. 5, 2020, as he departs for Utah.“As far as travel goes, we’ll see,” Conley replied when asked how soon Trump could get back on the campaign trail with less than a month before the November 3 presidential election.  Doctors said it is important to ensure that the president is no longer shedding virus and that he is in good enough physical shape before getting medical permission to travel.  Trump and Biden were about 4 meters apart on a debate stage last Tuesday in Cleveland, Ohio. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests at least 2 meters for social distancing purposes.      Biden’s campaign said the former vice president tested negative Friday for the coronavirus and a test on Sunday was also negative.      The coronavirus has killed 210,000 people in the United States and infected more than 7.4 million across the country, according to Johns Hopkins University data.  
 
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U.S. Senate Republicans’ timeline to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been thrown into disarray by the coronavirus.FILE – President Donald Trump works in his conference room at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Oct. 3, 2020, after testing positive for COVID-19. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)Those Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans appear to have been exposed to the virus in the cluster of cases that also infected U.S. President Donald Trump and other top members of the administration. The cluster of cases may have come from the September 26 White House Rose Garden event for Trump’s announcement of Barrett as his Supreme Court nominee.  Here’s a look at where the timeline for Bennett’s confirmation hearings stand a week before the anticipated October 12 start:How are Senate Republicans responding?  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced a change to the Senate schedule Saturday in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus on Capitol Hill. The Senate will now not hold any floor business until October 19, but Republicans continue to aim to start confirmation hearings for Barrett on October 12.   “The Senate floor schedule will not interrupt the thorough, fair and historically supported confirmation process,” McConnell said. “Since May, the Judiciary Committee has operated flawlessly through a hybrid method that has seen some Senators appear physically at its hearings while other members have participated virtually.”  FILE – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 21, 2020.The Senate Judiciary Committee has held 21 hybrid hearings — a mix of in-person and virtual — since the pandemic began in earlier this year.  But McConnell cannot afford to lose even one more of the 51 Senate Republicans to illness or quarantine in order to confirm Barrett since Republican Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski have already announced they would not vote to confirm a nominee before Election Day. As it is, those senators infected or quarantining have already said they would return to Washington before the CDC recommended 14-day quarantine period has ended.  In a Saturday interview with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt, McConnell said the coronavirus is the “biggest enemy” to moving the Barrett nomination to a vote before Election Day.  “Every precaution needs to be taken, because we don’t anticipate any Democratic support at all, either in committee or in the full Senate, and therefore, everybody needs to be in an all hands on deck mindset,” McConnell told Hewitt.How are Senate Democrats responding?  The recent infection of three Republican senators has renewed the debate over safety procedures in the U.S. Capitol. While Congressional Republicans have held their caucus meetings in person throughout the course of the pandemic, Democrats continue to meet virtually.  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday the plan to continue with the confirmation process highlighted Republicans’ disregard for safety protocols.  FILE – Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 9, 2020.”The Republican leadership has truly lost touch with reality if it’s contemplating marching COVID-stricken members to the Senate to rush through a Supreme Court nominee who could strip health care from 20 million Americans. Instead of engaging in continuously more absurd and dangerous behavior, Chairman Graham should halt this already illegitimate nomination process,” Schumer said in a statement.  At the same time, Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats have also protested the plan to hold the Supreme Court confirmation process virtually, writing Saturday in a letter to Chairman Lindsey Graham, “Holding a remote hearing for a Supreme Court nomination is not an adequate substitute. As Republican members of this Committee have recognized, questioning nominees by video is ineffective and ignores the gravity of our constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on lifetime appointments, particularly those to the nation’s highest court.”  Democrats’ best chance to block the Barrett confirmation will occur with procedural maneuvers on the Senate floor, after the Senate Judiciary Committee votes on her nomination. As of now, that committee vote is still planned for October 22. Republicans’ original plan would have the nomination ready for a full Senate floor vote the week of October 26.How has the U.S. Congress previously responded to protecting members from the coronavirus?  Earlier this year, the Republican-majority U.S. Senate and the Democratic-majority U.S. House diverged in their response to the virus. Led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, lawmakers in that chamber passed the first-ever rules for proxy voting and switched over to holding committee hearings virtually. After a break in April, the U.S. Senate returned to in-person work. Both McConnell and Pelosi declined a White House offer for testing. To date, there is no COVID-19 testing or tracing regimen on Capitol Hill.  FILE – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks during a weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 1, 2020.Pelosi did institute a mask mandate for the House side of the Capitol in late July, when Rep. Louie Gohmert — who had refused to wear a mask — tested positive for coronavirus.   According to GovTrack, 72 members of Congress in total have tested positive for COVID-19, been quarantined or come into contact with someone who has the virus.  U.S. lawmakers fly into Washington from all parts of the country, work a three- to four-day week on Capitol Hill and then fly back to their home districts — a situation that is ideal for facilitating the spread of the virus.  “400-500+ members of Congress regularly travel from every corner of the country to DC & back. Each time we convene carries with it the potential of a super spreader event. It’s absolutely unacceptable that there is no regular temp-taking, testing, or contact tracing protocol,” Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted over the weekend.   The U.S. House is currently out of session for the month of October while lawmakers’ campaign in their home districts.  
 
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Courts in California have ruled that a homeless person may register to vote at a location where they say they spend most of their time. Volunteers are going to places where they congregate to help them register.  Angelina Bagdasaryan has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.
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North Carolina’s intensively competitive and expensive U.S. Senate race has been upended by personal and health disruptions that sent uncertainty through the campaigns and an electorate already casting ballots.Democratic nominee Cal Cunningham acknowledged and apologized for exchanging sexually suggestive text messages with a woman who’s not his wife, but he said he wouldn’t drop out of the race. And just a few hours earlier Friday evening, his opponent, Republican Senator Thom Tillis, announced he had tested positive for COVID-19. While the first-term senator said he had no symptoms, the news forced Tillis to cancel in-person events, and several members of his campaign staff headed into quarantine.”It’s chaos,” David McLennan, a political science professor at Meredith College in Raleigh, said in a Saturday interview.In the text message exchanges, Cunningham tells the woman he wants to kiss her and she says she wants to spend the night with him. The messages were first reported by the website NationalFile.com.”I have hurt my family, disappointed my friends, and am deeply sorry. The first step in repairing those relationships is taking complete responsibility, which I do,” Cunningham said in his statement late Friday.Staying to fightCunningham, who is married with two teenage children, added he’s staying in the Senate race: “I will continue to work to earn the opportunity to fight for the people of our state.”The race is the nation’s most expensive Senate campaign and considered key to determining the power balance in the chamber. Democrats need to gain four seats in November to take control.Voting has been under way for four weeks in North Carolina, and 341,000 completed mail-in absentee ballots have been accepted and will be counted. Early in-person voting begins October 15.McLennan and Gary Pearce, a longtime state Democratic consultant, said it’s unclear how much of an effect Cunningham’s text messages will have on the election.”Most Democrats are really scared by it, but then you wonder: Has everything changed in the age of [President Donald] Trump?” Pearce said, adding the electorate’s increased polarization since 2016 could lead many Democrats to stick with Cunningham simply because the party’s victory is paramount.TimingA spokeswoman for Cunningham’s campaign, Rachel Petri, confirmed the authenticity of the text messages on Saturday. It’s unclear when the messages were sent, but at one point Cunningham says he’s “nervous about the next 100 days,” which could be a reference to the Senate election. One hundred days before the election would be July 26.An email trying to reach Guzman Todd at the California-based communications firm that lists her as an employee and voice messages left with what public records indicate are her phone numbers weren’t returned Saturday. Public records show she had a Raleigh residence briefly until 2015. Guzman Todd is married to someone who has served in the U.S. Army, according to the NationalFile.com report.Cunningham, 47, is an attorney and Iraq War veteran who still serves as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve. He served one term in the state Senate in the early 2000s and lost a Democratic primary runoff for U.S. Senate in 2010.FILE – U.S. Senator Thom Tillis, R-N.C., talks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 30, 2020.As for Tillis, he said he has no symptoms but will be staying at home for 10 days. Cunningham tweeted that he wished Tillis a “quick recovery” and said he would get tested himself after the two men shared a debate stage Thursday night. No other debates are scheduled.The Tillis campaign, citing its own health concerns, deferred on Saturday questions about the text messages to Cunningham. National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson Jesse Hunt said Cunningham must disclose more so voters can decide his fitness for office: “These are very troubling allegations and Cal needs to be fully transparent with the voters of North Carolina.”Tillis, 60, was diagnosed with the virus after attending the Supreme Court nomination ceremony in the White House Rose Garden for Amy Coney Barrett on September 26. The first-term senator didn’t say in his statement where he believes he caught the virus but did say he had tested negative for the virus on the same day as the White House event.Advocates mask useTillis was wearing a mask at the ceremony and has been among the most consistent Republicans to preach the use of face coverings. In late August, Tillis apologized for listening maskless in person to Trump’s Republican nomination acceptance speech outdoors at the White House.The North Carolina Senate race is second only to the presidential campaign in terms of overall outside spending, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. More than $97 million has been spent by independent expenditure groups in the general election, center data says.Cunningham, who outraised Tillis during the first half of the year, announced this week that his campaign would report collecting $28.3 million in the third quarter — a record haul for any North Carolina candidate. Tillis’ campaign hasn’t announced his third-quarter fundraising totals.
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U.S. President Donald Trump “continues to do well” and has made progress since his COVID-19 diagnosis, according to a statement from his physician, Dr. Sean Conley, Saturday night.Earlier in the day, a group of physicians treating the president gave an upbeat report.“This morning the president is doing very well,” Conley told reporters late Saturday morning at the front entrance of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.In his Saturday night update, he said Trump has had a second dose of remdesivir, “remains fever-free and off supplemental oxygen with a saturation level between 96% and 98% all day.”While the president is not out of the woods, his doctors remain cautiously optimistic, Conley’s statement said. Trump will receive additional doses of remdesiver on Sunday, and his doctors will continue to closely monitor him, statement concluded.Earlier Saturday, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said, “The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning, and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. We’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery.”Conley, an osteopathic physician and a commander in the U.S. Navy, told reporters that in coordination with a team of medical professionals at the hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, he had recommended that Trump be brought there the previous day.“At this time, the team and I are extremely happy with the progress the president has made,” said Conley, who explained that on Thursday, the day Trump tested positive for the disease caused by the coronavirus, Trump had “a mild cough, some nasal congestion and fatigue – all of which are now resolving and improving.”The physician said it is unclear how long the president will need to remain hospitalized. He did not answer questions regarding whether Trump had ever required oxygen.“We are monitoring him very closely for any evidence of complications from either the coronavirus illness or the therapies that we are prescribing to make him better,” said Dr. Sean Dooley, an internist.“He is in exceptionally good spirits,” Dooley said, explaining that when the team of doctors completed its rounds Saturday morning, the president exclaimed, “I feel like I could walk out of here today.”The team of doctors declined to go into detail on the president’s diagnosis in response to some of the questions from reporters.Conley said Trump is receiving daily ultrasounds and lab work, but when asked if lung scans have shown damage, he declined to “go into specifics of what the findings are.”On Thursday, the 74-year-old president was given a high dose an experimental special antibody therapy cocktail developed by Regeneron to fight the coronavirus, Dr. Brian Garibaldi, a specialist in pulmonary medicine, said.“We’re working very closely with the company to monitor him in terms of that outcome,” said the doctor, who added that Friday evening Trump received the first of a five-day course of intravenous remdesivir, another anti-viral drug being studied to see how effective it is in fighting COVID-19.“If he needs all five days, that would likely be the course,” Conley said, adding that Trump “has been fever free for over 24 hours.”The team of doctors noted that days seven to 10 for a coronavirus patient are the most concerning, due to the possibility of serious inflammation.“Every day, we’re evaluating, ‘Does he need to be here?’” Dr. Conley said in answering questions from reporters during a 12-minute briefing.Shortly after the news conference, Trump tweeted, “Doctors, Nurses and ALL at the GREAT Walter Reed Medical Center, and others from likewise incredible institutions who have joined them, are AMAZING!!!Tremendous progress has been made over the last 6 months in fighting this PLAGUE. With their help, I am feeling well!”Doctors, Nurses and ALL at the GREAT Walter Reed Medical Center, and others from likewise incredible institutions who have joined them, are AMAZING!!!Tremendous progress has been made over the last 6 months in fighting this PLAGUE. With their help, I am feeling well!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 3, 2020Both Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday evening after one of the president’s close aides, Hope Hicks, was confirmed to be ill with COVID-19.Late Friday, Trump tweeted from his hospital suite, “Going well, I think! Thank you to all. LOVE!!”Going welI, I think! Thank you to all. LOVE!!!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 3, 2020There has been no transfer of power from the hospitalized president to Vice President Mike Pence, who was at his official residence, the U.S. Naval Observatory, according to White House officials.Trump’s illness comes a month before the November election. His opponent, Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden, said Friday he was sending “prayers for the health and safety of the first lady and the president of the United States.”Biden added that the president’s positive test for COVID-19 is a “bracing reminder to all of us that we have to take this virus seriously.”Trump and Biden were about 4 meters apart on a debate stage Tuesday evening in Cleveland, Ohio. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests at least 2 meters for social distancing purposes.Biden’s campaign said the former vice president tested negative Friday for the coronavirus.Speaking Friday in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Biden, wearing a surgical mask, called again for a national mask mandate, asserting it could save 100,000 lives in 100 days.The coronavirus has killed more than 208,000 people in the United States and infected 7.3 million across the country, according to Johns Hopkins University data.Trump’s campaign Friday put on hold all previously announced campaign events involving the president’s participation.“Vice President Mike Pence, who has tested negative for COVID-19, plans on resuming his scheduled campaign events,” campaign manager Bill Stepien said in a statement.A spokesperson confirmed early Saturday that Stepien has also tested positive for the virus and is suffering “mild, flu-like symptoms.”U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that he and his wife, Susan, also tested negative.Pompeo said he and his wife were examined on an airplane 20 minutes before landing in Dubrovnik, Croatia. The country’s top diplomat told reporters upon arrival that he last saw Trump on September 15 at the White House and said, “We are praying for the president and first lady that they’ll have a speedy recovery.” Three U.S. senators, all from Trump’s Republican Party, have announced in recent days they have all tested positive for the coronavirus. Two of them attended last Saturday’s event in the White House Rose Garden where the president announced Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee for the Supreme Court.Former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, who left the White House staff in August but attended that event, tweeted late Friday that she has also tested positive for COVID-19.Tonight I tested positive for COVID-19. My symptoms are mild (light cough) and I’m feeling fine. I have begun a quarantine process in consultation with physicians. As always, my heart is with everyone affected by this global pandemic. ❤️— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) October 3, 2020During the Rose Garden, guests were seated closely together and most did not wear masks – a defiance of the U.S. government’s own guidelines on such gatherings amid the coronavirus pandemic.    
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Republicans on Saturday sought to call off legislative work in the Senate until October 19 as the coronavirus reached into their ranks. But they vowed that hearings for President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee would push ahead as planned, even as lawmakers increasingly demanded testing for everyone on Capitol Hill.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett would still begin October 12, even if Democrats agreed to cancel the regular Senate session to avoid further spread of COVID-19. Since Friday morning, three GOP senators have announced they have tested positive.”The Senate’s floor schedule will not interrupt the thorough, fair and historically supported confirmation process,” the Kentucky Republican wrote. Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, who is running for reelection in South Carolina, added that senators could attend the hearings virtually.”Certainly,” McConnell wrote, “all Republican members of the committee will participate in these important hearings.”But Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, said that if the COVID-19 threat was too great for Senate sessions, it made Barrett’s confirmation perilous, too.FILE – Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, and Vice President Mike Pence arrive at the Capitol where she was to meet with senators, Sept. 29, 2020.The Republicans’ “drive to confirm Judge Barrett at all costs needlessly threatens the health and safety of senators, staff and all those who work in the Capitol complex,” Schumer said in a statement.Schumer notably did not say Democrats would block McConnell’s plan. Doing so could force the Senate back into the confines of the Capitol without the mandatory testing of lawmakers and their aides.The back-and-forth served as an emphatic reminder that Senate Republicans defending their majority had hoped for an election season finale focused on their power to solidify a conservative majority on the high court. But the infections of Trump, who has been hospitalized, and a series of GOP senators since Friday morning raised significant worries in Republican circles about the spread of the virus at various events where masks have been scarce.FILE – Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, listens during a Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 21, 2015 .Concern began with the White House Rose Garden ceremony last Saturday where Trump introduced Barrett. In the audience, where few people wore masks, were members of the Judiciary Committee that will handle confirmation hearings. Two members of the panel, Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, on Friday announced that, like Trump, they had tested positive for the virus.On Saturday, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who is not a member of the Judiciary panel, announced that he, too, had tested positive.With three Republican senators infected and others awaiting results, McConnell is without a fully working majority of 50 senators. He would need to rely on Vice President Mike Pence to be on hand to break any tie votes.Amid the outbreak, members of both chambers of Congress called for a comprehensive testing plan for Capitol Hill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and McConnell have resisted doing so because universal testing is not available to everyone in America.Some senators are calling for a more stringent protocol and contact tracing for Congress. Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, called on McConnell to require immediate tests for every senator and staff member who has visited the White House over the past two weeks.
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The coronavirus pandemic has again upended the U.S. presidential campaign with President Donald Trump’s announcement early Friday morning that he and first lady Melania Trump have contracted the potentially deadly virus.Both the president and the first lady placed themselves in quarantine, and Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in late afternoon following reports that he developed a fever. White House officials emphasized the president is not incapacitated and would continue to work from the hospital.Trump’s battle with the coronavirus could rally public support for him, as often happens in a time of crisis. But it could also conflict with his campaign message that everything is getting back to normal.“It’s very unpredictable at this time,” said John Fortier, a political analyst with the Bipartisan Policy Center.The second presidential debate, scheduled for October 15, could be postponed or canceled if Trump is too ill to participate or remains in quarantine to prevent the spread of infection. The debate, which was to be a town hall-style event with a live audience in Miami, could also be changed to a virtual format with participation via video conferencing.With the November election just weeks away, Fortier said, both presidential candidates are making their “primary argument” to win over undecided voters and generate enthusiasm among supporters.Pandemic focusTrump had been holding mass rallies where he has downplayed the seriousness of the virus and many supporters have not worn masks. At an event in New Jersey on Thursday, the president said the development of a vaccine was imminent and that ”the end of the pandemic is in sight.”Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 7 MB480p | 10 MB540p | 12 MB720p | 25 MB1080p | 50 MBOriginal | 176 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioThe president falling ill could conflict with his campaign message “that everything is turning around, we’re past this, and things are getting back to normal,” said Todd Belt, a professor of politics at George Washington University.The death toll from COVID-19 in the U.S. has topped 208,000, and the infection rates in many states have recently been rising, according to Johns Hopkins University data.The president has defended his administration’s response to the health and economic crises caused by the pandemic, saying the death toll would have reached into the millions had he not moved quickly to suspend travel from China where the outbreak originated and provided extensive medical support to states.Public reactionBelt said many people will be hard pressed to feel sympathy for Trump after his mocking of Democratic candidate Joe Biden and others for wearing masks, and after the president continued to hold events that violate social distancing guidance from health officials.With the electorate already intensely divided over Trump, Fortier with the Bipartisan Policy Center said he can “imagine both sides feeling strongly that this is related to their feelings” and reinforce their political views about the coronavirus and the campaign.Public opinion could also turn against Biden if his campaign is seen as mocking or ridiculing Trump for contracting the virus, Fortier said.“I think it could be dangerous politically for Biden and really backfire on him,” he said.Because of the pandemic, Biden had already cut back significantly on travel and instead waged a mostly virtual campaign with few in-person events and with mandatory masks and social distancing enforced.During a speech Friday in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Biden said he sent “my prayers for the health and safety of the first lady and the President of the United States.”“We can get this pandemic under control so we can get our economy working for everyone,” Biden said. “But this cannot be a partisan moment. It must be an American moment.”Biden has made what he has described as Trump’s mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic a major focus of his campaign, contrasting his plans to implement a national strategy to bring down the infection rate with the president’s downplaying of the virus.Extreme scenarioWhile the White House says the president is experiencing only mild symptoms, there are risks that his condition could get significantly worse and even be life threatening. Trump, at age 74 and somewhat overweight, is in a high-risk category for complications from COVID-19 that can cause significant damage to the lungs and heart.If the president were to become incapacitated, Vice President Mike Pence would assume the role of the acting head of the federal government and commander in chief.Trump COVID-19 Diagnosis Raises Issue of Continuity of GovernmentThe 25th Amendment to the US Constitution details the process by which the president or vice president are replaced in the event they are unable to execute their dutiesPence on Friday tested negative for the coronavirus. The White House is conducting widespread testing of officials who may have come in contact with the president and his senior aide Hope Hicks, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.Biden, his wife, Jill, and Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris all tested negative for the coronavirus Friday.Regarding the presidential campaign and November election, the Republican Party could replace Trump as the party nominee if he is unable to continue.Voters backing the party would still cast their ballots for the Trump-Pence ticket. But because the U.S. Electoral College system uses the popular vote to pick electors pledged to the winning party, those electors affiliated with the Republican party could then vote for the new party nominee.
 
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U.S. President Donald Trump, suffering from the coronavirus, was taken by helicopter from the White House to a nearby military hospital Friday afternoon, where he was expected to remain for at least several days.The president, with a wave and a thumbs-up gesture to reporters, boarded Marine One on the White House South Lawn and flew to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, which has a suite that allows presidents to work from the hospital.Maine One with President Donald Trump aboard leaves the White House to go to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after he tested positive for COVID-19, Oct. 2, 2020, in Washington.After the helicopter landed at the hospital, Trump walked to a vehicle for the short drive to the main building’s entrance.“Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the president will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement.There was no immediate transfer of power from the hospitalized 74-year-old president to Vice President Mike Pence, who was at his official residence, the U.S. Naval Observatory, according to White House officials.pic.twitter.com/B4H105KVSs— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020Trump “remains in good spirits, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day,” according to the press secretary.Less than 24 hours after he and first lady Melania Trump were diagnosed with COVID-19, the president was given, at the White House, a yet-to-be approved, unproven but promising treatment.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
A memorandum from the White House physician, Sean Conley, released by the White House, provides an update on President Donald Trump’s medical condition after the announcement that the president had tested positive for the coronavirus, Oct. 2, 2020.Conley added in his statement that the first lady “remains well with only a mild cough and headache, and the remainder of the first family are well and tested negative” for the coronavirus.“It is a very moderate case” of the coronavirus that has infected the president, according to his economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, who spoke to a group of White House reporters. “The president is going to get healthy soon.”The president’s illness comes a month before the November election. His opponent, Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden, said on Friday that he was sending “prayers for the health and safety of the first lady and the president of the United States.”Biden added that the president’s positive test for COVID-19 was a “bracing reminder to all of us that we have to take this virus seriously.”Trump and Biden were about 4 meters apart on a debate stage Tuesday evening in Cleveland, Ohio. Biden’s campaign said the former vice president on Friday tested negative for the coronavirus.Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden arrives to speak at United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 951 in Grand Rapids, Mich., Oct. 2, 2020.Speaking Friday in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Biden, wearing a surgical mask, called again for a national mask mandate, asserting that it could save 100,000 lives in 100 days.The coronavirus has killed more than 208,000 people in the United States and infected 7.3 million across the country, according to Johns Hopkins University data.Trump’s campaign Friday put on hold all previously announced events involving the president’s participation.“Vice President Mike Pence, who has tested negative for COVID-19, plans on resuming his scheduled campaign events,” said the campaign’s manager, Bill Stepien, in a statement.In the early morning hours of Friday, Trump tweeted: “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!”Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020Minutes later, the White House released a memorandum from the president’s physician, Conley, confirming the positive tests for the Trumps.Melania Trump later tweeted, “As too many Americans have done this year, @potus & I are quarantining at home after testing positive for COVID-19. We are feeling good & I have postponed all upcoming engagements. Please be sure you are staying safe & we will all get through this together.”As too many Americans have done this year, @potus & I are quarantining at home after testing positive for COVID-19. We are feeling good & I have postponed all upcoming engagements. Please be sure you are staying safe & we will all get through this together.— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) October 2, 2020In another tweet, the first lady acknowledged she also had “mild symptoms but overall feeling good.”Thank you for the love you are sending our way. I have mild symptoms but overall feeling good. I am looking forward to a speedy recovery.— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) October 2, 2020Trump, who for months has played down the seriousness of the coronavirus, on Thursday evening confirmed during a telephone interview on the Fox News Channel that he and the first lady had been tested after one of his closest aides, Hope Hicks, was confirmed to have been infected.Hicks, counselor to the president, traveled with Trump to Pennsylvania for a campaign rally on Saturday, then to Cleveland for the presidential debate on Tuesday and to Minnesota for campaign events the following day.Hicks was showing symptoms at a political rally Wednesday evening in Duluth, Minnesota, and tested positive Thursday morning, according to officials who spoke on condition of not being named.Fundraiser in New JerseyTrump, however, flew Thursday with some top officials to New Jersey for a political fundraising event, where he was in close contact with dozens of people.During the telephone interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, the president suggested Hicks could have contracted the virus from members of the military or law enforcement.”It is very, very hard when you are with people from the military, or from law enforcement, and they come over to you, and they want to hug you, and they want to kiss you, because we really have done a good job for them,” Trump said. “You get close, and things happen. I was surprised to hear with Hope, but she is a very warm person with them. She knows there’s a risk, but she is young.”The president, in his 70s and overweight, is in a high-risk category for the coronavirus, but until Friday he was otherwise believed to be in good health.Pence and his wife, Karen, tested negative for COVID-19 early Friday, according to spokesman Devin O’Malley. The spokesman said the vice president “remains in good health and wishes the Trumps well in their recovery.”As has been routine for months, Vice President Pence is tested for COVID-19 every day. This morning, Vice President Pence and the Second Lady tested negative for COVID-19. Vice President Pence remains in good health and wishes the Trumps well in their recovery.— Devin O’Malley (@VPPressSec) October 2, 2020U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that he and his wife, Susan, had also tested negative.Pompeo said he and his wife were examined on an airplane 20 minutes before landing in Dubrovnik, Croatia. The country’s top diplomat told reporters upon arrival that he last saw Trump on September 15 at the White House and said, “We are praying for the president and first lady that they’ll have a speedy recovery.”Former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, who left the White House staff in August, tweeted late Friday that she has tested positive for COVID-19.Tonight I tested positive for COVID-19. My symptoms are mild (light cough) and I’m feeling fine. I have begun a quarantine process in consultation with physicians. As always, my heart is with everyone affected by this global pandemic. ❤️— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) October 3, 2020
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