Author: PolitCens

Just minutes after delegates to the Republican National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, formally awarded him the party’s nomination on Monday, President Donald Trump told them the only way the Democrats can defeat him at the polls in November is through a rigged election using mail-in-ballots. “They’re trying to steal the election,” Trump declared without evidence during a formally unannounced but highly expected appearance before the convention. “Suppose they don’t mail them to Republican neighborhoods.”  The election is shaping up to be “the greatest scam in the history of politics,” the president remarked in a mostly unscripted speech on the first day of his party’s convention.  Nominating event As part of a significantly scaled-back proceeding in response to the coronavirus pandemic, only a small fraction of the total Republican delegates took part in nominating Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for a second term.  Later in his nearly one hour of remarks, the president, who trails Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in national polls by eight or nine points, accused the Democrats of “using COVID to steal an election.”  Delegates listen as Vice President Mike Pence speaks during the first day of the Republican National Convention, Aug. 24, 2020, in Charlotte, N.C.Trump, seeking a second and final term, was welcomed to the podium at a convention center with chants of “four more years” from his party’s delegates.  “If you want to really drive them crazy, you say 12 more years,” replied the president. As Trump lashed out at Biden and the Democrats, former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, alongside more than two dozen former Republican members of Congress, endorsed Biden for president. Flake, a longtime critic of Trump, wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post last September that the president had “proved to be so manifestly undeserving of the highest office that we have.” Although Republican party officials had previewed the convention as an upbeat and optimistic view of the country and the Trump administration’s performance, the president’s opening day remarks cast a darker tone.  As he has done repeatedly in recent times, Trump attacked Biden as a puppet of the radical left, warning that if the former vice president is elected in November, “Your American dream will be dead.”  The president vowed that the United States “will never be a socialist country.”UnconventionalThe extended appearance by Trump and the tone of the remarks were another break with tradition for the unconventional president.Usually, nominees are low-key during political conventions until they deliver their acceptance speech. But Trump is set to speak to the delegates every day in a convention that will now shift from Charlotte and focus more on speeches delivered by scores of politicians and ordinary Americans.   The president said he would discuss his administration’s efforts to battle the coronavirus during his formal address on Thursday evening from the South Lawn of the White House — an event to be immediately followed by the launching of fireworks from the National Mall.  “This is the most important election in the history of our country,” Trump told the delegates on Monday. “Our country can go in a horrible direction or in an even greater direction.”  Unlike last week’s virtual Democratic convention, which formally nominated Biden, the Republicans brought 336 delegates to Charlotte for an in-person roll call. The Democrats, by contrast, created a live and taped video montage for their roll call. Some Republican delegates in the Charlotte Convention Center ballroom were wearing masks, which are required, but others had no face protection. Attendees are also required to maintain a 1.8-meter distance from each other, but many were seen flouting that rule, as well.  Kyshia Lineberger is a North Carolina delegate who lives in Charlotte, the host city of the convention. She said support for Trump is a family affair and that her 15-year old son is looking forward to the first presidential debate between Trump and Biden.  “He asks me every day, ‘Mom, when’s the debate? When’s the debate?’” Lineberger said. She said she appreciated that Trump brought up medication prices in the U.S. “Americans can pay $2.50 for a medication that is 10 cents somewhere else, when you talk about pennies and dollars. And that’s just wrong,” she said. Judgeships Tennessee Delegate Oscar Brock said he was  impressed with Trump’s energy at the podium for the lengthy speech. His comments on the impact of judges will stick with him.  “There were 400-some vacancies when the Republicans took over four years ago,” Brock said. “The administration has filled more than 200 of those vacancies. That’s going to change a generation of legal outcomes. Hopefully with conservative outcomes.”  Trump contrasted the Republicans’ convention with that of the Democrats, during which Biden and his vice presidential nominee, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, did not travel to Milwaukee but instead appeared in Biden’s hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.  “They didn’t go there at all,” said Trump. “We did this out of respect for your state.” The president accused North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, of deliberately scuttling a full-scale Republican convention by imposing harsh virus restrictions that Trump predicted will disappear after Election Day.  “You have a governor who is in a total shutdown mood,” said the president. “I guarantee you on Nov. 4, it will all open up.” Carolyn Presutti in Charlotte, North Carolina, contributed to this report. 
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U.S. President Donald Trump has released a campaign commercial, undoubtedly aimed at winning support from the country’s Indian American voters.Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate, has chosen a woman of South Asian descent as his vice presidential running mate.  Kamala Harris, a U.S. senator from California, is the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants. Her late mother was from India and her father is Jamaican.Biden’s choice has been widely celebrated by Indians around the world.Trump senior adviser Kimberly Guilfoyle posted the commercial on Twitter on Saturday and tweeted: “America enjoys a great relationship with India and our campaign enjoys great support from Indian Americans.”The video features footage of Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi walking hand in hand and quick clips of each speaking.    
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U.S. first lady Melania Trump hosted the official reopening of the White House Rose Garden on Saturday. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence attended the event.“The changes you see tonight are the result of a thoughtful and collaborative process carefully crafted with the help of scholars and experts in architecture, horticulture, design, and historic preservation,” said the first lady, who is scheduled Tuesday to deliver her Republican National Convention speech from the garden.“The Rose Garden layout we have all come to know and treasure was designed during the [former U.S. President John F.] Kennedy administration by Bunny Mellon,” she said. “For 60 years, this space has served as the backdrop for many important events. The garden has also served as a peaceful outdoor escape for many administrations and their guests.”The late Mellon was a famed American horticulturalist and philanthropist.The revamping of the garden includes the planting of more pastel flowers and a limestone walking path. Other changes make the grounds more accessible to people with disabilities.The project was paid for by private donations, but the White House has not revealed the costs.  
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The Trump administration will send two top officials to the Middle East this week in a bid to capitalize on momentum from the historic agreement between Israeli and the United Arab Emirates to establish diplomatic relations.Three diplomats say Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner plan to make separate, multiple-nation visits to the region in the coming days to push Arab-Israeli rapprochement in the aftermath of the Israel-UAE deal.Pompeo is expected to depart on Sunday for Israel, Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Sudan, according to the diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the itinerary has not yet been finalized or publicly announced. Kushner plans to leave later in the week for Israel, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Morocco, the diplomats said.Neither trip is expected to result in announcements of immediate breakthrough, the diplomats said, although both are aimed at finalizing at least one, and potentially more, normalization deals with Israel in the near future.Pompeo also plans to meet in Qatar with members of the Talban to discuss intra-Afghan peace talks that are key to the withdrawal of remaining U.S. forces in Afghanistan, the diplomats said.The White House and State Department had no comment on the planned trips, which will come as the administration steps up efforts to push for Arab-Israeli normalization even without a resolution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.They also come as the administration has taken the controversial step of triggering the restoration of all international sanctions on Iran, something that only Israel and the Gulf Arab nations have publicly supported.Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced on August 13 they would establish full diplomatic relations, in a U.S.-brokered deal that required Israel to halt its contentious plan to annex occupied West Bank land sought by the Palestinians.The historic agreement delivered a key foreign policy victory to Trump as he seeks reelection and reflected a changing Middle East in which shared concerns about archenemy Iran have largely overtaken traditional Arab support for the Palestinians.U.S. and Israeli officials have suggested that more Arab nations may soon follow the UAE’s lead, with Bahrain and Oman believed to be closest to sealing such deals.
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U.S. Postmaster Louis DeJoy on Friday told lawmakers that the Postal Service has not changed the way it handles election mail as he sought to assure the public that ballots would be handled “securely and on time” in the November presidential election.In his first public appearance before Congress, DeJoy sought to tamp down Democratic concerns that service delays prompted by his cost-cutting measures could result in millions of uncounted ballots in the Nov. 3 election and help Republican President Donald Trump.WATCH: DeJoy on election mail Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 1 MB480p | 1 MB540p | 2 MB720p | 3 MB1080p | 6 MBOriginal | 8 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioDeJoy, who has donated millions of dollars to Trump and other Republicans, said he has not spoken with the Trump campaign or White House Staff Mark Meadows about postal service operations. DeJoy said postal workers will prioritize election mail as they have in the past, adding that he would personally vote by mail.”As we head into the election season, I want to assure this committee and the American public that the Postal Service is fully capable and committed to delivering the nation’s election mail securely and on-time. This sacred duty is my number one priority between now and Election Day,” said.But DeJoy said he would not bring back mail-sorting machines that have been pulled from service in recent weeks, saying they were not needed.Under pressure from the public and lawmakers, DeJoy on Tuesday suspended all mail service changes until after the election. Critics feared they would interfere with mail-in balloting, which is expected to be much more widely used amid the COVID-19 pandemic.Trump has repeatedly and without evidence said that an increase in mail-in ballots would lead to a surge in fraud, although he himself has voted by mail.Senator Gary Peters, the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said he had received more than 7,500 reports of mail delays from people in his home state of Michigan.”If you plan to continue pursuing these kinds of changes, I think my colleagues, and many of our constituents, will continue to question whether you are the right person to lead this indispensable public institution,” Peters said.Republican committee chairman Ron Johnson defended DeJoy, saying the Postal Service needed an overhaul to shore up its shaky finances.After he took the job in June, DeJoy imposed reductions in overtime, cuts in retail hours and restrictions on extra mail transportation trips that resulted in widespread delays nationwide.DeJoy said the decisions to remove sorting machines and mailboxes had been already underway and were a routine response to changes in mail volume, which has dropped during the coronavirus pandemic.DeJoy is also due to testify before the Democratic-led House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Monday.A group of 90 Democrats in the House on Wednesday called on the Postal Service’s board of governors to immediately remove DeJoy “to protect this critical institution.”The House is set to vote on a bill on Saturday that would provide $25 billion in funding for the Postal Service and require the reversal of operational changes. 
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President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to allow him to block critics from his personal Twitter account. The administration said in a high-court filing Thursday that Trump’s @realdonaldtrump account with more than 85 million followers is his personal property and blocking people from it is akin to elected officials who refuse to allow their opponents’ yard signs on their front lawns. “President Trump’s ability to use the features of his personal Twitter account, including the blocking function, are independent of his presidential office,” acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall wrote in urging the justices to review the case. The federal appeals court in New York ruled last year that Trump uses the account to make daily pronouncements and observations that are overwhelmingly official in nature. It held that Trump violated the First Amendment whenever he blocked a critic to silence a viewpoint. A decision about whether even to hear the case is not likely before the November election. The case grew out of a challenge brought by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which sued on behalf of seven individuals blocked by Trump after criticizing his policies. Jameel Jaffer, the Knight Institute’s executive director, said the justices should decline to take up Trump’s appeal. “This case stands for a principle that is fundamental to our democracy and basically synonymous with the First Amendment: government officials can’t exclude people from public forums simply because they disagree with their political views,” Jaffer said in a statement. The administration argued in its appeal that the Supreme Court, not lower courts, “should decide where to draw the line between the President’s personal decisions and official conduct.” The pace of the case was slowed by the coronavirus pandemic as well as Trump’s decision to ask the full 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the ruling by a three-judge panel. The court refused to do so by a 7-2 vote in March. Two Trump appointees, Judges Michael H. Park and Richard J. Sullivan, were the only members of the court to side with the president. The Supreme Court extended its deadline to file an appeal from 90 days to 150 days when it shut the building to the public and abandoned in-person meetings in favor of telephone conferences because of the virus outbreak. 
 
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U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy announced Thursday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus and is experiencing some COVID-19 symptoms. He said he is quarantining in Louisiana.  
 
The Republican senator, 62, who is running for reelection on Nov. 3, is experiencing “mild symptoms that began this morning,” from COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, his spokesperson Cole Avery said. Cassidy is at least the 13th member of Congress known to have tested positive for the coronavirus and only the second senator.  
 
Cassidy, a physician from Baton Rouge who regularly wears a mask when in public and on Capitol Hill, said in a statement that he was tested after being notified Wednesday night that he’d been exposed to someone infected with the virus. The senator said he is adhering to medical guidance and notifying people with whom he may have come into contact.  
 
“I am strictly following the direction of our medical experts and strongly encourage others to do the same,” he said.
 
A few hours later, the senator posted a short video on Twitter to “thank folks for their concern and to let them know I’m OK.” He also made a pitch for his legislation seeking more money for coronavirus testing.
 
Cassidy’s announcement came a day after he was in north Louisiana, visiting a veterans hospital in Shreveport, where he posted a photo with an official from the facility.
 
His positive test comes as some Senate Republicans have pressured Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to boost testing for senators. McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have remained firm that there should be no special access for lawmakers as long as the general public doesn’t have widespread workplace testing. They have both said that equipment and tests should instead be directed to front-line workers.  
 
McConnell has also said he doesn’t see the need for mask mandates in the Senate, where work spaces are more spread out and most members and staff have faithfully worn masks. In July, Pelosi and Capitol officials set broad new mask mandates after a Republican who had been walking the halls without a mask tested positive.
 
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, was the first senator to contract the virus. He received a positive test in March but was asymptomatic. Paul, who is also a doctor, has since refused to wear a mask on Capitol Hill because he says he has already had the virus. It is not yet clear whether a person can contract the virus again.
 
Cassidy faces 14 opponents on the November ballot but is favored to win election to a second term in a deep red state where he has the backing of President Donald Trump and a $6 million campaign account. His highest-profile opponent is Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins, a Democrat.
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