Scott Atlas, a new member of the White House’s COVID-19 task force, is reportedly pushing President Donald Trump to combat the coronavirus with the “herd immunity” strategy, which requires allowing mass infections to bloom throughout the country uninhibited.
Continue reading “WH COVID Adviser Advocating Controversial ‘Herd Immunity’ Approach”
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) implored President Donald Trump on Sunday to cancel his upcoming trip to Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday as unrest rages on in the city over the shooting of Jacob Blake by police.
Republicans on Sunday wouldn’t condemn President Trump’s praise for his supporters involved in a violent clash with Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland, Oregon, but instead shifted blame to local officials. Continue reading “GOPers Punt To Blaming Local Officials As Trump Praises Supporters In Portland Clash”
Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield on Sunday fact-checked Trump campaign adviser Lara Trump’s assertion that the Democratic presidential nominee failed to condemn the violence that erupted during protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death soon enough. Continue reading “Biden Camp Fact-Checks Lara Trump’s Claim On Ex-VP Response To Violence At Protests”
Trump campaign adviser Lara Trump defended the mostly maskless crowd who attended President Trump’s Republican National Convention speech last week amid concerns that it will prove to be a COVID-19 superspreader event, during an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” Continue reading “Lara Trump Downplays COVID Concerns Over Trump Speech: ‘People Want To Get Back To Normal’”
Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe on Sunday defended his move to
no longer give in-person briefings about election security and foreign election interference by accusing members of Congress of leaking classified information “within minutes” after briefings were held. Continue reading “DNI Defends Halting Election Security Briefings By Accusing Congressional Members Of Leaking”
Acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf on Sunday denied knowing that the Trump administration’s naturalization ceremony would later air as part of the Republican National Convention amid concerns that the RNC event was one of several incidents that violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits executive government officials from participating in political activity while on duty. Continue reading “Acting DHS Secretary Denies Knowing WH Naturalization Ceremony Would Air During RNC”
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — One person was shot and killed late Saturday in Portland, Oregon, as a large caravan of President Donald Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter protesters clashed in the streets, police said. Continue reading “1 Killed In Portland Amid Clash Between Trump Supporters And Black Lives Matter Protesters”
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will restart efforts to campaign in person in the coming days, answering calls from allies who say that his lead on Trump has narrowed.
The Washington Post reports that the former Vice President will conduct in-person campaign events amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, particularly to tackle concerns about a need to recapture Minnesota voters and to quell fears that rapper Kanye West, who qualified for the state’s ballot and has petitioned to appear on ballots in a number of battleground states may try to siphon votes with help from GOP strategists. Per the Post, Biden recently mentioned Minnesota among three other states— Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as states due for in-person visits soon.
Republicans have for months teased Biden for not “coming out of the basement,” as Trump put it at a New Hampshire rally on Friday — criticizing the former Vice President’s vigilance about preventing the spread of coronavirus at large gatherings.
We’re going to do it in a way that is totally consistent with being responsible,” Biden told supporters at a virtual fundraiser Thursday — pointing a finger at Trump who he has often criticized for making public appearances to largely maskless crowds of spectators.
Aides told the Post that the Biden campaign is considering a range of event types that honor state rules around group assembly amid the pandemic. One option is “drive-in” rallies modeled after the one Biden and Harris held in Delaware after Biden’s acceptance speech at the virtual Democratic National Convention.
“We’re going to try to find ways to give him venues to connect with people to hear what’s going on in their lives,” Biden deputy campaign manager and communications director, Kate Bedingfield said. She added: “As we are doing this traveling to battleground states, you’re going to hear him talking a lot about his plans to bring manufacturing and supply chains back to America,” in addition to provisions for affordable child care.
After rapper Kanye West sued the Wisconsin Elections Commission on Friday to get his name on the presidential ballot in the state this fall, a less than surprising discovery was made: the address listed for West’s court filing matched that of a GOP state senator who previously served as chief counsel for the Republican National Committee.
Kanye West's address in his court filing to get on the ballot in Wisconsin is the law office of Jill Holtzman Vogel, a Republican state senator from Virginia who previously served as chief counsel for the RNC https://t.co/eA5zrv1uWp
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) August 29, 2020
The rapper’s filing lists an address for the law office of Virginia state Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel — managing partner for the firm Holtzman Vozel, Josefiak, Torchinsky PLLC, which is among the nation’s most prominent GOP elections law firms.
Vogel’s firm has specialized in often stealthily supporting wealthy donors, corporations and political action committees in their efforts to influence elections. The firm has represented super PACs including American Crossroads, the brainchild of former Bush aide and RNC chairman Ed Gillespie and strategist Karl Rove.
In a 2017 run for lieutenant governor of Virginia — Vogel adopted Trump’s drain-the-swamp approach in her platform.
Other partners at the firm include former Trump cabinet secretary Bill McGinley.
Republicans have supported West’s attempts to get on ballots around the country. Lane Ruhland, the attorney who delivered the rapper’s nominating petitions earlier this month, has built a wide profile working for Republicans, including for the Trump campaign.
West’s lawsuit on Friday requested that the local court rule that his nominating papers met the submission deadline to ensure that he appears on the swing state’s ballot in November after he narrowly appeared to miss the state’s filing deadline.
While the WEC voted to dismiss the rapper’s petition on the basis of its lateness, West’s attorneys contend in the complaint that Wisconsin’s deadline expires one minute after 5 p.m., making West’s submission which reportedly arrived seconds after 5 p.m. valid.
The news of West’s address on the lawsuit being tied to the RNC, is the latest evidence that the hiphop icon is being boosted by GOP strategists to drive votes away from the Democratic presidential ticket.
Earlier this month, the rapper met with Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner in Colorado, who during a White House press briefing following the incident, downplayed the meeting saying the pair both “happened” to be in Colorado and simply met for a “friendly discussion.”
West has succeeded in getting his name on a growing list of ballots, recently adding Minnesota and Tennessee.
West has likely zeroed in on Wisconsin as a line of attack because it is among a group of key battleground states where the siphoning even a relatively small number of votes could impact an outcome. Trump won Wisconsin in 2016 by a margin of roughly 22,700 votes.
West has supported President Trump in the past, and in a Forbes interview earlier this month said that he is “not denying” that his campaign could hurt former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential bid.
