A bipartisan Senate intelligence report offered bountiful insight into the degree to which the Trump campaign mobilized around WikiLeaks’ release of Democratic emails hacked by Russia in a messaging push only described in broad strokes by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Continue reading “‘Blow It Out’: How The Trump Campaign Mobilized Around Russian-Hacked Emails”
There are so many more important events unfolding before us and questions to be answered. But I wanted to share a few thoughts on aesthetics and communications. From the beginning of the pandemic, if you’re a TV watcher, you’ve been watching people interviewed in their homes. The hosts have mainly set up mini-studios so the fact that they’re recording from home is almost hidden. But with guests it’s all pretty clear. They’re in their den or at their computer. They may put some thought into the background. But basically it’s their home.
And really, it’s much better. Certainly it’s more congenial for the guests who don’t have to trek to studios and sit in green rooms for hours for six minutes on air (this is the main reason I seldom do TV). But it’s also better viewing. It’s more relaxed. You see the creature in its natural environment as opposed to through the homogenized medium of TV studios.
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis.
COVID-19 relief negotiations have completely stalled in the Senate, as Republicans remain hellbent on protecting corporations at the expense of the American people and undermining democracy by blocking funding for the Postal Service and election administration. Indeed, the bill they are using as a baseline, the HEALS Act, reveals much about their core priorities and even more about why Democrats should be relentless in their opposition. The omnibus contains measures to implement radical liability protections for businesses, while simultaneously decreasing unemployment benefits as millions are on the brink of financial ruin.
BEIJING (AP) — For more than two months, the 11 million residents of Wuhan endured a strict lockdown as coronavirus raced around the city in central China.
Now, some are letting loose en masse at rocking nighttime pool parties at a popular amusement park chain. The Wuhan Maya Beach Water Park reopened in late June, and the crowds have picked up this month.
Continue reading “Pool Parties Provide Relief For Wuhan Residents After Strict COVID Lockdown”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on Tuesday night refuted accusations that she had gone rogue by nominating Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) during her 2020 Democratic National Convention speech that night, pointing out that the party had asked her to do so in accordance to standard convention rules.
Continue reading “AOC Bats Down Misguided ‘Scandal’ Over Bernie Nomination At DNC”
President Donald Trump repeatedly congratulated conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer for her decisive victory in the Republican House primary for a seat that represents his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
“Great going Laura,” Trump wrote in a Wednesday morning tweet. You have a great chance against a Pelosi puppet!”
The district is currently represented by four-term Democratic Rep. Lois Frankel, who has served since 2013 and ran unopposed two years ago.
Shortly after results emerged from the race late Tuesday, the President retweeted Loomer’s victory results posted by QAnon supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene, who recently declared victory in her GOP primary in Georgia to the glee of a president who has endorsed QAnon candidates and long advanced the views of conspiracy theorists.
Loomer, a right-wing commentator who is also supported by Trump confidant Roger Stone and far-right radio host Alex Jones, has built her profile through controversial and at times racist remarks.
According to the Washington Post, a Twitter account that supports Loomer quoted the candidate in a fundraising message on Tuesday night as saying that “Congress is about to get Loomered,” and “I will have plenty of opportunities in the halls of Congress to confront The Squad members & call them out on their support 4 Communism & j1had1st alliances.”
CBS News reported that Loomer, a pro-Trump protester, was arrested in 2017 at a production of “Julias Caesar” for rushing the Central Park stage shouting, “Stop the normalization of political violence against the right! This is unacceptable!”
Loomer was banned from using Uber and Lyft after posting an anti-Muslim tweet in November 2017, saying that she was late to a meeting because she could not find a “non-Muslim cab or @Uber @Lyft” driver.
Loomer was also barred from Twitter the following year, after calling Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) “anti-Jewish” and blasting the Minnesota Democrat’s religious beliefs.
In September 2018, Loomer was reportedly escorted out of a congressional hearing on social media when she stood up to accuse Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who was testifying, of trying to skew the midterm elections in favor of Democrats.
In Greene’s congratulatory post that was retweeted by Trump, the QAnon supporter called on Dorsey to “re-instate her account.”
The Trump campaign on Tuesday sued to block the state of New Jersey from rolling out the governor’s executive order to mail a ballot to every registered voter in the state ahead of the November elections.
The lawsuit follows an executive order signed by Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) on Friday that would expand mail voting due to health concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Trump campaign lawsuit expands on a months-long baseless argument by President Donald Trump that mail voting promotes fraud.
“In his haste the Governor created a system that will violate eligible citizens’ right to vote,” the plaintiffs’ counsel wrote in the complaint. “By ordering universal vote-by-mail, he has created a recipe for disaster. Fraudulent and invalid votes dilute the votes of honest citizens and deprive them of their right to vote in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
The lawsuit argues that Murphy’s executive order is unconstitutional, saying that his move to sign the executive order resembled a “brazen power grab” to make a decision that the Constitution entrusts to the state legislature.
The suit also mentioned a case of voter fraud during a special election in Paterson, New Jersey, where a council member and a council-elect as well as two other men are now facing charges for voter fraud and other charges.
Murphy previously acknowledged the case as an isolated incident, adding that any potential foul play would be closely watched.
“If you screw around with voting you’re going to be caught,” Murphy said. “I’m pretty sure we have a higher probability of being hit by lighting than uncovering voter fraud.”
President Trump seized on the case in tweets claiming the incident was indicative of a wider trend, but election law experts have said that Trump’s focus on this singular case shows both how rare they are as well as the safeguards in place to protect the integrity of ballots.
“I had been predicting that the Paterson scandal was going to get to the President’s attention, because he’s been making so many unsupported claims about voter fraud that when there is an actual case involving election crime and absentee ballots, it’s not surprising that he’s making some hay out of it,” said Rick Hasen, an election law professor at the University of California Irvine School of Law told NPR.
Trump has made repeated false claims that mail voting will lead to widespread fraud in what appear to be attempts to discourage eligible voter participation, especially in Democratic-led states. Recently he pivoted his mailed ballots attack away from Florida suggesting that it had been “cleaned up” and encouraging his base to use mail voting there.
The Trump campaign’s lawsuit comes as more than 20 states, announced they would be suing to block cost-cutting measures and other changes to the US Postal Service’s mail delivery system amid reports of mail delay.
Trump-allied postmaster general Louis DeJoy, who is scheduled to testify Friday before the Senate, announced Tuesday he would “suspend” his initiatives until after the election “to avoid even the appearance of impact on election mail.”
The governor’s office has yet to respond to the lawsuit.
The U.S. Postal Service enacted a rule this summer banning its clerks from signing mail-in ballots as witnesses while on duty, a restriction that can prevent the ballots from being counted.
As Americans watched from their well-worn couches, where many of us have spent almost all of our time for five months, the Democratic National Convention took its viewers on a coast-to-coast road trip.
Continue reading “From Sea To Shining Sea: A Roll Call Road Trip”
With a soulful closeout from musician John Legend, the second night of the Democratic National Convention ended on a relatively emotional note, with a final address from former second lady Jill Biden.
As an educator, Jill Biden touched on the importance of reopening schools safely and made remarks on her husband’s history of support for universal health care, as well as his emotional intelligence as a leader. Even some cynical watchers were moved, earlier in the evening, by the focus on Joe Biden’s experience of enduring tragedy as well as his friendship with the late-Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
While less politically pointed than Michelle Obama’s speech last night, Jill Biden focused more of her address on her husband’s resilience in the face of loss and tied that into the ongoing threat of COVID-19 in the U.S. as well as the loss of life the U.S. has endured at the hands of the Trump administration.
The most unique aspect of the convention this evening was, of course, the virtual tour of the U.S. where delegates from sea to shining sea appeared in front of acutely specific backgrounds to demonstrate the unique tableau of each state and repeated in a unifying chorus their state’s support for the Biden ticket.
Read our live coverage of the second night of the DNC below:
