Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign on Monday said that he won’t support defunding police departments amid a nationwide push for just that in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Continue reading “Biden Won’t Back Calls To Defund The Police Amid Push After George Floyd’s Death”
Georgia Sees At Least 2,500% Increase In Absentee Voting
Georgia is the latest state to see a major surge in absentee voting in the midst of the pandemic.
Continue reading “Georgia Sees At Least 2,500% Increase In Absentee Voting”
Democrats Unveil Major Police Reform Bill
House Democrats unveiled a landmark police reform bill on Monday as a response to nationwide protests that have called for widespread changes in police departments across the country. The protests were sparked by the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis two weeks ago.
The bill’s biggest reforms including banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants in drug cases — which were highly disputed police practices that led to the death of Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.
Although Republicans have already branded the bill as a radical move to “defund the police,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) swatted down those claims in an MSNBC interview with Craig Melvin on Monday.
“We’re not going to that place,” Pelosi said. “Those are local decisions.”
Yet while she and other Democrats unveiled the bill to press on Monday while donning kente cloth scarves, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) tweeted his support of police officers.
To the police officers across the country who put on the uniform every day and uphold their oath—THANK YOU.
Democrats want to defund you, but Republicans will never turn our backs on you.
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) June 8, 2020
It’s unlikely Democrats will be able to shore up major Republican support when the bill hits the Senate floor by early July. “I’m not over there, so I’m not sure,” Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) told Jake Tapper when asked about the bill’s anticipated Republican supporters in an interview Sunday. “Rand Paul is one who had been an ally before. Once he gets past the lynching issue, hopefully, he will be an ally again.”
The legislation, however, would also make lynching a federal crime. An anti-lynching proposal was stalled in the Senate last week when the “ally” Bass describes — Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) — argued over semantics to narrow the definition of lynching.
Presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden called on Congress in remarks at Philadelphia City Hall last week to “act this month” by passing anti-chokehold legislation that was first introduced by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) in late April that would also classify the technique as an “excessive use of force by police officers.”
Jeffries went a step further on Monday when he called the police chokehold “un-American,” during the press conference that introduced the bill.
Where Things Stand: New Zealand Gets It Right
After imposing a strict lockdown across the country early-on in the coronavirus outbreak, New Zealand seems to be the first country around the globe to fully eradicate COVID-19.
Minneapolis Mayor Won’t Throw Support Behind City Council Pledge To Dismantle Police Department
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey doubled down on his stance against dismantling the city’s police department during an ABC News interview on Monday morning. Continue reading “Minneapolis Mayor Won’t Throw Support Behind City Council Pledge To Dismantle Police Department”
For the First Time Trump Faces Crises Not of His Own Making
There is now if not a consensus at least an emerging question whether President Trump has reached a turning point in his Presidency from which he cannot recover. It is sobering to consider the unfolding gyre of crises. We are in the midst of an historic epidemic which has killed more than 100,000 Americans. We are in the midst of an historic economic crisis. We have witnessed two weeks of unprecedented demonstrations across the country. And if we think back to the calm old days before all this started less than four months ago, that was when the President was impeached after being exposed in an extortion plot aimed at gaming the November election.
Trump Throws Tantrum After CNN Poll Shows Biden Crushing Him By Nearly 15 Points
President Donald Trump had a fit on Monday morning on Twitter in response to a new CNN poll showing that the President is in deep trouble ahead of the presidential election in November.
Continue reading “Trump Throws Tantrum After CNN Poll Shows Biden Crushing Him By Nearly 15 Points”
Pretty Much No One Thinks It’s A Good Idea For Trump To Give A Speech On Racism And Unity
White House officials might be considering a plan for President Trump to formally speak on issues related to race and national unity — an idea that has been met less-than-enthusiastically online.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson hinted at Trump’s plans on Sunday during an interview on CNN.
“I believe you’re going to be hearing from the President this week on this topic in some detail. And I would ask you maybe to reserve judgment until after that time,” Carson told “State of the Union” host Jake Tapper when asked how the President would respond to criticism regarding a post he retweeted that attacked the character of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis two weeks ago.
The potential address from the President was met with skepticism and anger.
John Dean, former White House counsel for Richard Nixon, said succinctly: “Spare us, please!”
Spare us, please! Trump knows nothing about race or national unity, plus he can’t read a teleprompter, so it will be like another hostage video… https://t.co/HdG5bcPWkA
— John Dean (@JohnWDean) June 8, 2020
Stephanie Cutter, a former deputy campaign manager for the Obama administration, said of Trump: “He’s the last person to unify this country.”
Why give him the air time? His misinformation at his press COVID-19 briefings cost lives, his march to St. John's Church holding the bible sparked nationwide protests….can we really afford him addressing the nation? He's the last person to unify this country. We are tired. https://t.co/1WBL9dC3QN
— Stephanie Cutter (@stefcutter) June 8, 2020
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), riffing on reports that the President descended into a secret bunker to hide away from protests as they unfolded outside the White House, said of the President:
Dear @realDonaldTrump: Unless you are able to say Black Lives Matter, you shouldn’t be addressing our nation on issues related to race. You should just stay in your bunker. https://t.co/fGUqMFlEEw
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) June 8, 2020
The last time President Trump attempted to address the nation over the unrest that has followed Floyd’s death, a surreal split-screen unfolded as federal law enforcement in riot gear tear-gassed peaceful protesters assembling in a park outside the White House.
Trump’s own defense secretary, as well as prominent conservatives from the Bush administration and religious leaders from the church where Trump staged a photo-op, have criticized the President’s “show of force” to aggressively disperse protesters from Lafayette Park. Sen Mitt Romney (R-UT) even joined protesters in peaceful march in a move that defied Trump’s attempts to silence them.
Any comments made by the President would follow earlier remarks by the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee, Joe Biden. The former VP criticized the President for fanning the “flames of hate” in an address that focused on issues of racial injustice and unity at Philadelphia City Hall last week. The former vice president called out for unity denouncing Trump for seizing a moment of reckoning with the country’s painful history of systemic racism to sow further division.
‘All Eyes Will Be On New York’: City Begins Reopening After Months Of Lockdown
NEW YORK (AP) — After three bleak months, New York, the corner of the U.S. hit hardest by the coronavirus, gradually began reopening Monday in what was seen as a landmark moment in the crisis and a test of the city’s discipline.
With the virus in check — at least for now — stores previously deemed nonessential were cleared to reopen for delivery and pickup, though customers cannot yet browse inside. Construction, manufacturing and wholesalers also received the go-ahead to resume work.
Continue reading “‘All Eyes Will Be On New York’: City Begins Reopening After Months Of Lockdown”
Trump Mocks Romney For Participating In Black Lives Matter Protest: ‘What A Guy’
President Donald Trump took a dig at Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) on Monday morning after the Utah lawmaker marched in a Black Lives Matter protest with evangelical Christians in Washington, D.C. against police brutality on Sunday.
Continue reading “Trump Mocks Romney For Participating In Black Lives Matter Protest: ‘What A Guy’”