Category: Trump Administration

GOP senators reject Trump’s assertion about transfer of power — with no direct criticism of the president

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Senate Republicans opposed President Trump’s assertion that he might reject a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the November election, trying to deflect his challenge to a foundation of American democracy as bravado that will not actually occur.

Republicans, with almost no direct criticism of Trump’s statements, uniformly asserted that if Joe Biden wins the election, they will support a peaceful transition to the Democrat’s inauguration in January.

“The winner of the November 3rd election will be inaugurated on January 20th. There will be an orderly transition just as there has been every four years since 1792,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) tweeted early Thursday, following the president’s comments late Wednesday night. Continue reading.

Here’s what happened when a duped Trump supporter found out he believed fake news

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Disturbing footage of President Donald Trump’s supporters being confronted with hard facts shows just how damaging the president’s manipulation is for the American public.

Although Trump has defended his circulation of inaccurate and manipulated content as humorous, his supporters often believe the things he says regardless of how outlandish his claims may be.

CNN reporter Donie O’Sullivan traveled to Minnesota ahead of Trump’s recent rally. He spoke with several of the president’s supporters asking them about the posts they see on their Facebook feeds. Most agreed the vast majority of the information they view is based on right-wing media. When asked about Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, one of Trump’s supporters ultimately pointed to a doctored clip of him appearing to fall asleep on-air during an interview. Continue reading.

The White House says Trump will accept election results. Feel better? You shouldn’t.

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IT WOULD have been unthinkable, not long ago, for a White House to have to issue such a clarification. Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany averred Thursday that President Trump “will accept the results of a free and fair election.” Ms. McEnany was not rebutting some kind of fevered left-wing conspiracy theory but the president’s own words. “We’re going to have to see what happens,” Mr. Trump said Wednesday when asked whether he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power. “Get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation,” he said.

Sadly, there’s a limit to how much reassurance Ms. McEnany can provide. Mr. Trump will reserve to himself the right to determine whether the election is “free and fair,” and he has already said the only way he could lose is through fraud. Mr. Trump and Attorney General William P. Barr have pre-spun the results by fanning conspiracy theories about mail-in ballots. “Get rid of the ballots” means curbing the mail-in voting that large numbers of Democrats say they will use this year.

There’s a touch, but only a touch, more reassurance to be had from the mild condemnationsthat Republicans issued following the president’s antidemocratic statement. There is some comfort in the fact that they said anything at all; such things are not guaranteed these days. But it is easy for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to say that “the winner of the November 3rd election will be inaugurated on January 20th.” It may take more gumption for them to do the right thing after their president has spun a narrative of massive electoral fraud. Continue reading.

Why these two former GOP congressmen are supporting Joe Biden

Choose unity over continued division in 2020, Djou and Edwards say

The two of us should be among Donald Trump’s biggest supporters. One of us (Mickey) is a founding trustee of the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank and a former chairman of the American Conservative Union. Another (Charles) is an Afghanistan War veteran, a devout Christian and a graduate of Trump’s alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance. Both of us were elected to Congress as Republicans.

It is precisely because of, not despite, our backgrounds that neither of us are supporting Trump’s reelection.

We believe America is a wonderful and unique nation. The United States is the beacon of liberty to the world not because we are great or need to be great again, but because we are good. Childish name-calling, crude behavior and immature narcissism is unwarranted in any adult, let alone our president. Continue reading.

After years of promising his own health care plan, Trump settles for rebranding rather than repealing Obamacare

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President Trump capped his fruitless four-year journey to abolish and replace the Affordable Care Act by signing an executive order Thursday that aims to enshrine the law’s most popular feature while pivoting away from a broader effort to overhaul the nation’s health insurance system.

The order declares it is the policy of the United States for people with preexisting health conditions to be protected, avoiding the thorny details of how to ensure such protections without either leaving the ACA, or Obamacare, in place or crafting new comprehensive legislation.

Trump announced the move during a trip to North Carolina, outlining his “vision” for revamping parts of the nation’s health care. During the speech, which came shortly before a campaign swing to Florida, Trump barely veiled the political nature of his intent. Continue reading.

How Trump is undermining his own vaccine race

Operation Warp Speed is the administration’s best attempt at fighting coronavirus, experts say, but White House meddling has caused public confidence to plummet.

FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn spent weeks preparing a proposal to set more stringent standards for emergency authorization of a coronavirus vaccine, hoping to boost public trust in the government’s biggest public health decision in decades. 

“Science will guide our decisions,” he pledged to a Senate panel on Wednesday. “FDA will not permit any pressure from anyone to change that.”

Hours later, President Donald Trump sought to do just that. Incensed over the prospect the new guidelines could slow the process, Trump blew up the FDA’s carefully laid plans – vowing to have final say over his administration’s procedures for authorizing a long-sought Covid-19 vaccine. The White House has since demanded that Hahn submit a fuller justification of his bid to set stricter standards, two administration officials said, a directive that could halt the proposal indefinitely. Continue reading.

Job Rebound Is ‘Losing Steam’ as Crisis Passes Six-Month Mark

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New filings for unemployment benefits rose last week, signaling continued layoffs even before autumn chills outdoor business.

Six months into the pandemic-induced economic crisis, the layoffs keep coming.

About 825,000 people filed for state unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. That figure, which does not reflect seasonal adjustments, is far below the more than six million a week who were filing as layoffs peaked in the spring, but higher than in the worst weeks of many past recessions. Millions are relying on unemployment benefits to meet their basic expenses.

Worse, progress is slowing: Applications for state jobless benefits rose last week, and have been falling only slowly since midsummer. Continue reading.

Trump says he’s sending seniors $200 drug coupons

A watchdog group decries the pre-election timing.

President Donald Trump is promising to send $200 drug discount cards to 33 million seniors, an election year bid aimed at saying he’s lowering sky high prescription drug costs for older Americans.

“Nobody’s seen this before, these cards are incredible,” Trump said Thursday during a speech on health care. “The cards will be mailed out in coming weeks, I will always take care of our wonderful senior citizens. Joe Biden won’t be doing this.”

Sending coupons to that many Medicare beneficiaries would cost at least $6.6 billion. Two senior White House staff said the money can be used as part of a Medicare program, called the 402 demonstration, that tests innovations that could save money or improve the quality of care in Medicare. Continue reading.

In Politically Charged Inquiry, Durham Sought Details About Scrutiny of Clintons

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John Durham’s team has sought information about the F.B.I.’s handling of the Clinton Foundation investigation, raising questions about the scope of the prosecutor’s review.

WASHINGTON — From the beginning, John H. Durham’s inquiry into the Russia investigation has been politically charged. President Trump promoted it as certain to uncover a “deep state” plot against him, Attorney General William P. Barr rebuked the investigators under scrutiny, and he and Mr. Durham publicly second-guessed an independent inspector general and traveled the globe to chase down conspiracy theories.

It turns out that Mr. Durham also focused attention on certain political enemies of Mr. Trump: the Clintons.

Mr. Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut assigned by Mr. Barr to review the Russia inquiry, has sought documents and interviews about how federal law enforcement officials handled an investigation around the same time into allegations of political corruption at the Clinton Foundation, according to people familiar with the matter. Continue reading.

Judge says 2020 census must continue for another month

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge has stopped the 2020 census from finishing at month’s end and suspended a year-end deadline for delivering the numbers needed to decide how many seats each state gets in Congress.

The preliminary injunction granted by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in California late Thursday allows the once-a-decade head count of every U.S. resident to continue through the end of October.

Koh said the shortened schedule ordered by President Donald Trump’s administration likely would produce inaccurate results that would last a decade. Continue reading.