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  • In Pittsburgh Speech, Joe Biden Accuses President Donald Trump Of Encouraging Civil Unrest, Political Violence

    In Pittsburgh Speech, Joe Biden Accuses President Donald Trump Of Encouraging Civil Unrest, Political Violence

    Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden on August 31 issued a forceful rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s claim that the former Vice President would preside over a nation overwhelmed by disorder and lawlessness, asserting that it was President Trump who had made the country unsafe through his erratic and incendiary governing style. condemned the violence that has occasionally erupted amid largely peaceful protests over racial injustice, and noted that the chaos was occurring on the president’s watch. He said Trump had made things worse by stoking division amid a national outcry over racism and police brutality. “Does anyone believe there will be less violence in America if Donald Trump is re-elected?” he said. “We need justice in America. We need safety in America. We’re facing multiple crises — crises that, under Donald Trump, have kept multiplying.” Biden also pressed a broader argument that the President was endangering Americans with his response to the public health and economic challenges the country confronts.

    The address was Joe Biden’s most prominent effort yet to deflect the criticism that President Donald Trump and Republicans leveled against him at their convention last week, when they distorted his record on crime and policing. And in a fusillade of tweets over the last 48 hours the President suggested Biden was tolerant of “Anarchists, Thugs & Agitators.” Speaking at the site of a converted steel mill in Pittsburgh with no audience, in a rare campaign appearance outside eastern Pennsylvania or his home state of Delaware, Biden rejected the suggestion that lawlessness would go unchecked under his leadership. “Ask yourself: Do I look like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters?” Biden said. “Really? I want a safe America. Safe from Covid, safe from crime and looting, safe from racially motivated violence, safe from bad cops. Let me be crystal clear: safe from four more years of Donald Trump.” The former Vice President sought to refocus the spotlight on Trump and make the election a referendum on the President’s character and his stewardship of the pandemic. He cast Trump as a destabilizing force who had exacerbated the most urgent problems facing the nation, from the public health crisis, international affairs, and unemployment to issues around police brutality, white supremacy, and racism.

    The exchange between Joe Biden and President Donald Trump over public safety, law enforcement, and civil rights represents a significant, high-profile clash in an election that is now just nine weeks away. The issue is emerging as a test of whether President Trump can shift voters’ focus away from the Coronavirus pandemic and persuade a small slice of undecided white voters to embrace him as a flawed but fierce defender of “law and order,” or whether Biden can counter that appeal by assailing the President as a provocateur of racial division and social disorder. Biden took pains to differentiate between his support for peaceful protests and his opposition to acts of destruction. “Rioting is not protesting,” he said. “Looting is not protesting. Setting fires is not protesting. None of this is protesting. It’s lawlessness, plain and simple. And those who do it should be prosecuted.”

    President Donald Trump has been wielding law-and-order arguments against the former Vice President. In the Pittsburgh speech, Joe Biden tried to turn the story around. He promised he would seek to “lower the temperature in this country,” something he suggested President Trump was unable to do. “He can’t stop the violence because for years he’s fomented it,” Biden said. At a briefing late on August 31, President Trump declined to condemn his supporters’ use of paintballs and pepper spray against protesters in Portland, Oregon, over the weekend. He used the bulk of his time at the podium to criticize Democrats and Biden, saying, “for months Joe Biden has repeated the monster lie that this is a peaceful protest,” and falsely claiming that the former Vice President blamed the police and law enforcement for the violence that was flaring.

    As Presidnt Donald Trump increasingly uses the protests as a wedge issue, election analysts in both parties are taking a second look at a Marquette Law School poll of Wisconsin voters that came out in August. The share of Wisconsin voters expressing support for the protest movement that arose after George Floyd’s death dropped to 48%, from 61% in June. Still, most Wisconsin voters said they do not like President Trump’s handling of the protests. 58% disapproved, while just 32% approved, the poll showed. And Trump saw no improvement in his favorability rating after the Republican National Convention, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released on August 30. Joe Biden, who for years fashioned himself as a “tough on crime” Democrat, won the Democratic primary as an unapologetic moderate, defeating his chief opponent, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. All summer and throughout their convention, Republicans sought to paint Biden as both soft on crime and overly punitive, a strategy that has yet to show it can define the Democrat to Trump’s advantage.

  • OurWeek In Politics (August 12, 2020-August 19, 2020)

    OurWeek In Politics (August 12, 2020-August 19, 2020)

    Here are the main events that occurred in Politics this week:

    1. Israel & United Arab Emirates Sign Landmark Peace Agreement


    In a major shake-up in Middle Eastern politics, Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed a peace agreement this week.

    Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reached a landmark accord sealed by President Donald Trump on August 13 that could presage a broader realignment in the region as the two agreed to “full normalization of relations” in exchange for Israel suspending annexation of occupied West Bank territory. The deal was announced by President Trump, who told reporters in the Oval Office that he had a “very special call” with leaders from both countries, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, and that they had agreed to a peace agreement. Trump also tweeted a lengthy joint statement between the US, UAE and Israel, calling the agreement to “full normalization of relations” between Israel and the UAE a “historic diplomatic breakthrough.” The UAE and Israel plan to exchange embassies and ambassadors, according to the statement. It will be the third Arab country to overtly open relations with Israel, after Egypt and Jordan. “This deal is a significant step towards building a more peaceful, secure, and prosperous Middle East,” Trump said of the agreement. “It will be known as the Abraham Accord,” Trump said of the agreement, which, ​US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said, is named for “the father of all three great faiths,” Christian, Muslim, and Jewish. “I wanted it to be called the Donald J. Trump Accord but I didn’t think the press would understand that,” Trump said to laughter.

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    2. 2020 Election: Trump Campaign Sues New Jersey Over Vote By Mail Plan

    Continuing his crusade against vote by mail efforts, President Donald Trump sued New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy over New Jersey’s plan to conduct the 2020 Election largely by vote by mail due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

    Accusing New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy of a “brazen power grab,” President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign has asked a federal judge to overturn New Jersey’s plan to send ballots to all 6.2 million registered voters this fall. The suit was filed in US District Court by the Trump campaign, joined by the Republican National Committee and the New Jersey Republican State Committee. Among their lawyers is state Senator Michael Testa (R-Cumberland County), a frequent critic of Governor Phil Murphy. “In the state of New Jersey, where their universal vote-by-mail system has already resulted in fraud and disenfranchisement, Governor Murphy continues to remove safeguards against abuse,” Trump campaign counsel Matt Morgan said. “With a stroke of his pen, the governor told his people their votes may not count – they may even be stolen – and that’s fine by him.”

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    3. Senate Releases Final Report On Trump-Russia Connections

    The Trump campaign’s interactions with Russian intelligence services during the 2016 presidential election posed a “grave” counterintelligence threat, a Senate panel concluded on August 18 as it detailed how associates of President Donald Trump had regular contact with Russians and expected to benefit from the Kremlin’s help. The nearly 1,000-page report, the fifth and final one from the Republican-led Senate intelligence committee on the Russia investigation, details how Russia launched an aggressive effort to interfere in the election on Trump’s behalf. It says the Trump campaign chairman had regular contact with a Russian intelligence officer and that other Trump associates were eager to exploit the Kremlin’s aid, particularly by maximizing the impact of the disclosure of Democratic emails hacked by Russian intelligence officers.

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    4. On The First Night Of Democratic National Convention, Michelle Obama Steals Show With Scathing Indictment of President Donald Trump

    During the first night of the Demcoratic national convention, former First Lady Michelle Obama delivered a scathing indictment of President Donald Trump’s policies, character, and handling of the Coronavirus pandemic.

    Michelle Obama delivered a scathing indictment of President Donald Trump’s policies and character August 17 on the first night of the all-virtual Democratic National Convention accusing the White House of sowing “chaos” and “division” and showing a “total and utter lack of empathy.” Coming at the end of a jam-packed two-hour program that tackled the coronavirus crisis, racial justice and the nation’s economic woes, Obama began by acknowledging Americans’ weariness with the current state of affairs. “I know a lot of folks are reluctant to tune into a political convention right now or to politics in general. Believe me, I get that,” she said. “You know I hate politics.” But the former first lady, who has never entertained calls to run for office despite being one of the most popular women in the world, said now is no time to check out. “If you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can, and they will if we don’t make a change in this election,” she said.

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    5. In Powerful Democratic National Convention Speech, Former Republican Candidate John Kasich Denounces President Trump, Endorses Joe Biden For President

    In inspiring Democratic National Convention Speech, former Republican Presidential candidate John Kasich denounces President Trump, endorses Joe Biden for President.

    Former Governor John Kasich of Ohio, the last candidate standing against then-candidate Donald Trump for the Republican nomination four years ago, crossed the partisan divide on August 17 to speak at the Democratic National Convention and call on fellow Republicans to abandon the president in November. In a move that would have once been unthinkable for a committed Republican who toiled for decades in the Ohio statehouse and Congress for conservative causes, Kasich declared that the country could not afford four more years of President Trump in the White House because he was pitting Americans against each other. “I’m a lifelong Republican, but that attachment holds second place to my responsibility to my country,” Kasich said in his speech, which was recorded at a literal country crossroads in Westerville, Ohio, to signify the choice he sees facing the nation. “That’s why I’ve chosen to appear at this convention. In normal times, something like this would probably never happen. But these are not normal times.”

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  • On The First Night Of Democratic National Convention, Michelle Obama Steals Show With Scathing Indictment of President Donald Trump

    On The First Night Of Democratic National Convention, Michelle Obama Steals Show With Scathing Indictment of President Donald Trump

    Michelle Obama delivered a scathing indictment of President Donald Trump’s policies and character August 17 on the first night of the all-virtual Democratic National Convention accusing the White House of sowing “chaos” and “division” and showing a “total and utter lack of empathy.” Coming at the end of a jam-packed two-hour program that tackled the coronavirus crisis, racial justice and the nation’s economic woes, Obama began by acknowledging Americans’ weariness with the current state of affairs. “I know a lot of folks are reluctant to tune into a political convention right now or to politics in general. Believe me, I get that,” she said. “You know I hate politics.” But the former first lady, who has never entertained calls to run for office despite being one of the most popular women in the world, said now is no time to check out. “If you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can, and they will if we don’t make a change in this election,” she said.

    Former First Lady Michelle Obama said President Donald Trump “is clearly in over his head” in handling the Coronavirus pandemic despite ample time to catch up. “He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is,” she said. Obama added: “Whenever we look to this White House for some leadership or consolation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division, and a total and utter lack of empathy. We know that what’s going on in this country is just not right.” The former first lady warned that Trump would do everything he could to stay in power and that the only way to stop him was to commit to vote him out in overwhelming numbers. “We’ve got to be willing to stand in line all night (to vote) if we have to,” Obama said. “We have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it.” On August 18, Trump responded on Twitter to the former first lady, saying that he became President because of “the job done by your husband, Barack Obama.”

    Speaking before Michelle Obama, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont made a similar appeal, focused not on the politically weary but on the politically active people who supported him. He subtly invoked his own Jewish family’s experience in the Holocaust to warn that Trump is trying to destroy democracy. “Under this administration, authoritarianism has taken root in our country. I, and my family, and many of yours, know the insidious way authoritarianism destroys democracy, decency and humanity,” Sanders said. “As long as I am here, I will work with progressives, with moderates, and, yes, with conservatives to preserve this nation from a threat that so many of our heroes fought and died to defeat.” Sanders touted the success his two presidential campaigns have had in moving the Democratic Party and the nation to the left, but said it could all be for naught if Biden does not win. “I say to you, to everyone who supported other candidates in the primary and to those who may have voted for Donald Trump in the last election: The future of our democracy is at stake,” he said. “We must come together, defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as our next president and vice president.”

    The socially distanced 2020 Democratic convention is arguably the most unique political convention since the 1944 Democratic and Republican conventions, which occurred during the height of World War II. While both conventions had full coverage on radio, the television coverage of both conventions aired on a one-day film delay due to wartime restrictions and the primitive state of television broadcasting at the time. These technical issues reduced the feelings of immediacy that live coverage would have brought about. Similarly to the 1944 political conventions, the largely virtual nature of the 2020 conventions perhaps reduced the effectiveness of the live convention coverage. Actress Eva Longoria served as emcee, interviewing everyday Americans over video chat between politicians’ speeches, some of which concluded with many tiny video boxes of people applauding from their couch at home. The virtual format allowed for a wider range of backdrops and for the program to stick closely to schedule, but it also felt eerily quiet and rootless at times with no cheering crowds in a packed arena to center the proceedings. There were a few minor technical glitches, such as speakers unsure of when to begin, but they did little to disrupt the flow.

  • OurWeek In Politics (August 5, 2020-August 12, 2020)

    OurWeek In Politics (August 5, 2020-August 12, 2020)

    Here are the main events that occurred in Politics this week:

    1. 2020 Election: Joe Biden Selects Kamala Harris As Running Mate

    Democratic nominee Joe Biden selected California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate this week.

    Joe Biden has selected California senator Kamala Harris as his Vice-Presidential running mate, a historic choice he believes will bolster his chances of beating Donald Trump in an election year shaped by the Coronavirus pandemic and a national reckoning on race. Senator Harris, Biden’s one-time presidential rival and a barrier-breaking former prosecutor, is the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India and is the first African-American woman and the first Asian-American to be nominated for a major party’s presidential ticket. “I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked Kamala Harris – a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants – as my running mate,” Biden wrote on Twitter. In a tweet, Harris said she was “honored” to join Biden on the Democratic ticket and pledged to “do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief”. Biden announced his selection in a text and email message to supporters. His campaign said the two would hold their first event together on August 12, in Biden’s home town of Wilmington, Delaware.

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    2. President Donald Trump Signs Four Executive Orders Providing Economic Relief Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

    Amid a breakdown in congressional negotiations, President Donald Trump signed several executive orders this week providing economic relief amid the Coronavirus pandemic.

    At his Bedminster, New Jersey golf resort on August 8, President Donald Trump signed four executive actions to provide economic relief amid the coronavirus pandemic. The actions amount to a stopgap measure, after failing to secure an agreement with Congress. The three memorandums and one executive order called for extending some enhanced unemployment benefits, taking steps to stop evictions, continuing the suspension of student loan repayments, and deferring payroll taxes. President Trump promised that funds would be “rapidly distributed” to Americans in need, although it remains unclear whether the president has the authority to do certain steps unilaterally, without congressional approval. In any case, legal challenges are expected, which could delay any disbursement of funds. 

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    3. July Jobs Numbers Reveal Mixed Economic Outlook

    The July jobs report, which was released this week, revealed a still weakened US economy reeling with the Coronavirus pandemic and an uneven recovery.

    The US economy added another 1.8 million jobs in July, a sharp slowdown from June and a small step for an economy that is still down almost 13 million jobs since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic. It was the third straight month of improvement after the spring lockdown that decimated the labor market, and the July job gain exceeded economists’ expectations. Even so, it was far fewer than the 4.8 million jobs added in June. The unemployment rate fell to 10.2%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported August 9 but remains above the recent highs of 10% that were recorded in November of 1982 and October of 2009.

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    4. 2020 Election: NAACP Announces Initiative to Boost African-American Voter Turnout in Key Swing States

    The NAACP this week annoucned a major voter registration initiative ahead of the 2020 Presidential election.

    The NAACP, the largest US civil rights organization, is launching a drive ahead of November’s presidential election to boost African-American voter turnout in six key states, it said on August 12.  The initiative aims to enlist the services of about 200,000 “high-propensity” African-American voters, or people who turned out to vote in a high number of recent local, state and presidential elections.  Those voters, in turn, will seek to mobilize so-called “low-frequency” African-American voters, people who were registered to vote, but who had not voted in the most recent election cycle or several election cycles, in Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, all competitive states in the 2020 Presidential election that recently saw Joe Biden leading in the polls. The goal is to increase African-American turnout by more than 5% compared to 2016. That year, African-American voter turnout declined to its lowest level since 1996, according to the Pew Research Center. “We’ve seen the outcome of when we have a drop in voter activity in the Black community,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson.  “We have racism germinating from the White House,” he said, stressing the urgency of getting African American voters to the polls. 

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  • OurWeek In Politics (July 29, 2020-August 5, 2020)

    OurWeek In Politics (July 29, 2020-August 5, 2020)

    Here are the main events that occurred in Politics this week:

    1. President Donald Trump Proposes Delaying Presidential Election Due To Coronavirus Pandemic

    President Donald Trump Proposes Delaying Presidential Election Due To Coronavirus Pandemic

    President Donald Trump explicitly floated delaying November’s presidential election on July 30, lending an extraordinary voice to persistent concerns that he will seek to circumvent voting in a contest where he currently trails his opponent by double digits. Hours later, President Trump seemed to acknowledge the move was meant to be a “trial balloon” of sorts primarily to inject uncertainty into an election he appears determined to undermine, though he did not entirely back away from the notion of a delay. Trump has no authority to delay an election, and the Constitution gives Congress the power to set the date for voting. Lawmakers from both parties said almost immediately there was no likelihood the election would be delayed and even some of Trump’s allies said his message reflected the desperate flailing of a badly losing candidate. Yet as toothless as it was, Trump’s message did provide an opening, long feared by Democrats, that both he and his supporters might refuse to accept the presidential results. In questioning it ahead of time, Trump is priming those in his camp to doubt the legitimacy of whatever outcome emerges in the first weeks of November.

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    2. US Economy Declines Nearly 33% In The Second Quarter Of 2020

    US Economy Declines Nearly 33% In The Second Quarter Of 2020

    The US economy contracted at a 32.9% annual rate from April through June, its worst drop on record, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said on July 30. Business ground to a halt during the pandemic lockdown inbeginnign in early March of 2020, and America plunged into its first recession in 11 years, putting an end to the longest economic expansion in US history and wiping out five years of economic gains in just a few months. A recession is commonly defined as two consecutive quarters of declining gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the economy. Between January and March, GDP declined by an annualized rate of 5%. But this is no ordinary recession. The combination of public health and economic crises is unprecedented, and numbers cannot fully convey the hardships millions of Americans are facing. In April alone, more than 20 million American jobs vanished as businesses closed and most of the country was under stay-at-home orders. It was the biggest drop in jobs since record-keeping began more than 80 years ago. Claims for unemployment benefits skyrocketed and have still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. While the labor market has been rebounding since some states began to reopen, bringing millions back to work, the country is still down nearly 15 million jobs since February. 

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    3. 2020 Election: Joe Biden To Accept Democratic Nomination Virtually As DNC Scales Back 2020 Convention

    Joe Biden To Accept Democratic Nomination Virtually As DNC Scales Back 2020 Convention

    Joe Biden will not travel to Milwaukee to formally accept the Democratic 2020 presidential nomination at his party’s convention due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, the Democratic National Committee said on August 5. Biden will accept his nomination virtually from his home state of Delaware, the DNC said. The other scheduled speakers, including Biden’s eventual running mate, will now address the convention, remotely through Zoom as well, the committee said, a move that, in effect, makes the event all-virtual. “From the very beginning of this pandemic, we put the health and safety of the American people first. We followed the science, listened to doctors and public health experts, and we continued making adjustments to our plans in order to protect lives. That’s the kind of steady and responsible leadership America deserves. And that’s the leadership Joe Biden will bring to the White House,” said DNC Chair Tom Perez. Perez said that the decision to make the August 17-20 convention all-virtual came after “ongoing consultation with public health officials and experts” who he said “underscored the worsening coronavirus pandemic.”

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    4. Trump Campaign Sues Nevada Over Mail-in Voting Plan

    Trump Campaign Sues Nevada Over Mail-in Voting Plan

    The Trump campaign filed a lawsuit on August 3 against the state of Nevada over its plan to send absentee ballots to all active voters this November in a major expansion of mail-in voting in the battleground state. “The RNC has a vital interest in protecting the ability of Republican voters to cast, and Republican candidates to receive, effective votes in Nevada elections and elsewhere,” the lawsuit, filed by the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and the Nevada Republican Party, said. As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread throughout the country, some states have looked to expand mail-in voting options ahead of November’s election. President Donald Trump, however, has falsely claimed that expanded mail-in voting will lead to fraud in the election.

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