Розділ: Політика
Pandemic or Not, They Make Elections Work
From making sure voters are eligible to cast a ballot, to tracking and reporting results, local election officers are key players in the U.S. presidential election. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports on what they’re doing to make the voting fair and safe.Camera and Produced by: Veronica Balderas Iglesias
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By Polityk | 10/20/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
If Democrats Can, Should They Pack US Supreme Court?
As Republicans rush to confirm Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump’s pick to replace the late-Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court before Election Day, some liberal Democrats are floating the idea of adding more seats to the court — beyond the current nine. The number of justices has changed over time, from six to as many as 10, but the number has remained steady at nine since 1869. In the 1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to pack the court to preserve his New Deal legislation, which kept getting struck down by the high court. He failed. If Democrats capture the White House and Senate, while retaining majority control of the House of Representatives, there is no constitutional impediment to following through on the idea. “There’s nothing in the Constitution that says that the Supreme Court has to have one or two or five or 10 members,” says Calvin Schermerhorn, professor of history at Arizona State University. “It’s silent on how many members there are on the Supreme Court. It only says that there shall be a chief justice, and Congress will have the power to shape the court and configure them in the best interest of justice.” Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, meets with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at the Capitol, September 29, 2020 in Washington.Democrats would have to change filibuster rules in the Senate to lower the threshold for passing legislation from 60 votes to a simple majority of the 100-member chamber to change the number of justices on the high court. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has declined to say whether he would support an expansion of the Supreme Court if he wins election and the Democrats take back control of the Senate, but has promised to reveal his position before Election Day. Expanding the court for political reasons could damage the integrity of the Supreme Court, says Nicole Huberfeld, professor of law at Boston University. “People worry already about whether the Supreme Court is a political actor, rather than apolitical. I do think that adding justices so that one president can appoint a whole bunch of justices could affect the institutional integrity, or at least the perception of institutional integrity,” she says. “The authority of the court largely comes from respecting the decisions of the justices, and the court of itself doesn’t actually have any way to ensure that its decisions are implemented,” Huberfeld adds. “If people stop thinking that’s the law of the land, then the court has an institutional integrity problem.”Associate Justice David Souter signs documents of office at the Supreme Court after being sworn in as the newest member of the high court in Washington, Oct. 9, 1990.Most Americans trust the U.S. Supreme Court to act in the best interests of the nation, according to FILE – In this May 10, 2016 photo, President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland meets with Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, on Capitol Hill in Washington.But again, Schermerhorn says, none of that would have fazed the nation’s founders. “They would have understood this is as partisan combat and not as a matter of constitutional principle,” he says. “There would have been no hesitation for the party in power in doing exactly what Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has done in his tenure as leader of the Republican-controlled Senate. That’s not to say that this is a model that ought to be followed, that just because the founders thought or did something means that it’s worthy of emulation.” Huberfeld says it is important to remember that there is more to the high court’s work than the few cases that draw the most attention and controversy, such as those dealing with health care, abortion or LGBTQ rights.. “The way that the court decides cases is much more than the handful of cases that people tend to talk about in political conversation. There are many cases the court hears that are just basic statutory interpretation. There are many cases the court hears that are criminal procedure cases,” she says. “Typically, at least in the modern era, once people are appointed, they tend to take that appointment quite seriously and to sort of put politics behind them.” She points out that justices don’t always rule as expected. For example, conservative Scalia’s interpretation of the Constitution led him to be protective of the rights of criminal defendants. While Trump appointee Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion that gay and transgender workers are protected by the Civil Rights Act. “So, I think the question before the court isn’t always a matter of this political ideology that people ascribe to the justices. It’s much more a matter of what the question is before the court and how the judges interpret it,” Huberfeld says.
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By Polityk | 10/20/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Senate to Work Through Weekend to Push Barrett Onto Court
Wasting no time, the Senate is on track to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court by next Monday, charging toward a rare weekend session as Republicans push past procedural steps to install President Donald Trump’s pick before Election Day.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he will begin the process as soon as the Senate Judiciary Committee wraps up its work Thursday. With a 53-47 Republican majority, and just two GOP senators opposed, Trump’s nominee is on a glide path to confirmation that will seal a conservative hold on the court for years to come.
McConnell said Monday that Barrett demonstrated over several days of public hearings the “sheer intellectual horsepower that the American people deserve to have on the Supreme Court.”
Without the votes to stop Barrett’s ascent, Democrats have few options left. They are searching for two more GOP senators to break ranks and halt confirmation, but that seems unlikely. Never before has a court nominee been voted on so close to a presidential election.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer decried what he called the “farcical” process to “jam” through Trump’s choice, even as the coronavirus outbreak sidelined GOP senators.
“The Republican majority is running the most hypocritical, most partisan and least legitimate process in the history of Supreme Court confirmations,” he said during speech as the Senate opened.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to meet Thursday to vote on recommending Barrett’s nomination to the full Senate.
By Friday, procedural votes are expected, continuing over the weekend as Republicans push through the steps for a final vote to confirm Barrett as soon as Monday.
The 48-year-old appellate court judge from Indiana delivered few specific answers during several days of public testimony as senators probed her previously outspoken views against abortion, the Affordable Care Act and other issues before the court. She declined to say whether she would recuse herself from cases involving the election between Trump and Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump has said he wants the judge seated in time to hear any potential disputes from the Nov. 3 election. He also has said he’s looking for a judge who would rule against the Obama-era health care law, which is headed to the court in a case justices are expected to hear Nov. 10.
If confirmed, Barrett would be Trump’s third justice on the court. She would fill the vacancy from the late Ruth Bader Ginsberg, the liberal icon, locking in a 6-3 conservative majority on the high court.
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By Polityk | 10/20/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
US Presidential Debate Set For Thursday With New Rules
The second and final debate before the U.S. presidential election appears set to go forward with new rules in place meant to prevent the candidates from talking over each other. President Donald Trump expressed his displeasure with the overall setup, telling reporters Monday that while he thinks “it is very unfair,” he will be a part of Thursday’s event in Nashville, Tennessee. “I will participate but it’s very unfair that they changed the topics and it’s very unfair that again we have an anchor who is totally biased,” Trump said. Kristen Welker, a respected NBC White House reporter, is moderating the debate and has chosen to ask Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden about fighting COVID-19, American families, race in America, climate change, national security and leadership. Trump’s campaign said earlier Monday the debate should focus more on international issues. Biden’s campaign said Trump was seeking to avoid discussing how his administration has handled the coronavirus pandemic, and that both sides had agreed to let moderators choose the topics for the debates.Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden arrives to speak during a campaign event at Riverside High School in Durham, N.C., Oct. 18, 2020.”As usual, the president is more concerned with the rules of a debate than he is getting a nation in crisis the help it needs,” Biden spokesman TJ Ducklo said. The format of Thursday’s debate will be 15-minute segments for different topics, during which each candidate will have two minutes to speak, followed by open discussion. In the first presidential debate in late September, Trump repeatedly interrupted Biden, who at one point responded: “Will you shut up, man?” The commission pledged to institute reforms to better facilitate a meaningful debate, and on Monday announced that during the two-minute exclusive period, only one candidate will have his microphone turned on. “Both campaigns this week reaffirmed their agreement to the two-minute, uninterrupted rule,” it said in a statement. “The Commission is announcing today that in order to enforce this agreed upon rule, the only candidate whose microphone will be open during these two-minute periods is the candidate who has the floor under the rules.” The commission said neither campaign may be totally satisfied with the rules, but that it believes the actions “strike the right balance and that they are in the interest of the American people.” The presidential candidates first debated in late September and were due to have another earlier this month. But Trump tested positive for COVID-19 and when the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates decided to have the candidates participate remotely, the president withdrew.
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By Polityk | 10/20/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump Objects to ‘Mute’ Button in Next Biden Matchup, But Debate Will Go On
Thursday’s debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger former Vice President Joe Biden will feature a mute button to allow each candidate to speak uninterrupted, organizers said Monday, in a bid to avoid the disruptions that marred the first matchup. The Presidential Commission on Debates said each candidate’s microphone would be silenced to allow the other to make two minutes of opening remarks at the beginning of each 15-minute segment of the debate. Both microphones will be turned on to allow a back-and-forth after that time. Trump’s campaign objected to the change but said the president would still take part. “President Trump is committed to debating Joe Biden regardless of last-minute rule changes from the biased commission in their latest attempt to provide advantage to their favored candidate,” campaign manager Bill Stepien said. The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest developments. The news came the day the number of Americans voting early ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3 crossed the 30 million mark and as Trump tries to reframe a contest in which national and state opinion polls show him trailing. Trump repeatedly interrupted Biden during a chaotic and ill-tempered debate on Sept. 29, and Biden responded with insults. Trump backed out of a second scheduled debate set for last Thursday over a disagreement about the virtual format following his COVID-19 infection. At that time, he raised concerns about having his microphone muted. “You sit behind a computer and do a debate – it’s ridiculous, and then they cut you off whenever they want,” Trump said in an Oct. 8 interview on Fox Business. On Monday, Trump’s campaign said it was unhappy with the announced set of topics for Thursday’s debate, arguing that it should focus more on foreign policy and complaining that the nonpartisan group was tilted toward Biden. Biden’s campaign said both sides previously agreed to let moderators choose the subjects. It said Trump wanted to avoid discussing his stewardship of the coronavirus pandemic, which surveys show is the top issue for voters. “As usual, the president is more concerned with the rules of a debate than he is getting a nation in crisis the help it needs,” Biden spokesman TJ Ducklo said.
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By Polityk | 10/20/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump Campaign Tries to Hold on to Reliably Republican Arizona
“If we win this state, we win it all,” U.S. President Donald Trump declared Monday at a political rally in the state of Arizona, which has 11 electoral votes out of the 270 needed to win the presidency. Trump won the state by 4 percentage points in 2016. “We’re in first place in Arizona,” Trump said at the political rally in Prescott, his first of two during the day in the southwestern state, two weeks before the general election. An average of major polls that have been released this month shows Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden leading in Arizona by about 3 percentage points — within the margin of error for most surveys, meaning that political observers regard the race as virtually tied. Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden waves as he arrives at The Queen theatre in Wilmington, Del., Oct. 19, 2020.“It’s not a typical red (Republican) state,” explained Frank Gonzalez, an assistant professor in the School of Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona. “It has sort of its own culture. Arizonans pride themselves on not just following what the other red states are doing.” Trump’s image as a political outsider and his maverick approach appealed to Arizonans in 2016. Since then, his image is more akin “to the sort of spirit Arizonans reject, which is like this cult mindset of just follow the leader,” Gonzalez told VOA on Monday. Meanwhile, COVID-19 has disproportionately affected the state’s Latino and Indigenous populations. “The Trump campaign has not figured out how to get Trump to be winning on that issue, or on education or health care, which are big priorities for Arizonans,” Gonzalez said. “And it’s two weeks out, and tons of people have already voted.” A former attorney general of Arizona, Grant Woods, is critical of Trump holding Monday’s outdoor rallies without social distancing at a time when the number of coronavirus cases in the state is going up.“What is the point of packing 1,000 people into a confined space without masks? The point is to make him feel better about things. But it’s not lost on people that is reckless behavior only to stroke his ego,” Woods, a Republican-turned-Democrat, told VOA. Supporters attend a campaign rally held by U.S. President Donald Trump at Tucson International Airport in Tucson, Arizona, Oct. 19, 2020.Trump, at the Prescott rally, criticized the media for continuously focusing on the coronavirus, contending that Americans have tired of cable news coverage of the pandemic and that it is an attempt to suppress voting. “People aren’t buying it, CNN, you dumb bastards,” the president said. His second rally of the day, in Tucson, was attended by about 10,000 people, according to campaign and security officials. Arizona, the last of the contiguous states to enter the union in the 1912, has not selected a Democrat for president in 24 years. Republicans still dominate among registered voters. There is little likelihood of Trump winning reelection without Arizona, according to Ruth Jones, a professor emeritus at Arizona State University’s School of Politics and Global Studies. “If the tide is going against him in Arizona, it probably is going to trend against him in one or two of the other swing or must-have states,” Jones told VOA. “What state could he pick up to balance out Arizona?” Arizona was the home of the late Sen. Barry Goldwater, who lost the 1964 presidential election to Democratic Party nominee Lyndon Johnson and who was the ideological forebearer to the Republican Party’s Ronald Reagan revolution of the 1980s. Over the years, the border state’s demographics have changed. It has become increasingly urban, and the electorate is trending toward the college-educated and Latinos — two groups that tend to favor the Democratic Party. Biden stayed in his home state of Delaware on Monday where he taped a (CBS News “60 Minutes”) television interview set to air on Sunday. He is also preparing for his second debate with Trump scheduled for Thursday in Nashville, Tennessee. Biden’s campaign released a statement criticizing Trump’s visit to Arizona. “President Trump is spending the final days of his campaign trying to sow division and distract the American people from his failure to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. He wants to sell Arizona families more of the same reckless leadership that has devastated the state’s economy, shuttered thousands of small businesses, and threatens protections for the 2.8 million Arizonans living with a preexisting condition,” Biden said in the statement. “He’s insulted our heroes like my friend Senator John McCain by calling them ‘losers’ and ‘suckers.’” FILE – Cindy McCain, wife of former Arizona Sen. John McCain, waves at the Capitol in Phoenix, Jan. 13, 2020.McCain’s widow, Cindy McCain, has endorsed Biden. “It (Cindy McCain’s endorsement) kind of gives permission to an awful lot of Arizonans, and in particular Arizona women — who traditionally might have voted for the Republican candidate — that it’s OK to vote for the Democratic candidate, because that candidate is Joe Biden,” Woods said. Regardless of party affiliation, voters in the state have long identified themselves as moderates. Democrats are hoping to use the state’s middle-of-the-road approach and independent streak to help them take control of the U.S. Senate. Republican Sen. Martha McSally is running behind her general election challenger, Mark Kelly, a retired astronaut and husband of former Democratic Party Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt near Tucson in 2011. “Kelly is running essentially as a moderate. He would very easily be a Republican in some other states,” Gonzalez said. Trump’s appearances in Arizona likely will not give McSally much of a boost, as the president’s focus on his base is not the voting bloc the incumbent senator needs to motivate to overcome Kelly. “It might help nudge a few more Trump supporters to turn out and provide some down-ticket support, but it will be minimal,” according to Jones. “More likely to have some impact is the avalanche of new money that has been pouring in for more targeted ads and social media messages.” Trump said the fate of his campaign in Arizona is not tied to that of McSally’s. “I know I’m doing very well,” the president told reporters in Phoenix before flying to Tucson. “I don’t know what her numbers are – haven’t looked. But I hope she does well. She’s a very good person. I know my numbers, as you know, are very good in Arizona.”
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By Polityk | 10/20/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump Goes After Fauci, Tries to Buck Up His Campaign Team
President Donald Trump heaped criticism Monday against Dr. Anthony Fauci, the press and the polls that show him trailing Democrat Joe Biden in key battleground states two weeks before Election Day. On the third day of a Western campaign swing, Trump is hoping for the type of last-minute surge that gave him a come-from-behind victory four years ago. His aggressive travel comes as Trump plays defense in states he won four years ago, though the president insisted he was confident as he executed a packed schedule despite the pandemic. “We’re going to win,” he told campaign staff on a morning conference call from Las Vegas. He went on to acknowledge: “I wouldn’t have told you that maybe two or three weeks ago,” referring to the days when he was hospitalized with COVID-19. Seeking to shore up the morale of his staff, Trump blasted his government’s own scientific experts as too negative, even as his handling of the pandemic that has killed more than 220,000 Americans remains a central issue to voters. “People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots,” Trump said of the government’s top infectious disease expert. “Every time he goes on television, there’s always a bomb. But there’s a bigger bomb if you fire him. But Fauci’s a disaster.” At a rally in Prescott, Arizona, Trump assailed Biden for pledging to heed the advice of scientific experts, saying dismissively that his rival “wants to listen to Dr. Fauci.” The doctor is both respected and popular, and Trump’s rejection of scientific advice on the pandemic has drawn bipartisan condemnation. At his rally, Trump also ramped up his attacks on the news media, singling out NBC’s Kristen Welker, the moderator of the next presidential debate, as well as CNN for aggressively covering a pandemic that is now infecting tens of thousands of Americans every day. Fauci, in an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes that aired Sunday, said he was not surprised that Trump contracted the virus after he held a series of large events with few face coverings. Fauci also objected to the president’s campaign using his words in a campaign ad. “I was worried that he was going to get sick when I saw him in a completely precarious situation of crowded, no separation between people, and almost nobody wearing a mask,” Fauci said of the president. Trump’s comments drew a defense of Fauci from Tennessee GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander, who praised the doctor as one of the nation’s “most distinguished public servants.” As Trump turned his flouting of scientific advice into a campaign applause line, Alexander added that if more Americans had heeded Fauci’s advice, “we’d have fewer cases of COVID-19, and it would be safer to go back to school and back to work and out to eat.” Biden was off the campaign trail Monday, preparing for Thursday’s second and final debate. His campaign praised Fauci while saying that “Trump’s reckless and negligent leadership threatens to put more lives at risk.” “Trump’s closing message in the final days of the 2020 race is to publicly mock Joe Biden for trusting science and to call Dr. Fauci, the leading public health official on COVID-19, a ‘disaster’ and other public health officials ‘idiots,'” the campaign said. “Trump is mocking Biden for listening to science. Science.”
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By Polityk | 10/20/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
The Search for Credible Election News
The spread of misinformation makes the search for trustworthy news that much harder. But as Tina Trinh reporters, tech companies are identifying media bias and helping readers discern the real news from the fake.
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By Polityk | 10/19/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump, Biden Campaign in Swing States They are Trying to Flip
President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden campaigned Sunday in swing states they are trying to flip during the Nov. 3 election that is just more than two weeks away. Trump began his day in Nevada, making a visit to church before a fundraiser and an evening rally in Carson City. Once considered a battleground, Nevada has not swung for a Republican presidential contender since 2004. The rally drew thousands of supporters who sat elbow to elbow, cheering Trump and booing Biden and the press. The vast majority wore no masks to guard against the coronavirus, though cases in the state are on the rise, with more than 1,000 new infections reported Saturday. The president warned that a Biden win would lead to further lockdowns and at one point appeared to mock Biden for saying he would listen to scientists. “He’ll listen to the scientists. If I listened totally to the scientists, we would right now have a country that would be in a massive depression,” Trump said. Biden, a practicing Catholic, attended Mass in Delaware before campaigning in North Carolina, where a Democrat has not won in a presidential race since Barack Obama in 2008. Both candidates are trying to make inroads in states that could help secure a path to victory, but the dynamics of the race are remarkably stable. Biden enjoys a significant advantage in national polls, while carrying a smaller edge in battleground surveys. Earlier in the day, Trump sat in the front row at the nondenominational International Church of Las Vegas as the senior associate pastor, Denise Goulet, said God told her early that morning that the president would secure a second term. “At 4:30, the Lord said to me, ‘I am going to give your president a second win,'” she said, telling Trump, “you will be the president again.” Trump spoke briefly, saying “I love going to churches” and that it was “a great honor” to attend the service. He dropped a handful of $20 bills in the collection plate before leaving. The message was far different later in the day, when Biden attended a virtual discussion with African American faith leaders from around the country. Biden held up a rosary, which he said he carries in his pocket every day. “I happen to be a Roman Catholic,” Biden said. “I don’t pray for God to protect me. I pray to God to give me strength to see what other people are dealing with.” Earlier, at a drive-in rally in Durham, North Carolina, Biden focused heavily on promoting criminal justice changes to combat institutional racism and promised to help build wealth in the Black community. He noted that Trump had said at one of his rallies that the country had turned the corner on the pandemic. “As my grandfather would say, this guy’s gone around the bend if he thinks we’ve turned the corner. Turning the corner? Things are getting worse,” Biden said. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. recorded more than 53,000 new cases of the coronavirus Sunday. In addition to public polling that indicates Biden has an edge, the former vice president enjoys another considerable advantage over Trump: money. Trump raked in $12 million during a fundraiser Sunday afternoon at the Newport Beach home of top GOP donor and tech mogul Palmer Luckey, which also featured a performance by the Beach Boys. But over the past four months, Biden has raised over $1 billion, a massive amount of money that has eclipsed Trump’s once-overwhelming cash advantage. Trump’s visit to Nevada is part of an aggressive schedule of campaign events, where he has leaned heavily into fear tactics. Trump’s Carson City rally was held at an airport where he relived fond moments from his 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton, revisited his long-running feud with NFL players and went on an extended rant about water management policy, which he blamed for people having to “flush their toilet 15 times.” He also added to his litany of attacks against Biden, claiming that, if Biden were elected, he would mandate new lockdown measures that would make Carson City “a ghost town” and “the Christmas season will be canceled.” Biden started his day with Mass in Delaware at St. Joseph’s on the Brandywine, as he does nearly every week. He and his wife, Jill, entered wearing dark-colored face masks. She carried a bunch of flowers that including pink roses. The church is a few minutes’ drive from Biden’s home. Biden’s son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015, is buried in the cemetery on its grounds. Joe and Jill Biden visited the grave after the service. Trump attends church far less often but has drawn strong support from white Evangelical leaders and frequently hosts groups of pastors at the White House. Trump often goes to the Church of Bethesda-By-The Sea near Mar-a-Lago in Florida for major holidays, including Easter, and he attended a Christmas Eve service last year at Family Church in West Palm Beach before the onset of the pandemic.
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By Polityk | 10/19/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Muslim Americans Could Determine Whether Trump or Biden Wins Michigan
When Michigan voter Dr. Mahmoud Al-Hadidi casts his ballot in the November election, there is one issue that rises above all others as he makes his choice — respect.
“In this election, honestly, respect and recognition,” the emergency room physician told VOA during a recent interview at his lakefront home in the southeastern part of the state. “The Muslim community would like to be acknowledged as part of this great American nation, and not as an alien culture to this nation. The Muslim community would like to be treated with respect.”
Al-Hadidi supported Democratic former secretary of state Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. He also backed Michigan’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, in her successful run in 2018.
But this time around, he isn’t sure if he’ll support Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden over President Donald Trump, a Republican.
“I would like some of my concerns addressed before I make up my mind,” he said.
One concern is the U.S. government’s “Terrorist Screening Database” — commonly known as “the watchlist” — which many Muslim Americans feel targets innocent members of their community. A subset of the database is the “no fly” list of individuals barred from boarding commercial flights.
“Definitely that list should be updated,” Al-Hadidi said. “Those who are wrongfully on that list should have their dignity back and should be removed. And that would be fair and just.”
Al-Hadidi added that he would like to see a Muslim American appointed to a high-ranking position in the next administration.
“You’ve got to tell people something to excite them to go out and vote,” said Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab American News, a website and newspaper popular with Michigan’s large Arab and Muslim American community. “Just because Biden is not Trump is not a good reason for me to go out and vote.”
While Muslim Americans make up about one percent of the overall U.S. population, they have an outsized influence in Michigan, a battleground state that President Trump narrowly won in 2016 by just over ten thousand votes out of more than 4.5 million cast.
While the state’s 270,000 registered voters of the Muslim faith could impact the outcome of this year’s presidential race, their preferences are just as diverse as their community.
“Some members of our community can believe that Trump is good on the economy, on business,” Siblani said in an interview at his office in Dearborn. “They may vote on this principle. But a majority of the Arab American community, they want from Biden to hear some commitment to them to excite them to go out and vote because, frankly, under Obama-Biden, Muslims were discriminated against [as well].
“The terrorist watch list started under the Bush administration, but it has been beefed up and became more hurtful to the community than ever,” he added.
Siblani also says many in the community are outraged over the Trump administration’s ban on travelers from some countries with majority-Muslim populations — a ban Biden has pledged to end. At the same time, he said there is recognition and support for Trump’s efforts to promote peace and reduce U.S. troop levels in the Middle East.
“We would like to have a conversation with the Trump administration,” he said. “I believe that there are some issues that we are very interested in. Him not being very hawkish on war in the region, that’s very important to us.”
Siblani believes the choice for president in this election is not an easy one for many Muslim Americans.
“There is like 50% to 60% of our community that is not excited by the Biden campaign,” he said. “They’re disgusted with the Trump campaign.”
Others see the contest differently.
“It’s not that people are deciding between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Often times it’s between Joe Biden and not voting,” said epidemiologist Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a former executive director of Detroit’s Health Department who ran against Whitmer for the Democratic nomination for Michigan governor in 2018.
Today he is chair of the political action committee Southpaw Michigan, which advocates for progressive causes.
“The point that I’ll always make to the community is you are voting for your own political power,” El-Sayed told VOA during a recent Skype interview. “As the proportion of Arab Americans voting and Muslim Americans voting in elections grows, it forces politicians to pay attention because if they want those votes … that can mean the difference between victory and defeat.”
A recent poll of American Muslims by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding conducted from March through April shows about 78 percent of those eligible to vote are registered, an 18 percent increase since 2016. While no poll of Muslim Americans has been issued in the final weeks of the presidential campaign, previous surveys have shown the community backing Democrats more often than Republicans.
Al-Hadidi senses great anticipation among Muslim Americans for the Nov. 3 election.
“The Muslim community is really motivated and a lot more educated that this election is going to make a big difference in their life in general,” he said. “There is a significant amount in the Muslim community, especially in this election, who are independent and open minded in how to vote in the presidential and federal elections.
“There is no Muslim monolith,” El-Sayed said. “No one community thinks with one mind. We are a diverse community just like any community in this country.”
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By Polityk | 10/18/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Biden Raises More Funds Than Trump in September
President Donald Trump was outraised by Democrat Joe Biden in September and is being outgunned financially by his rival with just weeks to go until Election Day.
Trump’s campaign, along with the Republican National Committee and associated groups, raised $247.8 million in September, short of the $383 million raised by Biden and the Democratic National Committee in the same period. Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh tweeted that the Trump effort had $251.4 million on hand at the end of September, compared with $432 million for Biden.
Trump’s financial disadvantage was once unthinkable — incumbent presidents traditionally vastly outraise their rivals — and poses a challenge to his reelection prospects. The president’s campaign was betting on a well-stocked bank account to blanket airwaves and online with Trump ads. But last week he was outspent on advertising by Biden by more than $10 million, according to the ad tracking firm Kantar/CMAG.
“President Trump hits final stretch with strength, resources, record & huge ground game needed to spread message and secure re-election,” Murtaugh tweeted.
Biden’s fundraising benefited from a boost in donor enthusiasm following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Trump’s widely panned performance in the first presidential debate.
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By Polityk | 10/17/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Plot to Kidnap Michigan Governor Raises Alarm Over US Election Violence
In the U.S. state of Michigan, authorities have apprehended 13 men accused of conspiring to abduct and possibly kill the state’s governor. The plot, which involved a self-styled militia group armed with semi-automatic weapons and explosives, was timed to disrupt the U.S. election and incite an insurrection. Matt Dibble spoke to experts who are warning that provocative messaging from leaders and under-regulated social media could be driving the American political climate towards violence.
Camera: Sam Paakkonen Producer: Matt Dibble
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By Polityk | 10/17/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Plot to Kidnap Governor Raises Alarm Over US Election Violence
In the U.S. state of Michigan, authorities have apprehended 13 men accused of conspiring to abduct and possibly kill the state’s governor. The plot, which involved a self-styled militia group armed with semi-automatic weapons and explosives, was timed to disrupt the U.S. election and incite an insurrection. Matt Dibble spoke to experts who are warning that provocative messaging from leaders and under-regulated social media could be driving the American political climate towards violence.
Camera: Sam Paakkonen Producer: Matt Dibble
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By Polityk | 10/17/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Women’s March Planned in Cities Across US Amid Pandemic
The Women’s March returns to cities across the United States on Saturday, with organizers hoping thousands will turn out despite the pandemic.Organizers of the march in Washington are focusing on a range of left-leaning political issues, including urging Americans to vote President Donald Trump out of office and protesting the Supreme Court nomination of conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett, following the death of liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.According to a permit issued by the National Park Service, organizers expect between 6,000 and 10,000 people to gather on Freedom Plaza for a midday rally, followed by a march to the Supreme Court.Also Saturday, a counterprotest organized by a conservative women’s group will take place at the Supreme Court. The Independent Women’s Forum plans an “I’m With Her” rally in support of Barrett’s confirmation.The Women’s March organizers said they are encouraging mask wearing and social distancing because of the pandemic. They also say they are discouraging attendance from people who live in coronavirus hot spots and are asking people around the country to join in local marches instead of traveling long distances.Hundreds of similar rallies and events are expected to take place Saturday throughout the country, with some set to take place virtually or be held via car caravan because of the pandemic. One march is set to begin at Cornell University, where Ginsburg attended college.The march comes as Senate Republicans plan to begin voting next week on the confirmation of Barrett, who, if confirmed, would give the court a 6-3 conservative majority. Democrats have expressed concern that Barrett could vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, a landmark ruling upholding a woman’s right to an abortion.The first women’s march was held in 2017 when millions of people rallied to protest the inauguration of Trump. Subsequent marches have since focused on electing more women to local, state and national offices.
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By Polityk | 10/17/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Justices to Weigh Trump Census Plan to Exclude Noncitizens
The Supreme Court agreed Friday to take up President Donald Trump’s policy, blocked by a lower court, to exclude people living in the U.S. illegally from the census count that will be used to allocate seats in the House of Representatives.Never in U.S. history have immigrants been excluded from the population count that determines how House seats, and by extension Electoral College votes, are divided among the states, a three-judge federal panel said in September when it held Trump’s policy illegal.The justices put the case on a fast track, setting arguments for Nov. 30. A decision is expected by the end of the year or early in January, when Trump has to report census numbers to the House.Trump’s high court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, could take part in the case if, as seems likely, she is confirmed by then.Citizenship questionLast year, the court by a 5-4 vote barred Trump from adding a census question asking people about their citizenship. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last month, was part of that slim majority. Barrett would take Ginsburg’s seat.Trump left it to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees the Census Bureau, to figure out how many immigrants are not living legally in each state.The outcome of the census case could affect the distribution of political power for the next 10 years. The census also helps determine the distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal funding annually.The administration told the court that the president retains “discretion to exclude illegal aliens from the apportionment based on their immigration status.”The American Civil Liberties Union, representing a coalition of immigrant advocacy groups, said Trump’s violation of federal law is “not particularly close or complicated.”FILE – The Supreme Court building is seen under stormy skies in Washington, June 20, 2019.The Supreme Court separately allowed the administration to end the actual census count this week, blocking a court order that would have kept the count going until the end of the month.The court did not act on two other administration appeals of controversial policies on asylum-seekers and the border wall that also were ruled illegal by lower courts.’Remain in Mexico’Since early last year, the administration has made asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for U.S. court hearings, which has forced tens of thousands of people to return to Mexico.Known informally as “Remain in Mexico,” the policy became a key pillar of the administration’s response to a surge of asylum-seeking families from Central America at the southern border. It also drew criticism for having people wait in dangerous cities.The administration also is appealing a ruling that the administration can’t spend more than Congress authorized for border security. After Congress refused to give Trump all the money he wanted for the wall, he declared a national emergency at the border, and Defense Department officials transferred billions of dollars to the project.Lower courts sided with states and environmental groups that challenged the transfer as a violation of the Constitution’s provision giving Congress the power to determine spending. A separate suit from members of Congress also is making its way to the court.The justices blocked the court rulings in both the asylum-seekers and border wall cases, leaving the policies in effect. Arguments wouldn’t be heard before next year and the issues would have much less significance if Joe Biden were to become president. He could rescind Trump’s policy forcing asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico, for example.
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By Polityk | 10/17/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Losing Ground to Biden, Trump Courts Seniors
On Friday, President Donald Trump campaigned in Florida — a state with one of the highest populations of elderly voters — promising that he would protect American seniors from the coronavirus pandemic. Trump handily won senior citizens’ votes in 2016, but the latest polls show that Democratic nominee Joe Biden is leading by a significant margin among Americans 65 and older. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story.
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By Polityk | 10/17/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Muslim Americans Could Determine Whether Trump or Biden Wins in Michigan
As the U.S. inches closer to pivotal elections November 3, Michigan’s 270,000 registered Muslim American voters could determine the outcome of the presidential contest in the battleground state. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh has more.Camera, Producer: Kane Farabaugh
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By Polityk | 10/16/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump, Biden Return to Campaign Trail After Separate Town Hall Events
U.S. Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential challenger Joe Biden return to the campaign trail Friday after sparring the night before in separate televised town hall events.
Trump and Biden visit three battleground states as the November 3 presidential election draws closer in an ongoing effort to capture support from voters, 18 million of whom have already cast ballots, according to the U.S. Elections Project at the University of Florida.
Trump makes stops in Florida and Georgia, two southern states that are considered crucial to his chances of winning a second term in the White House. The president delivers remarks in Ft. Myers, Florida about protecting senior citizens before attending rallies in Ocala, Florida and Macon, Georgia.FILE – Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden (C) speaks with steelworkers during a backyard conversation in Detroit, Michigan, Sept. 9, 2020. On Oct. 16, 2020, Biden is due in Southfield and Detroit, Michigan.Biden travels to Southfield, Michigan, for a speech on expanding access to affordable health care before attending an event in Detroit, Michigan, to urge voters to cast ballots before Election Day.
Most polls show Biden continues to lead in the race for the White House as he has for months. Trump hopes to gain ground on the campaign and in the next presidential debate that has been scheduled for Oct. 22.
Trump withdrew from the second presidential debate after organizers said it would be held virtually following the president’s coronavirus diagnosis earlier this month. Instead, he participated in a town hall format late Thursday in Miami, Florida. Biden took part in a separate town hall at the same time in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Biden’s vice-presidential running mate, Kamala Harris, has suspended campaign travel until Monday after two people associated with the campaign tested positive for COVID-19. The Biden campaign said neither Harris nor Biden were exposed to the coronavirus.WATCH: Mike O’Sullivan’s report about the dueling town halls Thursday Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 8 MB480p | 11 MB540p | 14 MB720p | 24 MB1080p | 53 MBOriginal | 71 MB Embed” />Copy Download Audio
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By Polityk | 10/16/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Avalanche of Early Votes Transforming 2020 Election
More than 17 million Americans have already cast ballots in the 2020 election, a record-shattering avalanche of early votes driven both by Democratic enthusiasm and a pandemic that has transformed the way the nation votes.
The total represents 12% of all the votes cast in the 2016 presidential election, even as eight states are not yet reporting their totals and voters still have more than two weeks to cast ballots.
Americans’ rush to vote is leading election experts to predict that a record 150 million votes may be cast and turnout rates could be higher than in any presidential election since 1908.
“It’s crazy,” said Michael McDonald, a University of Florida political scientist who has long tracked voting for his site ElectProject.org. McDonald’s analysis shows roughly 10 times as many people have voted compared with this point in 2016.
“We can be certain this will be a high-turnout election,” McDonald said.
So far, the turnout has been lopsided, with Democrats outvoting Republicans by a 2-1 ratio in the 42 states included in The Associated Press count. Republicans have been bracing themselves for this early Democratic advantage for months, as they’ve watched President Donald Trump rail against mail ballots and raise unfounded worries about fraud. Polling, and now early voting, suggest the rhetoric has turn his party’s rank-and-file away from a method of voting that, traditionally, they dominated in the weeks before Election Day.
That gives Democrats a tactical advantage in the final stretch of the campaign. In many critical battleground states, Democrats have “banked” a chunk of their voters and can turn their time and money toward harder-to-find infrequent voters.
But it does not necessarily mean Democrats will lead in votes by the time ballots are counted. Both parties anticipate a swell of Republican votes on Election Day that could, in a matter of hours, dramatically shift the dynamic.
“The Republican numbers are going to pick up,” said John Couvillon, a GOP pollster who is tracking early voting. “The question is at what velocity, and when?”
Couvillon said Democrats can’t rest on their voting lead, but Republicans are themselves making a big gamble. A number of factors, from rising virus infections to the weather, can impact in-person turnout on Election Day. “If you’re putting all your faith into one day of voting, that’s really high risk,” Couvillon said.
That’s why, despite Trump’s rhetoric, his campaign and party are encouraging their own voters to cast ballots by mail or early and in-person. The campaign, which has been sending volunteers and staffers into the field for months despite the pandemic, touts that it has registered more voters this year than Democrats in key swing states like Florida and Pennsylvania — a sharp reversal from the usual pattern as a presidential election looms.
But it’s had limited success in selling absentee voting. In key swing states, Republicans remain far less interested in voting by mail.
In Pennsylvania, more than three-quarters of the more than 437,000 ballots sent through the mail so far have been from Democrats. In Florida, half of all ballots sent through the mail so far have been from Democrats and less than a third of them from Republicans. Even in Colorado, a state where every voter is mailed a ballot and Republicans usually dominate the first week of voting, only 19% of ballots returned have been from Republicans.
“This is all encouraging, but three weeks is a lifetime,” Democratic data strategist Tom Bonier said of the early vote numbers. “We may be midway through the first quarter and Democrats have put a couple of points on the board.”
The massive amount of voting has occurred without any of the violent skirmishes at polling places that some activists and law enforcement officials feared. It has featured high-profile errors — 100,000 faulty mail ballots sent out in New York, 50,000 in Columbus, Ohio, and a vendor supplying that state and Pennsylvania blaming delays on sending ballots on overwhelming demand. But there’s little evidence of mass disruption that some feared as election offices had to abruptly shift to deal with an influx of early voting.
But there have been extraordinary lines and hours-long wait times in Georgia, Texas and North Carolina as they’ve opened in-person early voting. The delays were largely a result of insufficient resources to handle the surge, something advocates contend is a form of voter suppression.
Republicans argue that these signs of enthusiasm are meaningless — Democratic early voters are people who would have voted anyway, they say. But an AP analysis of the early vote shows 8% of early voters had never cast a ballot before, and 13.8% had voted in half or fewer of previous elections for which they were eligible.
The data also show voters embracing mail voting, which health officials say is the safest way to avoid coronavirus infection while voting. Of the early voters, 82% cast ballots through the mail and 18% in person. Black voters cast 10% of the ballots cast, about the same as their share of the national electorate, according to the AP analysis of data from L2, a political data firm. That’s a sign that those voters, who have been less likely to vote by mail than white people and Latinos, have warmed to the method.
Mail ballots so far have skewed toward older voters, with half coming from voters over age 64. Traditionally, younger and minority voters send their mail ballots in closer to Election Day or vote in person.
The mail ballots already returned in several states dwarf the entire total in prior elections. In Wisconsin, more than five times as many mail ballots have been cast compared with the entire number in 2016. North Carolina has seen nearly triple the number so far.
In-person early voting began this week in several major states and also broke records, particularly in crowded, Democratic-leaning metropolitan areas. In Texas, Houston’s Harris County saw a record 125,000 ballots cast. In Georgia, hours-long lines threaded from election offices through much of the state’s urban areas.
Tunde Ezekiel, a 39-year-old lawyer and Democrat who voted early in Atlanta on Thursday, said he wanted to be certain he had a chance to oust Trump from office: “I don’t know what things are going to look like on Election Day. … And I didn’t want to take any chances.”
The obvious enthusiasm among Democrats has cheered party operatives, but they note that it’s hard to tell which way turnout will eventually fall. Republicans may be just as motivated, but saving themselves for Election Day.
“High turnout can benefit either side,” Bonier said. “It just depends.”
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By Polityk | 10/16/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Biden, Trump Hold Competing Town Halls
U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden held competing town halls Thursday, reaching out to voters in separate forums at the same time. Mike O’Sullivan has more on the televised events, just weeks before the election Nov. 3.
Producers: Mike O’Sullivan, Rod James
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By Polityk | 10/16/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
In Split-Screen Town Halls, Trump and Biden Squabble over Coronavirus Response
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Thursday criticized what he called President Donald Trump’s “panicked” response to the coronavirus pandemic, while Trump defended his handling of a crisis that has killed more than 217,000 Americans.The rivals spoke in simultaneous town halls broadcast on separate television networks after a debate originally scheduled for Thursday was called off after Trump contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.The split-screen showdown offered a stark reminder of the many ways the campaign season has been changed by a pandemic that has prompted more than 18 million people to cast ballots more than two weeks before Election Day on Nov. 3.Biden, speaking to voters in Philadelphia on ABC, blamed the Republican president for concealing the deadliness of the virus that has infected nearly 8 million people in the United States.”He said he didn’t tell anybody because he was afraid Americans would panic,” Biden said. “Americans don’t panic. He panicked.”Rose Garden eventTrump defended both his response to the pandemic as well as his own personal conduct, including staging a Rose Garden event at the White House where few wore masks or practiced social distancing, which resulted in numerous attendees contracting the disease.”Hey, I’m president — I have to see people, I can’t be in a basement,” Trump said on NBC in front of an outdoor audience of voters in Miami, implicitly criticizing Biden for spending months off the campaign trail as the pandemic raged.Trump did not answer questions about the last time he tested negative before getting the virus, saying he did not recall precisely.Trump, who aggressively interrupted Biden during a chaotic debate two weeks ago, maintained a belligerent tone, sparring frequently with moderator Savannah Guthrie.He said he “heard different stories” about the efficacy of masks, even though his own administration’s public health experts have said wearing them is key to stopping the spread of the virus.The president declined to denounce QAnon, the false conspiracy theory that Democrats are part of a global pedophile ring, first praising its adherents for opposing pedophilia before saying he knew nothing about the movement.Trump also dodged questions about a New York Times investigation of two decades of his tax returns, which he has refused to release publicly despite decades of precedent for presidential candidates.He appeared to confirm the paper’s report that he has about $400 million in personally guaranteed loans, arguing that the amount was a “peanut” compared with his worth. He also did not deny the Times’ report that he paid only $750 in federal income tax during his first year in the White House, although he said at one point the paper’s numbers were “wrong.”Early voting surgeThe second presidential debate had originally been scheduled for Thursday night, but Trump pulled out of the event after organizers decided to turn it into a virtual affair following his COVID-19 diagnosis two weeks ago. A final debate is still scheduled for Oct. 22 in Nashville, Tennessee.Trump, who spent three days in a military hospital but has since returned to the campaign trail, is trying to alter the dynamics of the race. Reuters/Ipsos polls show Biden has a significant national lead, although his advantage in battleground states is less pronounced.North Carolina, a highly competitive state, saw huge lines as it began more than two weeks of in-person early voting on Thursday, following record turnout in Georgia and Texas earlier in the week.About 18.3 million Americans have voted either in person or by mail so far, representing 12.9% of the total votes counted in the 2016 general election, according to the U.S. Elections Project at the University of Florida.Voters are seeking to avoid in-person lines on Election Day to stay safe as coronavirus infections and hospitalizations continue to rise, but also to make sure their ballots will count. Many are concerned that Trump will challenge widely used mail-in ballots, after his repeated claims without evidence that they were fraudulent.Supreme Court battleThe Senate confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s nominee for a vacant Supreme Court seat, prompted careful answers from both candidates. Republicans have pushed to seat Barrett before the election after refusing to do so for former Democratic President Barack Obama’s court nominee in 2016, saying it was inappropriate in an election year.Biden said he was not a “fan” of court-packing, the idea promoted by some Democrats of adding justices to countermand what they view as a stolen seat. But he declined to rule it out after moderator George Stephanopoulos pressed him, saying: “It depends on how this turns out.”Trump would not say whether he would like to see abortion rights invalidated, an outcome that many legal scholars believe is more likely with the conservative Barrett on the court.”I think that she’s going to make a great decision,” he said. “I did not tell her what decision to make.”$1.5 billionIn a sign of Democratic determination to defeat Trump, a massive amount of money has poured into the party’s coffers in recent months.Democratic fundraising organization ActBlue said on Thursday it collected $1.5 billion online from July to September, the most it had ever raised in one quarter. By comparison, major Republican fundraising platform WinRed said on Monday that it collected $623.5 million in the same period.Biden’s campaign collected $383 million in September, setting a new record for a U.S. campaign for the second consecutive month. The Trump campaign has not released its monthly figures.Both candidates have been visiting battleground states this week, with Trump holding rallies in Florida, Pennsylvania and Iowa and Biden traveling to Ohio and Florida.
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By Polityk | 10/16/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump Supreme Court Pick Nears Confirmation Vote
Judge Amy Coney Barrett, U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to fill the vacancy left on the Supreme Court by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last month, cleared the first hurdle to her confirmation this week. In four marathon hearing days, Barrett deflected questions on how she would rule on issues from abortion to the election to gun rights. VOA Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports on the next steps in the process.
Camera: Adam Greenbaum Producers: Katherine Gypson, Emma Morris, Michael Rummel
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By Polityk | 10/16/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
In Blocking Tweets, Is Twitter Protecting the Election or Interfering?
The decision by Twitter to block the dissemination of a story on its site about Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, has added to an already heated discussion in the U.S. about whether internet companies have too much power and are making decisions that could affect the U.S. elections.Some have applauded Twitter’s move as a stand against misinformation. Others have criticized Twitter’s decision as biased, curtailing speech in a way that could affect the outcome of the U.S. election.In recent weeks, Twitter, Facebook and Google, the owner of YouTube, have increasingly taken steps to restrict the spread of what they describe as misinformation and extremist speech on their sites. After the 2016 U.S. election, internet companies were criticized for not doing enough to stop misinformation on their services.This week, Twitter blocked certain accounts on its site as they tried to share a story by the New York Post that cited supposed email exchanges between Hunter Biden and a Ukrainian official about setting up a meeting with Hunter Biden’s father when Joe Biden was the U.S. vice president. The story claimed to rely on records from a computer drive that was allegedly abandoned by Hunter Biden. Rudy Giuliani, lawyer to President Donald Trump, reportedly gave the drive to the Post.No meeting, campaign saysThe Biden campaign said it had “reviewed Joe Biden’s official schedules from the time and no meeting, as alleged by the New York Post, ever took place.””Investigations by the press, during impeachment, and even by two Republican-led Senate committees whose work was decried as ‘not legitimate’ and political by a GOP colleague, have all reached the same conclusion: that Joe Biden carried out official U.S. policy toward Ukraine and engaged in no wrongdoing,” said Andrew Bates, a spokesman for Biden.FILE – President Donald Trump holds up a copy of the New York Post as he speaks before signing an executive order aimed at curbing protections for social media giants, in the Oval Office of the White House, May 28, 2020.No tweeting, no sharingCiting the firm’s hacked-materials policy, Twitter blocked the Post’s ability to tweet about the story from its Twitter account. It also blocked the Trump campaign and other accounts from sharing the story.Facebook said it reduced the reach of the post, pending fact checking from third party fact-checkers.For Lisa Kaplan, chief executive of the Alethea Group, which tracks misinformation and online threats, Twitter’s recent decisions to block some posts are a good sign.“I do applaud Twitter’s efforts and the stances they have taken to address disinformation, making it so that people can’t share a link known to be false that could have potential implications on the election,” she said. “It’s an important step if they are truly going to be a source of accurate information for their users.”GOP respondsThe reaction from Republicans over the Post story has been swift. Senate Republicans said Thursday that they would subpoena Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, to testify next week. Dorsey should “explain why Twitter is abusing their corporate power to silence the press,” said Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican.Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, said he had sent a letter to Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, asking them to testify at a committee hearing.The companies’ decision about the Post stories throws fuel on an issue that has gained traction over the past year: whether companies are publishers, making editorial decisions, or “platforms,” places where people share information but with the companies providing little oversight of what’s said.FILE – FCC Chairman Ajit Pai testifies at a House subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 5, 2019.Protections weighedCongressional leaders of both parties are considering whether to strip the companies of some of their legal protections that say they aren’t responsible for the speech on their sites. On Thursday, Republican Ajit Pai, chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, said the agency would consider weakening the legal protections the companies enjoy.Some Democrats as well have called for stripping the internet firms of some of their legal protections.With the decision about the Post story, Ken Paulson, director of the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University, says the internet firms have not moved closer to being publishers.“If you have a business and the last thing you want is untruthful stories, then you can say, ‘We’re uncomfortable to share this with millions of people globally.’ That’s your right,” Paulson said. “I don’t think we want to mistake Facebook or Twitter for a public utility. And I don’t think a simple ban on content you believe to be unreliable and fraudulent makes you a publisher.“A company has a right to decide what it stands for, and that’s where we are now with Twitter and Facebook,” he said.One thing is certain: With the internet firms making decisions almost daily about curtailing or blocking posts, lawmakers and regulators will have more fodder to point to for changing the rules.
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By Polityk | 10/16/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Senate Panel Wraps Confirmation Hearings for Trump’s Supreme Court Pick
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee heard arguments Thursday supporting and opposing the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett as the panel finishes four days of hearings to fill a vacancy on the country’s highest court.
Democrats invoked committee rules to push off a final vote by the panel on Barrett’s nomination until next Thursday. A vote in the full Senate could come by the end of the month, just days ahead of the Nov. 3 national presidential and congressional elections.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters in his home state of Kentucky, “We have the votes” to confirm the nomination of the 48-year-old Barrett. McConnell said the full Senate would start consideration of her nomination on Oct. 23.
Barrett would be the fifth woman ever to serve on the court. She currently is a federal appellate court judge whose lifetime Supreme Court appointment by President Donald Trump would give conservatives a distinct 6-3 ideological advantage on the high court, likely affecting the outcome of U.S. legal disputes for decades.
Barrett answered lawmakers’ questions for hours on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday, Republican and Democratic lawmakers called witnesses to buttress their case for and against Barrett’s confirmation.
Two members of the American Bar Association’s standing committee on the federal judiciary testified about their positive evaluation of Barrett as “well qualified” to serve on the Supreme Court.Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett tests her microphone during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 14, 2020.Republicans also called one of her former law clerks and a former student of hers at the University of Notre Dame law school to testify on her behalf. Meanwhile, Democrats called witnesses to testify about their experiences dealing with health care and access to abortion in the U.S., two issues a Justice Barrett would face on the Supreme Court.
Through two days of questioning, Barrett, like other Supreme Court nominees of both Republican and Democratic presidents in the last two-plus decades, deflected numerous questions about her views on legal cases she might have to consider on the court.
On Wednesday, Democrats again pressed Barrett on a key upcoming case deciding the legality of the country’s national healthcare law, which, if it’s invalidated, would impact millions of Americans.
Barrett reiterated she is not hostile to the 2010 Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, that was championed by former president Barack Obama. The law is facing a new challenge in a Nov. 10 Supreme Court hearing, by which time Barrett could hold a seat on the nine-member court.
Barrett defended her refusal to answer how she views an array of controversial legal disputes.
“A judge needs to have an open mind, every step of the way,” Barrett told senators. “If I were to just say how I thought I would resolve a case just because I saw the issue, it would be short-circuiting that whole process through which I should go.”
Barrett is a favorite of U.S. conservatives looking to give the court a decided conservative majority. She has cited the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, for whom she served as a law clerk two decades ago, as her philosophical mentor, for his strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution as written two centuries ago rather than interpreting it to address current life in the U.S.Lawyers Randall D. Noel and Pamela J. Roberts testify during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing of President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 15, 2020.But Barrett on Wednesday told the lead Democratic Judiciary Committee member, Senator Dianne Feinstein, “When I said that Justice Scalia’s philosophy is mine too, I certainly didn’t mean to say that every sentence that came out of Justice Scalia’s mouth or every sentence that he wrote is one that I would agree with.”
Barrett, a devout Catholic, has told the Judiciary Committee that she wouldn’t let her personal and religious views determine how she would decide cases.
“I have no agenda,” Barrett said Tuesday. “I’ll follow the law.”
But Barrett repeatedly declined to say how she might rule on the court’s 1973 legalization of abortions in the United States, gun ownership rights sanctioned by the U.S. Constitution and whether, in the Nov. 10 case, the country’s national health care law should remain in effect.
She also rebuffed a question on whether she would recuse herself, if she is quickly confirmed by the Senate, from considering any legal disputes arising from the Nov. 3 national election. Trump is trying to win a second four-year term in the White House and faces Democratic former vice president Joe Biden.
Trump has assailed mass balloting by mail and said he wants a fully staffed court ready to rule on any legal disputes over balloting and election results. With eight current justices, the court could deadlock 4-to-4 if Barrett is not confirmed in time to hear election-related cases.
Barrett said she has had no conversations with Trump or his staff “on how I would rule” on election disputes. She said it would have been unethical for her as a sitting federal appellate court judge to have such a discussion.
Democrats fear that Barrett would vote to undo many of the reforms championed by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, including the right of same-sex couples to wed and abortion rights. Barrett has said as an appellate court judge she has set aside her Catholic beliefs opposing abortion to issue rulings according to U.S. law and could do so again on the Supreme Court.
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By Polityk | 10/16/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Harris Suspends Campaign Travel After 2 in Her Entourage Test Positive for COVID
Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris has suspended campaign travel until Monday after two people associated with the campaign tested positive for COVID-19, Joe Biden’s presidential campaign announced Thursday.
The campaign said Biden was not exposed to the coronavirus, although he and his running mate campaigned together on Oct. 8 in the southwestern U.S. state of Arizona.
Biden and Harris have tested negative for COVID-19 several times since then, the campaign said.
Harris’ communications director, Liz Allen, tested positive on Wednesday, as did a flight crew member who was on the campaign trip to the southwest, according to the campaign.
Campaign manager Jen O’Malley said U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines do not require Biden and Harris to quarantine, but that Harris would suspend travel for several days “out of an abundance of caution.”
Their infections are the campaign’s first coronavirus scare after months of stringent precautionary measures that have been ridiculed by political rival, President Donald Trump, even after Trump, first lady Melania Trump and others at the White House contracted COVID-19.
During the televised presidential debate last month, Trump said, “I don’t wear a mask like him. Every time you seen him, he’s wearing a mask.”
Harris will not attend campaign events in Ohio and North Carolina, the next two states she was scheduled to visit ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election.
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By Polityk | 10/16/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
North Carolina Starts In-Person Early Voting as Judge Tightens Mail-In Ballot Rules
Voters in the electoral battleground state of North Carolina are the latest in the United States to get their chance to cast early ballots in person for the Nov. 3 election.
The start of early voting Thursday coincides with campaign events in the state for President Donald Trump and Democratic vice-presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris. Trump is visiting Greenville, while Harris is making stops in Charlotte and Asheville.
Many states have seen a surge in early voting, with concerns about crowds at polling places in the middle of a pandemic driving many voters’ decisions to find a way to cast their ballots on a less busy day or by mail.
According to the United States Election Project, which is tracking state election data, more than 16 million people in the United States had voted as of Wednesday night. That included 500,000 in North Carolina, a figure equal to 10% of the state’s entire turnout in the 2016 election.
That number will likely rise sharply with Thursday’s in-person voting, mirroring scenes in other states this week where people turned out in record numbers for their states’ opening of early voting.
North Carolina’s half-million votes already cast have come in the form of absentee ballots returned through the mail, a system that has come under legal challenge in the state and elsewhere in the country.
Rules vary by state, but in North Carolina all absentee ballots must have the signature of a witness affirming the identity of the voter.
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that if an absentee ballot lacks a witness, voters can no longer remedy the situation and have their vote counted by sending in an affidavit to prove it is legitimate.
State officials had issued a directive allowing such fixes, but Republicans challenged the system, arguing it both took away state legislators’ power to make election rules and diluted the votes of people who followed the original rules.
Wednesday’s court ruling did allow other smaller fixes to absentee ballots, such as if a witness signature was in the wrong place.
State board of elections data showed that as of Wednesday, in addition to the 500,000 absentee ballots that had been accepted, election officials also received about 12,000 others that had some type of problem.
In 2016, Trump defeated Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton 49.8% to 46.2% in North Carolina. Two polls released this week show another close contest.
A New York Times/Siena poll put former Vice President Joe Biden ahead of Trump 46% to 42% in North Carolina with a 4.5% margin of error. A Reuters/Ipsos polls gave Biden a 48% to 47% percent advantage with a 4% margin of error.
U.S. presidents are elected using a system called the Electoral College. Each state is assigned a number of electors based on its representation in Congress, and the winner must amass a majority of the 538 total electors. North Carolina has 15 electoral votes, the tenth most of any state.
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By Polityk | 10/15/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
