Evening wrap-up
- The El Paso representative Veronica Escobar has declined an invitation to join Trump during his visit tomorrow. She and other El Paso officials have urged Trump to reconsider his trip. The president also plans to visit Dayton tomorrow.
- Puerto Rico’s supreme court is mulling over who will get to be the island’s next governor.
- Tensions between the Trump administration and the Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro have continued to escalate. Venezuela’s UN representative accused the White House of trying to start a war, as national security adviser John Bolton doubled down on opposition to Maduro’s leadership.
- The FBI said investigators have uncovered evidence that the Dayton shooter explored “violent ideologies”. The bureau has opened an investigation alongside the Dayton police department’s homicide investigation.
- White House aides have sought to elevate reports that the Dayton gunman supported leftwing ideas and endorsed 2020 candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, but the FBI said the shooter did not appear to be linked to a “bias motive”.
- The FBI has also launched a domestic terrorism investigation into the Gilroy garlic festival shooting. The northern California attack left three victims dead last week, and authorities said the shooter had a broad “target list” that included religious institutions and organizations connected to both major political parties.
- Trump’s re-election campaign and the Republican party have filed a lawsuit challenging a new California law requiring presidential candidates to release their tax returns to appear on the state’s primary ballot.
Updated
Elizabeth Warren’s team has released a statement responding to reports that the Dayton gunman was a supporter, saying they’re a “distraction”.
New statement from Warren spox @KristenOrthman on Dayton shooter, who retweeted support for Warren and Sanders, as well as extreme left-wing and anti-police posts: “there is a direct line between the president's rhetoric and the stated motivations of the El Paso shooter.” pic.twitter.com/3dkONGsXab
— MJ Lee (@mj_lee) August 6, 2019
As the Guardian’s Sabrina Siddiqui reported earlier, the White House has attempted to deflect blame onto Democrats and the media.
In interviews with Fox News on Tuesday, the president’s aides repeatedly rejected assertions that the suspect in El Paso, who allegedly authored a hate-filled manifesto echoing Trump’s incendiary language on immigration, may have been influenced or emboldened by the president.
They instead sought to elevate reports that the gunman in Dayton, Ohio, allegedly shared leftwing posts on social media and supported the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren.
Law enforcement officials said Tuesday that the Dayton shooting did not appear to be linked to a “bias motive”. Authorities are meanwhile investigating the shooting in El Paso – which left 22 dead, including seven Mexican nationals – as an act of domestic terrorism.
The White House counselor Kellyanne Conway nonetheless lashed out at Democrats and the media for not dedicating more coverage to the Dayton suspect’s political views.
“Let me tell you something, I’m hopping mad this morning because I see very little, scant coverage that this Dayton shooter has been confirmed as having a Twitter feed that was supportive of Antifa, that was supportive of Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders,” Conway said during an appearance on Fox & Friends, one of the network’s most prominent boosters of Trump.
Updated
Puerto Rico’s supreme court is now mulling over who will become the island’s next governor.
Pedro Pierluisi, the disgraced governor’s Ricardo Rossello’s handpicked successor, is facing off against the senate president, Thomas Rivera Schatz, who filed a constitutional challenge over Pierluisi’s appointment.
Here’s where it gets a bit wonky. Pierluisi was appointed secretary of state, second in command to the governor, last week – and was approved by the Puerto Rico house of representatives but not the senate – which was on summer recess. Pierluisi was then sworn in as governor, filling the vacuum left by Rossello.
A lawsuit from the senator seeks an injunction ordering Pierluisi to immediately step down from the governor’s office since he wasn’t approved by both legislative bodies.
If the Supreme Court finds in favor of the Senate, Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez would become governor, though she has said she doesn’t want the job...
Some Puerto Ricans were dismayed that after a mass protest movement successfully led to the resignation of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, the question of his successor now lies in the hands of a court.
“It was a possible outcome, but certainly sad because for three weeks the island took to the streets in a historic, forceful way to peacefully overthrow a governor, and now this is left to a majority of nine people who are also nine people named and approved by politicians?” said Sen. Juan Dalmau of the Puerto Rican Independence Party. “That is another constitutional defect.”
Dalmau submitted a bill Tuesday that would allow Puerto Rico to hold a special election if a governor were to step down, saying it’s a move to uphold democracy.
Updated
The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and New York mayor Bill de Blasio has announced $9m in new funding to support the community in Brownsville, Brooklyn, where one man was killed and 11 were injured after a gunman opened fire at an annual block party last week.
The funding will bolster existing programs to prevent gun violence and promote neighborhood safety, including money to renovate the community center, and install more security cameras and lighting around the Brownsville Playground.
“These programs will build on our commitment to end the epidemic of gun violence and lend much-needed support to the local leaders and activists who work to bring positive, enduring change to the Brownsville community each and every day,” de Blasio said in a statement.
Updated
Representative Veronica Escobar says she has declined an invitation to join Donald Trump during his visit to El Paso tomorrow after he rebuked her request to speak to him about his racist comments about Mexicans and immigrants.
“I was told that @realDonaldTrump is ‘too busy’ to have that conversation,” she tweeted. “Tomorrow, I will again be spending time with fellow El Pasoans who are dealing with the pain and horror left in the wake of this act of domestic terrorism fueled by hate and racism.”
The White House invited me to join @realDonaldTrump during his visit to El Paso. My response was clear. I requested a phone call with him today in order to share what I have now heard from many constituents, including some who are victims of Saturday’s attack.
— Rep. Veronica Escobar (@RepEscobar) August 6, 2019
FBI agent Peter Strzok, who once helped oversee the agency’s investigation into Russian election interference and of Hillary Clinton’s emails and was fired over text messages he sent disparaging Trump, is filing a lawsuit over his dismissal.
The AP reports:
The suit from Peter Strzok also alleges he was unfairly punished for expressing his political opinions, and that the Justice Department violated his privacy when it shared hundreds of his text messages with reporters.
“This campaign to publicly vilify Special Agent Strzok contributed to the FBI’s ultimate decision to unlawfully terminate him,” the lawsuit says, “as well as to frequent incidents of public and online harassment and threats of violence to Strzok and his family that began when the texts were first disclosed to the media and continue to this day.”
Venezuela’s UN ambassador is accusing the Trump administration of trying to start a war by sabotaging talks between Nicholás Maduro and his opposition, as the Trump administration’s national security adviser John Bolton doubled down on his view that “Maduro has to go”, according to the Associated Press.
Bolton warned today that the US could retaliate against foreign governments and companies that continue to do business with Maduro’s government, after the White House froze all Venezuelan government assets yesterday.
From the Guardian report earlier today:
Addressing a summit on Venezuela’s crisis in Peru’s capital, Lima, Bolton pronounced Maduro’s “dying regime” doomed – even though a seven-month US-backed campaign has so far failed to topple Hugo Chávez’s authoritarian successor.
Bolton claimed Donald Trump’s latest moves – which will also see those who do business with Maduro’s government sanctioned – would help end “Maduro’s tyrannical reign”.
“The time for dialogue is over. Now is the time for action,” Bolton declared, spurning Norway-sponsored negotiations that have been taking place between representatives of Maduro and his US-backed challenger, Juan Guaidó.
But experts questioned the impact and wisdom of the measures, which Maduro’s administration and its Russian backers branded “economic terrorism”.
Some fear the latest sanctions will further aggravate an already dire humanitarian situation which has already forced millions to flee Venezuela, while others believe they will alienate Guaidó’s European backers who believe a negotiated solution is possible.
Updated
Two members of Congress have sent a letter to the National Archives seeking records related to the supreme court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“In the coming year, the supreme court will again address important matters regarding civil rights, criminal justice, and immigration,” reads the letter, authored by the New York congressman and House judiciary committee chairman Jerrold Nadler and the Georgia congressman Hank Johnson.
The records from Kavanaugh’s time serving as White House staff secretary during George W Bush’s administration and in the White House counsel’s office would help lawmakers fine-tune legislation that would create a professional ethics code for supreme court justices, according to the congressmen.
The Judicial Conduct and Disability Act allows for complaints against federal judges but doesn’t apply to supreme court justices. Dozens of complaints against Kavanaugh, including allegations that he made false and partisan statements during his supreme court confirmation hearings last year, were dismissed after he was confirmed to the nation’s highest court.
During the hearings, Kavanaugh denied allegations that he sexually assaulted Dr Christine Blasey Ford in the 1980s, when they were both teenagers, and levied partisan attacks against Democratic senators. His conduct last year and during testimony he gave more than a decade ago as a nominee to become a federal appeals court judge inspired 83 complaints.
During Kavanaugh’s controversial supreme court confirmation process, then-chairman of the Senate judiciary committee Chuck Grassley ultimately withdrew a request to the National Archives for information related to Kavanaugh’s time in the White House counsel’s office after obtaining hundreds of thousands of documents from a private attorney overseeing Kavanaugh’s records.
Updated
That’s it from me on the blog today. Maanvi Singh will be taking things over on the west coast for the next few hours.
Here is where the day stands so far:
- The FBI said investigators have uncovered evidence that the Dayton shooter explored “violent ideologies”. The bureau has opened an investigation alongside the Dayton police department’s homicide investigation.
- The FBI has also launched a domestic terrorism investigation into the Gilroy garlic festival shooting. The northern California attack left three victims dead last week, and authorities said the shooter had a broad “target list” that included religious institutions and organizations connected to both major political parties.
- The White House sought to deflect blame away from Trump for the mass shootings by connecting prominent Democrats to other recent attacks. “It’s not the politician’s fault when someone acts out their evil intention,” the White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said. “I’ll just have to say, we would never dream of blaming Elizabeth Warren for the shooter who supports Elizabeth Warren.”
- El Paso officials, including the representative Veronica Escobar, have urged Trump to reconsider his trip to the city tomorrow. “From my perspective, he is not welcome here. He should not come here while we are in mourning,” Escobar said. (The president also plans to visit Dayton tomorrow.)
- Trump’s re-election campaign and the Republican party have filed a lawsuit challenging a new California law requiring presidential candidates to release their tax returns to appear on the state’s primary ballot.
Maanvi will have more on the continuing fallout from the shootings, as well as other developments on Capitol Hill, so stay tuned.
Updated
El Paso officials continue to urge Trump to reconsider his trip to the city tomorrow as the city mourns those lost in an attack targeting Hispanic Americans.
"There's a gaping wound that's still open here, and a lot of us feel that @realDonaldTrump presence in this community tomorrow is just going to be throwing salt in that open wound," #ElPaso County Commissioner David Stout @CommStout tells @ABCNewsLive. pic.twitter.com/9tgFIq5NTD
— Devin Dwyer (@devindwyer) August 6, 2019
“Regardless of what happened here on Saturday, he has constantly demonized, vilified the type of people who live in this community,” the El Paso county commissioner David Stout said. “I don’t understand why in the world anybody would think it would be a good idea for him to be in El Paso, Texas.”
Updated
Dayton's GOP congressman backs gun-control legislation
Mike Turner, the Republican who represents Dayton in the House, announced he would support legislation to limit the sale of certain types of guns after the shooting in his district.
Today, I announced my support for restricting military style weapon sales, magazine limits, and red flag legislation. Read my full statement here: https://t.co/HFpxBTAjcL
— US Rep. Mike Turner (@RepMikeTurner) August 6, 2019
“I strongly support the Second Amendment, but we must prevent mentally unstable people from terrorizing our communities with military style weapons,” Turner said in a statement. “I will support legislation that prevents the sale of military style weapons to civilians, a magazine limit, and red flag legislation. The carnage these military style weapons are able to produce when available to the wrong people is intolerable.”
Ohio’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, said in a press conference earlier today that he would similarly urge the state legislature to consider a “red flag” law, which would allow judges to take guns away from people deemed dangerous.
Dayton shooter was exploring 'violent ideologies', FBI says
Authorities in Ohio provided an update on the investigation into the Dayton attack, revealing that they have uncovered evidence the shooter explored “violent ideologies”.
FBI agent says Dayton gunman was exploring violent ideologies https://t.co/eahhxHrUEc pic.twitter.com/rM9CFryxdW
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 6, 2019
Todd Wickerham of the FBI would not provide specifics on what ideologies the shooter had delved into, but he said the evidence was strong enough for the bureau to open an investigation alongside the Dayton police department’s homicide investigation. He added that investigators had not found “any indication” of a racial motivation in the attack.
Wickerham added that the bureau is seeking to uncover if any ideology motivated him, if anyone helped him plan the shooting and why he carried out the attack.
Updated
The Republican representative Devin Nunes is suing his constituents – and one of his 2020 challengers is helping pay their legal fees.
Phil Arballo, one of the Democrats challenging Nunes for his seat in 2020, said his campaign will help raise money for their legal defense fund.
“The central valley is my home. I am a constituent of this district so I am very troubled that a representative would sue his own constituents,” Arballo said in an interview.
In a press conference, the Democratic hopeful went further, calling Nunes “unhinged”. The decision to bring this lawsuit, Arballo said, was evidence that the Republican is “dishonest, unethical, lacks integrity and is unfit to serve as a United States congressman representing this district”.
I’d say it’s surprising, but it’s not. Nunes has sued more of his constituents than he has held town halls... I guess this is what years in DC will do, makes you think you’re above criticism, & can simply sue voters in your district who disagree with you. https://t.co/LvA1hziHL6
— Phil Arballo (@PhilArballo2020) August 3, 2019
The suit – one of several Nunes has filed against his critics – stems from a 2018 effort to challenge the congressman’s designation as a “farmer” on his California ballot listing.
After Esquire magazine reported that the Nunes family dairy farm moved from California to Iowa in 2006, critics accused him of being a “fake farmer” and the Democratic group, Red to Blue, petitioned to change his designation. A judge ultimately ruled that the Republican could continue to call himself a farmer.
Among those named in the lawsuit, filed by Nunes’ campaign, is retired local fruit tree farmer Paul Buxman, one of the congressman’s constituents, and three other defendants. The suit accuses the defendants of conspiring with “dark money” groups to hurt his 2018 re-election campaign.
Nunes has become a lightening rod on the left for his unwavering loyalty to the president and his sharp attack on the intelligence community. In 2018, he narrowly held on to his seat as voters in Republican districts across the state elected Democrats.
Updated
The American Civil Liberties Union has followed through on its promise to legally challenge the Trump administration’s move to expand fast-track deportations.
Hundreds of thousands of people living anywhere in the United States are at risk of being separated from their families and expelled from the country without any recourse.
— ACLU (@ACLU) August 6, 2019
We and @immcouncil will see the government in court – again.
The White House announced late last month that they would be expanding expedited deportations to potentially apply to all undocumented immigrants who could not prove they had continuously been in the country for two years. Previously such fast-track proceedings were only used with migrants who were apprehended shortly after crossing the US-Mexico border.
At the time the policy was announced, the ACLU denounced the policy shift as a gross violation of immigrants’ rights. “Under this unlawful plan, immigrants who have lived here for years would be deported with less due process than people get in traffic court,” said Omar Jawdat, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.
A new poll from Quinnipiac University found that Elizabeth Warren has enjoyed a bump in support since the second debates, even as Joe Biden remains the front-runner.
Warren’s support has jumped from 15 percent in a July 29 survey to 21 percent in the latest poll. Biden has remained relatively steady, with his support dropping from 34 percent last month to 32 percent this month.
Bernie Sanders enjoyed a small bump from 11 percent to 14 percent, while Kamala Harris has dropped from 12 percent late last month to 7 percent in the latest poll.
A White House spokesperson dodged the question when asked what specific executive action Trump was considering taking to reduce gun violence.
“Well, look, he’s looking at all options,” Hogan Gidley told Fox News. White House officials said yesterday that Trump and Attorney General William Barr are “resolved” to take action after the shootings.
But the administration has so far been very vague about what that action would look like, only saying that the president is exploring solutions “that actually make an impact.”
FBI launches domestic terrorism investigation into the Gilroy shooter
The FBI announced at a news conference that the bureau is opening a domestic terrorism investigation into the shooting at the Gilroy garlic festival, which left three victims dead in northern California last week.
Authorities said that the shooter had a broad “target list” that included religious institutions, federal buildings and organizations associated with both major political parties.
John Bennett, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Francisco office, said authorities have not yet uncovered a motive in attack. But he said that investigators had found the 19-year-old shooter delved into “violent ideologies.”
Updated
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez demanded an explanation from Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell after a group of young men wearing shirts advertising his campaign were shown in a photo groping and choking a cutout of the congresswoman.
Hey @senatemajldr - these young men look like they work for you.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 6, 2019
Just wanted to clarify: are you paying for young men to practice groping & choking members of Congress w/ your payroll, or is this just the standard culture of #TeamMitch?
Thanks. https://t.co/ysRJuwonUx
Lauren Aratani reports:
It is not clear who is shown in the picture, but it appears the men were attending an annual picnic in Fancy Farm, a small town in Kentucky, where McConnell made an appearance. The senator’s campaign Instagram account shared a series of photos with a few of the young men, among others, holding cardboard cutouts of two of the supreme court’s conservative justices, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch.
McConnell’s campaign said in a statement to the Washington Post that the men were high schoolers and not part of the campaign staff. The campaign “in no way condones” the picture, the statement added.
White House deflects blame after shootings by invoking other shootings and linking them to Democrats
Trump has received criticism in the past few days for not taking responsibility for how his anti-immigrant rhetoric has inflamed racism in America.
The White House is now dealing with that criticism by invoking other recent shootings and connecting them to prominent Democrats.
White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley told reporters that the president was spending his day, which included no public events, “meeting with staff on a wide range of policies” and “having conversations in prepping” for his trips to El Paso and Dayton tomorrow.
“This is a very, very serious moment in our country’s history. This president recognizes the gravity of this moment,” Gidley said, according to a pool report. “He shares their sadness, but he also shares in this anger.”
Gidley then pivoted to dismissing any notion that Trump was responsible for intensifying racist sentiments in the country. “There are plenty of people in this country who commit acts of evil in the names of politicians, of celebrities and all types of things,” Gidley said.
“It’s not the politician’s fault when someone acts out their evil intention. I’ll just have to say, we would never dream of blaming Elizabeth Warren for the shooter who supports Elizabeth Warren,” Gidley continued. “We would never dream of blaming [Alexandria] Ocasio-Cortez for someone who perpetrated a terrorist attack on a DHS ICE facility because he used the same rhetoric she uses about concentration camps. We would also never blame Barack Obama for the police shootings in Dallas. We wouldn’t blame Bernie Sanders for the shooting of Steve Scalise or other Republicans. And quite frankly, it’s ridiculous to make those connect in some way. ... You have to blame the people here who pulled the trigger.”
Those comments severely downplay how closely the El Paso shooter’s language of a “Hispanic invasion” mirrors Trump’s. The president has not only repeatedly made similar comments, but he has actively campaigned on such rhetoric. Trump’s re-election campaign has described immigration as an “invasion” in more than 2,000 Facebook ads this year, as our colleague Julia Carrie Wong reported yesterday.
Obama mourns the loss of Toni Morrison
Barack Obama wrote on Twitter a touching tribute to Toni Morrison, the award-winning author who died last night at the age of 88.
Toni Morrison was a national treasure, as good a storyteller, as captivating, in person as she was on the page. Her writing was a beautiful, meaningful challenge to our conscience and our moral imagination. What a gift to breathe the same air as her, if only for a while. pic.twitter.com/JG7Jgu4p9t
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 6, 2019
Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Morrison in 2012, one of a number of accolades -- including a Nobel prize -- that Morrison won over her long life.
Richard Lea and Sian Cain write of the author:
Born in an Ohio steel town in the depths of the Great Depression, Morrison carved out a literary home for the voices of African Americans, first as an acclaimed editor and then with novels such as The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved. ...
Describing her as ‘our adored mother and grandmother’, Morrison’s family said in a statement: ‘Although her passing represents a tremendous loss, we are grateful she had a long, well lived life. While we would like to thank everyone who knew and loved her, personally or through her work, for their support at this difficult time, we ask for privacy as we mourn this loss to our family.’
Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders also expressed sorrow over Morrison’s passing:
"If you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else." -Toni Morrison
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) August 6, 2019
Today we lost an American legend. May she rest in peace. https://t.co/DInZvd8stY
As did Representative Ilhan Omar:
“We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.”
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 6, 2019
Holding all those touched by Toni Morrison in my heart today. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/2jkAvtaErK
When Veronica Escobar got the mass shooting memo...
The document landed in Texas Congresswoman Veronica Escobar’s email just hours after a gunman killed 22 people in an El Paso, Texas, Walmart, three days ago.
It was a best-practices guide, of sorts, to a grim duty, titled “Shooting tragedy: Dealing with a crisis.”
Updated by members of Congress and their staffs and quietly passed around Capitol Hill for years, the how-to guidance was shared over the weekend with Escobar, a freshman Democrat and the latest member of a group of lawmakers charged with leading after mass shootings in their districts.
But as Escobar is learning, no guide to the logistics of crisis management is preparation enough for the sights and sounds of this specific kind of mayhem in one’s hometown.
Yesterday, two days after the shooting massacre, Escobar’s voice wavered, in a telephone interview with the Associated Press, as she recounted the story of a man who got a phone call from his wife, one of the Walmart victims. She had been shot in the legs and could not find their daughter. Both survived, Escobar said.
“The one detail I keep hearing over and over again is: ‘He did not see them as people.’ They were not human beings to him,” she said of the shooter, who is in custody.
Earlier today Escobar said she does not feel that Donald Trump is welcome in El Paso, when he plans a visit to the city tomorrow.
The law signed last week by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom is aimed at prying loose Donald Trump’s tax returns, which he has refused to release, saying they are under audit.
California’s law requires candidates for president and governor to release five years of tax returns to appear on the state’s primary ballot.
It does not include a similar requirement for the general election, the AP writes.
California holds its 2020 presidential primary on March 3. The lawsuits filed today argue the law violates the US Constitution by creating an extra requirement to run for president and deprives citizens the right to vote for their chosen candidates.
The Constitution puts just three requirements on presidential candidates: that they are natural born citizens, 35 or older and a US resident for at least 14 years.
Trump counsel Jay Sekulow called the law “flagrantly illegal,” and said voters already spoke in 2016 on whether Trump should release his tax returns. “The effort to deny California voters the opportunity to cast a ballot for President Trump in 2020 will clearly fail,” said Sekulow.
Trump sues California over tax return law
The Trump campaign and the Republican Party today have sued California over a new law requiring presidential candidates to release their tax returns if they want to run in the state’s primary.
One of the lawsuits contends California’s law is “a naked political attack against the sitting President of the United States.”
More on this shortly....
Updated
Texas Congresswoman says Trump not welcome in El Paso
Veronica Escobar, the Democratic freshman member of the House, who succeeded 2020 candidate Beto O’Rourke to lead the 16th Congressional district of Texas, says Donald Trump isn’t welcome in El Paso tomorrow.
“From my perspective, he is not welcome here. He should not come here while we are in mourning,” Escobar told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program on Tuesday.
She added: “I would encourage the president’s staff members to have him do a little self-reflection. I would encourage them to show him his own words and his actions at the rallies.”
Now, she says she won’t attend Trump’s visit to the city on Wednesday, which is in her district, unless she had “the opportunity to talk directly to him,” the AP writes.
What would she say? She sees a connection between the way the gunman saw his victims in Walmart on Saturday and the language Trump uses to talk about immigrants as “an infestation” and “an invasion”.
She said she would tell the Republican president: “I need you to acknowledge that you’ve dehumanized people who are good and equal to all of us. And you need to re-humanize everyone.”
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- Democrats continue to push Mitch McConnell to take up the background checks bill that has already passed the House after this weekend’s shootings in El Paso and Dayton.
- Dayton’s mayor, Nan Whaley, said that she was “disappointed” with Trump’s statement yesterday and that the president has been “unhelpful” on gun issues.
- The Ohio governor urged the state legislature to consider a “red flag” law that would allow judges to take weapons from people deemed dangerous.
- Trump cited a Fox & Friends segment to criticize Barack Obama after the former president issued a statement urging Americans to “soundly reject language” from any leader who “feeds a climate of fear and hatred or normalizes racist sentiments.”
- Jon Huntsman is resigning as the US ambassador to Russia. The former Utah governor, who left office with a sky-high approval rating in 2009, is reportedly considering another gubernatorial bid.
The blog is monitoring more fallout from the shootings, as well as Mike Pence’s meeting with the British foreign secretary this afternoon, so stay tuned.
Dayton mayor says she was "disappointed" with Trump's remarks
Nan Whaley, the mayor of Dayton, expressed hope that Trump would use his visit tomorrow to “bring people together” while noting she was “disappointed” with his statement on this weekend’s shootings.
Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley says President Trump has been "unhelpful" in the wake of the mass shooting: "Yesterday, his comments weren't very helpful to the issue around guns" https://t.co/H9n7JKbYS7 pic.twitter.com/F1NJLDMT7I
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 6, 2019
“Everyone has it in their power to be a force to bring people together, and everybody has it in their power to be a force to bring people apart,” Whaley said in response to a question about Trump’s visit. “That’s up to the president of the United States.”
Whaley added that she has “no sense of what’s in President Trump’s mind at all.” “I can only hope that, as president of the United States, that he’s coming here because he wants to add value to our community,” Whaley said. “That’s all I can hope.”
But Whaley admitted she was “disappointed” with Trump’s comments yesterday. “I think they fell really short,” the mayor said. “He mentioned gun issues like one time.”
She told reporters that she intended to discuss with Trump “how unhelpful he’s been on this.” “Yesterday, his comments weren’t very helpful to the issue around guns,” Whaley said.
She was also exasperated with Trump’s confusion of Dayton and Toledo. “My immediate reaction is, people from the coasts never understand Ohio, and they think all Ohio cities are the same,” Whaley said. “And it’s an exhausting issue that we have all the time.”
A coalition of progressive groups are currently holding a rally against white supremacy and gun violence in Washington’s Lafayette Square, just in front of the White House.
“The impact of Trump’s racist rhetoric and policies cannot be ignored when white supremacists— many of whom name him in their attacks and cite him in their hate manifestos— murder innocent people of color,” the groups said in a statement before the rally.
“It is not enough for Republican leadership in Congress to offer thoughts and prayers, nor should they repeatedly blame gun violence on mental illness — an unfounded and harmful trope. They must unequivocally denounce this violence, pass laws to stop it, and prevent the rise of white supremacy.”
✊ONE HOUR LEFT✊
— Coalition on Human Needs (@CoalitionHN) August 6, 2019
Fight back against white supremacy and gun violence with us from 12pm-3pm in Lafayette Square! It is time to DEMAND that the administration takes action.
➡️More info and live stream: https://t.co/ebAUNkky4y@votolatino @civilrightsorg @SEIU @MoveOn pic.twitter.com/AqgYL33pXl
The participating groups are Voto Latino, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, MoveOn, Labor Council For Latin American Advancement, United We Dream, Service Employees International Union, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, American Federation of Teachers, Muslim Advocates, March for Our Lives, Human Rights Campaign and Interfaith Alliance.
Democrats push McConnell to take up background checks bill
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer appeared alongside Representative Pete King, a Republican, to demand that Mitch McConnell take up the background checks bill on guns that has already passed the House.
Chuck Schumer calls for Senate vote on background checks: "Today, Peter King, a Republican, myself, a Democrat, are here to say enough is enough. We are calling on Leader McConnell to bring the bill that passed the House...to the floor of the Senate ASAP." https://t.co/MgfXy5g22D pic.twitter.com/a05lfVyrgI
— ABC News (@ABC) August 6, 2019
“Enough is enough,” Schumer said. “We are calling on Leader McConnell to bring the bill that passed the House, that Peter King bravely sponsored, to the floor of the Senate ASAP. If that bill comes to the floor of the Senate, I believe it will pass.”
One of Schumer’s Democratic colleagues, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, issued this ultimatum to McConnell: “Lead or get out of the way.”
“Gun violence prevention will be on the ballot again next November in 2020,” Blumenthal also warned. “And if you are on the wrong side of this issue, you are going down.”
Updated
The FBI Agents Association, which represents 14,000 active and former agents, has issued a statement urging Congress to take action on domestic terrorism.
“Domestic terrorism is a threat to the American people and our democracy. Acts of violence intended to intimidate civilian populations or to influence or affect government policy should be prosecuted as domestic terrorism regardless of the ideology behind them,” the statement read.
“FBIAA continues to urge Congress to make domestic terrorism a federal crime. This would ensure that FBI Agents and prosecutors have the best tools to fight domestic terrorism.”
Jon Huntsman, US ambassador to Russia, resigns for possible Utah gubernatorial bid
Jon Huntsman, the US ambassador to Russia who has reportedly been mulling a gubernatorial run in Utah, sent his resignation letter to Trump this morning.
The resignation is effective Oct. 3, at which point he will return to Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
“American citizenship is a privilege and I believe the most basic responsibility in return is service to country,” Huntsman wrote in his resignation letter. “To that end, I am honored by the trust you have placed in me as the United States ambassador to Russia during this historically difficult period in bilateral relations.”
Huntsman previously served as Utah’s governor and left office in 2009 to become the US ambassador to China. At the time, he had an approval rating that topped 80 percent.
Huntsman has served in Russia for two years and has overseen a turbulent period in America’s relationship with the Kremlin as more details have emerged about the country’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Gravel drops out and endorses Sanders
Mike Gravel, the former Alaska senator who tried to make it to the Democratic debate stage with the odd promise that he would not actually seek the nomination, has dropped out and endorsed Bernie Sanders.
"I am proud and honored to endorse Senator Bernie Sanders for the presidency of the United States." pic.twitter.com/Y7uf8ebbhD
— Mike Gravel (@MikeGravel) August 6, 2019
The campaign issued the announcement with a Twitter video of Gravel speaking directly to the camera from his California home. “My name is Mike Gravel. I’m proud, and honored, to endorse Senator Bernie Sanders for the presidency of the United States,” Gravel said.
But he noted that other 2020 candidates had also garnered his appreciation over the course of his short-lived campaign. “We really like Tulsi Gabbard, Elizabeth Warren, Marianne Williamson, and Andrew Yang,” he said. “We love Bernie but have such a deep respect for each of them, despite any disagreements we might have. We hope that they all find their way into government at some point.”
David Oks and Henry Williams, the two New York teenagers who served as Gravel’s campaign manager and chief of staff, noted that Gravel attracted the 65,000 donations necessary to make the July debate stage. They blamed Gravel not making the cut on the Democratic National Committee “favoring polling over grassroots fundraising.”
“We were sad that Senator Gravel wasn’t included in the debates despite a massive grassroots upswell of donations, but it was an honor to work for such a great man,” Oks said in a statement. “This campaign is ultimately a tribute to a true American hero.”
Updated
Inslee releases plan to specifically combat gun violence by white nationalists
Washington Governor Jay Inslee, who is also running for president, is releasing a 10-point plan specifically aimed at reducing gun violence by white nationalists, CBS News reports.
Today, I’m laying out a 10-point strategy to address the rise of gun violence and white nationalism.
— Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) August 6, 2019
Our country needs a president who will meet this challenge head-on and who will be relentless in confronting this vile ideology. https://t.co/fS61amWgEk
The plan includes more general proposals backed by fellow 2020 Democrats, including a national assault weapons ban. But it also specifically targets white nationalists with proposals to create a system to track such extremists and increasing federal funding for “de-radicalization programs, intervention grants, and investigative resources.”
“No one in America should ever live in fear because of the color of their skin, where they were born, or who they love.” Inslee said in a statement. “We need a president who will take on the twin epidemics of rising white nationalism and rising gun violence that have cost too many American lives.”
Like other candidates, Inslee also slammed Trump’s statement yesterday on the mass shootings at the weekend in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, as woefully lacking.
He called the president’s address from the White House “an embarrassing attempt to avoid responsibility for his own actions.” Inslee added: “It’s time for Donald Trump to take ownership for his encouragement of hate and violence in America.
“From hateful chants at his rallies, to racist tweets, to praise for white nationalists, this president has done more to divide the United States than any leader in modern history.”
Updated
Joe Biden is advocating for a federal gun buyback program to help get weapons off the streets.
The presidential candidate and former vice president has also proposed strengthening the background checks system and reinstating the assault weapons ban.
“The Second Amendment doesn’t say you can’t restrict the kinds of weapons people can own,” Biden said in an interview last night with CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “You can’t buy a bazooka. You can’t have a flamethrower.”
Joe Biden speaks on President Trump’s address during the latest mass shootings: “The white supremacists are winning the battle. This is domestic terrorism. … This is the President who continues to speak in ways that just are completely contrary to everything who we are” pic.twitter.com/aVuubKkQNP
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) August 6, 2019
But Biden did not go as far as other Democratic presidential candidates when it came to labeling Trump himself a white nationalist.
“Clearly his actions have done nothing to do anything other than encourage this behavior,” Biden said. “I’m not sure what this guy believes. If he believes anything.”
But Biden was very clear on labeling attacks such as the one in El Paso as domestic terrorism. “The white supremacists, they’re winning the battle,” he said. “This is domestic terrorism.”
Ohio governor proposes adopting "red flag" law
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine released a list of 10 items he is asking the state legislature to consider to reduce gun violence.
Two days after the governor was confronted with shouts of “Do something!” in Dayton, he announced at a press conference that he wanted lawmakers to pass a “red flag law,” which allows courts to take guns from people who are deemed dangerous.
“Some in the crowd were angry,” DeWine said of those who confronted him in Dayton. “They should be angry.” He added, “They chanted ‘Do something,’ and they are absolutely right.”
The governor is also asking the legislature to consider enacting background checks for all gun sales, except for those between family members.
Updated
Foreign countries are warning their citizens about travel to the US after this weekend’s pair of shootings that killed 31 people, the LA Times reports.
Uruguay’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement warning about “growing indiscriminate violence” in the US, urging Uruguayans to avoid “theme parks, shopping centers, festivals, religious events, gastronomic fairs and any kind of cultural or sporting events.”
The Japanese Consul in Detroit advised Japanese nationals to “be aware of the potential for gunfire incidents everywhere in the United States,” describing the country as “a gun society.”
Trump plans to visit El Paso tomorrow as it mourns the loss of 22 members of its community, but the president’s reelection campaign still owes the city more than $500,000.
Trump held a February rally at an El Paso arena, and according to the Center for Public Integrity, the campaign has an unpaid balance to the city of $569,204.
“It’s ridiculous and unconscionable. The city of El Paso is an economically challenged community,” said El Paso County Commissioner Dave Stout, who “adamantly” opposes Trump visiting.
“He’s going to be throwing salt into the wound -- a very, very deep wound,” Stout said. “And this community needs healing, not Donald Trump.”
Updated
2020 Democrats slam the New York Times over its headline on Trump's statement
The New York Times was forced to change the front-page headline of today’s paper amid intense backlash over how it portrayed Trump’s statement on the shootings.
The original headline read: “TRUMP URGES UNITY VS. RACISM.” Many Twitter commentators complained that the wording fed Trump’s claim that those who called out his anti-immigrant rhetoric in the wake of the El Paso shooting were playing politics.
The headline first gained widespread attention when it was tweeted out by FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver:
Tomorrow's NYT print edition.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) August 6, 2019
Not sure "TRUMP URGES UNITY VS. RACISM" is how I would have framed the story. pic.twitter.com/quOibXsp32
As Silver’s tweet was being reshared thousands of times, the Times changed the headline for the second print edition to, “ASSAILING HATE BUT NOT GUNS.” A Times spokesperson acknowledged to the Washington Post, “The headline was bad and has been changed for the second edition.”
Tomorrow’s @nytimes tonight, second edition: @realDonaldTrump assails hate but not guns; China employs currency in trade feud, jolting markets. #nytimes pic.twitter.com/1fD4pVEbaF
— Tom Jolly (@TomJolly) August 6, 2019
But it seems the damage had already been done. Many prominent Democrats, including several presidential candidates, took to Twitter to accuse the Times of distorting Trump’s teleprompter address. And some people even threatened to cancel their subscriptions.
From presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand:
That’s not what happened. https://t.co/m6eIZOARcZ
— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) August 6, 2019
From Cory Booker:
Lives literally depend on you doing better, NYT. Please do. https://t.co/L4CpCb8zLi
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) August 6, 2019
Beto O’Rourke, who used to represent part of El Paso in the House, offered a one-word response:
Unbelievable. https://t.co/rLgaacttDS
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) August 6, 2019
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is also running for president, mocked the Times using a tagline from its ads:
Hey, @nytimes — what happened to “The Truth Is Worth It?”
— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) August 6, 2019
Not the truth.
Not worth it. pic.twitter.com/N5tMTEoLln
And Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez argued that the botched headline represented how institutions often aid white supremacy:
Let this front page serve as a reminder of how white supremacy is aided by - and often relies upon - the cowardice of mainstream institutions. https://t.co/ynjgtT66yI
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 6, 2019
Updated
Trump criticizes Obama after the former president calls on Americans to reject hateful rhetoric
Good morning, live blog readers!
Donald Trump has already been tweeting for a couple of hours already, and he is offering the American people this important message: don’t blame him.
“It’s political season and the election is around the corner. They want to continue to push that racist narrative.” @ainsleyearhardt @foxandfriends And I am the least racist person. Black, Hispanic and Asian Unemployment is the lowest (BEST) in the history of the United States!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2019
He also cited a “Fox & Friends” segment to specifically call out Barack Obama, who issued a statement urging Americans to “soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred or normalizes racist sentiments.”
“Did George Bush ever condemn President Obama after Sandy Hook. President Obama had 32 mass shootings during his reign. Not many people said Obama is out of Control. Mass shootings were happening before the President even thought about running for Pres.” @kilmeade @foxandfriends
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2019
In his own robotic statement yesterday addressing the shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Trump called on the nation to “condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy.” But he has clearly not taken kindly to the argument made by many that his own anti-immigrant rhetoric has intensified racist sentiments in the country. (The El Paso suspect posted an anti-immigrant screed online before killing 22 at a Walmart.)
Trump has done this sort of walk-back on condemning racism before. Just last month, he initially said he was “unhappy” when some attendees of his North Carolina rally broke out in a racist “send her back” chant about Representative Ilhan Omar. But he later referred to attendees of the rally as “incredible patriots.”
When it comes to racism in America, it seems Trump is most bothered by any insinuation that the rhetoric or, in this week’s case, fatal violence is any reflection upon him.
Here are a few other things the blog is keeping its eye on:
- Trump has no events on his public schedule today, so expect the tweeting to continue.
- Mike Pence is meeting with the British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, at 4:30 p.m. EDT.
- More than a dozen national groups are holding a rally in Washington’s Lafayette Park, just in front of the White House, to demand action on gun violence at 12 p.m. EDT.
That’s all still coming up, so stay tuned.
