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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Maanvi Singh in San Francisco (now) and Joan E Greve in Washington (earlier)

Trump arrives in El Paso as hundreds of people protest his visit – as it happened

Demonstrators stand at a protest against Trump’s visit in El Paso, Texas Wednesday.
Demonstrators stand at a protest against Trump’s visit in El Paso, Texas Wednesday. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Summary

  • Puerto Rico has a new governor. Wanda Vázquez is the island’s third governor in the past six days.
  • As Trump headed to El Paso, to meet with victims of a gunman linked a screed against “Hispanic invasion”, immigration officials arrested 680 mostly Latino workers today. The raids at food processing plants in Mississippi amounted to the largest workplace sting in at least a decade.
  • Trump met with victims and first responders in El Paso as both protestors and supporters gathered in the city.
  • Former El Paso representative and 2020 candidate Beto O’Rourke spoke at a rally preceding Trump’s visit and met with those affected by the shooting. He announced that he will pause campaigning in order to spend more time in his hometown.
  • Trump visited Dayton earlier, where Democratic officials including mayor Nan Whaley and senator Sherrod Brown pushed the president to demand concrete action on gun control.
  • The president concluded that it has been an “amazing day” and told members of the press, who were not allowed to join during his hospital visits, “I wish you could have been there to see it.”
  • Joe Biden delivered his Iowa speech condemning Trump for having “fanned the flames of white supremacy”, prompting a tweet from the president that the address was “sooo boring”.
  • The House judiciary committee has asked a federal judge to force the testimony of the former White House counsel Don McGahn. He was first subpoenaed back in April, but his testimony has been blocked by the White House.
  • Representative Elijah Cummings encouraged Trump to visit his district in Baltimore, which the president recently attacked as a “rat and rodent infested mess” in a string of racist tweets.

CNN’s Oliver Darcy followed up with the White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham about why press weren’t allowed to join Trump during his Dayton hospital visit.

In response, she said that the presence of journalists would have overwhelmed patients, their families, and staff, adding that press access was never promised.

Meanwhile, Tim Ryan, the 2020 candidate and Ohio representative, addressed senator Mitch McConnell: “Where are your guts Mitch? Grab your cojones and do something.”

Ryan and other Democrats are urging McConnell to call the Senate into session to vote on gun legislation.

Beto O’Rourke offered his personal number to a survivor of the shooting in El Paso.

O’Rouke has also told CNN’s Eric Bradner that he’ll be visiting Ciudad Juárez, Mexico to attend the funerals of several victims who lived there.

Updated

Trump signs an autograph in El Paso.
Trump signs an autograph in El Paso. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP

Wrapping up his visit with victims, families and staff at a hospital in El Paso, Trump said, “We had an amazing day.”

To members of the press who were barred from joining him during his visits at hospitals in El Paso and Dayton, he said, “I wish you could have been there to see it.”

Updated

Beto O’Rourke has said that Donald Trump is a white supremacist.

The 2020 candidate and former El Paso representative earlier spoke at a rally protesting the president’s visit. O’Rourke is canceling campaign stops in Iowa and will remain in his hometown of El Paso as it copes with the aftermath of the mass shooting this weekend.

Updated

Trump just posted photos from his visit to a hospital in Dayton, where the press pool was not allowed because it was “not a photo op”

Updated

Puerto Rico has a new governor

Wanda Vázquez, the former secretary of justice, is sworn in as governor of Puerto Rico.
Wanda Vázquez, the former secretary of justice, is sworn in as governor of Puerto Rico. Photograph: Gabriella N Baez/Reuters

Wanda Vázquez has been sworn in as the new governor of Puerto Rico.

Vázquez, the former justice secretary took the oath of office at the Puerto Rican supreme court, which earlier today declared unconstitutional the appointment of governor Pedro Pierluisi, who was sworn in as a replacement for disgraced governor Ricardo Rosselló this weekend.

The question of who will lead the island territory is settled, at least for now, though the appointment could spark more protests from those who oppose Vázquez.

From the AP:

People began cheering in some parts of San Juan after the ruling was announced, and Puerto Ricans were expected to gather later outside the governor’s seaside mansion in the capital’s colonial district — some to celebrate the court’s decision and others to protest the incoming governor.

In the early afternoon, someone yelled through a loudspeaker near the residence: “Pierluisi out! The constitution of Puerto Rico should be respected!”...

Pierluisi was appointed secretary of state by then-Gov. Ricardo Rosselló while legislators were in recess, and only the House approved his nomination. Pierluisi was then sworn in as governor Friday after Rosselló formally resigned in response to the protests.

Puerto Rico’s Senate sued to challenge Pierluisi’s legitimacy as governor, arguing that its approval was also necessary, and the Supreme Court decided in favor of the Senate.

The Senate had also asked the court to declare unconstitutional a portion of a 2005 law saying a secretary of state need not be approved by both House and Senate if they have to step in as governor. Puerto Rico’s constitution says a secretary of state has to be approved by both chambers.

The court agreed that the law’s clause was unconstitutional...

Vázquez became justice secretary in January 2017. She previously worked as a district attorney for two decades at Puerto Rico’s justice department, handling domestic and sexual abuse cases, and in 2010 was appointed director of the Office for Women’s Rights.

Some critics say that as justice secretary that she was not aggressive enough in pursuing corruption investigations involving members of her New Progressive Party and that she did not prioritize gender violence cases.

Updated

Ice raids result in hundreds of arrests in Mississippi

Immigration officials arrested 680 mostly Latino workers today at food processing plants in Mississippi, in the largest workplace sting in at least a decade, according to the Associated Press.

The raids, planned months ago, happened just hours before President Donald Trump was scheduled to visit El Paso, Texas, the majority-Latino city where a man linked to an online screed about a “Hispanic invasion” was charged in a shooting that left 22 people dead in the border city.

Workers filled three buses – two for men and one for women – at a Koch Foods Inc plant in tiny Morton, 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Jackson. They were taken to a military hangar to be processed for immigration violations. About 70 family, friends and residents waved goodbye and shouted, “Let them go! Let them go!” Later, two more buses arrived.

A tearful 13-year-old boy whose parents are from Guatemala waved goodbye to his mother, a Koch worker, as he stood beside his father. Some employees tried to flee on foot but were captured in the parking lot.

Workers who were confirmed to have legal status were allowed to leave the plant after having their trunks searched.

Updated

The president and first lady are now visiting first responders, hospital staff, victims and their families at El Paso’s University Medical Center as supporters and opponents gather outside.

Amnesty International has issued a travel warning for visitors to the US due to ongoing “rampant gun violence”, advising people to exercise caution in public spaces.

According to a press release from the organization, the advisory is meant to mimic similar travel advisories that the US State Department issues to Americans visiting other countries.

Amnesty International has been advocating for regulating guns for years, and last month published a report on the mental and physical trauma sustained by survivors of gun violence in the US.

“Under international human rights law the United States as an obligation to enact a range of measures at the federal, state, and local levels to regulate access to firearms,” the advisory reads.

Updated

That’s it from me on the blog today. My west coast colleague Maanvi Singh will be taking over for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • Trump has just arrived in El Paso to meet with victims and first responders from Saturday’s shooting. But hundreds in the city are protesting his visit given the parallels between the president’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and that of the white nationalist shooter.
  • Trump visited Dayton earlier, where Democratic officials like Mayor Nan Whaley and Senator Sherrod Brown pushed the president to demand concrete action on gun control.
  • Joe Biden delivered his Iowa speech condemning Trump for having “fanned the flames of white supremacy”, prompting a tweet from the president that the address was “sooo boring”.
  • The House judiciary committee has asked a federal judge to force the testimony of the former White House counsel Don McGahn. He was first subpoenaed back in April, but his testimony has been blocked by the White House.
  • Representative Elijah Cummings encouraged Trump to visit his district in Baltimore, which the president recently attacked as a “rat and rodent infested mess” in a string of racist tweets.

Maanvi will have more on Trump’s visit to El Paso, so stay tuned.

Updated

House judiciary committee asks judge to force McGahn's tesimony

The House judiciary committee has asked a federal judge to force testimony from Don McGahn, Trump’s former White House counsel.

Then-White House counsel Don McGahn listens during a Senate judiciary committee hearing.
Then-White House counsel Don McGahn listens during a Senate judiciary committee hearing. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AP

McGahn, who featured prominently in the portion of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on whether the president obstructed justice, was subpoenaed by the panel back in April. But the White House has blocked his testimony, claiming he had “absolute” immunity.

This marks the first lawsuit House Democrats have filed to force a witness’ testimony since regaining control of the chamber. House speaker Nancy Pelosi notified her caucus about the imminent lawsuit in a “Dear Colleague” letter earlier today.

Some scenes from the El Paso protests:

A rally against Donald Trump in El Paso Wednesday.
A rally against Donald Trump in El Paso Wednesday. Photograph: José Luis González/Reuters
A man takes part in one of the rallies against Trump.
A man takes part in one of the rallies against Trump. Photograph: José Luis González/Reuters
El Paso residents protest against the visit of Donald Trump.
El Paso residents protest against the visit of Donald Trump. Photograph: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
Demonstrators stand at a protest against Trump’s visit.
Demonstrators stand at a protest against Trump’s visit. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images
People hold banners while taking part in a rally against Trump’s visit to El Paso.
People hold banners while taking part in a rally against Trump’s visit to El Paso. Photograph: José Luis González/Reuters

Updated

Trump has arrived in El Paso

Air Force One has touched down in El Paso, where the president is expected to meet with victims and first responders from Saturday’s shooting as hundreds in the city protest his visit.

Updated

Asked by a CNN reporter what he thought of Trump’s tweet on his speech, Joe Biden said, “He should get a life.”

The president called Biden’s speech, in which he condemned Trump for having “fanned the flames of white supremacy,” “sooo boring” in the tweet.

Trump reiterated claims from one of his senior advisers, Dan Scavino, that Senator Sherrod Brown and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley misrepresented the president’s visit with shooting victims and first responders.

But again, it was unclear what the Trump camp was referring to, given that Brown himself said the president had been greeted warmly by those at the Dayton hospital.

“He was received well by the patients, as you’d expect,” Brown said earlier. “They were hurting; he was comforting. He did the right things; Melania did the right things. And it’s his job in part to comfort people.”

Beto O'Rourke speaks at El Paso protest

Beto O’Rourke is speaking at the protest rally in El Paso as Trump prepares to touch down in the mourning city:

Updated

Just before Trump arrived in El Paso, the city’s mayor pro tempore and county commissioner released a statement demanding that the president “personally condemn racial terrorism by white supremacists, in no uncertain terms.”

Mayor Pro Tempore Claudia Ordaz Perez and County Commissioner Vincent Perez said in the statement, “If the President fails to strongly condemn this racially-motivated terrorist attack and fails to call for an end to the use of violence against minority groups by radicalized white nationalist terrorists during his visit, his continued depiction of immigrants and migrants as a threat to our nation will only place our community at greater risk for racially-motivated attacks.”

El Paso police department refutes claim that another shooting victim has died

The El Paso Police Department refuted a claim, shared by organizers at a protest rally against Trump’s visit, that another victim of this weekend’s shooting had passed away:

As police began to cordon off roadways in preparation for Trump’s arrival, hundreds gathered in El Paso’s Washington Park, mere streets away from the Mexican border.

They stood under the sweltering sun to protest Trump’s visit, holding signs reading “Trump is a racist” and “Protect our kids, not the NRA.” Volunteers passed out water and registered people to vote.

“Today, we must come together and say, Donald Trump, your racism, your hatred, your bigotry are not welcome here,” Adri Perez of the El Paso ACLU said to the crowd. “We must turn our grief into anger and our anger into action.”

Protesters hold signs ahead of Trump’s visit in El Paso, Texas.
Protesters hold signs ahead of Trump’s visit in El Paso, Texas. Photograph: Larry W Smith/EPA

Updated

Joe Biden’s campaign thanked Trump for watching his speech on white supremacy. The president tweeted, apparently aboard Air Force One between Dayton and El Paso, that the address was “Sooo Boring.”

In this speech, Biden condemned Trump for having “fanned the flames of white supremacy” in America.

The El Paso Police Department admonished mourners from “clashing against each other” at the memorial to the shooting victims:

Trump lashes out against Biden as former vice-president delivers speech on white supremacy

So it looks like the televisions on Air Force One are working. En route between Dayton and El Paso to meet with victims of this weekend’s shootings, Trump lashed out against Joe Biden as he delivered a speech condemning the president for having “fanned the flames of white supremacy.”

Biden had not yet wrapped up his speech in Burlington, Iowa, before Trump weighed in, predicting the address would cause news networks to “die in the ratings.”

Updated

A senior White House aide accused Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley of lying about Trump’s visit to the city after this weekend’s mass shooting.

But it was unclear what Scavino was saying Brown lied about, given that the senator acknowledged the president was greeted warmly by the shooting’s victims and first responders.

“He was received well by the patients, as you’d expect,” Brown said earlier. “They were hurting; he was comforting. He did the right things; Melania did the right things. And it’s his job in part to comfort people.”

Brown also said that Trump was vague about committing to action on reducing gun violence.

Biden delivers Iowa speech condemning Trump for having 'fanned the flames of white supremacy'

Joe Biden is delivering his speech in Burlington, Iowa, condemning Trump for having “fanned the flames of white supremacy.”

The former vice president also reminded the audience that he launched his campaign by warning that Trump represented a threat to the “soul of America.”

He vowed to reinstate a federal ban on assault weapons if elected president and said the country needed to fight domestic terrorism as strongly as it fought international terrorism.

Updated

A number of Democratic presidential candidates will attend an Iowa forum this weekend on gun safety.

The forum, held in Des Moines, will be hosted by the gun-control groups Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action.

El Paso residents have been leaving signs at a memorial to the 22 victims who died in Saturday’s shootings.

An NBC News reporter shared this particularly striking message:

Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley said she spoke to Trump about the need to reform gun laws during his trip to the city.

“I reiterated to the president the importance of action around these issues and guns and that the people of Dayton are waiting for action from Washington DC.” Whaley said.

Updated

Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio said he told Trump to press for a ban on assault weapons during the president’s trip to Dayton.

The president met with first responders and some of the shooting victims at a local hospital. Brown said Trump expressed a desire to give an award to the police officers who helped end the shooting quickly.

“I said, Mr. President, respectfully, the most important thing you can do for these police officers is take assault weapons off the street,” Brown said.

Trump was generally vague about committing to any concrete action on gun control. Brown said.

Cummings encourages Trump to visit Baltimore

Representative Elijah Cummings told the National Press Club that he routinely receives death threats for his work as chairman of the House oversight committee.

“It’s rarely that I go a week without getting a death threat,” Cummings said. “I’m just trying to do my job.”

He also encouraged Trump to come visit Baltimore to have his false impressions of the city corrected.

Updated

Trump departs Dayton for El Paso

The president has left Dayton and is en route to El Paso, where he will likely encounter even more protesters.

A number of El Paso leaders, including Representative Veronica Escobar, have called on Trump to cancel the visit given the anti-immigrant rhetoric of the shooter who killed 22 members of the community.

Representative Elijah Cummings called on Congress to end its August recess to return to Capitol Hill and pass legislation to reduce gun violence.

“When you have people dying, come on now,” Cummings said. “People are dying. People are afraid.”

He specifically demanded that Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell take up bills that have already passed the House.

Cummings also expressed severe skepticism of Trump’s comments that he would take a close look at strengthening background checks. “Either you do it, or you don’t,” Cummings said. “The people simply want action.”

Representative Elijah Cummings recommended to the audience at the National Press Club that everyone read a recent op-ed by Michael Gerson, a former top aide to George W. Bush.

“Racism is the fire that left our country horribly disfigured,” Gerson writes in the piece. “It is the beast we try to keep locked in the basement. When the president of the United States plays with that fire or takes that beast out for a walk, it is not just another political event, not just a normal day in campaign 2020. It is a cause for shame.”

A few hundred demonstrators greeted Trump at the Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton as he met with first responders and shooting victims, according to a pool report.

The crowd appeared to be a mix of protesters and supporters of the president. Reporters spotted Trump campaign flags, American flags and at least one hand-written sign reading, “Impeach.”

Cummings: I am "so proud" to represent Baltimore

Representative Elijah Cummings is speaking at the National Press Club about Trump’s racist comments on his majority-black district in Baltimore, which the president called a “rat and rodent infested mess.”

“God has called me to this moment,” Cummings opened his remarks. “I did not ask for it.” The House oversight committee chairman also noted that the invitation and date for this speech was set two months ago, before Trump launched his racist attack.

Cummings emphasized that he was “so proud” to represent the city of Baltimore and that America’s “national leaders” should be proud of those citizens as well. “Thank you, Baltimore,” the congressman said. He argued that such attacks were meant to “distract” Americans from the true issues, like prescription drug prices and voting rights.

He also offered his condolences for those lost in this weekend’s mass shootings. calling for an end to making “hateful, incendiary comments” and “encouraging reprehensible behavior.” “As a country, we finally must say that enough is enough,” Cummings said, demanding that Mitch McConnell take action on gun control.

He shared that his 10-year-old niece had recently asked him a question: “Are they going to put us in cages?” “There’s just something wrong with that,” Cummings said.

Reports of man with weapon USA Today headquarters appears to be false alarm

The report of a man carrying a weapon near the USA Today headquarters in McLean, Virginia, thankfully appears to have been a false alarm:

Trump dodges reporters in Dayton

Reporters who traveled with the president to Dayton were unable to cover his visit to the Miami Valley Hospital, where he met with first responders and victims of the mass shooting.

The only information about Trump’s visit was provided by his press secretary via her Twitter account:

USA Today headquarters evacuated after report of a man with a weapon

USA Today’s headquarters in McLean, Virginia, was evacuated following reports of a man near the building carrying a weapon.

Police have advised people to avoid the area, and reporters shared images of the evacuated building.

Summary

Here is where the day stands so far:

  • Trump has arrived in Dayton to meet with first responders and victims of this weekend’s mass shooting, but he has already been confronted by protesters demanding action to reduce gun violence.
  • The president will soon head to El Paso, where thousands have asked that he consider his trip given this weekend’s white nationalist attack that left 22 dead.
  • Joe Biden will deliver an Iowa speech this afternoon condemning Trump for having “fanned the flames of white supremacy.”
  • Representative Elijah Cummings will soon address the National Press Club, where he will certainly be asked about the president’s racist attacks against him and his majority-black district in Baltimore.

That’s still coming up, so stay tuned.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson has come under intense criticism for referring to white supremacy in America as a “hoax” and a “conspiracy theory.”

Our colleague Edward Helmore reports:

Coming just days after a Texas man allegedly killed 22 people in El Paso after posting a manifesto complaining of a ‘Hispanic invasion’, the prime-time news star defended the president from criticisms of his rhetoric by disputing that Trump ever ‘endorsed white supremacy or came close to endorsing white supremacy’.

‘If you were to assemble a list, a hierarchy of concerns, problems this country has, where would white supremacy be on the list? Right up there with Russia probably. It’s actually not a real problem in America,’ Carlson told his audience on Tuesday night.

Claiming that white supremacy issue was being used by Democrats as a political tool, Carlson continued: ‘This is a hoax. Just like the Russia hoax, it’s a conspiracy theory used to divide the country and keep a hold on power.’

After the host made his false comments, the hashtags #FireTuckerCarlson and #BoycottTuckerCarlson started trending on Twitter.

Some photos from the protests in Dayton, Ohio:

A rally against gun violence during Trump’s visit to Dayton, Ohio.
A rally against gun violence during Trump’s visit to Dayton, Ohio. Photograph: Bryan Woolston/Reuters
A ‘resist’ flag in Dayton, Ohio.
A ‘resist’ flag in Dayton, Ohio. Photograph: Megan Jelinger/AFP/Getty Images
Demonstrators protest the visit of Donald Trump in Dayton, Ohio.
Demonstrators protest the visit of Donald Trump in Dayton, Ohio. Photograph: Megan Jelinger/AFP/Getty Images
A ‘Welcome to Toledo!’ sign references Trump mistakenly referring to the wrong city in Ohio in a televised speech after the shooting.
A ‘Welcome to Toledo!’ sign references Trump mistakenly referring to the wrong city in Ohio in a televised speech after the shooting. Photograph: Megan Jelinger/AFP/Getty Images
Demonstrators in Dayton, Ohio.
Demonstrators in Dayton, Ohio. Photograph: Megan Jelinger/AFP/Getty Images

Trump greeted by protesters

Trump has arrived in Dayton, and he is already being confronted by protesters as he makes his way to Miami Valley Hospital, where he will meet with first responders and victims.

A Reuters reporter shared this photo from his arrival:

Representative Tim Ryan, the Ohio Democrat who is running for president, mocked Trump’s claim that his rhetoric “brings people together.”

Ryan previously criticized Trump for confusing Dayton with Toledo in his statement on the shootings.

“It’s indicative of what else he said during that press conference, how disconnected he is from what’s happening in the country today,” Ryan told CNN. “I think he has a diminished mental capacity to be able to deal with the big problems that we have in the United States today.”

Trump arrives in Dayton

Trump has arrived in Dayton, where he is expected to meet with first responders and victims of this weekend’s mass shooting that killed nine.

He is also expected to be greeted by protesters demanding action to reduce gun violence.

Updated

Trump promised before leaving Washington for Dayton and El Paso that he would pressure Congress to act on background checks.

But he has made similar claims before and achieved no results, as a CNN reporter noted:

Meanwhile, the cities themselves are just focused on mourning the loss of so many community members. From a Washington Post reporter currently in El Paso:

Trump is already en route to Dayton and El Paso, but thousands have signed on to a letter asking him not to visit El Paso after a white nationalist echoing the president’s language of a Hispanic “invasion” killed 22 members of the community.

People attend a candlelight prayer vigil near the scene of the El Paso mass shooting.
People attend a candlelight prayer vigil near the scene of the El Paso mass shooting. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

The letter, first posted by the Border Network for Human Rights, attracted more than 17,000 signatures in less than 24 hours. The text demands that Trump not visit El Paso and instead “take a moment for genuine introspection, deep soul searching, and penance.”

“[Y]our presence would bring no comfort, no respite from the pain so brutally and callously imposed upon us. We ask, instead, for your absence,” the letter reads. “We say this because we recognize that it is your rhetoric and your actions that led us to this terrible moment.”

Trump’s Dayton visit is also expected to attract protests, which the city’s mayor has encouraged.

Trump says he's 'concerned for any group of hate,' naming white supremacy and antifa

Trump was also asked before leaving for Dayton and El Paso whether he was concerned about hate groups.

Donald Trump travels to Dayton and El Paso to meet with first responders, families and victims.
Donald Trump travels to Dayton and El Paso to meet with first responders, families and victims. Photograph: Shawn Thew/EPA

“I am concerned for any group of hate,” Trump said, according to a pool report. “I don’t like it ... whether it’s white supremacy or any other kind of supremacy, whether it’s antifa, whether it’s any group or kind of hate ... I am concerned about it and I’ll do something about it.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center does not list antifa as a hate group because such far-left activists “do not promote hatred based on race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Trump also said he would “be convincing people to do things they don’t want to do, including in Congress.” “I have a lot of influence with a lot of people,” the president said. “I want to convince them to do the right thing, and I can tell you, we’ve made a lot of headway.”

Updated

Trump says there is 'a great appetite for background checks'

Just before leaving Washington to visit with shooting victims, the president kept up his mockery of critics who have condemned his anti-immigrant rhetoric.

“My critics are political people that are trying to make points,” Trump said, according to a pool report. “I don’t think it works. I would like to stay out of the political fray.”

Asked about what gun proposals he is considering, Trump said there is “no political appetite” for a ban on assault weapons, which has been backed by nearly all of his Democratic rivals in the 2020 race.

But he seemed open to strengthening the background checks system, saying there is “a great appetite” for such a proposal.

Updated

Booker: 'Racist violence has always been a part of the American story'

Cory Booker is delivering a speech on gun violence and white nationalism at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, where nine African American parishioners were murdered by a white supremacist shooter in 2015.

“White supremacy has always been a problem in our American story,” the Democratic presidential candidate told the audience, drawing a line from slavery to “demagogues throughout generations who stoked racist and anti-immigrant hatred.”

“Racist violence has always been a part of the American story,” Booker said, going on to argue that the El Paso shooting “did not start with the hand that pulled the trigger.”

He said that such white nationalist sentiments were planted in “fertile soil” by those have encouraged such animus. He specifically referenced Trump’s comments on Baltimore being “rat and rodent infested” without mentioning the president’s name.

The question is not who is or isn’t a racist, Booker said, but “who is and isn’t doing something about it.”

“There is no neutrality in this fight,” the New Jersey senator said, calling white supremacy “an issue of national security.”

Trump has also been tweeting about the New York Times changing its front-page headline yesterday about the president’s Monday statement on the shootings.

The newspaper changed its headline from “TRUMP URGES UNITY VS RACISM” to “ASSAILING HATE BUT NOT GUNS” between the first and second print editions.

Many critics complained that the original headline fed Trump’s narrative that those who called out his anti-immigrant rhetoric were simply playing politics. Some Times readers even threatened to cancel their subscriptions over the matter.

The president seems to be wishing the newspaper had kept its initial, misleading headline.

Trump dubiously attempts to link Dayton shooter to Sanders, Warren

Continuing to reject responsibility for how his own rhetoric has intensified anti-immigrant animus in America, Trump was on Twitter this morning trying to redirect focus away from the white nationalist El Paso shooter and toward the Dayton shooter.

A Twitter account seemingly connected to the Dayton shooter does identify him as a “leftist” and a supporter of Elizabeth Warren. But the FBI said yesterday that investigators have uncovered no evidence of a racial motivation in the Dayton attack, even though the shooter seems to have explored “violent ideologies.”

In contrast, the El Paso shooter posted an anti-immigrant screed online before targeting a city with a large Hispanic community. The shooter’s language of trying to prevent a Hispanic “invasion” also reflects the rhetoric of Trump, whose re-election campaign has paid for thousands of Facebook ads that use similar language.

In a statement yesterday, Warren’s campaign criticized efforts by Trump and his supporters to connect her to the Dayton attack as an “attempt to distract” from the “direct line” between the president’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and the El Paso shooter.

“There is absolutely no place for violence in our politics and Elizabeth and our campaign condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” Kristen Orthman, a spokesperson for the Warren campaign, said.

“Leaders have a responsibility to speak out and to not incite violence. But let’s be clear – there is a direct line between the president’s rhetoric and the stated motivations of the El Paso shooter. This is an attempt to distract from the fact that Trump’s rhetoric is inciting violence as extremist-related murders have spiked 35 percent from 2017 to 2018.”

Biden to condemn Trump for having 'fanned the flames of white supremacy' in Iowa speech

Good morning, live blog readers!

Joe Biden is set to give a speech today condemning Donald Trump in the former vice-president’s strongest terms yet.

Following the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Biden will tell an audience in Burlington, Iowa, this afternoon that Trump “has fanned the flames of white supremacy in this nation”, Axios reports.

“How far is it from Trump’s saying this ‘is an invasion’ to the shooter in El Paso declaring ‘his attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas?’ Not far at all,” Biden will say.

“How far is it from the white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville – Trump’s ‘very fine people,’ chanting ‘You will not replace us’ – to the shooter at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh saying Jews ‘were committing genocide to his people?’ Not far at all … In both clear language and in code, this president has fanned the flames of white supremacy in this nation.”

The condemnation is a noticeable shift for Biden, who avoided sweeping judgments about Trump’s own ideology in a CNN interview earlier this week. “Clearly, his actions have done nothing to do anything other than encourage this kind of behavior,” the presidential candidate told Anderson Cooper.

But with other 2020 Democrats calling out the president by name for intensifying racism in the country, Biden has probably felt pressure to do the same, particularly given that he launched his campaign on the premise that Trump represented a fundamental threat to “the soul of this nation.”

Trump has repeatedly signaled that he wants the 2020 election to focus on issues of race and identity in America. His Democratic rivals now seem to be coalescing around a unified response: bring it on.

Representative Elijah Cummings speaks at the grand opening of a play space in West Baltimore.
Representative Elijah Cummings speaks at the grand opening of a play space in west Baltimore. Photograph: Kim Hairston/AP

Here’s what else the blog is keeping its eye on today:

  • The president will travel to El Paso and Dayton with the first lady to meet with first responders and victims of this weekend’s two mass shootings.
  • Representative Elijah Cummings, the Democratic chairman of the House oversight committee, will speak to the National Press Club at 1pm EDT. He is sure to be asked about Trump’s racist tweets directed at Cummings and his majority-black district in Baltimore. (Watch it here.)
  • Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker will deliver remarks on gun violence and white nationalism at 9.30am EDT. The speech will take place at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, the site of the 2015 white supremacist that left nine African American parishioners dead. (Watch his remarks here.)

That’s all still coming up, so stay tuned.

Updated

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Guitar World
Guitar World
“A few years ago, I decided, ‘I'm just going to play trumpet every day, no matter what. And after a couple of years of doing it, I'm going to make a record’”: Flea covers Frank Ocean and explains why he’s scratching a long-standing itch on his new album
Watch him doing double duty on trumpet and bass in the company of Jimmy Fallon
MusicRadar
MusicRadar
Anna Kendrick And Kieran Culkin’s Reactions To An Interviewer’s Michael Cera Comment Are Going Viral Again
“I think the interview is projecting his own insecurities here.”
Bored Panda
Bored Panda
Nicki Minaj Sued Over $275K Unpaid Concert Production Costs — Firm Claims Bills Ignored for Years
Nicki Minaj is embroiled in a legal battle as a production company claims she owes over $275,000 for concert production costs. The lawsuit highlights financial risks in the entertainment industry.
International Business Times UK
International Business Times UK
Age Of Attraction Could Become My Love Is Blind Replacement, But It Needs To Fix Some Things
I can see a future but with many changes.
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
Weird Al Just Unexpectedly (And Brutally) Trolled The Rock’s Live Action Moana Wig
Ouch!
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
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