Donald Trump's tweet suggesting that the 2020 presidential election could be postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic set off a day of wild speculation as to whether he would, could, or how that would even look if he did.
After saying that a mail-in ballot system would create the "most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history", the president double-downed during his White House press conference, saying he doesn't want to wait weeks, months or even years for the result of the election to be known.
The reaction to an election delay made its way into the funeral for civil rights icon John Lewis, with Barack Obama turning his eulogy into a call to action for voting reform in a speech that, while it didn't mention Trump by name, left no one in doubt that the president was the target of his aim.
At the same press conference, Trump threatened to send in the National Guard to Portland after the Department of Homeland Security earlier announced a deal for Oregon State Police to step in and keep the peace. He said the professional agitators and professional anarchists that hate the United States made the city a "beehive of terrorists".
Before he threatened to send troops into Portland, Trump said US soldiers were being removed from Germany because the country was delinquent in its fees to Nato while still paying Russia billions for energy.
Elsewhere, a federal appeals court ruled it would review a judge's attempt to examine the Justice Department's decision to drop its criminal case against Donald Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
It came as Trump's ally Herman Cain died after he was hospitalised with the coronavirus. Mr Cain attended Mr Trump's Tulsa rally in June and was pictured without a mask, but it was unclear if that was where he first contracted the novel virus.
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Trump attacked by AOC over appeal to suburbia
Donald Trump has been attacked by Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over his pledge to safeguard the “Suburban Lifestyle Dream” for the affluent middle class by blocking the construction of low-income housing from neighbourhoods, with the congresswoman labelling his move “racist, classist nonsense”.
AOC was responding to a tweet the president issued on Wednesday morning, but he elaborated on the matter again later during a trip to the fracking fields of West Texas as part of a series unsubstantiated warnings that an incoming Democratic administration would destroy everything.
"It's been hell for suburbia," Trump said, promoting a step he took last week to rescind an Obama-era fair housing rule for low-income families - one that had him tweeting warnings to what he called the "Suburban Housewives of America" to much disdain.
“People fight all of their lives to get into the suburbs and have a beautiful home. There will be no more low-income housing forced into the suburbs... so enjoy your life, ladies and gentlemen,” he commented.
As part of the same appeal to the Rockwellian America of the post-war imagination, Trump attempted to prey on conservative fears of further unrest like that seen in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by attacking his opponents as anarchists - another blatant piece of scaremongering.
"They want to uproot and demolish every American value,” Trump declared of progressives like Ocasio-Cortez. “They want to wipe away every trace of religion from national life. They want to indoctrinate our children, defund our police, abolish the suburbs, incite riots and leave every city at the mercy of the radical left."
Here's Andrew Naughtie's report.
President falsely claims Biden would end energy production in West Texas
Speaking in front of stacked oil barrels yesterday, Trump also played down the difficulties of the US oil and gas industry, which is still struggling with the pandemic economic downturn and global oversupply that briefly drove oil prices into negative territory this spring. Prices have rebounded to around $40 (£30.81) a barrel, still below what some producers here need to break even.
"We're OK now. We're back, we're back," the president said to a crowd scattered with people wearing cowboy hats and face masks. He sought to contrast his support for oil and gas with Democratic rival Joe Biden's more climate-friendly energy plan, though Biden himself has stopped short of calling for a ban on hydraulic fracturing or fracking, the production method that spurred US oil and gas to a yearslong boom that started under President Barack Obama.
"If they got in, you would have no more energy coming out of the great state of Texas," warned Trump, whose poll numbers for the 2020 election are lagging.
He claimed the same, without evidence, for Ohio and Pennsylvania, two fracking states that also are battlegrounds in the presidential race.
Trump further claimed that Biden “won’t do well in Texas”, a forecast not supported at all by current polling.
Here’s John T Bennett’s report.
'Congressman Covid' Louie Gohmert blames masks after testing positive
Republican Louie Gohmert, who tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday and unwisely told his staff the news in person, has meanwhile suggested that wearing a mask could have given him the disease and hinted he could take hydroxychloroquine.
Amusingly, House minority leader Kevin McCarthy misspoke yesterday and inadvertently gave Gohmert the nickname “Congressman Covid”, which threatens to stick.
In response to the Gohmert news, House speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Wednesday evening that all members will be required to wear a mask when voting on the House floor from now on and that one will be provided if anyone forgets. Several hours later, the House sergeant-at-arms and the Capitol's top physician issued an order requiring masks inside House office buildings, with few exceptions. That mandate goes into effect at 8am on Thursday.
Pelosi said failure to wear a mask on the House floor is a "serious breach of decorum" for which members could be removed from the chamber. Members will be able to temporarily remove them while speaking, however. In the House office buildings, people can remove them to eat, drink and give interviews, among a few other specific situations.
"It's a sign of respect for the health, safety and well-being of others present in the chamber and in surrounding areas," Pelosi said.
Here’s more from Chris Riotta.
Mary Trump reflects on president’s childhood mashed potato trauma
Donald’s estranged niece continues to promote her insightful new book Too Much and Never Enough about the many skeletons in the family closet and last night recounted the story of her father Robert dumping a bowl of mashed potato on DJT's head as a seven-year-old to stop his bullying behaviour at the dinner table.
“It’s as though he literally still feels the humiliation of it,” Mary said with a smile on Joy Reid’s MSNBC show.
Asked if Donald is “a sociopath” by the host, the psychologist agreed: “He certainly acts like one.”
Big Tech giants appear before Congress to push back on antitrust concerns
Congressional lawmakers finally got a chance to grill the CEOs of Big Tech over their dominance and allegations of monopolistic practices that stifle competition. But it's not clear how much they advanced their goal of bringing some of the world's largest companies to heel.
Invective flew on Wednesday as legislators questioned Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai of Google and Tim Cook of Apple at a hearing of the House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust. For the last year, that panel has probed the business practices of the Silicon Valley giants with an eye to determining if they need to be regulated more heavily - or even broken up.
In nearly five hours of testimony and questioning, however, there were few startling revelations or striking confrontations. While the executives faced hostile questioning and frequent interruptions from lawmakers of both parties, little seemed to land more than glancing blows.
The CEOs testified via video to lawmakers, at times appearing together on the committee room display as tiny individual figures in a mostly empty array of squares. Most committee members were seated, masks on, in the hearing room in Washington.
The execs provided lots of data purporting to show how much competition they face and just how valuable their innovation and essential services are to consumers. But they sometimes struggled to answer pointed questions about their business practices. They also confronted a range of other concerns about alleged political bias, their effect on US democracy and their role in China.
The panel's chairman, David Cicilline, a Rhode Island Democrat, said each platform controlled by Facebook, Amazon, Google and Apple "is a bottleneck for a key channel of distribution."
"Whether they control access to information or to a marketplace, these platforms have the incentive and ability to exploit this power," he said. "They can charge exorbitant fees, impose oppressive contracts, and extract valuable data from the people and businesses that rely on them."
"Simply put: They have too much power."
The four CEOs command corporations whose products are woven into the fabric of everyday life, with millions or even billions of customers, and a combined market value greater than the entire German economy. One of them, Bezos, is the world's richest individual; Zuckerberg is the fourth-ranked billionaire.
And they had a few rough moments. Pichai and Zuckerberg, for instance, appeared discomfited when pressed about unsavory aspects of their companies' businesses, but got respites when their inquisitors ran out of time.
Bezos also acknowledged that alleged misdeeds at Amazon - such as reports that the company has used data generated by independent sellers on its platform to compete against them - would be "unacceptable" if proven to be true.
Among the toughest questions for Google and Amazon involved accusations that they used their dominant platforms to scoop up data about competitors in a way that gave them an unfair advantage.
Bezos, who was appearing before Congress for the first time, said he couldn't guarantee that the company had not accessed seller data to make competing products, an allegation that the company and its executives have previously denied.
"We have a policy against using seller specific data to aid our private label business," Bezos said in a response to a question from Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat. "But I can't guarantee to you that that policy hasn't been violated."
Pichai repeatedly deflected Cicilline's attacks by asserting that Google tries to provide the most helpful and relevant information to the hundreds of millions of people who use its search engine each day in an effort to keep them coming back instead of defecting to a rival service, such as Microsoft's Bing.
As Democrats largely focused on market competition, several Republicans aired long-standing grievances, claiming the tech companies are censoring conservative voices and questioning their business activities in China. "Big Tech is out to get conservatives," insisted congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio.
In its bipartisan investigation, the Judiciary subcommittee collected testimony from mid-level executives of the four firms, competitors and legal experts, and pored over more than a million internal documents from the companies. A key question: whether existing competition policies and century-old antitrust laws are adequate for overseeing the tech giants, or if new legislation and enforcement funding are needed.
Cicilline has called the four companies monopolies, although he says breaking them up should be a last resort. While forced breakups may appear unlikely, the wide scrutiny of Big Tech points toward possible new restrictions on its power.
The companies face legal and political offensives on multiplying fronts, from Congress, the Trump administration, federal and state regulators and European watchdogs. The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission have been investigating the four companies' practices.
Here’s Andrew Buncombe’s report.
Trump on troop withdrawal from Germany: 'They’re not paying their bills, it’s very simple'
More from the president yesterday, who defended his plan to pull 12,000 US soldiers out of Germany over his insistence that Berlin must meet its two-per-cent-of-GDP Nato financing commitment.
He elaborated on Twitter, in a message Russian president Vladimir Putin with have read with relish from his Kremlin jacuzzi.
The president was also busy bashing Fox News for not toeing the line yesterday, saying the right-wing broadcaster had “totally forgot who got them where there are”.
Fox pundit Laura Ingraham wears ski goggles to ‘spoof’ liberals calling for face masks
Speaking of Fox, the network’s star anchor may come to regret this childish stunt on the same day the US hit 150,000 deaths from the virus according to Johns Hopkins and a Republican congressman appears to have (unknowingly) brought the disease into the House of Representatives.
In a better showing over on Fox Business, anchor Dagen McDowlell held Trump campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley to account yesterday for a “cop-out” answer on his boss’s poor polling.
“Why is President Trump trailing Joe Biden, who has barely been out on the campaign trail?” she asked Gidley. “He’s trailing in national polls. He’s trailing in all the swing state polls.”
“The number one issue for Americans is the coronavirus," she continued. "It’s not the economy, it’s not even race relations, and, according to the latest Fox News poll, President Trump trails Joe Biden on doing a better job on coronavirus by 17 points. Why isn’t the president’s message resonating then?”
“Well, first of all, a lot of those polls are junk,” Gidley responded, prompting McDowell to swiftly interrupt: “That’s a cop-out. You can argue they don’t indicate how the election turns out. That’s fine. But that’s just a cop-out, Hogan.”
Bravo.
Obama, Clinton and Bush to attend and take part in John Lewis funeral as Trump stays away
The president’s refusal to pay his respects to the late civil rights hero is increasingly a very bad look for him indeed.
Here’s Gino Spocchia with the latest.
The president’s refusal to pay his respects to the late civil rights hero is increasingly a very bad look for him indeed.
Here’s Gino Spocchia with the latest.
Don Jr returns to Twitter following suspension to complain about new Barbie collection
The president's son is back on social media after a short temporary suspension and immediately starts hitting out on the issues that really matter.
Here's Louise Hall's report.
The president's son is back on social media after a short temporary suspension and immediately starts hitting out on the issues that really matter.
Here's Louise Hall's report.
Trump orders federal officers to leave Portland after weeks of outrage
Alex Woodward has the latest on the Oregon city that has become the focal point for stand-offs between Black Lives Matter protesters and federal agents since the killing of George Floyd.
Alex Woodward has the latest on the Oregon city that has become the focal point for stand-offs between Black Lives Matter protesters and federal agents since the killing of George Floyd.
Documentary Trump ‘doesn’t want you to see’ to be released worldwide
Jacob Stolworthy has this on the cinematic event of the year (well, sort of...), You've Been Trumped Too, a sequel to an earlier film about his running up against feisty local Scots as he seeks to expand his regional golf resorts.
Think Local Hero only a great deal less charming.
Brett Kavanaugh urged Supreme Court colleagues to avoid controversial rulings, report says
Court cases on abortion and Donald Trump’s tax returns were among those that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was alleged to have advised colleagues to avoid making decisions on.
Those claims, which CNN first reported on Wednesday, suggest Mr Kavanaugh wanted to provide the court with an opportunity to side-step making opinions on certain controversial cases.
Graig Graziosi reports:
Trump claims other countries now 'disasters' on coronavirus, as US passes milestone in deaths
Once again calling Covid-19 the "China Virus" on Thursday, Donald Trump made the unsubstantiated claim that other countries who were "doing so well" at the start of the pandemic, were now a "disaster".
This is your regular reminder that the United States continues to record more cases than any other nation, with 4,427,493 at the time of Mr Trump's tweet, according to John Hopkins University data.
The president's comments come in an apparent reference to a rise in cases in some parts of Europe this week.
But, contrary to Mr Trump's claims, neither testing or population size can account for the spread of the virus across the US.
At the same time, more than 150,000 Americans have now lost their lives to Covid-19.
Alex Woodward explains what could come next, as the country braces for more economic fallout and a struggle over school openings.
President suggests delaying 2020 election
Donald Trump has suggested delaying November's presidential election in order for people to vote "safely", as he continues to claim mail-in ballots will lead to fraudulent results.
In a tweet shared with his 84 million Twitter followers on Thursday, he wrote:
The president's latest claim comes after he suggested that a mail-in ballot system amid the coronavirus pandemic would lead to rigged results against himself.
The White House incumbent, who has used mail-voting himself, has previously admitted that "for whatever reason, [it] doesn't work out well for Republicans."
Danielle Zoellner has the latest:
Bill Barr 'pizza' comment sends conspiracy theorists crazy
During his testimony to a congressional committee yesterday, US attorney general Bill Barr made an innocuous analogy to ordering a pizza – and sent QAnon conspiracy theorists into a frenzy.
Mr Barr’s allusion came when taking questions over the investigation into Trump presidential campaign’s ties to Russia.
"Justice is not something you order up on a schedule like ordering a pizza,” said Mr Barr.
Andrew Naughtie explains why the word "pizza" immediately triggered a response from QAnon followers, here:
New ad calls Republican senator a 'Trump stooge'
A new Lincoln Project attack advert has targeted Republican Senator Susan Collins, accusing her of not speaking out against the president.
The advert, released by the Republican anti-Trump political action committee (PAC) on Wednesday branded Sen Collins a "Trump stooge".
Whilst the PAC is known for it's viral videos attacking president Trump, it has begun to target a handful of Republican senators who are up for reelection in November - including Ms Collins.
Here's Louise Hall's report:
Trump does not have the power to move the presidential election, says FEC commissioner
FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub has released a statement to Reuters stating the president does not have power to change the election, "nor should it be moved",
FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub has released a statement to Reuters stating the president does not have power to change the election, "nor should it be moved",
Breaking news: Herman Cain dies from coronavirus after being hospitalised following Trump's Tulsa rally
Herman Cain, a business executive and former Republican presidential candidate, has died after contracting the novel coronavirus. He was 74-years-old.
Chris Riotta has more on this breaking story:
Herman Cain, a business executive and former Republican presidential candidate, has died after contracting the novel coronavirus. He was 74-years-old.
Chris Riotta has more on this breaking story:
Herman Cain dies from coronavirus after being hospitalised following Trump's Tulsa rally
Herman Cain, a business executive and former Republican presidential candidate, has died after contracting the novel coronavirus
Biden launches Ohio ad campaigns as Buckeye State suddenly in play
In another sign of an electoral map that has shifted rapidly in recent months, the Biden campaign is about to launch an ad campaign in Ohio.
The Buckeye State, which Donald Trump won by 8 points in 2016, had been considered until the last few months as solidly in Republican hands by political strategists of both parties.
Several polls give former vice president Joe Biden a narrow lead there, and the campaign's decision to spend money in the state indicates Mr Biden and his top aides see it as winnable.
John T Bennett reports:
In another sign of an electoral map that has shifted rapidly in recent months, the Biden campaign is about to launch an ad campaign in Ohio.
The Buckeye State, which Donald Trump won by 8 points in 2016, had been considered until the last few months as solidly in Republican hands by political strategists of both parties.
Several polls give former vice president Joe Biden a narrow lead there, and the campaign's decision to spend money in the state indicates Mr Biden and his top aides see it as winnable.
John T Bennett reports:
