Summary
- As the CDC warned of “severe disruption” in case of a coronavirus update, lawmakers criticized the administration’s response plan as inadequate.
-
Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, was grilled earlier today by senators and criticized for lacking substantive answers to questions about how the US would handle an outbreak.
- Two abortion bills failed in the Senate; one would have banned abortions after 20 weeks, and the other players into misconceptions about the procedure in mandating that doctors treat babies that survive failed abortions. Doctors do not provide abortions to patients in labor and it is pretty much impossible for a baby to be born alive after a failed abortion.
- Ahead of the Democratic debate and the South Carolina primary, the civil rights leader Rev Jesse Jackson defended Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren as well as the idea of “democratic socialism”.
- Frontrunner Sanders is bracing for attacks from his opponents tonight during the crucial primary debate in Charleston, South Carolina.
- The Guardian’s politics team will be providing live updates and analysis during the debate. Follow our debate liveblog:
Updated
Mike Bloomberg to speak at pro-Israel lobby’s conference
Bloomberg will be speaking at the conference for the influential pro-Israel lobby group, the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), the group confirmed.
CONFIRMED ✔️: @MikeBloomberg will speak live at #AIPAC2020. @Mike2020 #AIPACProud https://t.co/HmvBzGOT2G pic.twitter.com/5Mn7oReQAo
— AIPAC (@AIPAC) February 25, 2020
This weekend, Bernie Sanders, who has never attended an Aipac conference, said that the group gives a platform to leaders who “who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights”.
The Israeli people have the right to live in peace and security. So do the Palestinian people. I remain concerned about the platform AIPAC provides for leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights. For that reason I will not attend their conference. 1/2
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) February 23, 2020
The pro-Israel group has previously run Trun ads targeting the Vermont senator’s campaign in California, Texas and Florida. In response to Sanders’ recent comments, Aipac put out a statement condemning his views as “truly shameful”.
Senator Sanders has never attended our conference and that is evident from his outrageous comment.
— AIPAC (@AIPAC) February 24, 2020
Full statement: https://t.co/XDcNKhYXSq pic.twitter.com/aJGJiv2wv8
In 2016, all the presidential candidates except Sanders address the conference and in 2012, Barack Obama and all the GOP candidates participated despite the event overlapping with Super Tuesday (as it will this year).
Elizabeth Warren has also said she’s not going, and the other candidates have yet to confirm their attendance.
Updated
Reverend Jesse Jackson: ‘Democratic socialism isn’t socialism, it’s democratic’
Ahead of the South Carolina primary, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has written an op-ed for the Chicago Sun-Times to clarify that Bernie Sanders “isn’t talking about making America into Cuba or Venezuela”.
Sanders is “talking about extending social guarantees like those offered in most other advanced industrial states, invoking Denmark or Sweden. These countries have universal health care at a lower cost, paid family leave, guaranteed paid vacations, higher minimum wages, more generous public retirement programs,” Jackson writes. “They also have vibrant and competitive economies, lower inequality, less poverty, and higher life expectancies.”
The Vermont senator recently drew bipartisan criticism for emphasizing the literacy drives under Fidel Castro and claiming “it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad” about the communist state.
Jackson emphasized that Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are proposing a “modern version of what Franklin D Roosevelt called the Economic Bill of Rights: Medicare for all, tuition-free public education, universal daycare, a Green New Deal to generate jobs while addressing climate change.”
Updated
San Francisco declares a state of emergency over coronavirus concerns
Although no coronavirus cases have been confirmed in San Francisco, “the global picture is changing rapidly, and we need to step-up preparedness”, said mayor London Breed. “We see the virus spreading in new parts of the world every day, and we are taking the necessary steps to protect San Franciscans from harm.”
Lawmakers in DC have been arguing over the administration’s plan to stem coronavirus, which Democrats have said isn’t enough.
The extent to which the virus could spread in the US is unclear, though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that an outbreak could cause “severe disruption” and urged communities to start preparing. “As more and more countries experience community spread, successful containment at our borders becomes harder and harder,” said Nancy Messonnier, the head of immunization at the CDC
Donald Trump, in India earlier today, told journalists that the coronavirus is “very well under control in our country” and “is going to go away”.
Updated
Second abortion bill fails in Senate
Another abortion bill, which would have required medical providers to “exercise the proper degree of care” if a child survives an abortion has been blocked in the Senate. Democrats Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Doug Jones of Alabama voted with all the Republicans in this case.
Jones, a vulnerable Democratic senator from a red state, has found himself in the difficult position of either alienating his own base of Democrats or anti-choice independents whose votes he needs to keep his seat.
The “born alive” bill in question here plays into misconceptions about late abortions. Doctors do not provide abortions to patients who are in labor. And It is essentially impossible for babies to survive failed abortions, and if a baby did survive the process, it’s would be standard procedure to care for the infant like any other patient.
Updated
Afternoon summary
Here’s everything that’s happened today:
- After coming out with a plan to dedicate $2.5bn to fighting and preventing coronavirus, Donald Trump and Democrats have been in a spat about whether the White House’s measures will be strong enough to prevent an outbreak. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has been the most vocal critic, saying Trump isn’t taking the issue seriously. In response, Trump said that Schumer would complain if he asked for more.
- Though Roger Stone was sentenced to 40 weeks in prison last week, his trial continues as a judge rules whether the former political operative can have a new trial due to alleged juror misconduct. The judge criticized Trump for tweeting about a juror on the case, while Trump said the judge is biased.
- The Democratic candidates are gearing up for a heated debate tonight, one that will likely see blows dealt to senator Bernie Sanders, who is thought of as the current front-runner in the case. Mike Bloomberg, who was seen as the punching bag of last week’s debate, sent out surrogates today to criticize Sanders. Meanwhile, Bloomberg’s long-term partner Diana Taylor told a reporter in an interview that those who are concerned about allegations against him should “get over it”.
Updated
A group of former US senators are calling on the men and women they once called colleagues to come together and rise above the partisan moment.
“Congress is not fulfilling its Constitutional duties,” the letter says. “Much of the responsibility rests on the Senate.”
The letter encourages the 100-person body to create a “bipartisan caucus” committed to breaking the partisan gridlock that has paralyzed Congress in recent years.
“The Senate’s abdication of its legislative and oversight responsibilities erodes the checks and balances of the separate powers that are designed to protect the liberties on which our democracy depends,” the letter states.
They write that morale is low and that they’ve spoken to incumbents who have doubted whether there is “any point in continuing to serve” and potential candidates have questioned whether “the reality of Senate membership is worth the considerable effort and expense of running for office.
Among those who signed the letter are former senators Jeff Flake, the Arizona Republican whose criticism of Donald Trump hampered his re-election, Chuck Hagel, a Republican from Nebraska and the former Secretary of Defense under Obama, Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat from North Dakota who lost her seat in 2018, and Claire McCaskill, a Democrat from Missouri who also lost her seat in 2018.
“Oversight and public policy are responsibilities of the legislative branch,” Hagel wrote in a statement. “This is the Senate’s constitutional duty. Anything less is an abdication of its responsibilities.”
The writers nodded to the deeply partisan reality of the moment, when Republicans’ fear of reprisal from the president has forced many of them to toe the party line.
“We know that accepting this challenge may put some of you at political risk,” they write. “But we are also confident that each of you chose to serve in public life to advance the cause of a ‘more perfect union.’ Our hope is that all of you will accept this challenge to advance that timeless and higher purpose. The Senate—and the proper functioning of our Republic—are simply too important to be allowed to continue on their present course.”
Bill banning abortions after 20 weeks falls in Senate
A bill banning abortion at after 20 weeks failed to get enough votes in the Senate this afternoon. Sixty votes were needed for the bill.
Though abortion is a highly partisan issue in Washington, two people from each party crossed party lines. Democrats Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Joe Manchin of West Virginia voted in favor of the bill, while Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted against it.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell likely brought the bill, and a second anti-abortion bill that requires medical providers to “exercise the proper degree of care” if a child survives an abortion or attempted abortion, to spark energy around the issue amongst conservatives.
DHS secretary grilled over coronavirus preparedness
Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, was grilled earlier today by a Republican senator about coronavirus and the US preparedness against the spread of the illness. The department has been put in charge of coordinating efforts to taper the spread of coronavirus.
“You’re head of homeland security, do we have enough respirators or not?” asked Republican Senator John Neely Kennedy.
“I would refer you to [Health and Human Services] for that,” Wolf said. “Secretary, you’re supposed to keep us safe,” Kennedy said in response.
In a Tweet reply, a DHS spokesperson said: “The Senator should direct medical questions to HHS and CDC. DHS’s role is primarily related to air, land and sea ports.”
Trump renews criticism of juror in Roger Stone trial
Tweeting while aboard Air Force One on his way back from India, Donald Trump just doubled down on his attack against the jury foreman in the case of Roger Stone, long-time GOP political operative and former Trump confidant, and said the judge in the case is also biased against him.
There has rarely been a juror so tainted as the forewoman in the Roger Stone case. Look at her background. She never revealed her hatred of “Trump” and Stone. She was totally biased, as is the judge. Roger wasn’t even working on my campaign. Miscarriage of justice. Sad to watch!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2020
This afternoon, the judge on the case, Amy Berman Jackson, criticized Trump’s original tweet attacking Tomeka Hart, who revealed herself to by the jury foreman on the case earlier this month. Trump said that the “fore person in the jury, in the Roger Stone case, had significant bias” and criticized the justice department for its handling of the case.
Jackson rebuked Trump for attacking Hart, who he did not mention by name, in a public matter. “In a highly publicized political climate… the risk of harassment and intimidation of any juror” is high, she said.
While Jackson sentenced Stone to 40 months in prison for seven felony charges, including lying to Congress and tampering with a witness, Stone has not been sent to prison. He is currently waiting on a request to have a new trial, which his team is trying to get by alleging juror misconduct.
That Trump said in his Tweet this afternoon that he believes Jackson is biased against him furthers a rift between Trump and his attorney general, Bill Barr, who heads the justice department.
In an interview with ABC News, Barr said that “public statements and tweets made about the department… about cases pending in the department and about the judges before whom we have cases make it impossible for me to do my job and to assure the courts and the department that we’re doing our work with integrity.”
He also said, “I think it’s time to stop tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases” -- advice that Trump has clearly not heeded.
Back to the 2020 election: Comments made by Diana Taylor, Mike Bloomberg’s long-time partner, on the reported nondisclosure agreements with women who accused his company of discrimination and harassment is giving ammunition to his critics.
In an interview with CBS News, Taylor said that none of the nondisclosure agreements accuse Bloomberg of “saying something nasty to a woman”. “That’s not who he is. Life has changed. I grew up in that world. It was bro culture,” Taylor said.
When asked what she would say to people who have concerns about the allegations. “It was 30 years ago, get over it!” she said.
Here's the full clip of the interview, where we I asked her whether the Dems can come together after the primary process. "I don't know. It's pretty nasty & I think that we have lost sight of what the goal here is. The goal is to get Donald Trump out of the White House," she said pic.twitter.com/URuiZ4IIuf
— Adam Brewster (@adam_brew) February 25, 2020
In a later statement, a spokesperson for Taylor said that she “offered her personal view from her forty years working in finance, not the view of the campaign.”
Updated
Mitt Romney: US is ‘substantially underinvesting’ in preventing coronavirus outbreak
Senator Mitt Romney, who recently made headlines for being the sole GOP senator to vote for Donald Trump’s removal from office, said that the US is “substantially underinvesting” in preventing an outbreak, according to The Hill.
“I’m very disappointed in the degree to which we’ve prepared for a pandemic both in terms of protective equipment and would help people once they are infected,” Romney said.
Romney’s fellow Republicans have indicated they are happy with the president’s response to the illness. “It’s $2.5bn. If it’s not enough, we’ll appropriate more. We have to have a balance here,” said senator Lamar Alexander, chair of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, earlier today.
Senator Chuck Schumer took his criticisms of Donald Trump’s response to coronavirus to the Senate floor this afternoon, saying that the administration’s response to the virus has been tainted with “towering and dangerous incompetence”.
“The Trump administration has no plan to deal with the coronavirus, no plan and seemingly no urgency to develop one,” Schumer said.
“The Trump administration is trying to build an airplane while already mid-flight.”
President Trump and his administration have no plan to deal with the coronavirus.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) February 25, 2020
NO.
PLAN.
And seemingly no urgency to develop one. pic.twitter.com/nQFMpMfW06
Earlier this morning, Trump tweeted that “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer” is “incompetent” and would complain if Trump asked for more funding.
The political battle over the US response to coronavirus began yesterday when the White House announced they are requesting Congress approve $2.5bn to address a potential outbreak, with $1.25m coming from new funding and the rest coming from other areas within the Department of Health and Human Services budget. Republicans have indicated they are happy with this plan, while Democrats have said it’s not enough.
Earlier this afternoon, officials from the US Center for Disease Control warned in a press conference that an outbreak could cause “severe disruption” in the lives of ordinary Americans. “It’s not so much a question of if this will happen any more, but rather more exactly when this will happen,” an official said about the potential spread of the illness.
Updated
Roger Stone to make case for a new trial
At 2pm, Roger Stone, a longtime Republican political operative and confidant to Donald Trump, will be asking a Washington D.C. court for a new trial.
Stone was sentenced last week to 40 months in prison for seven felony charges, including lying to Congress, tampering with a witness and obstructing the House investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
But a Facebook post from the jury foreperson has complicated the trial’s end. Tomeka Hart identified herself on a Facebook post and said that she wanted to break her silence. Hart, a program officer at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said that she “can’t keep quiet any longer… I want to stand up for Aaron Zelinsky, Adam Jed, Michael Marando and Jonathan Kravis – the prosecutors on the Roger Stone trial.”
Other Facebook posts from Hart showed she called the president and his supporters racist and had mentioned Stone’s arrest before she was seated on the jury.
Trump said later that it was clear that Hart “had significant bias”.
Stone is fighting for a new trial while outside of prison, though he was already sentenced.
Bloomberg team revving up battle with Bernie
The battle billionaire Michael Bloomberg is preparing to launch against senators Bernie Sanders is slowly being revealed today in anticipation of tonight’s debate.
Timothy O’Brien, a senior advisor on Bloomberg’s campaign, told CNN that though Sanders has risen in the polls because of his track record, he has “all this loopy stuff in his background.”
JUST NOW: @MikeBloomberg Senior Adviser @TimOBrien goes there on @BernieSanders.
— John Berman (@JohnBerman) February 25, 2020
Orgasms. Rape fantasies. Children running naked. All there.@NewDaypic.twitter.com/EUckLVYNR0
“Saying things like you know, women get cancer from getting too many orgasms or toddlers should run around naked and touch each others genitals,” O’Brien said.
“I’m sorry, what?” the host asked incredulously.
O’Brien continued. “That’s the loony side of Bernie,” O’Brien said. He continued on with attacks on Sanders policies, saying that he has “not been good on immigration” and backed that 1994 crime bill that was largely seen as discriminatory toward black and brown Americans.
The attacks on Sanders shows the effect that the candidate is having on his fellow candidates, who see him as the current front-runner. In South Carolina, a group of Bloomberg surrogates held a press conference, saying that people will “see a 180 degree shift tonight” during the debate.
Pretty slow day here in Charleston as most candidates prep for tonight’s Dem debate. But a bunch of @MikeBloomberg surrogates have gathered for a press conference that really can only be described as a Bernie Sanders Dunking Contest. pic.twitter.com/U77l7EqRst
— Kara Voght (@karavoght) February 25, 2020
Responding to a question about Stop and Frisk, US Rep Greg Meeks told reporters, “If you’re going to question Michael Bloomberg for what he’s done in the past, you have to question everyone else.”
Updated
At a press conference in India, Donald Trump covered a broad range of topics, including the recent conviction of disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein.
“I think that from the standpoint of women, I think it was a great thing,” Trump said of the conviction, which found Weinstein guilty of two sexual assault charges. “It was a great victory and sends a very strong message – a very, very strong message.”
Trump named the Democrats that Weinstein was tied to, including Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton. Before his downfall, Weinstein was known as a major Democratic donor, helping to finance Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Updated
Trump v Schumer over coronavirus response
From India, Donald Trump lashed out this morning at US senator Chuck Schumer for criticizing him on his response to the coronavirus. In a tweet, Trump calls the senator, who he refers to as “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer”, “incompetent”.
Cryin’ Chuck Schumer is complaining, for publicity purposes only, that I should be asking for more money than $2.5 Billion to prepare for Coronavirus. If I asked for more he would say it is too much. He didn’t like my early travel closings. I was right. He is incompetent!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2020
Trump is asking Congress for $2.5bn to respond to the illness. The administration is requesting $1.25bn of new funding and get $535m from the Ebola preparedness account and the rest of the money from the Department of Health and Human Services budget.
In India, Trump told reporters that the US is in “very good shape” to handle coronavirus and that the US has “very few people with it”.
“I think the whole situation will start working out. Lots of talent, lots of brain power is being put behind it,” he said.
Democrats have been vocal critics of the White House’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, saying the money allocated to preventing a more severe outbreak is not enough.
Schumer tweeted that Trump’s response to the coronavirus is “too little too late” and slammed Trump for “trying to steal funds dedicated to fight Ebola”, saying that it is proof that the administration is not taking the coronavirus seriously.
Too little too late.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) February 25, 2020
That President Trump is trying to steal funds dedicated to fight Ebola is indicative of his towering incompetence and further proof that he and his administration aren’t taking the Coronavirus crisis as seriously as they need to be.https://t.co/YiwaoMgZmz
A barrage of criticism from the Democrats followed. “Americans need a coordinated, fully-funded, whole-of-government response to keep them and their loved ones safe,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted last night. The virus has 14 confirmed cases in the United States.
In response to Schumer, Trump said “If I asked for more he would say it is too much.”
Schumer bit back at Trump. “I didn’t just criticize Pres. Trump’s pathetic, inadequate funding request. I noted his incompetence, how he has no plan to deal with coronavirus.”
I didn’t just criticize Pres. Trump’s pathetic, inadequate funding request
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) February 25, 2020
I noted his incompetence, how he has no plan to deal with coronavirus
He’s dismantled NSC’s global health security team, wants to cut CDC by 16%, hasn’t appointed 1 person to oversee coronavirus response https://t.co/i4CIx1ZGMr
Democrats and Republicans who were in the closed-door briefing that was given to senators on the status of the outbreak had divided reaction to the briefing.
“There would be an outcry and outroar if the American people heard what we been told,” Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal said after the briefing. “Protection, preparedness, prevention all seem to be inadequate.
In South Carolina, the contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination are preparing for tonight’s debate and seeking to connect with voters ahead of the primary on Saturday.
While they do that, a word about polling averages. Which is to say, they’re useful.
Here’s a screenshot of the realclearpolitics.com polling average for South Carolina as of midmorning Tuesday:
As you can see, Joe Biden is still leading in a state most analysts agree he must win if he is to remain in the primary – he says he never called it his firewall, but he did – but Bernie Sanders has narrowed the gap considerably over the past few months. Among other things you can also see the impact of Tom Steyer’s concentration on the state – as well as the billionaire’s purchasing power when it comes to buying ads – and Pete Buttigieg’s inability to make any sort of mark.
Here’s another average from another site: fivethirtyeight.com’s average of Donald Trump’s popularity:
Which, to non-Trump supporters, might be a little worrying. The president is still underwater but since impeachment proceedings gathered pace in October, through to his acquittal in the Senate and after, his approval rating has risen. This is what CNN’s Harry Enten, formerly of this parish, has to say about it all.
Trump v Acosta: Part 476
More from Trump’s press conference in India: another testy exchange with Jim Acosta of CNN about who is more fake news than the other.
Acosta asked the president about reports that Russia is trying to boost his campaign again, and about reports of a purge of non-loyalists from his administration.
“First of all I want no help from any country,” the president said. “I haven’t been given any help from any country.”
And then, duly, he attacked CNN for having to apologise for errors in stories – something most media companies end up having to do.
“Mr President,” Acosta retorted, “I think our record on delivering the truth is a lot better than yours sometimes, if you don’t mind me saying.”
Trump did mind.
This exchange with Jim Acosta was something else. pic.twitter.com/qOH09FNjug
— DevinNunesTHEDragQueen (@NunesDrag) February 25, 2020
“Your record is so bad you ought to be ashamed of yourself,” the president said. “You probably have the worst record in the history of broadcasting.”
“I’m not ashamed of anything,” Acosta said, “and our organization is not ashamed, Sir.”
Trump then answered, after a fashion, the question about the reported purge.
Acosta and Trump have history, so much so that last year Acosta got a book out of it: The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America.
The book deals with Trump’s antagonistic stance with the mainstream media via the medium of Acosta’s run-ins with Trump that culminated in the CNN correspondent having his White House pass revoked. It also echoes other books in saying Trump seems to have admitted, via an intermediary, that the whole thing is something of a performative act. Here’s how we reported the book:
In The Enemy of the People, Acosta writes that after an early confrontation, close Trump aide Hope Hicks called him to say the president wanted him to know he was “very professional today”.
“He said, ‘Jim gets it,’” Hicks is quoted as saying.
Trump, Acosta writes, had just called the reporter “fake news” and “very fake news” after being asked about Russian election interference at a press conference in February 2017.
“When he called us ‘fake news’,” Acosta writes, “it was, in his mind, an act.”
On the subject of Trump calling people and organisations “fake news” when his own relationship with the truth is somewhat, um, tenuous, here’s a link to the Washington Post’s Fact Checker column.
It says that in his first three years in office, the 45th president made more than 16,000 false or misleading claims.
It might be a stretch to say Donald Trump is in hot water over his criticism of supreme court justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg – this being America in the age of Trump, his tweets and remarks at a presser in India will be old news before your average desk editor can try to remember what it was Paul Manafort was found guilty of, what that jacket he had was made of, or which ex-national security adviser is next due out with a book.
Plus, y’know, Trump doesn’t seem to be being held to account much by anyone these days, let alone his own political party.
But here’s a key take on the supreme court story from University of Texas law professor Steve Vladeck, a particularly well-informed and worthwhile presence in the Twittersphere:
The Sotomayor story is such a microcosm of where we are:
— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) February 25, 2020
1. Fox runs a story saying she accused #SCOTUS majority of pro-Trump bias.
2. Trump amplifies Fox and demands her recusal.
3. No one actually _reads_ her 7-page dissent—which says nothing about Trump or pro-Trump bias. https://t.co/0ogxMsbUBI
In short, because Fox misrepresented Sotomayor’s words, Trump is misrepresenting Sotomayor’s words, which means much of the media is misrepresenting Sotomayor’s words.
Here’s a link to Sotomayor’s dissent, so you can read it for yourselves.
A new ad from Mike Bloomberg titled “Supports Women” features women who have worked at Bloomberg’s company or on his staff while he was mayor of New York City praising the presidential candidate.
“It’s important to talk to the people who know him personally,” says Erana Stennett, who is the director of the Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa, in the video.
“There’s nobody that I respect more and felt respected by,” says Jacki Kelly, a former Bloomberg LP employee.
The ad is a response to mounting criticism against Bloomberg over allegations of mistreatment and discrimination in his company, sparked by rumors of nondisclosure agreements the candidate’s company signed with women.
The allegations put a target on Bloomberg’s back during last week’s debate and will likely continue to weigh on the candidate as the race continues:
Having earlier said that India wasn’t having much of a problem with coronavirus, Trump has just now gone on the attack against somebody criticising his own administrations’s preparedness for the outbreak - in this case Sen. Chuck Schumer.
Cryin’ Chuck Schumer is complaining, for publicity purposes only, that I should be asking for more money than $2.5 Billion to prepare for Coronavirus. If I asked for more he would say it is too much. He didn’t like my early travel closings. I was right. He is incompetent!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2020
The row over US moves to deploy low-yield nuclear missiles on submarines continued in Geneva today, with criticism of the decision from Iran. In a move unlikely to further endear the Iranians to the Trump administration, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for international and legal affairs Mohsen Baharvand told the Conference on Disarmament in the UN building in Geneva said that “Such provocative actions must be condemned”.
“A new nuclear arms race is being accelerated”, he added.
The US Defense Department confirmed earlier this month that the Navy had fielded a low-yield, submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead. Low-yield nuclear weapons have a strength of less than 20 kilotons, which is about the same as the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
Moscow has already expressed alarm at the decision.
A set of polling figures suggests that while Andres Oppenheimer thinks Sanders is going to be a problem for Democrats in Florida (see below), that may not be the case in California. David Lauter at the LA Times has written about the widespread support Sanders enjoys among communities of colour in California, outstripping his nearest Democratic rivals. Of the poll he says:
“The survey offers an unusual level of detail on the views of Latino, African Americans and Asian and Pacific Americans in California, groups that in many opinion surveys are too small to analyze. It provides strong evidence of the Vermont senator’s ability to build a multiracial, multiethnic coalition in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.”
It also reveals that support for Sanders is generationally split, regardless of ethnicity:
“Among Latinos younger than 50, for example, Sanders enjoyed roughly a 3-1 lead over Bloomberg when poll respondents were asked whom they would most like to see as the next president. Latinos 50 and older were divided closely between Sanders, Biden and Bloomberg. Similar age divisions showed up among blacks, Asian Americans and whites in the poll.”
Read the piece here: “Bernie Sanders has broad support in diverse California communities, new poll finds”
There’s a strong opinion piece in the Miami Herald from Andres Oppenheimer, picking at two of the threads where Sanders has faced criticism in recent days - his comments about Cuba on 60 Minutes, and his decision to skip the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) annual policy conference. He doesn’t mince his words about how he thinks that will play for Sanders in Florida.
“In short, the Democrats can kiss Florida — and maybe other swing states — good-bye if they pick Sanders as their nominee. It will be political suicide — and a godsend to Trump, the worst president in America’s recent memory.”
Read the full blast here: “Sanders praised Cuba, spurned Israel group. If he’s the nominee, he just lost Florida”
There’s more detail coming from Julian Assange’s lawyers in London about the way the Wikileaks founder has been treated while being detained. They claim he was handcuffed 11 times, stripped naked twice and had his case files confiscated after the first day of his extradition hearing yesterday.
My colleague Ben Quinn has more from the court in London, where the US is attempting to extradite Assange from the UK.
Trump says he will bring down troop presence in Afghanistan
President Trump has begun giving a press conference in India. It is typically wide-ranging. So far he has said that India doesn’t have “much of a problem” with coronavirus, and has suggested that there has been tremendous praise for the peace efforts in Afghanistan. He says he plans to bring the troop presence down to 8,600 in the country.
On other foreign policy issues he has urged Iran to crack down on Isis, and says that he has a “very good relationship” with Pakistan’s prime minister. He says he is willing to mediate between India and Pakistan over Kashmir.
Trump also says he has discussed the issue of religious freedom with India’s Narendra Modi. The bakdrop to this Trump visit has included violent scenes on India’s streets as people protest a new citizenship law which many say is discriminatory against Muslims.
On trade Trump declares that India is probably the highest tariff nation in the world. He singles out Harley Davidson, saying they have to pay a “Tremendous tariff” when they sell to India. If a trade deal is to happen with India, he says, it will be towards the end of the year. Trump insists that the “United States has to be treated fairly” and that deals have to be reciprocal. “We have a large deficit of $24bn with India. That is very high.”
He has also mentioned yesterday’s Harvey Weinstein verdict, describing it as “a great victory, sends a very very strong message”. Trump himself stands accused of sexually inappropriate behaviour by more than a dozen women. Trump has denied the allegations.
Trump had joked that he would be “very, very conservative” in his answers to avoid distracting from his “fantastic two days” in the country. But he also waded into domestic issues, including criticizing Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor.
“I just don’t know how they can not recuse themselves for anything Trump or Trump-related,” he said.
He added: “What Justice Sotomayor said yesterday was highly inappropriate. She’s trying to shame people with perhaps a different view into voting her way.”
He said that Ginsburg had gone “wild” against him during the 2016 campaign.
Updated
It is going to be a slightly unfamiliar meal for the president and his wife in India today. Trump is well known for his love of burgers and steaks, but cows are considered sacred in the Hindu religion. The main dish at the banquet tonight will be goat. The banquet is for around 90 guests, and a spokesman for India’s president’s office says the chefs will prepare food with “a careful combination of spices to suit Indian and American palates.”
While Trump has been focussed on talks with prime minister Modi and Indian businessmen, first lady Melania has been visiting a “happiness class” at a government-run school in the Indian capital. The curriculum dovetails with her “Be Best” initiative to teach children and young adults to be kind, avoid drugs and take care of themselves.
It has been clear for a few days now that the main Mike Bloomberg campaign strategy was going to be to turn his fire specifically on Bernie Sanders. With Sanders out in front in polling, to stand a chance of winning the nomination one of the chasing pack needs to peg him back urgently before he amounts an unassailable lead.
Bloomberg’s attack today is that some internal polling that suggests Sanders’ nomination could drag down vulnerable House Democrats trying to hold onto their competitive districts.
Here’s an analysis of the tactic and the data by Christopher Cadelago and Laura Barrón-López for Politico: “Bloomberg internal poll claims Bernie would sink downballot Dems”
It isn’t traditional for US presidents to comment on domestic politics while at events on foreign trips, but that’s what the US president has been doing in India. At a meeting of Indian business leaders today he has told them that the US economy is being held back by the upcoming presidential election.
Warning of economic turmoil at home if he loses his November election, Trump told his hosts “if the wrong person gets elected, everything will come to a halt” and unemployment will rise. He blamed the recent fall in US stock markets on the coronavirus outbreak, and predicted that the stock market will soar if he wins a second term.
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Here are a few interesting reads from around the internet to set you up for the day.
Ben Mathis-Lilley over on Slate is arguing that the Democrats who are so worried that Sanders might grab the nomination should think hard about whether they’ve been doing the right thing in backing Biden.
If you sincerely hold the belief that [Sanders’ “democratic socialism”] will [repel swing voters], what should you have been doing for the past year to actually prevent the socialist from winning the nomination? Probably finding and supporting a nonsocialist nominee who’s shown themselves ready to run a dynamic general-election presidential campaign, right? Perhaps one like Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, or even Elizabeth Warren?
Sally Goldenberg on Politico has a bit on the inside track of how Mike Bloomberg is preparing for tonight’s debate with a simple plan - “Nuke Bernie”.
That’s why his team is getting ready to launch a fusillade at Sanders before and during the debate, and why Bloomberg’s prep sessions were focused on aiming his fire at the liberal Vermont senator. ‘We’ve trained our eyes on him. Something the rest of the field has failed to do eight debates prior and a year in a campaign,’ a top aide said in an interview.
The Democratic challenger field is notably on the elderly side, with Biden, Bloomberg and Sanders all in their late 70s. Is that too old to run the country? Not according to John H Rowe, a professor of health policy and ageing at Columbia University. In the Washington Post he has argued that:
The older people become, the less like each other they become. While many physical and mental functions might decline with advancing age on average, for most measures there are many older persons who perform as well as the average young adult, and well-educated, financially secure individuals are especially likely to be among them.
Trump’s visit to India has been high on pomp and ceremony, and a little short on substance. The president started the day with an elaborate outdoor welcome ceremony in front of the grand Rashtrapati Bhavan Presidential Palace in New Delhi, where he was welcomed with canon fire and horseback soldiers.
The Trumps then went on to visit a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi where the president and first lady paid their respects in a petal throwing ceremony. The memorial is at Raj Ghat where the famed independence leader was cremated after his assassination in 1948. Trump also signed a guest book and was presented with a bust of Gandhi.
Meeting prime minister Narendra Modi later on, Trump commented that he thought the crowds at the joint mass rally yesterday had been there more for Modi than for him. He said there were cheers every time he mentioned Modi’s name, “so they love you in India and that’s a good thing.”
Modi went on to say that the two had a productive exchange on issues including defence cooperation, energy and technology, and said talks will continue. He said that he and Trump have now met five times over the past eight months and said ties between the two nations is the “most important partnership of the 21st century.”
Trump continues India trip and Democrats get ready for another debate
Good morning.
It’s been another showy day already for Donald Trump as he continues his whirlwind 36-hour trip to India to meet prime minister Narendra Modi. The two have posed for photos together in New Delhi, but there have been violent clashes on the streets. Trump is due to attend a banquet in the evening, and then at 10pm local time (11.30 ET) he flies out.
Back at home the Democrats are preparing for the next TV debate ahead of Saturday’s South Carolina primary. Businessman Tom Steyer has made the cut, meaning there will be a crowded field of seven challengers. Will anyone be able to cut through the noise and make a decisive move against current frontrunner Bernie Sanders?
It’s not just about South Carolina either. It is the last TV showdown before the 3 March Super Tuesday primaries. The debate is on from 8pm to 10:15pm ET, and is being hosted by CBS News. There are details on how to watch here.
In London, the second day of a court hearing into the extradition of Julian Assange from the UK to the US will take place.
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