Politics Election category, Page 109
Actor Ashley Judd, a Democratic activist, adds her voice to those calling on Biden to leave the race
Actor Ashley Judd is adding her voice to calls for President Joe Biden to step aside from the presidential race following his performance in last month’s debate, arguing that she worries he could lose to Republican Donald Trump in November. In an opinion piece for USA Today published on Friday,...
2 weeks that imperiled Biden’s presidency left him on probation in the court of Democratic opinion
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden’s tribulations were previewed in Hollywood days before he got on the debate stage. At a fundraiser organized by George Clooney and packed with luminaries including former President Barack Obama, Biden was a listless figure, perhaps merely jet-lagged after flying straight from Italy but clearly not the...
Becerra defends Biden during Pittsburgh visit; Summer Lee dodges question on president’s fitness
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra visited Pittsburgh Friday to talk up the government’s record in lowering health care costs, and he defended President Joe Biden’s fitness, which has come under scrutiny following a poor debate performance last month. Beccerra visited the Squirrel Hill Health Center in the...
Republicans are gathering in Milwaukee to nominate Donald Trump again. Here’s what to expect
For all the usual stagecraft, the Republican National Convention that opens Monday is different from Donald Trump’s previous nominating affairs. In 2016 and 2020, Trump was the underdog heading into fall and faced criticism from within his own party. This year, he will accept the Republican nomination with his party...
In ‘blue wall’ push, Biden defiantly says ‘I’m not going anywhere’ as he slams Trump, Project 2025
DETROIT — President Joe Biden on Friday forcefully defied the growing number of critics in his own party who have called on him to exit the race, pivoting to warnings about a second Donald Trump term and declaring he was “not done yet.” As a raucous Detroit crowd chanted...
Arkansas election officials reject petitions submitted for an abortion-rights ballot measure
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas election officials rejected petitions submitted for an abortion-rights ballot measure that organizers hoped to put before voters this fall in a predominantly Republican state. The secretary of state’s office rejected the petitions submitted on Friday by supporters of the proposal, saying the group didn’t submit statements...
Pennsylvania lawmakers approve sale of canned alcoholic drinks in grocery stores and more retailers
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvanians will be able to buy canned alcoholic drinks, called ready-to-drink cocktails, from a wider variety of retailers under legislation approved Thursday. The state Senate approved the bill, 32-17, and sent it to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk. Under the bill, the approximately 12,000 restaurants, bars, beer distributors, grocery...
West Virginia, Idaho asking Supreme Court to review rulings allowing transgender athletes to compete
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia and Idaho are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review rulings that blocked the enforcement of state laws prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in sports. “If the Supreme Court takes this up, it will determine the fate of women’s sports across the entire country for...
Watch: Biden speaks at press conference
President Joe Biden will hold a news conference Thursday, the key event in a monumental week during which the Democratic incumbent is fending off calls for him to step aside as the party’s presumptive nominee following a shaky debate performance. Biden is scheduled to take questions from the White House...
Pennsylvania lawmakers pass nearly $48B budget almost 2 weeks late
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania lawmakers ground through a flurry of votes Thursday to approve a budget deal, nearly two weeks into the new fiscal year after being slowed by disagreements during closed-door negotiations over Democrats’ push for more public schools aid. The $47.6 billion plan for the fiscal year that started...
Pennsylvania’s electric vehicle owners soon will have to pay fees of $200+ per year
A bill that would establish a new annual fee for owners of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles to offset the loss of gas tax revenue on those vehicles is headed to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk. The new fee, which Shapiro is expected to enact, is seen as a way to...
Here’s how to watch Biden’s news conference as he tries to quiet doubts after his poor debate
President Joe Biden will hold a news conference Thursday, the key event in a monumental week during which the Democratic incumbent is fending off calls for him to step aside as the party’s presumptive nominee following a shaky debate performance. It’s just the type of event that many political watchers...
House rejects GOP effort to fine Attorney General Garland for refusal to turn over Biden audio
WASHINGTON — The House rejected a GOP effort Thursday to fine Attorney General Merrick Garland $10,000 a day until he turns over audio of President Joe Biden’s interview in his classified documents case as a handful of Republicans resisted taking an aggressive step against a sitting Cabinet official. Even if...
Biden says during news conference he’s going to ‘complete the job’ despite calls to bow outVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden used his closely watched news conference Thursday to deliver a forceful defense of his foreign and domestic policies and batted away questions about his ability to serve another four years, declaring: “I’m not in this for my legacy. I’m in this to complete the job.”...
Biden’s press conference will be a key test for him. But he’s no master of the big rhetorical moment
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has a fresh opportunity Thursday to try to prove to the American public that he’s capable of serving another four years after his shocking debate flop threw the future of his presidency into doubt. But Biden is not known as a master of the big...
Biden says pressure on him is driven by elites. Voters paint a more complicated picture
SAGINAW, Mich. — Considering her choices in this year’s rapidly approaching presidential election, Rochelle Jones thinks both major party candidates should step aside. “They just need to get somebody that’s going to run this country right, that don’t have any health issues, that care about us people,” the 39-year-old culinary...
Trump wants Black and Latino support. But he’s not popular with either group, poll analysis shows
WASHINGTON — As he prepares to accept the Republican nomination for the third time, Donald Trump has promised new efforts to expand his coalition — and, in particular, to win over more of the nonwhite voters who largely rejected him during the 2020 election. But an AP analysis of two...
A defiant Biden borrows some tactics from his rival as he tries to put debate debacle behind him
NEW YORK — He’s calling in to his favorite morning cable news show, bashing the “elites” of his party and dismissing unfavorable polls. He’s even talking up his crowd sizes. As an increasingly defiant President Joe Biden rejects calls to step aside after a disastrous debate performance, he’s been embracing...
Democratic senators demand special counsel probe of Justice Thomas
Two senior Democratic senators Tuesday asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate possible wrongdoing by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas related to lavish gifts from right-wing megadonors. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon say Thomas and the wealthy donors...
After killing of trans teen, Pennsylvania House LGBTQ Caucus urges hate crime bill passage
In the wake of the killing of a 14-year-old transgender girl in Western Pennsylvania, some state House lawmakers are urging the Senate to pass an anti-hate crimes bill that would expand protections to gender and sexual-orientation classes. “We mourn the death of Pauly Likens and refuse to stand idly by...
George Stephanopoulos says Biden can’t ‘serve four more years’Video
LOS ANGELES — A video surfaced of ABC News anchor and former White House communications director George Stephanopoulos expressing his opinion on President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign. In footage released Tuesday by TMZ, the broadcast journalist is approached on a New York sidewalk by a person who asks him if...
Biden’s candidacy faces new peril as Pelosi, Clooney and more Democrats weigh inVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s imperiled re-election campaign hit new trouble Wednesday as House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said merely “it’s up to the president to decide” if he should stay in the race, celebrity donor George Clooney said he should not run and Democratic senators and lawmakers expressed fresh...
House passes GOP bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote, boosting election-year talking point
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a proof-of-citizenship requirement for voter registration, a proposal Republicans have prioritized as an election-year talking point even as research shows noncitizens illegally registering and casting ballots in federal elections is exceptionally rare. The legislation, approved largely along partisan lines but...
First lady Jill Biden to visit Pittsburgh on Saturday
First lady Jill Biden is expected to visit Pittsburgh this weekend, her second visit in just over a month. The first lady is scheduled to arrive at Pittsburgh International Airport around 4 p.m. Saturday before delivering remarks at an Italian Sons and Daughters of America dinner in Pittsburgh. On the...
Pelosi says ‘it’s up to the president’ to decide whether to stay in the race
WASHINGTON — Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday “it’s up to the president to decide” if he should stay in the 2024 race despite President Joe Biden’s insistence he is still running for re-election, showing how unsettled the question remains among prominent Democrats and Capitol Hill. “We’re all encouraging him...
