Politics Election category, Page 272
At Oakmont Bakery, the presidential ‘cookie poll’ tradition continues (just for fun)
In what might be the most appetizing part of the 2020 presidential election, Oakmont Bakery is producing patriotic cookies emblazoned with portraits of candidates Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. A dozen runs $24. The sugar cookies are iced with an image of either Biden surrounded by blue stars or...
Jeffrey Toobin suspended by the New Yorker, steps away from CNN
NEW YORK — Author-commentator Jeffrey Toobin has been suspended by the New Yorker and is stepping away from his job as CNN’s senior legal analyst pending what the cable network is calling a “personal matter.” Vice reported earlier Monday that Toobin had exposed himself during a Zoom meeting with staffers...
North Carolina resumes processing deficient absentee ballots
North Carolina issued new guidance Monday to allow counties to deal with more than 10,000 deficient absentee ballots that have been in limbo due to court battles over the witness requirement for voting by mail. The State Board of Elections issued a directive telling counties to immediately resume notifying voters...
Pa. could become ‘ground zero’ for court battles on — and after — Election Day
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — In the weeks leading up to November’s historic election, there has been one constant: lawsuits and court decisions that...
Trump goes after Dr. Fauci, tries to buck up his campaign teamVideo
PRESCOTT, Ariz. — President Donald Trump came out swinging Monday against Dr. Anthony Fauci and polls that show Trump trailing Democrat Joe Biden in key battleground states, as he tried to buck up his campaign team two weeks out from Election Day. Back on the trail after his covid-19 infection,...
Trump changes course, approves California relief for 6 fires
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — President Donald Trump’s administration abruptly reversed course and approved California’s application for disaster relief funds to clean up damage from six recent deadly and destructive blazes that have scorched the state, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday. “Just got off the phone with President Trump who has approved...
Route 22 battle royale: Murrysville area serves as ground zero for Biden, Trump supportersVideo
The battle for the crucial suburban vote in the Nov. 3 presidential election is playing out along an unlikely 7-mile stretch of Route 22 through Murrysville and neighboring communities through competing campaign offices and billboards. The affluent Westmoreland County community of about 20,000 grew up in the post-World War II...
GOP, Dems hope Supreme Court fight bolsters Senate prospects
WASHINGTON — For Republicans, the nomination fight over Amy Coney Barrett is a chance to seal conservative control of the Supreme Court for decades. For some GOP senators, it’s also a lifeline they hope will preserve their political careers and their party’s control of the chamber in November’s elections. The...
FBI probing if Russia involved in Hunter Biden email story
WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating whether emails that were published by the New York Post related to Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, are connected to a possible Russian influence operation to spread disinformation, according to a person familiar with the matter. The newspaper said in its story Wednesday that it...
First lady Melania Trump lashes out at reports about friend who tell-all
DORAL, Fla. — Melania Trump lashed out Friday at “self-serving adults” for focusing on her falling out with a friend and adviser, writing that the attention paid to “salacious claims” about the broken relationship comes at the expense of her work on behalf of children. Mrs. Trump also sharply criticized...
5 takeaways from the dueling presidential town hallsVideo
Voters got to see a presidential debate after all Thursday night. But it wasn’t between President Trump and his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden. It was between Trump and NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie, who moderated one of the dueling town hall meetings held simultaneously in place of a...
Avalanche of early votes transforming 2020 election
More than 17 million Americans have already cast ballots in the 2020 election, a record-shattering avalanche of early votes driven both by Democratic enthusiasm and a pandemic that has transformed the way the nation votes. The total represents 12% of all the votes cast in the 2016 presidential election, even...
Trump, Biden go at it — from a distance — in town halls
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden squared off, in a way, Thursday night, their scuttled second debate replaced by dueling televised town halls that showcased striking differences in temperament, views on racial justice and approaches to the pandemic that has reshaped the nation. Trump was defensive about...
Giuliani targeted by Russian intelligence in his dubious probes over Bidens’ Ukraine links, report says
WASHINGTON — Intelligence officials warned President Donald Trump that Rudy Giuliani — hero of 9/11 and once New York’s and America’s mayor — was likely a Russian dupe, a bombshell Washington Post story reported Thursday. The report came as Giuliani came under fire over the authenticity of an “October surprise”...
Chris Christie says he was wrong not to wear mask in White House
WASHINGTON — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday that he was wrong not to wear a mask at the White House, after he and President Donald Trump both came down with the coronavirus. Christie, in a statement, said he has recovered from covid-19 after a week-long stay in...
C-SPAN suspends Steve Scully after he admits to lie about hack
NEW YORK — C-SPAN suspended its political editor Steve Scully indefinitely Thursday after he admitted to lying about his Twitter feed being hacked when he was confronted about a questionable exchange with former Trump aide Anthony Scaramucci. The news came on the day of what was supposed to be a...
Report: Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch predicts landslide election win for Joe Biden
News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch said recently the American public is ready to elect Joe Biden and that the Democratic presidential nominee could win in a “landslide,” according to a report Thursday from The Daily Beast. The Australian-born media mogul, who owns Fox News and the New York Post as...
C-SPAN suspends Steve Scully after he admits to lie about Twitter hack
NEW YORK — C-SPAN suspended its political editor Steve Scully indefinitely Thursday because he admitted to lying about his Twitter feed being hacked when he was confronted about a questionable exchange with former Trump aide Anthony Scaramucci. The news came on the day of what was supposed to be a...
CNN, New York Times spotlight Westmoreland County as key in presidential race
National media outlets are eyeing Westmoreland County as a key battleground in the looming presidential election. Both CNN and the New York Times this week spotlighted the county in reports, talking to residents and politicians about their efforts to swing the race in favor of either President Donald Trump or...
Biden raises record $383 million in September
WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden raised $383 million for his election effort in September, a record-breaking sum that eclipses the unprecedented fundraising from the previous month. The haul, announced Wednesday night, leaves him with $432 million in the bank just weeks before the Nov. 3 election. He raised...
Facebook, Twitter seek to keep Hunter Biden report from going viral amid disinformation crackdown
After heavy criticism over the way they let misinformation run wild on their platforms in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, social media companies gradually have been adopting stronger policies to stem the spread of misinformation. For the first time, Facebook and Twitter deployed those policies Wednesday against a...
NBC faces backlash over scheduling its Trump town hall against ABC’s Biden eventVideo
NBC News is sticking with its plan to air a live televised town hall on Thursday night with President Trump, competing directly against ABC’s event with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. The news division will have Trump answer questions from “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie and a group of voters in...
Nearly 29K Allegheny County voters receive wrong mail-in ballots
Nearly 29,000 Allegheny County voters have received the wrong ballot because of a programming and printing error by the company hired to print and mail the county’s ballots, officials said Wednesday. Elections officials began hearing of the misprinted ballots on Friday, said Elections Division Manager David Voye. About 20 county...
5 takeaways from 2nd day of Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearingVideo
WASHINGTON — It was a very 2020 Supreme Court confirmation hearing Tuesday, as Amy Coney Barrett fielded her first round of questions on socially divisive issues from socially distanced members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senate Republicans have said they want to hold a floor vote on Barrett’s nomination by...
President Trump swoops into Johnstown for rally as Election Day grows closerVideo
Chants of “four more years” greeted President Trump as he emerged from Air Force One at the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport on Tuesday evening, just days after declaring himself cured of covid-19. The enthusiastic crowd, estimated at anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 strong, was still streaming into the airport...
