Politics Election category, Page 293
Lindsey Graham, facing tough reelection, breaks with Trump
WASHINGTON — Sen. Lindsey Graham has publicly opposed President Donald Trump five times in the past few weeks, an unusual torrent of dissent from one of the president’s top allies in Washington just months before the South Carolina Republican faces a tough reelection challenge. Since June 20, Graham has blocked...
Trump-connected lobbyists reap windfall in federal coronavirus aid
WASHINGTON — Forty lobbyists with ties to President Donald Trump helped clients secure more than $10 billion in federal coronavirus aid, among them five former administration officials whose work potentially violates Trump’s own ethics policy, according to a report. The lobbyists identified Monday by the watchdog group Public Citizen either...
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, exposed to coronavirus, joined Trump on jetVideo
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Shortly after fireworks above Mount Rushmore disappeared into the night sky on Friday, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem accompanied President Donald Trump aboard Air Force One despite having had close contact with Trump’s son’s girlfriend, who had tested positive for coronavirus. Trump has been in a...
Trump’s leadership is tested in time of fear, pandemic
WASHINGTON — Not long after noon on Feb. 6, President Donald Trump strode into the elegant East Room of the White House. The night before, his impeachment trial had ended with acquittal in the Republican-controlled Senate. It was time to gloat and settle scores. “It was evil,” Trump said of...
Trump’s views — bleak about the U.S., rosy about coronavirus — put Republicans on the spotVideo
WASHINGTON — White House surrogates and GOP lawmakers struggled Sunday to defend President Donald Trump after he spent the Fourth of July holiday weekend denigrating the racial-justice movement galvanized by George Floyd’s killing and playing down a deadly pandemic by claiming that 99% of coronavirus cases are “completely harmless.” In...
Trump’s taxes, birth control top Supreme Court’s closing agenda
The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to cap a term like no other with potentially blockbuster decisions covering birth control, religious rights and President Donald Trump’s efforts to keep his financial records private. The justices will tackle their eight remaining cases starting Monday, when they issue opinions in July for...
Kanye West says he’s running for president in 2020
The debate stage could be a little more crowded as President Donald Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden may have to make room for musician Kanye West. The rapper posted a message on Twitter Saturday night saying he is joining the race. “We must now realize the...
Trump Cabinet members look to reassure battleground voters
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue tromped through a strawberry festival in central Florida, detailing the government’s new trade pact. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talked about foreign policy at a roundtable in south Florida. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler toured parts of Michigan and Wisconsin, where...
For nation’s birthday, Trump lashes out at ‘radical left’
WASHINGTON — On a day meant for unity and celebration, President Trump vowed to “safeguard our values” from enemies within — leftists, looters, agitators, he said — in a Fourth of July speech packed with all the grievances and combativeness of his political rallies. Trump watched paratroopers float to the...
Governors stress ‘personal responsibility’ over virus orders
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Earlier this week, as Tennessee registered what then was its highest single-day coronavirus case increase, Gov. Bill Lee held a news conference and issued a stern response. It wasn’t a mandate to wear masks in public or clamp down on businesses or social gatherings. Instead, it was...
Amid virus fight, campaign season brings ethical quandaries
BILLINGS, Mont. — Candidates in the November election who already hold office are grappling with a thorny question: where does the coronavirus stop and the campaign begin? In Montana, Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock’s actions helped keep the state’s infection rate from the COVID-19 pandemic among the lowest in the nation....
Trump’s Mount Rushmore trip draws real and figurative fireworks
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — President Donald Trump will begin his Independence Day weekend on Friday with a patriotic display of fireworks at Mount Rushmore, an event expected to draw thousands where masks and social distancing aren’t required as coronavirus cases spike across the country. Trump is expected to speak at...
US jobs surge: Trump sees sunshine, Biden ‘no victory yet’
NEW YORK — The U.S. economy just posted its best single-month job gain in history. U.S. unemployment is at one of its worst points since the Great Depression. Both are true. As Republicans and Democrats fought to spin Thursday’s jobs numbers to their advantage, both sides face tremendous political risks...
Booker reaches out to unite Democrats against McConnell
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Looking to flex his newfound influence among Kentucky Democrats after his Senate campaign fell just short, Charles Booker reached out Thursday to unite behind Amy McGrath’s uphill fight to unseat Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Booker, a progressive who lost to McGrath by about 15,100 votes...
Texas governor issues mask order to fight coronavirus
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday ordered that face coverings must be worn in public across most of the state, a dramatic ramp-up of the Republican’s efforts to control spiking numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Abbott, who had pushed Texas’ aggressive reopening of the state...
Trump, top officials defend response to Russia bounty threatVideo
WASHINGTON — Criticized for inaction, President Donald Trump and top officials on Wednesday stepped up their defense of the administration’s response to intelligence assessments that Russia offered bounties for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Trump’s national security adviser said he had prepared a list of retaliatory options if the intelligence...
Billionaires’ political spending grew 37-fold in 10 years
WASHINGTON — Billionaires gave 37 times as much in political contributions in the last election as they did 10 years earlier, according to a new study. During the 2018 election cycle, billionaires gave $611 million, up from $17 million in 2008, according to the report from Americans for Tax Fairness...
Ex-Bush officials launch super PAC backing Biden over Trump
WASHINGTON — A group of former George W. Bush administration and campaign officials have launched a new super PAC supporting Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, the latest in a growing number of Republican groups to come out in support of Biden over President Donald Trump. The group, 43 Alumni for...
Trump at Rushmore: Jets and fireworks, but masks optional
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — When President Donald Trump speaks at the Mount Rushmore national memorial before the first fireworks show there in years, he’ll stand before a crowd of thousands of people who won’t be required to socially distance or wear masks despite the coronavirus pandemic. The event scheduled for...
Poll: About 7 in 10 white evangelicals approve of Trump
NEW YORK — About 7 in 10 white evangelical Protestants approve of President Donald Trump’s handling of his job, according to a new survey — support from a cornerstone of his political base that has remained strong following a polarizing church visit and a Supreme Court ruling on LGBT discrimination...
Virginia senator vows defense bill fight on foreign election interference
WASHINGTON — The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee vowed a fight on an annual defense bill Tuesday when Republicans again blocked his legislation requiring political campaigns to report foreign offers of assistance to the FBI. “I fear the Senate is about to fail once again to protect our...
Senate extends small business coronavirus relief program
WASHINGTON — Democrats drove a temporary extension of a popular subsidy program for small businesses through the GOP-controlled Senate late Tuesday, an unexpected development that came as spikes in coronavirus cases in many states are causing renewed shutdowns of bars and other businesses. The move by Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin...
GOP lawmakers urge action after Russia-Afghanistan briefingVideo
WASHINGTON — Eight Republican lawmakers attended a White House briefing Monday about explosive allegations that Russia secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing American troops in Afghanistan — intelligence the president himself was said to have not been fully read in on. Members of Congress in both parties called...
Florida site of GOP convention orders wearing of masksVideo
The city of Jacksonville, Fla., where mask-averse President Donald Trump plans to accept the Republican nomination in August, ordered the wearing of face coverings Monday, joining the list of state and local governments reversing course to try to beat back a resurgence of the coronavirus. Less than a week after...
Dems push election-season health care bill toward House OK
WASHINGTON — Democrats pushed a strengthening of “Obamacare” patient protections toward House passage Monday, an effort they hoped would help them sharpen the coronavirus pandemic and President Donald Trump’s efforts to scuttle the increasingly popular law into a lethal election-year weapon. The campaign-season bill seemed certain to move through the...
