Politics Election category, Page 358
Ex-US Sen Ernest ‘Fritz’ Hollings of South Carolina dead
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Ernest F. “Fritz” Hollings, the silver-haired Democrat who helped shepherd South Carolina through desegregation as governor and went on to serve six terms in the U.S. Senate, has died. He was 97. Family spokesman Andy Brack, who also served at times for Hollings as spokesman during his...
FBI: NY man threatened to kill Minn. Congresswoman
NEW YORK — A western New York man has been charged with threatening to kill U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. Federal prosecutors announced Friday that Patrick Carlineo Jr. was arrested after placing a threatening call to Omar’s office in Washington D.C. last month. Authorities did not say when Carlineo...
‘Our country is full’: Trump says migrants straining system
CALEXICO, Calif. — Declaring “our country is full,” President Trump on Friday insisted the U.S. immigration system is overburdened and illegal crossings must be stopped as he inspected a refurbished section of fencing at the Mexican border. Trump, making a renewed push for border security as a central campaign issue...
Visiting border, Trump to push again on immigration
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump headed to California on Friday in a renewed push to make border security a central campaign issue for his 2020 re-election. Trump, talking to reporters as he left the White House to head out west, denied that he changed his mind about shutting down the...
A year later, Trump’s ‘zero tolerance’ border policy frays
SAN DIEGO — As the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy hits its anniversary, the promise to criminally prosecute everyone who crosses the Mexico border illegally has been forced to evolve. Today the reality is families come first. A surge in family arrivals, largely from Guatemala and Honduras, has led Border...
Trump tweets video mocking Biden over contact with women
One day after Joe Biden posted a video acknowledging that his past behavior had made women uncomfortable, President Donald Trump tweeted out a parody video Thursday in which a second Biden approaches the former vice president from behind, puts his hands on his shoulders and appears to sniff his hair....
California woman fired from job after MAGA hat flap
A California woman who berated a man wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and encouraged others to “get this guy!” has been fired from her job. The confrontation began Monday at a Starbucks, according to the man who identified himself to NBC Bay Area as Victor. “This woman comes...
‘Don’t count Trump out’ in 2020, Maggie Haberman tells Pittsburgh crowd
New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman – who has been called the “Trump Whisperer” by media outlets and a “third-rate reporter” by President Donald Trump – spoke at Chatham University on Wednesday about what it’s like covering his administration. Haberman addressed everything from Twitter to the 2020 presidential...
Arrest revives security concerns at Trump’s Florida estate
PALM BEACH, Fla. — As palm trees swayed in the ocean breeze, Yujing Zhang approached Secret Service agents in the Mar-a-Lago parking lot. She said she was going to the swimming pool at the Palm Beach presidential estate and presented agents with two Chinese passports in her name. That raised...
House chairman asks IRS for 6 years of Trump’s tax returns
WASHINGTON — A House committee chairman on Wednesday formally asked the IRS to provide six years of President Trump’s personal tax returns and the returns for some of his businesses as Democrats try to shed light on his complex financial dealings and potential conflicts of interest. The request by Massachusetts...
Joe Biden: I’ll be more mindful of respecting personal space
Former Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged Wednesday that his tendency toward physical displays of affection and encouragement has made some women uncomfortable, and he promised to be “much more mindful” of respecting personal space. “Social norms have begun to change. They’ve shifted,” the 76-year-old Biden said in a cellphone video...
Sarah Palin says it was a ‘gut punch’ to be disinvited from John McCain’s funeral
Sarah Palin, the late Sen. John McCain’s former running mate in the 2008 presidential campaign, said in a recent interview that being left out of the maverick’s funeral was “kind of a gut punch.” And it’s not the first time she’s used those words to describe her complicated relationship with...
Trump pivots on pledges, exploring the art of the climb-down
WASHINGTON — His border shutdown went from imminent to uncertain. A major health care push was declared and then delayed. Funding cuts were inserted in his proposed budget and just as quickly taken out. President Donald Trump has been exploring the art of the climb-down. Trump pivoted on two big...
‘Obamacare’ repeal off the table for GOP until after 2020
WASHINGTON (AP) — “Not any longer.” And with that, a triumphant Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to close the book Tuesday on a divisive Republican debate, convincing President Donald Trump to shelve plans to replace the Affordable Care Act until after the 2020 election. “I made it clear to...
Lori Lightfoot will be Chicago’s 1st black, female mayor
Former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot defeated a longtime political insider Tuesday to become Chicago’s next mayor, the first black woman and openly gay person to lead the nation’s third-largest city. Lightfoot, who had never been elected to public office, easily defeated Toni Preckwinkle, who served on the City Council for...
Trump team, China resume uphill effort to end trade rift
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration Wednesday will resume negotiations with China toward ending a trade war that has deepened uncertainty for businesses and investors and dimmed the outlook for the global economy. The two sides are to meet for the ninth time, with analysts expressing optimism that the world’s two...
Chinese woman carrying malware allegedly got into Mar-a-Lago
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A woman carrying two Chinese passports and a device containing computer malware lied to Secret Service agents and briefly gained admission to President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club over the weekend during his Florida visit, federal prosecutors allege in court documents. Yujing Zhang, 32, approached a Secret Service...
Trump defers push for health plan as a result of GOP resistance
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned President Trump to hold off action in Congress to replace the Affordable Care Act, telling him to instead take it on the road as a 2020 campaign issue. The two spoke Monday ahead of Trump’s evening tweets suggesting he had moved off...
Democrats reject Trump’s domestic spending cuts
WASHINGTON — Democrats controlling the House are proposing to cut back President Trump’s budget hikes for the Pentagon while significantly increasing spending on the domestic programs they favor. Tuesday’s move ramps up a battle with Trump and puts the Democratic House on a collision course with the GOP-held Senate as...
Amtrak wasted $23M on unneeded office space, inspector general says
WASHINGTON — Amtrak wasted at least $23 million by acquiring unneeded office space in Boston, New York, Washington and several other cities, according to a report by the railroad’s inspector general. The report by Stephen Lord, the assistant inspector general for Amtrak, sketches a picture of a quasi-public, federally-subsidized passenger...
North Carolina GOP chair, major donor charged with bribery
RALEIGH, N.C. — The chairman of North Carolina’s Republican Party, an insurance magnate and two of his associates are facing federal charges for a plan to shower the state’s top insurance regulator with campaign contributions to ensure special business treatment, a criminal indictment unsealed Tuesday said. State GOP Chairman Robin...
Administration officials grapple with Trump’s border threat
WASHINGTON — Trump administration officials are reining back the president’s threat to shut the southern border this week as they grapple with a surge of Central American migrants trying to enter the U.S. President Trump said last week he would seal the border with Mexico in the coming days if...
White House official cites problems in security clearances
WASHINGTON — A career official in the White House security office says dozens of people in President Trump’s administration were granted security clearances despite “disqualifying issues” in their backgrounds, including concerns about foreign influence, drug use and criminal conduct. Tricia Newbold, an 18-year government employee who oversaw the issuance of...
Ohio proposal would honor presidential popular vote
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s coveted 18 electoral votes would be delivered to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote under a proposal making its way toward the state’s fall ballot. The proposed constitutional amendment, whose summary language was certified Monday, would force state lawmakers to assure the powerful...
2020 by the numbers: Democrats posting big campaign stats
WASHINGTON — How many ways can you measure the first quarter of the year? For Democratic presidential candidates, it’s 300-plus events, 24 states and hundreds of voter questions. The Iowa caucus is still 10 months away, but the Democratic primary campaign is already an all-out sprint — passing eye-popping markers...
