Barack Obama said of Trump: ‘What we’ve seen in a way that is unique to modern political history is a president who is explicit in trying to discourage people from voting.’ Photograph: Alyssa Pointer/Reuters
Barack Obama said of Trump: ‘What we’ve seen in a way that is unique to modern political history is a president who is explicit in trying to discourage people from voting.’ Photograph: Alyssa Pointer/Reuters
As we all amble into the weekend (if you’re still paying attention to things like “time” and “days” at this stage of sheltering in place) let’s take a look at some of the top stories of the late afternoon.
California governor Gavin Newsom signed two executive orders to facilitate mail-in voting for the 2020 election after Donald Trump sought to discourage it by defunding the Postal Service.
New Jersey governor Phil Murphy also announced an executive order making it easier to vote by mail.
Elizabeth Warren demanded a probe of the recently-appointed Trump-allied postmaster.
Maxine Waters held a press conference at the main US Post office in Los Angeles to bring attention to Trump’s actions against the USPS.
Joe Biden called the USPS situation “bizarre”.
Kanye West may appear on the ballot in Iowa after a swathe of petitions was delivered there today.
Washington congresswoman Pramila Jayapal endorsed new Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris in a Los Angles Times op-ed.
Trump held a little rally in New Jersey of police officers.
The US Department of Defense has established a new task force to investigate UFOs.
In other news, the Pentagon announced Friday it has established a UFO task force to “improve its understanding” of “unidentified aerial phenomena”.
“The mission of the task force is to detect, analyze and catalog UAPs that could potentially pose a threat to U.S. national security,” the department of defense said in a statement.
The governor of New Jersey announced on Friday the majority of its 2020 election would be carried out by mail
Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat, is the latest to announce plans to move as much voting as possible to mail-in ballots to address the spread of Covid-19.
He said during a news conference that he will sign an executive order calling for all registered voters to get a ballot beginning Oct. 5 along with a prepaid return envelope.
Though he did not cite him by name, he made clear in the press conference the move is in response to Donald Trump attempting to starve the Postal Service of cash to purposely hinder mail-in voting.
The postal service, the governor said, was “being turned into a political football” by people who don’t believe in getting people to turn out to vote.
Donald Trump spoke to a group of several dozen police officers at a ‘Cops for Trump’ rally Friday evening at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
He spoke of his brother Robert, whom he visited in the hospital earlier in the day, telling the police “he respected you.” Robert Trump is in the hospital with a “serious” condition, the White House has confirmed.
“We can’t lose this election, ok?” Trump tells police officers at event a Bedminster. pic.twitter.com/Ef4RT2krZ6
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani also spoke at the event, targeting newly-announced Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris, calling her a “bully” and a “horrible person.”
Rudy Giuliani: "I interviewed an African-American gentleman the other day. I have the tape. And he said that this is the best President for the African-American community since Abraham Lincoln -- nobody even close." pic.twitter.com/tiXRWpcled
Joe Biden has commented on the Post Office drama of the week, calling the removal of post boxes due to lack of funding “bizarre” at a fundraiser on Friday.
The USPS announced late Friday it would stop removing collection boxes after backlash.
“We are suspending the removal of collection boxes at this time,” the agency said in a statement. “All postings on collection boxes will be removed, as we will no longer be pulling any boxes.”
A binder full of petitions to put Kanye West’s name on the ballot in the 2020 presidential elections was submitted in Iowa on Friday, making it the latest state to potentially include the rapper-turned-candidate in its elections.
West is already on the ballot in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Vermont. Petitions were also recently submitted to add his name in Wisconsin.
Journalist Ben Jacobs discovered the petitions in Iowa were submitted by a Republican operative there. He also found West is registered as a Republican voter in Wyoming.
Republicans are reportedly working to support West’s campaign in hopes it will split the Democratic vote and aid Donald Trump’s chances of winning.
There is speculation West is actively working with Trump as he met with the president’s son in law Jared Kushner and reportedly talks to him daily. The rapper’s wife Kim Kardashian West has met with Trump in the White House in the past to advocate for the release of prisoners.
Backlash around the postal service continues: representative Maxine Waters reportedly will hold a presser at the Los Angeles post office at 4pm PST today, to bring attention to the new USPS rules from the Trump administration and their effects on postal operations.
"Auntie Maxine" is mad: "Enough is enough!" says @RepMaxineWaters advisory - announcing she's marching down to the main Post Office in Los Angeles today at 4 pm, holding presser to bring attention "to effects Trump Administration’s new USPS rules are having on postal operations."
Elizabeth Warren has also demanded action surrounding Trump’s USPS actions. She called for a probe of new Trump-appointed postmaster Louis DeJoy and promised to use “every in the toolbox to stop Trump & DeJoy from sabotaging the USPS”.
The Washington congresswoman Pramila Jayapal endorsed new Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris in a Los Angles Times op-ed on Friday.
Jayapal highlighted Harris’s immigrant background and their shared South Asian heritage and said Harris is uniquely equipped to take on Donald Trump’s racist rhetoric. From the piece:
Sen. Harris’ nomination offers a clear contrast to a xenophobic president who has attacked immigrants and asylum seekers and the very idea of immigration at every turn, issuing a Muslim ban, separating families, caging children and even threatening student visa programs that allowed Sen. Harris’ mother and me to come to America in the first place.
Jayapal said that in 2016 when she became the first South Asian American woman to be elected to the House, Harris became the first South Asian American woman to be elected to the Senate. Together they represent just two of 79 women of color to ever have served in Congress.
This op-ed comes as Trump recently targeted Harris with racist birther theories. The president, who first gained momentum in politics with a racist campaign claiming Barack Obama was not born in the US, said in a press conference on Thursday that he “heard she doesn’t meet the requirements” to be vice president.
Jayapal does not comment on that specific controversy in her op-ed, but cites the immigrant experience as an asset.
“Immigrants and the children of immigrants are resilient,” Jayapal wrote. “We push boulders up mountains and succeed because we have to. And that’s the kind of leadership we need.”
The former Missouri senator Claire McCaskill weighed in on Donald Trump’s post office drama in a tweet on Friday, calling him a “liar” who is “trying to steal an election in broad daylight”.
Her tweet came in response to a report that showed Trump had met with the new postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, last week despite saying he had not spoken to the new official.
Trump has named DeJoy, a North Carolina ally and Republican National Convention fundraiser, to the helm of the Postal Service. The action has many concerned Trump will leverage this ally’s new position to block funds from the postal service, which Trump has advocated for to suppress mail-in voting.
The orders include the provision of safe voting sites and drop off sites for ballots, in addition to an extension of 17 days to collect ballots.
They came in direct response to Donald Trump’s statements that he refuses to provide additional funding to the US Post Office ahead of November elections that will rely largely on mail-in ballots in an effort to suppress votes.
Here‘s what we’ve covered thus far in the latter half of the day. Be sure to keep following the blog as our West Coast team keeps you in-the-loop:
Donald Trump in his presser briefing addressed charges filed against an former FBI lawyer, avoids rebuking a newly elected QAnon-supporter, before denying invoking misogyny and racism against California senator and VP pick Kamala Harris and Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren
Are California schools prepared for virtual learning?
The start of the school year is a time of anticipation, anxiety and energy. This year, as 97% percent of school California’s school districts begin the fall semester online, that anticipation has been multiplied exponentially, California school chief Tony Thurmond said today.
Thurmond joined governor Gavin Newsom and education expert Linda Darling-Hammond at today’s presser to give a rundown of how educators across the start are preparing for a new school year after having months to reflect on the shortcomings of the virtual learning rollout last spring.
Chief among concerns is how to close the digital divide that’s meant even access to computers and devices — a gap that remains, despite ongoing efforts of school districts and nonprofits to get tech into the hands of every student. Thurmond faulted a worldwide run on technology for backlogs that have stalled efforts to deliver devices to students.
Roughly 7,000 students in Oakland this week lacked equipment and hotspots when the school year began earlier this week. Education advocates across the state continue to worry that low-income students will be left behind as the pandemic continues.
Darling-Hammond said plans are afoot to deliver instruction to students with disabilities and others who aren’t well-served by online teaching. Even though school districts that find themselves on the state’s watchlist — areas that face troubling rates of infections — are typically not allowed to hold in-person classes, they may still be able to offer in-person services for vulnerable students assuming they move in accordance with county health guidelines and work in very small groups.
The announcements come as infections and hospitalizations appear to have ticked down after a month of record-setting case numbers and death tolls. But school districts also move forward as Covid cases among children surges, challenging the assumption that children are unlikely to catch and spread the virus.
Marge Simpson. Yes, the fictional character from the decades-running TV sitcom The Simpsons has something to say to Donald Trump and his campaign, excoriating senior legal advisor Jenna Ellis, who tweeted likening California senator Kamala Harris’ voice to hers, a racist and sexist trope that invokes the common, “angry Black woman” stereotype.
“As an ordinary suburban housewife, I feel a little disrespected. I teach my children not to name call Jenna. I was going to say I’m pissed off, but I’m afraid they’d bleep it.
