theguardian--2020-07-06--Mary Trump's book to be published early amid 'extraordinary interest'

A tell-all book by Donald Trump ’ s niece will be published two weeks ahead of schedule and will argue that the president suffered “ child abuse ” in the early years of his life .
Publisher Simon & Schuster , which last week was released from a temporary restraining order won by the president ’ s brother , cited “ high demand and extraordinary interest ” as it brought publication forward on Monday .
The company also released an image of the back cover of Too Much and Never Enough : How My Family Created the World ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Today , ” the text began , “ Donald is much as he was at three years old : incapable of growing , learning or evolving , unable to regulate his emotions , moderate his responses or take in and synthesize information.
” Mary Trump , a trained clinical psychologist , also writes about the president ’ s upbringing by a mother who was ill and a father , the property developer Fred Trump , who remained committed to his job , to whom “ love meant nothing ” and who “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Child abuse is , in some sense , a matter of ‘ too much ’ or ‘ not enough ’ , ” Mary Trump writes , adding : “ Donald suffered deprivations that would scar him for life.
” In a statement released by the publisher , Mary Trump said : “ In addition to the first-hand accounts I can give as my father ’ s daughter and my uncle ’ s only niece , I have the perspective of a trained clinical psychologist .
Too Much and Never Enough is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ powerful family in the world .
And I am the only Trump who is willing to tell it.
” Mary Trump is still subject to a temporary restraining order imposed by a judge in New York state supreme court .
In her appeal , she claims a 2001 non-disclosure agreement arising from litigation over a family will was based on fraudulent financial information .
A hearing is scheduled for Friday .
The president ’ s niece has expressed opposition to his political career via social media and was a key source for New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ affairs which won a Pulitzer prize .
A supreme court ruling on whether Trump must release tax and financial records is eagerly awaited and expected as soon as this week .
Speaking to CNN on Sunday , Ted Boutrous , Mary Trump ’ s lawyer , accused Donald Trump of mounting “ an orchestrated campaign against freedom of speech and freedom of the press ” .
Lawsuits against books are intended to have a “ chilling effect ” , he said .
The White House sought to block a book by John Bolton @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adviser , but were denied by a federal judge .
The Room Where It Happened sold nearly 800,000 copies in its first week in stores .
Donald Trump ’ s brother Robert Trump , a businessman , filed the suit against Mary Trump .
He is represented by Charles Harder , an attorney who has worked for the president .
Harder has said he will seek the “ maximum remedies available ” for Mary Trump ’ s “ truly reprehensible ” actions .
He has also called the New York Times ’ reporting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % false , and highly defamatory ” .
In a statement to the New York Times last month , Robert Trump slammed his niece for what he called an “ attempt to sensationalise and mischaracterise our family relationship … for her own financial gain ” .
“ I and the rest of my entire family , ” he said , “ are so proud of my wonderful brother , the president.
” The president ’ s other surviving siblings are Maryanne Trump Barry , a retired judge , and Elizabeth Trump Grau , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s father was Fred Trump Jr , who died in 1981 .

A tell-all book by Donald Trump’s niece will be published two weeks ahead of schedule and will argue that the president suffered “child abuse” in the early years of his life.
Publisher Simon & Schuster, which last week was released from a temporary restraining order won by the president’s brother, cited “high demand and extraordinary interest” as it brought publication forward on Monday.
The company also released an image of the back cover of Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man by Mary Trump.
“Today,” the text began, “Donald is much as he was at three years old: incapable of growing, learning or evolving, unable to regulate his emotions, moderate his responses or take in and synthesize information.”
Mary Trump, a trained clinical psychologist, also writes about the president’s upbringing by a mother who was ill and a father, the property developer Fred Trump, who remained committed to his job, to whom “love meant nothing” and who “expected obedience, that was all”.
“Child abuse is, in some sense, a matter of ‘too much’ or ‘not enough’,” Mary Trump writes, adding: “Donald suffered deprivations that would scar him for life.”
Photograph: Copyright Peter Serling/Simon & Schuster
In a statement released by the publisher, Mary Trump said: “In addition to the first-hand accounts I can give as my father’s daughter and my uncle’s only niece, I have the perspective of a trained clinical psychologist. Too Much and Never Enough is the story of the most visible and powerful family in the world. And I am the only Trump who is willing to tell it.”
Mary Trump is still subject to a temporary restraining order imposed by a judge in New York state supreme court. In her appeal, she claims a 2001 non-disclosure agreement arising from litigation over a family will was based on fraudulent financial information. A hearing is scheduled for Friday.
The president’s niece has expressed opposition to his political career via social media and was a key source for New York Times reporting on Trump family tax affairs which won a Pulitzer prize.
A supreme court ruling on whether Trump must release tax and financial records is eagerly awaited and expected as soon as this week.
Speaking to CNN on Sunday, Ted Boutrous, Mary Trump’s lawyer, accused Donald Trump of mounting “an orchestrated campaign against freedom of speech and freedom of the press”. Lawsuits against books are intended to have a “chilling effect”, he said.
The White House sought to block a book by John Bolton, Trump’s third national security adviser, but were denied by a federal judge. The Room Where It Happened sold nearly 800,000 copies in its first week in stores.
Donald Trump’s brother Robert Trump, a businessman, filed the suit against Mary Trump. He is represented by Charles Harder, an attorney who has worked for the president.
Harder has said he will seek the “maximum remedies available” for Mary Trump’s “truly reprehensible” actions. He has also called the New York Times’ reporting on Trump family tax affairs “100% false, and highly defamatory”.
In a statement to the New York Times last month, Robert Trump slammed his niece for what he called an “attempt to sensationalise and mischaracterise our family relationship … for her own financial gain”.
“I and the rest of my entire family,” he said, “are so proud of my wonderful brother, the president.”
The president’s other surviving siblings are Maryanne Trump Barry, a retired judge, and Elizabeth Trump Grau, a retired banker. Mary Trump’s father was Fred Trump Jr, who died in 1981.


theguardian--2020-07-07--Many ex-felons have yet to be told of their restored rights as New Jersey votes

Last year , about 102,000 New Jersey residents were barred from voting due to felony convictions , according to a report from the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice .
And the problem was accelerating : about 2,500 residents saw their names purged from the state ’ s voting rolls due to felony conviction each year between 2016 and the end of 2018 .
Advocates reversed that trend in late 2019 , successfully organizing for the passage of A5823 , a bill that restored ballot access for all people on parole or probation in New Jersey , processes that can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ When the new law took effect on 17 March , about 83,000 people recovered their voting rights , a figure roughly equivalent to the population of Trenton , New Jersey ’ s capital city .
But after losing months of potential canvassing and registration drives because of the coronavirus pandemic , advocates struggled to inform those tens of thousands of people about their restored voting rights and encourage them to register in advance of today ’ s primary election .
( New Jersey enforces a voter registration deadline of 21 days in advance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and probation officers have notified people under their supervision of their restored voting rights , said Henal Patel , director of the Democracy and Justice Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice .
But it ’ s unclear to what extent the agencies responsible for administering parole and probation have participated in the notification effort .
Sixty-two-year-old Ronald Pierce has been on parole since 2016 after spending 30 years in New Jersey state prisons .
Pierce , who grew up in a public housing project in Bayonne , New Jersey , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political participation and the local Democratic party .
Pierce told me he voted in every general election and Democratic primary in New Jersey from when he turned 18 in 1976 until the time of his arrest in 1986 .
While being held at Trenton state prison after receiving a life sentence in 1987 , Pierce received a letter informing him that his voting rights had been suspended .
“ Getting that letter buckled my knees , ” he recalled .
“ It made me feel really disconnected , not only from society itself @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my father.
” While incarcerated , Pierce pursued a bachelor ’ s degree through NJ-Step , a program administered jointly by Rutgers University-Newark and state correctional institutions .
Pierce paroled out of prison in 2016 .
Testifying before a state senate committee in January 2019 , Pierce said , “ I look forward to the day when I can again walk proudly into a voting booth.
” A little over a year later , in March 2020 , Pierce registered to vote at Bethany Baptist church in Newark .
“ It was surreal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ context of the coronavirus shutdown , Patel said , libraries and other public offices ( like departments of motor vehicles ) are closed or operating with reduced hours , limiting people ’ s ability to access voter registration materials .
But even if people like Pierce can register , the law leaves many people who have gone through the mass incarceration system out – especially minority voters .
Patel pointed out that while A5823 was a tremendous victory , the new law won ’ t solve the racial disparities .
Black prisoners are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parole or to receive probation sentences in place of jail time , which means tens of thousands of people with felony convictions still won ’ t be able to vote .
“ We ’ re going to keep pushing until we have full restoration , ” Patel said .
Both Patel and Pierce said that their work is far from finished .
They see their real objective as restoring true universal suffrage to New Jersey .
Today ’ s election could be the first step .
“ I often tell those who I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imprisoned , that I will not forget about them , and I will fight for them , ” Pierce testified before a state senate committee last year .
“ This is what I stand up for : the rights of those not only silenced , but buried beyond visibility .
”

Last year, about 102,000 New Jersey residents were barred from voting due to felony convictions, according to a report from the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. And the problem was accelerating: about 2,500 residents saw their names purged from the state’s voting rolls due to felony conviction each year between 2016 and the end of 2018.
Advocates reversed that trend in late 2019, successfully organizing for the passage of A5823, a bill that restored ballot access for all people on parole or probation in New Jersey, processes that can last years after people leave prison. When the new law took effect on 17 March, about 83,000 people recovered their voting rights, a figure roughly equivalent to the population of Trenton, New Jersey’s capital city.
But after losing months of potential canvassing and registration drives because of the coronavirus pandemic, advocates struggled to inform those tens of thousands of people about their restored voting rights and encourage them to register in advance of today’s primary election. (New Jersey enforces a voter registration deadline of 21 days in advance of each election.)
Some parole and probation officers have notified people under their supervision of their restored voting rights, said Henal Patel, director of the Democracy and Justice Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. But it’s unclear to what extent the agencies responsible for administering parole and probation have participated in the notification effort.
Sixty-two-year-old Ronald Pierce has been on parole since 2016 after spending 30 years in New Jersey state prisons. Pierce, who grew up in a public housing project in Bayonne, New Jersey, recalled that his large working-class family valued political participation and the local Democratic party. Pierce told me he voted in every general election and Democratic primary in New Jersey from when he turned 18 in 1976 until the time of his arrest in 1986.
While being held at Trenton state prison after receiving a life sentence in 1987, Pierce received a letter informing him that his voting rights had been suspended. “Getting that letter buckled my knees,” he recalled. “It made me feel really disconnected, not only from society itself, but also from my family and my father.” While incarcerated, Pierce pursued a bachelor’s degree through NJ-Step, a program administered jointly by Rutgers University-Newark and state correctional institutions. Pierce paroled out of prison in 2016.
Testifying before a state senate committee in January 2019, Pierce said, “I look forward to the day when I can again walk proudly into a voting booth.” A little over a year later, in March 2020, Pierce registered to vote at Bethany Baptist church in Newark. “It was surreal,” he said.
In the context of the coronavirus shutdown, Patel said, libraries and other public offices (like departments of motor vehicles) are closed or operating with reduced hours, limiting people’s ability to access voter registration materials.
But even if people like Pierce can register, the law leaves many people who have gone through the mass incarceration system out – especially minority voters. Patel pointed out that while A5823 was a tremendous victory, the new law won’t solve the racial disparities. Black prisoners are statistically less likely to be released on parole or to receive probation sentences in place of jail time, which means tens of thousands of people with felony convictions still won’t be able to vote.
“We’re going to keep pushing until we have full restoration,” Patel said.
Both Patel and Pierce said that their work is far from finished. They see their real objective as restoring true universal suffrage to New Jersey. Today’s election could be the first step.
“I often tell those who I was incarcerated with, who are still imprisoned, that I will not forget about them, and I will fight for them,” Pierce testified before a state senate committee last year. “This is what I stand up for: the rights of those not only silenced, but buried beyond visibility.”


theguardian--2020-07-07--White House says US is 'a leader' in fighting coronavirus, despite rising infections – video

Kayleigh McEnany says the US has been a leader in the fight against Covid-19 , despite rising infections across the @ @ @ @ @ is nearing 3m cases , while there have been 130,000 deaths .
Speaking at a @ @ @ @ @ House press secretary added : 'No one wants to see anyone in this country contract @ @ @ @ @ the administration has fought hard to make sure that 's not the case with our @ @ @ @ @ House claims US is ' a leader ' in fight against Covid-19 as cases rise

Kayleigh McEnany says the US has been a leader in the fight against Covid-19, despite rising infections across the country. Its infection tally is nearing 3m cases, while there have been 130,000 deaths. Speaking at a press briefing, the White House press secretary added: 'No one wants to see anyone in this country contract coronavirus, which is why the administration has fought hard to make sure that's not the case with our historic response effort'


theguardian--2020-07-08--US officially begins withdrawal from World Health Organization amid pandemic – as it happened

Associated Press : Congress created virus aid , then reaped the benefits At least a dozen lawmakers were both authors @ @ @ @ @ the biggest government programs in US history , reports the Associated Press .
Government data @ @ @ @ @ the Trump administration faced pressure from Congress and outside groups , has revealed the names @ @ @ @ @ benefited from the $ 659bn Paycheck Protection Program , meant to help smaller businesses keep @ @ @ @ @ .
The list includes names of both Democrats and Republicans and traces money that flowed @ @ @ @ @ , casino companies , fast food franchises and political consultants .
Members of Congress and @ @ @ @ @ from receiving loans under the program , but observers say it could undercut public trust @ @ @ @ @ s response to the pandemic just as Congress debates another round of coronavirus relief .
@ @ @ @ @ and smells bad , ” said Aaron Scherb , a spokesperson for the watchdog group @ @ @

Maanvi Singh in San Francisco (now), Joanna Walters in New York and Martin Belam (earlier)

8 Jul 2020 01.10 BST Summary The US officially notified the World Health Organization that it would withdraw. The United Nations Foundation said that the Trump administration’s “move to formally withdraw from WHO amid the greatest public health crisis that Americans and the world have faced in a century is shortsighted, unnecessary, and unequivocally dangerous”.
The United Nations Foundation said that the Trump administration’s “move to formally withdraw from WHO amid the greatest public health crisis that Americans and the world have faced in a century is shortsighted, unnecessary, and unequivocally dangerous”. Trump is pushing for schools to reopen in the fall despite there being no plan of how to do so safely for children, teachers and administrative staff. Trump tweeted: “SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!”, as local officials across the country began pausing or scaling back their re-openings due to the surge in infections.
Trump tweeted: “SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!”, as local officials across the country began pausing or scaling back their re-openings due to the surge in infections. Mary Trump , the niece of the president, dissects what she says was Donald Trump’s emotionally abusive childhood , in her new book out next week. In a copy obtained by The Guardian, she writes that neglect from his parents - his mother because of health problems and his father because of being a “high functioning sociopath” fuels Donald Trump’s outrageous behavior now, and threatens “the world’s health, economic security, and social fabric
, In a copy obtained by The Guardian, she writes that neglect from his parents - his mother because of health problems and his father because of being a “high functioning sociopath” fuels Donald Trump’s outrageous behavior now, and threatens “the world’s health, economic security, and social fabric Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top public health official on the coronavirus task force, said on Monday that America’s grasp of the pandemic was “really not good”. In contrast to the president, who continued to insist that the pandemic would die down soon, Fauci said “we are still knee-deep in the first wave” of infections.
7 Jul 2020 00.53 BST Associated Press: Congress created virus aid, then reaped the benefits At least a dozen lawmakers were both authors and beneficiaries of one of the biggest government programs in US history, reports the Associated Press. Government data, released this week after the Trump administration faced pressure from Congress and outside groups, has revealed the names of some loan recipients who benefited from the $659bn Paycheck Protection Program, meant to help smaller businesses keep staff employed during the pandemic. The list includes names of both Democrats and Republicans and traces money that flowed to hotels, car dealerships, casino companies, fast food franchises and political consultants. Members of Congress and their families are not barred from receiving loans under the program, but observers say it could undercut public trust in the federal government’s response to the pandemic just as Congress debates another round of coronavirus relief. “It certainly looks bad and smells bad,” said Aaron Scherb, a spokesperson for the watchdog group Common Cause.
Updated at 01.11 BST
7 Jul 2020 00.29 BST Mario Koran here in California, picking up the blog from my colleague Maanvi Singh to close out the day. Steny Hoyer, majority leader of the US House of Representatives, has weighed in on Trump administration’s move to formally withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization, calling the decision “self-defeating and dangerous”. “To withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO) at the height of a global pandemic that has already killed more than 133,000 Americans is self-defeating and dangerous”, wrote Hoyer in a statement. “Not only will this withdrawal hurt global efforts to develop and deploy critical vaccines, but it will also remove our ability to have a say in the operations and future of that organization, yielding much influence to China.” The statement echoes one made in earlier in the day by Elizabeth Cousens, president of the United Nations Foundation, who said the “move to formally withdraw from WHO amid the greatest public health crisis that Americans and the world have faced in a century is shortsighted, unnecessary, and unequivocally dangerous.”
7 Jul 2020 00.13 BST In an interview with Greta Van Susteren, Donald Trump insisted that despite what the leading public health official on the coronavirus task force says, the US is in a “good place” in managing the pandemic. In two, three or four weeks’ time, “I think we’re going to be in very good shape,” Trump said, despite evidence to the contrary, adding that he disagreed with Fauci and touting his travel restrictions, enacted against the advice of health experts. Trump says he disagrees with Fauci‘s comment that “the current state is really not good” with coronavirus surge.
Will be “in very good shape” in two weeks, Trump told @greta. Maybe four. pic.twitter.com/BXMMu0MsIY — Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) July 7, 2020
Updated at 01.09 BST
7 Jul 2020 00.02 BST Five states and the District of Columbia are suing US education secretary Betsy DeVos over a rule she issued that would divert to private schools money that Congress provided to help public schools. California, Maine, New Mexico, Wisconsin, DC, and Michigan have joined a lawsuit over how pandemic relief money is distributed to schools. “Michigan kids cannot afford for Betsy DeVos to be playing politics with their education,” said Attorney General Dana Nessel of Michigan.
DeVos lashed out at school districts who wouldn’t commit to reopening in the fall despite the surge of cases across the country, deriding leaders who wouldn’t accept the risks of opening schools.
Updated at 01.13 BST
7 Jul 2020 23.27 BST Lawrence Gostin, the director of the WHO’s Collaborating Center on National & Global Health Law, said Trump’s decision to withdraw from the global health agency was “among most ruinous presidential decisions in history”. He added that the move would counterproductively benefit China, leaving the country to fill the leadership gap left by the US. Can there be any winners from @realDonaldTrump unilateral threat to w/draw from @WHO? There is a clear loser, the USA, which will lost global influence, with our citizens less safe & secure. There also may be a winner, China, which could help fill the gap in US loss of leadership — Lawrence Gostin (@LawrenceGostin) July 7, 2020
7 Jul 2020 23.24 BST Emily Holden More than 5,600 companies in the fossil fuel industry have taken a minimum of $3bn in coronavirus aid from the US federal government, according to an analysis by Documented and the Guardian of newly released data. The businesses include oil and gas drillers and coal mine operators, as well as refiners, pipeline companies and firms that provide services to the industry. The Small Business Administration (SBA) on Monday released the data under pressure for further transparency, including from journalism outlets that had sued demanding the public records. The $3bn figure is probably far less than the companies actually received. The SBA did not disclose the specific amounts of loans and instead listed ranges. On the high end, fossil fuel companies could have received up to $6.7bn. At least 475 fossil fuel companies received at least $2m, according to the data the SBA released that it collected from banks. This analysis only includes loans over $150,000, because the SBA did not disclose which companies received smaller loans. Over 5,600 fossil fuel companies have taken at least $3bn in US Covid-19 aid Read more
7 Jul 2020 23.13 BST Julian Borger The administration has already begun looking for other channels to spend the $450m it pays annually in WHO membership dues and voluntary contributions. It is unclear what will happen to US officials who work with the global health body. Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate foreign relations subcommittee that oversees multilateral institutions, called the move “a huge win for China and a huge blow to the American people”. “By pulling out of the WHO, President Trump is strengthening Chinese leadership and power, both within the WHO and more broadly within the international community,” Merkley said. “Cutting the United States out of the WHO in the middle of the worst global pandemic in a century makes Americans more vulnerable. By abandoning the efforts to control the virus abroad, we’re ensuring that far more Americans will get sick, either through foreign travelers coming to the US, or through Americans traveling abroad.” Republican members of Congress have also urged Trump to keep the US inside the WHO to support reform. The administration has received almost no support for withdrawal from US allies, with the exception of the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, who confirmed he had tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday. US officially notifies World Health Organization of its withdrawal Read more
Updated at 23.13 BST


theguardian--2020-07-07--Kanye West's company granted millions in coronavirus stimulus

A company belonging to Kanye West received millions in loans from a federal coronavirus stimulus package , raising questions about potential conflicts of interest given the rapper ’ s ties to the Trump administration .
On Monday , the US Small Business Administration released data on more than 40,000 companies that received loans of $ 150,000 or more under the payroll protection program ( PPP ) .
As first reported by the Daily Beast , Yeezy LLC , a company established in Delaware but operated in California , received between $ 2m and $ 5m .
PPP loans are available @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They are voided if companies spend the money on eligible costs and retain staff during the coronavirus pandemic .
Loans are reduced if a company cuts full-time employees , or pay by more than 25 % .
According to a survey by CNBC , only a small fraction of applications have been successful .
West manages Yeezy LLC , which lists 160 employees and reported $ 1.5bn in revenue last year .
West has been a vocal supporter of Donald Trump .
Along with his wife , the reality TV star and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he has worked with the administration on criminal justice reform and black voter outreach .
The Guardian contacted representatives for the rapper and Yeezy LLC with requests for comment .
The loan program , part of the $ 2tn Cares Act , has faced extensive criticism .
Calls have grown for investigations into technical glitches and accusations of racial disparities among approvals .
The list of recipients was only made public following transparency complaints from Democrats .
The Beast also reported that at least three businesses connected to Jared Kushner , the president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ loans worth millions .
Other family members and large corporations also received money .
Major brands and institutions , including Shake Shack and Harvard University , have been forced to return loans following public outcry and amid reports of banks favoring wealthy customers or companies publicly supportive of the administration ’ s coronavirus response .
West recently tweeted congratulations to his wife on becoming a billionaire .
Despite a recent acquisition of her beauty brand by Coty , Forbes reported that Kardashian West is in fact worth $ 900m .
West turned around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ launch of a sneaker and clothing brand .
His assent to claimed billionaire status is largely aided by a newly announced partnership with the clothing retailer Gap .
Last week , West announced his candidacy for president , via Twitter .
But the rapper has not filed any required federal paperwork and is already too late to appear on some state ballots .
The announcement was largely met with mockery .

A company belonging to Kanye West received millions in loans from a federal coronavirus stimulus package, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest given the rapper’s ties to the Trump administration.
On Monday, the US Small Business Administration released data on more than 40,000 companies that received loans of $150,000 or more under the payroll protection program (PPP). As first reported by the Daily Beast, Yeezy LLC, a company established in Delaware but operated in California, received between $2m and $5m.
PPP loans are available for companies with fewer than 500 employees. They are voided if companies spend the money on eligible costs and retain staff during the coronavirus pandemic. Loans are reduced if a company cuts full-time employees, or pay by more than 25%. According to a survey by CNBC, only a small fraction of applications have been successful.
West manages Yeezy LLC, which lists 160 employees and reported $1.5bn in revenue last year.
West has been a vocal supporter of Donald Trump. Along with his wife, the reality TV star and beauty brand owner Kim Kardashian West, he has worked with the administration on criminal justice reform and black voter outreach.
The Guardian contacted representatives for the rapper and Yeezy LLC with requests for comment.
The loan program, part of the $2tn Cares Act, has faced extensive criticism. Calls have grown for investigations into technical glitches and accusations of racial disparities among approvals. The list of recipients was only made public following transparency complaints from Democrats.
The Beast also reported that at least three businesses connected to Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, were granted PPP loans worth millions. Other family members and large corporations also received money.
Major brands and institutions, including Shake Shack and Harvard University, have been forced to return loans following public outcry and amid reports of banks favoring wealthy customers or companies publicly supportive of the administration’s coronavirus response.
BLACK TIE PROTECTION SERVICES, a co. linked to TRUMP's campaign, got $150k-$350k from PPP.
Black Tie has been paid $1.5m by Trump's campaign & RNC.
It was part of a TRUMP security team headed by @KeithSchiller45 that was accused of roughing up protesters https://t.co/4fOsDUwSot — Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) July 6, 2020
West recently tweeted congratulations to his wife on becoming a billionaire. Despite a recent acquisition of her beauty brand by Coty, Forbes reported that Kardashian West is in fact worth $900m.
West turned around a financially strained music empire through the launch of a sneaker and clothing brand. His assent to claimed billionaire status is largely aided by a newly announced partnership with the clothing retailer Gap.
Last week, West announced his candidacy for president, via Twitter. But the rapper has not filed any required federal paperwork and is already too late to appear on some state ballots. The announcement was largely met with mockery.


theguardian--2020-07-07--Donald Trump's behavior was shaped by his 'sociopath' father, niece writes in bombshell book

Donald Trump ’ s extraordinary character and outrageous behaviour “ threaten the world ’ s health , economic security and social fabric ” and were shaped by his “ high-functioning sociopath ” father during childhood , according to a bombshell book written by the president ’ s niece .
Too Much and Never Enough : How My Family Created the World ’ s Most Dangerous Man by Mary Trump will be published next Tuesday , 14 July .
The Guardian obtained a copy .
As well as an extended consideration of familial dysfunction which she says shaped Donald Trump , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ behaviour by the president as a younger man , including academic cheating to get into a prestigious business school , and brutal treatment of women .
In the acknowledgments , Mary Trump thanks her aunt , Maryanne Trump Barry , “ for all of the enlightening information ” .
Maryanne Trump Barry , the president ’ s sister , is a federal judge who retired in 2019 , thereby ending an inquiry into fraudulent tax schemes .
Mary Trump was reportedly a key source for the New York Times ’ Pulitzer-winning reporting on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supreme court is currently considering whether the president ’ s tax and financial records should be released to the public .
On Tuesday afternoon , the White House press secretary , Kayleigh McEnany , said the president had “ no response , other than it ’ s a book of falsehoods … ridiculous , absurd allegations that have absolutely no bearing in truth ” .
The White House , she said , “ had yet to see the book but it ’ s a book of falsehoods ” .
Donald Trump ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the perspective of a trained clinical psychologist .
“ Child abuse is , in some sense , the expectation of ‘ too much ’ or ‘ not enough ’ , ” she writes .
“ Donald directly experienced the ‘ not enough ’ in the loss of connection to his mother at a crucial development stage .
“ … Having been abandoned by his mother for at least a year , and having his father fail not only to meet his needs but to make him feel safe or loved , valued @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would scar him for life .
“ The personality traits that resulted – displays of narcissism , bullying , grandiosity – finally made my grandfather take notice but not in a way that ameliorated any of the horror that had come before.
” Donald Trump ’ s mother , also called Mary , suffered health problems resulting from an emergency hysterectomy .
That , she writes , left the future president and his siblings dependent on their father , Fred Trump , a New York property developer who died in 1999 .
Mary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high-functioning sociopath ” and details his bullying , antisemitism , racism , sexism and xenophobia – all traits the president is regularly accused of .
Fred Trump ’ s oldest son , also called Fred , died in 1981 in his early 40s , from the effects of alcoholism .
His daughter writes that Donald Trump ’ s character was formed by watching the traumas inflicted on and suffered by his older brother .
The man that emerges is ruthless and utterly self-centered , she writes .
In a section on Trump ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he paid someone else to take his SAT tests for him .
“ Donald , who never lacked for funds , paid his buddy well , ” she writes , of “ Joe Shapiro , a smart kid with a reputation for being a good test taker ” .
The scheme included Trump ’ s brother putting in a word at the Wharton Business School , at the University of Pennsylvania .
Mary Trump writes that it “ may not even have been necessary ” , as “ in those days , Penn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now.
” Other than Maryanne Trump Barry , the judge , Donald Trump ’ s surviving siblings are Robert Trump , a businessman , and Elizabeth Trump Grau , a retired banker .
Robert Trump has sued Mary Trump in New York , claiming a non-disclosure agreement signed in 2001 over Fred Trump Sr ’ s will precludes publication .
The president has said he thinks the NDA , which includes Maryanne Trump Barry , means the book can not come out .
Mary Trump has argued in appeal filings that the NDA @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A hearing was scheduled for Friday .
Simon & Schuster was dropped from the suit and subsequently brought publication forward by two weeks .
Arguing on first amendment grounds for the freedom of speech , lawyers for Mary Trump have pointed to how the president has “ contributed to his and his family ’ s notoriety in a variety of ways , including as the author of nearly 20 books on topics including his family , his wealth , his businesses and his own life.
” Mary Trump details how she was contracted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Art of the Comeback .
“ A few weeks after Donald hired me , ” she writes , detailing an experience familiar to many of the president ’ s business partners and contractors , “ I still hadn ’ t gotten paid.
” Trump ’ s notorious treatment of women is also discussed .
Mary Trump says that when her uncle provided material , it was “ an aggrieved compendium of women ” – Madonna and the ice skater Katarina Witt among them – “ he had expected to date but who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the worst , ugliest and fattest slobs he ’ d ever met.
” “ I stopped asking him for an interview , ” she writes , adding that on a visit to Trump ’ s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to work on the book , she was wearing a bathing suit when Trump looked at his niece and said : “ Holy shit , Mary .
You ’ re stacked.
” Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct and assault by more than 20 women .
He denies all such claims .
Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Characteristically , Mary Trump writes , he had someone else tell her .
Mary Trump has expressed opposition to her uncle on social media .
In her book , she writes of turning down an invitation to his 2016 election night party , because “ I wouldn ’ t be able to contain my euphoria when [ Hillary ] Clinton ’ s victory was announced , and I didn ’ t want to be rude.
” Of the day after Trump ’ s victory , she writes , “ I was wandering around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other people but in a more personal way : it felt as though 62,979,636 voters had chosen to turn this country into a macro version of my malignantly dysfunctional family.
” Like a White House memoir by the former national security adviser John Bolton , also published by Simon & Schuster , Mary Trump ’ s book is now in the public domain .
In the words of a federal judge in Washington who declined to block Bolton ’ s book , “ the horse is out of the barn ” .

Donald Trump’s extraordinary character and outrageous behaviour “threaten the world’s health, economic security and social fabric” and were shaped by his “high-functioning sociopath” father during childhood, according to a bombshell book written by the president’s niece.
Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man by Mary Trump will be published next Tuesday, 14 July. The Guardian obtained a copy.
As well as an extended consideration of familial dysfunction which she says shaped Donald Trump, Mary Trump alleges multiple instances of shocking behaviour by the president as a younger man, including academic cheating to get into a prestigious business school, and brutal treatment of women.
In the acknowledgments, Mary Trump thanks her aunt, Maryanne Trump Barry, “for all of the enlightening information”. Maryanne Trump Barry, the president’s sister, is a federal judge who retired in 2019, thereby ending an inquiry into fraudulent tax schemes.
Mary Trump was reportedly a key source for the New York Times’ Pulitzer-winning reporting on Trump family tax affairs. The US supreme court is currently considering whether the president’s tax and financial records should be released to the public.
On Tuesday afternoon, the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, said the president had “no response, other than it’s a book of falsehoods … ridiculous, absurd allegations that have absolutely no bearing in truth”.
The White House, she said, “had yet to see the book but it’s a book of falsehoods”.
Donald Trump’s niece writes her study of his character from the perspective of a trained clinical psychologist.
“Child abuse is, in some sense, the expectation of ‘too much’ or ‘not enough’,” she writes. “Donald directly experienced the ‘not enough’ in the loss of connection to his mother at a crucial development stage.
“… Having been abandoned by his mother for at least a year, and having his father fail not only to meet his needs but to make him feel safe or loved, valued or mirrored, Donald suffered deprivations that would scar him for life.
“The personality traits that resulted – displays of narcissism, bullying, grandiosity – finally made my grandfather take notice but not in a way that ameliorated any of the horror that had come before.”
Donald Trump’s mother, also called Mary, suffered health problems resulting from an emergency hysterectomy. That, she writes, left the future president and his siblings dependent on their father, Fred Trump, a New York property developer who died in 1999.
Mary Trump describes Fred Trump as a “high-functioning sociopath” and details his bullying, antisemitism, racism, sexism and xenophobia – all traits the president is regularly accused of.
Fred Trump’s oldest son, also called Fred, died in 1981 in his early 40s, from the effects of alcoholism. His daughter writes that Donald Trump’s character was formed by watching the traumas inflicted on and suffered by his older brother.
The man that emerges is ruthless and utterly self-centered, she writes. In a section on Trump’s education, Mary Trump describes how he paid someone else to take his SAT tests for him.
“Donald, who never lacked for funds, paid his buddy well,” she writes, of “Joe Shapiro, a smart kid with a reputation for being a good test taker”.
The scheme included Trump’s brother putting in a word at the Wharton Business School, at the University of Pennsylvania. Mary Trump writes that it “may not even have been necessary”, as “in those days, Penn was much less selective than it is now.”
Other than Maryanne Trump Barry, the judge, Donald Trump’s surviving siblings are Robert Trump, a businessman, and Elizabeth Trump Grau, a retired banker.
Robert Trump has sued Mary Trump in New York, claiming a non-disclosure agreement signed in 2001 over Fred Trump Sr’s will precludes publication. The president has said he thinks the NDA, which includes Maryanne Trump Barry, means the book cannot come out. Mary Trump has argued in appeal filings that the NDA was based on fraudulent financial information. A hearing was scheduled for Friday.
Simon & Schuster was dropped from the suit and subsequently brought publication forward by two weeks.
Arguing on first amendment grounds for the freedom of speech, lawyers for Mary Trump have pointed to how the president has “contributed to his and his family’s notoriety in a variety of ways, including as the author of nearly 20 books on topics including his family, his wealth, his businesses and his own life.”
Mary Trump details how she was contracted to ghostwrite one of those books, The Art of the Comeback.
“A few weeks after Donald hired me,” she writes, detailing an experience familiar to many of the president’s business partners and contractors, “I still hadn’t gotten paid.”
Trump’s notorious treatment of women is also discussed. Mary Trump says that when her uncle provided material, it was “an aggrieved compendium of women” – Madonna and the ice skater Katarina Witt among them – “he had expected to date but who, having refused him, were suddenly the worst, ugliest and fattest slobs he’d ever met.”
“I stopped asking him for an interview,” she writes, adding that on a visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to work on the book, she was wearing a bathing suit when Trump looked at his niece and said: “Holy shit, Mary. You’re stacked.”
Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct and assault by more than 20 women. He denies all such claims.
Trump fired his niece from the project. Characteristically, Mary Trump writes, he had someone else tell her.
Mary Trump has expressed opposition to her uncle on social media. In her book, she writes of turning down an invitation to his 2016 election night party, because “I wouldn’t be able to contain my euphoria when [Hillary] Clinton’s victory was announced, and I didn’t want to be rude.”
Of the day after Trump’s victory, she writes, “I was wandering around my house, as traumatized as many other people but in a more personal way: it felt as though 62,979,636 voters had chosen to turn this country into a macro version of my malignantly dysfunctional family.”
Like a White House memoir by the former national security adviser John Bolton, also published by Simon & Schuster, Mary Trump’s book is now in the public realm.
In the words of a federal judge in Washington who declined to block Bolton’s book, “the horse is out of the barn”.


theguardian--2020-07-07--Fauci: US is ‘still knee-deep in first wave’ of pandemic as it passes 130,000 deaths

The United States is “ still knee-deep in the first wave ” of the coronavirus pandemic , one of the country ’ s top public health experts has warned , as the country surpassed 130,000 Covid-19 deaths and new polling indicates Donald Trump ’ s approval rating over his handling of the crisis has remained low .
Dr Anthony Fauci , the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , said on Monday that America ’ s grasp of the pandemic was “ really not good ” and urged further action as new cases of the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about 50,000 a day across the country .
More than 131,200 have died in the US as of Tuesday , according to Johns Hopkins figures .
“ We are still knee-deep in the first wave of this .
And I would say , this would not be considered a wave .
It was a surge , or a resurgence of infections superimposed upon a baseline , ” Fauci said during an interview on Facebook Live .
Fauci ’ s stark warnings come as the White House continues to falter in its messaging and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health expert , a leading physician on Trump ’ s coronavirus taskforce , cautioned that the surge was linked to certain cities and states that had reopened too quickly .
“ A series of circumstances associated with various states and cities trying to open up in the sense of getting back to some form of normality has led to a situation where we now have record-breaking cases , ” Fauci said .
Despite the surge in cases , Trump ’ s taskforce has been largely absent from public discussion in recent weeks .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to sparse updates as the president seeks to downplay the crisis during the presidential election campaign season .
And on Tuesday the Trump administration officially withdrew from the World Health Organization ( WHO ) , a move that has been widely condemned .
Polling on Tuesday indicated that Trump ’ s haphazard response to the pandemic has seen a continued decline in his approval ratings .
An NBC news poll suggested a 55 % disapproval rating , which compared with a 60 % approval rating for state governors ’ handling of the crisis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saying they trusted their governor over the president when it came to reopening businesses in their region .
In recent days Trump has sought to downplay the severity of the virus , using a Fourth of July address over the weekend to falsely declare that 99 % of Covid-19 cases are “ totally harmless ” .
Despite this , the president has come under increased pressure to issue a national mandate on wearing face masks in public , with even Republican lawmakers urging their use .
The White House has shown little consistency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to issue any order in the immediate future .
On Monday , Trump ’ s chief of staff , Mark Meadows , told Fox News : “ When we look at masks and the wearing of masks , that ’ s done on a location basis when you can ’ t have social distancing .
Certainly a national mandate is not in order.
” On Tuesday morning Trump ’ s trade adviser , Peter Navarro , continued to push for use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19 , suggesting he would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ symptoms .
Hydroxychloroquine ’ s effectiveness in treating coronavirus is unproven and the drug has been declared unsafe for use outside of a hospital setting by the US Food and Drug Administration [ FDA ] .
Trump is due to hold a rally in the swing state of New Hampshire on Saturday .
Although attendees will be provided with face masks they will not be required to wear them .
At a self-described “ comeback ” rally in Tulsa , Oklahoma , last month masks were also provided to the 6,000 attendees but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ indoor event held in a state with surging coronavirus cases .
The Republican party also plans to hold its convention in the city of Jacksonville , Florida , on 25 August , despite a major surge in coronavirus cases in the state , along with other sunbelt states such as Arizona , California and Texas .
On Monday , Chuck Grassley , the 86-year-old Republican senator from Iowa announced he would not be attending the event , which he has been present for every year since 1980 .
“ I ’ m not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ m not going to go because of the virus situation , ” Grassley said during a conference call with reporters .
He said moving the convention was probably the right thing to do since North Carolina officials didn ’ t feel it was safe to have a large gathering .
“ If you want to have a convention , and I think we should have a convention , I think you should do whatever you can to make it as safe as possible , so that would be with face masks and social @ @ @ @ @ @

The United States is “still knee-deep in the first wave” of the coronavirus pandemic, one of the country’s top public health experts has warned, as the country surpassed 130,000 Covid-19 deaths and new polling indicates Donald Trump’s approval rating over his handling of the crisis has remained low.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Monday that America’s grasp of the pandemic was “really not good” and urged further action as new cases of the virus continue to surge to record highs of about 50,000 a day across the country. More than 131,200 have died in the US as of Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins figures.
“We are still knee-deep in the first wave of this. And I would say, this would not be considered a wave. It was a surge, or a resurgence of infections superimposed upon a baseline,” Fauci said during an interview on Facebook Live.
Fauci’s stark warnings come as the White House continues to falter in its messaging and response to the pandemic. The public health expert, a leading physician on Trump’s coronavirus taskforce, cautioned that the surge was linked to certain cities and states that had reopened too quickly.
“A series of circumstances associated with various states and cities trying to open up in the sense of getting back to some form of normality has led to a situation where we now have record-breaking cases,” Fauci said.
Despite the surge in cases, Trump’s taskforce has been largely absent from public discussion in recent weeks. Once daily press briefings have been curtailed to sparse updates as the president seeks to downplay the crisis during the presidential election campaign season. And on Tuesday the Trump administration officially withdrew from the World Health Organization (WHO), a move that has been widely condemned.
Polling on Tuesday indicated that Trump’s haphazard response to the pandemic has seen a continued decline in his approval ratings. An NBC news poll suggested a 55% disapproval rating, which compared with a 60% approval rating for state governors’ handling of the crisis, with seven out of 10 respondents saying they trusted their governor over the president when it came to reopening businesses in their region.
In recent days Trump has sought to downplay the severity of the virus, using a Fourth of July address over the weekend to falsely declare that 99% of Covid-19 cases are “totally harmless”. Despite this, the president has come under increased pressure to issue a national mandate on wearing face masks in public, with even Republican lawmakers urging their use.
A medical worker at a busy testing sight in Houston, Texas, on 7 July. Photograph: Callaghan O’Hare/Reuters
The White House has shown little consistency on the issue, and appears unlikely to issue any order in the immediate future. On Monday, Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, told Fox News: “When we look at masks and the wearing of masks, that’s done on a location basis when you can’t have social distancing. Certainly a national mandate is not in order.”
On Tuesday morning Trump’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, continued to push for use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19, suggesting he would take the drug himself if he displayed symptoms. Hydroxychloroquine’s effectiveness in treating coronavirus is unproven and the drug has been declared unsafe for use outside of a hospital setting by the US Food and Drug Administration [FDA].
Trump is due to hold a rally in the swing state of New Hampshire on Saturday. Although attendees will be provided with face masks they will not be required to wear them. At a self-described “comeback” rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last month masks were also provided to the 6,000 attendees but only a handful wore them during the indoor event held in a state with surging coronavirus cases.
The Republican party also plans to hold its convention in the city of Jacksonville, Florida, on 25 August, despite a major surge in coronavirus cases in the state, along with other sunbelt states such as Arizona, California and Texas. On Monday, Chuck Grassley, the 86-year-old Republican senator from Iowa announced he would not be attending the event, which he has been present for every year since 1980.
“I’m not going to go. And I’m not going to go because of the virus situation,” Grassley said during a conference call with reporters.
He said moving the convention was probably the right thing to do since North Carolina officials didn’t feel it was safe to have a large gathering.
“If you want to have a convention, and I think we should have a convention, I think you should do whatever you can to make it as safe as possible, so that would be with face masks and social distancing,” Grassley said.


theguardian--2020-07-07--'It's a deliberate strategy': Trump uses civil war as culture war in bid to beat Biden

Two miles from the White House is a small gun .
The .44-calibre derringer pistol is displayed in a museum beneath Ford ’ s Theatre in Washington .
It was fired by John Wilkes Booth , a white supremacist and sympathiser of the slave-owning Confederacy , when he assassinated Abraham Lincoln five days after the end of the American civil war .
Booth could never have guessed that , a century and a half later , the lost cause would find a new flag-bearer in the White House – nor that it would be in the form of Donald Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being on the winning side .
As a surge of protests against racial injustice in recent weeks toppled Confederate statues and demanded the renaming of military bases , the US president dug in for the status quo .
And on Monday he went further by explicitly criticising Nascar , the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing , for banning the stars and bars flag of the slave-owning Confederacy .
On one level , it may seem bizarre .
On another , it makes perfect sense ahead of November ’ s election against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ counts Gone With the Wind among his favourite films , is repurposing the civil war as a culture war against an enemy within .
“ There ’ s a reason why he says what he says the way he says it , because it still has resonance , ” Michael Steele , a former Republican National Committee chairman , told the MSNBC network on Monday .
“ It still has appeal to a significant number of white Americans in cities , in suburbs , in rural parts of our country .
So this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effort to pull out that vote that Joe Biden is going to need versus what a Trump is going to need.
” On the eve of independence day , Trump staged a jamboree at Mount Rushmore , which depicts images of presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson , both of whom owned slaves , as well as Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt .
He railed against “ far-left fascism ” that he claimed wants to desecrate such monuments , earning cheers from an overwhelmingly white crowd in the Black Hills of South Dakota Steele @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that this is going to be a big win for Joe , or a cakewalk in any way , because the president knows what he ’ s doing .
He does what he does and says when he says the way he does it for a reason , because he knows at his core there ’ s appeal .
“ Look at the folks who showed up at Mount Rushmore , putting their own health in jeopardy .
There is a resonance and that resonance goes to places beyond just the Trump vote.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and racial divisions but has now dispensed with the dog whistle in favour of a brass band against what he calls “ the radical left , the Marxists , the anarchists , the agitators , the looters , and people who , in many instances , have absolutely no clue what they are doing ” .
In the Nascar tweet , he claimed that Bubba Wallace , the sport ’ s only top-level African American driver , should apologise after a “ hoax ” noose was found in his garage ( it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the noose ) .
Later on Monday , Trump took a Twitter swipe at the Washington Redskins football team and Cleveland Indians baseball teams for being “ politically correct ” – and by extension weak – by considering name changes .
To some , these appear to be desperate measures .
After presiding over more than 130,000 deaths from the coronavirus and tens of millions of job losses , the president trails Biden by double digits and needs distractions .
But ahead of the midterm elections in 2018 he sought to whip up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immigrants , only for Republicans to be crushed in the House of Representatives .
So history and logic suggest that going after a shrinking base ever more zealously is a one-way ticket to landslide defeat in a diversifying nation where surveys show broad support for Black Lives Matter protests .
John Zogby , a pollster and author , said : “ I believe it is a deliberate election strategy , albeit a very strange one .
I do recall feeling that the things that he said coming down the escalator five years ago @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , although he had the good fortune to run against someone [ Hillary Clinton ] equally disliked and distrusted back then .
“ He ’ s clearly carving out for himself a very narrow position , one could say the base of his base , and the only way that it really could work in electoral politics is for a complete and total Biden collapse .
The other part of Trump ’ s strategy , of course , is to enable that collapse – Sleepy Joe , Corrupt Joe – and then a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and makes an egregious error .
But by any standard , this is very strange as a strategy.
” It is a huge gamble that keeps Republicans up at night , but Trump may simply be following his own instincts : even detractors were forced to admit that a certain intelligence and genius for publicity got the better of both party establishments in 2016 .
Trump ’ s thinking , as ever , is also shaped by the conservative Fox News .
“ If you want to understand the rhetorical roots of Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rushmore , go back and watch Tucker Carlson ’ s monologues for the past six weeks , ” wrote the Axios website , laying out example after example of how Trump ’ s remarks echoed those of the popular host .
But the comments about Nascar and the Confederate flag were too much even for close Republican allies from states that were in the Confederacy .
Senator Lindsey Graham told CNN : “ I ’ ve lived in South Carolina all my life and if you ’ re in business , the Confederate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grow your business.
” Antjuan Seawright , a Democratic strategist from the same state , said : “ I think it is without any doubt in my mind a laser-focused strategy by Trump and his political affiliates to do this , and he will find some success with a certain segment of voters in this country , because those are the same people who supported him in 2016 and some of that support continues to follow him .
“ So he indeed tickles the ear and flutters the heart of some with that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ messaging .
However , I do believe in my heart that there are people who have come to the reality that this is not who we are as Americans and this country can not go forward in the direction of progress with the leader of the free world behaving like that .
”

Two miles from the White House is a small gun. The .44-calibre derringer pistol is displayed in a museum beneath Ford’s Theatre in Washington. It was fired by John Wilkes Booth, a white supremacist and sympathiser of the slave-owning Confederacy, when he assassinated Abraham Lincoln five days after the end of the American civil war.
Booth could never have guessed that, a century and a half later, the lost cause would find a new flag-bearer in the White House – nor that it would be in the form of Donald Trump, a New York businessman obsessed with being on the winning side.
As a surge of protests against racial injustice in recent weeks toppled Confederate statues and demanded the renaming of military bases, the US president dug in for the status quo. And on Monday he went further by explicitly criticising Nascar, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, for banning the stars and bars flag of the slave-owning Confederacy.
On one level, it may seem bizarre. On another, it makes perfect sense ahead of November’s election against Joe Biden. The president, who counts Gone With the Wind among his favourite films, is repurposing the civil war as a culture war against an enemy within.
“There’s a reason why he says what he says the way he says it, because it still has resonance,” Michael Steele, a former Republican National Committee chairman, told the MSNBC network on Monday. “It still has appeal to a significant number of white Americans in cities, in suburbs, in rural parts of our country. So this is going to require a lot more effort to pull out that vote that Joe Biden is going to need versus what a Trump is going to need.”
On the eve of independence day, Trump staged a jamboree at Mount Rushmore, which depicts images of presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, both of whom owned slaves, as well as Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. He railed against “far-left fascism” that he claimed wants to desecrate such monuments, earning cheers from an overwhelmingly white crowd in the Black Hills of South Dakota
Steele added: “I’m sceptical that this is going to be a big win for Joe, or a cakewalk in any way, because the president knows what he’s doing. He does what he does and says when he says the way he does it for a reason, because he knows at his core there’s appeal.
“Look at the folks who showed up at Mount Rushmore, putting their own health in jeopardy. There is a resonance and that resonance goes to places beyond just the Trump vote.”
Trump spent decades stoking culture wars and racial divisions but has now dispensed with the dog whistle in favour of a brass band against what he calls “the radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters, and people who, in many instances, have absolutely no clue what they are doing”.
In the Nascar tweet, he claimed that Bubba Wallace, the sport’s only top-level African American driver, should apologise after a “hoax” noose was found in his garage (it was Nascar, not Wallace, that reported the noose). Later on Monday, Trump took a Twitter swipe at the Washington Redskins football team and Cleveland Indians baseball teams for being “politically correct” – and by extension weak – by considering name changes.
To some, these appear to be desperate measures. After presiding over more than 130,000 deaths from the coronavirus and tens of millions of job losses, the president trails Biden by double digits and needs distractions.
But ahead of the midterm elections in 2018 he sought to whip up fears of “caravans” of illegal immigrants, only for Republicans to be crushed in the House of Representatives. So history and logic suggest that going after a shrinking base ever more zealously is a one-way ticket to landslide defeat in a diversifying nation where surveys show broad support for Black Lives Matter protests.
John Zogby, a pollster and author, said: “I believe it is a deliberate election strategy, albeit a very strange one. I do recall feeling that the things that he said coming down the escalator five years ago in New York were also very strange, although he had the good fortune to run against someone [Hillary Clinton] equally disliked and distrusted back then.
“He’s clearly carving out for himself a very narrow position, one could say the base of his base, and the only way that it really could work in electoral politics is for a complete and total Biden collapse. The other part of Trump’s strategy, of course, is to enable that collapse – Sleepy Joe, Corrupt Joe – and then a hope that Biden steps in it somehow and makes an egregious error. But by any standard, this is very strange as a strategy.”
It is a huge gamble that keeps Republicans up at night, but Trump may simply be following his own instincts: even detractors were forced to admit that a certain intelligence and genius for publicity got the better of both party establishments in 2016.
Trump’s thinking, as ever, is also shaped by the conservative Fox News. “If you want to understand the rhetorical roots of Trump’s Independence Day speech at Mount Rushmore, go back and watch Tucker Carlson’s monologues for the past six weeks,” wrote the Axios website, laying out example after example of how Trump’s remarks echoed those of the popular host.
But the comments about Nascar and the Confederate flag were too much even for close Republican allies from states that were in the Confederacy. Senator Lindsey Graham told CNN: “I’ve lived in South Carolina all my life and if you’re in business, the Confederate flag is not a good way to grow your business.”
Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist from the same state, said: “I think it is without any doubt in my mind a laser-focused strategy by Trump and his political affiliates to do this, and he will find some success with a certain segment of voters in this country, because those are the same people who supported him in 2016 and some of that support continues to follow him.
“So he indeed tickles the ear and flutters the heart of some with that type of rhetoric and that type of messaging. However, I do believe in my heart that there are people who have come to the reality that this is not who we are as Americans and this country cannot go forward in the direction of progress with the leader of the free world behaving like that.”


theguardian--2020-07-07--People with convictions cast ballots in New Jersey primary after regaining right to vote


theguardian--2020-07-07--Kanye West for president – bring it on! | Bidisha

I was wondering what more could happen to make 2020 even worse .
Alien invasion ?
Obliterating asteroid ?
Actual Armageddon ?
But musician and part-time ranter Kanye West was way ahead of me , as geniuses often are .
He ’ s running for president .
Never before has one man ’ s messiah complex been so very literal : he , like , officially wants to be the most important man in the world .
I am in favour .
Stay with me .
Kris Jenner would run the Yeezy Administration very competently from a big squashy chair @ @ @ @ @ @ @ relegated to a recording studio/sweat lodge at the end of the White House lawn .
Kim Kardashian West will finish her law degree , become chief justice and party with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , Nancy Pelosi , Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Kamala Harris , all of them wearing Skims shapewear .
Kourtney , Kylie , Kendall and the other one would take the major posts in the administration and there would be a huge creche staffed by their exes .
Oprah Winfrey would be secretary of state , Elon Musk would nab defence and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ submarines , rockets and missile launchers that don ’ t work .
Scott Disick would be the US ambassador and party across the globe .
I ’ m sure they could find a bedroom for Rob , the Krapster Kardashian .
And in the future , North West , Chelsea Clinton ’ s daughter , the Bush Laurens , Ivanka Trump ’ s kids and Sasha and Malia Obama will compete for another round of presidential nominations in a massive reality show sponsored by Facebook .
And look .
Given that Donald Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Joe Biden has denied one allegation of sexual assault and faced accusations of inappropriate touching of other women , there is one huge thing going for Kanye West : he has not been accused of sexual assault .

I was wondering what more could happen to make 2020 even worse. Alien invasion? Obliterating asteroid? Actual Armageddon? But musician and part-time ranter Kanye West was way ahead of me, as geniuses often are. He’s running for president. Never before has one man’s messiah complex been so very literal: he, like, officially wants to be the most important man in the world.
I am in favour. Stay with me. Kris Jenner would run the Yeezy Administration very competently from a big squashy chair in the Oval Office, with West relegated to a recording studio/sweat lodge at the end of the White House lawn. Kim Kardashian West will finish her law degree, become chief justice and party with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Nancy Pelosi, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Kamala Harris, all of them wearing Skims shapewear. Kourtney, Kylie, Kendall and the other one would take the major posts in the administration and there would be a huge creche staffed by their exes.
Oprah Winfrey would be secretary of state, Elon Musk would nab defence and develop a range of clunky tanks, submarines, rockets and missile launchers that don’t work. Scott Disick would be the US ambassador and party across the globe. I’m sure they could find a bedroom for Rob, the Krapster Kardashian. And in the future, North West, Chelsea Clinton’s daughter, the Bush Laurens, Ivanka Trump’s kids and Sasha and Malia Obama will compete for another round of presidential nominations in a massive reality show sponsored by Facebook.
And look. Given that Donald Trump has boasted about sexually assaulting women and Joe Biden has denied one allegation of sexual assault and faced accusations of inappropriate touching of other women, there is one huge thing going for Kanye West: he has not been accused of sexual assault.


theguardian--2020-07-08--'It's egregious': thousands of mail-in ballots could be rejected over small errors

The 64-year-old lives in McAllen , near the Texas-Mexico border , and she votes in the contests that a lot of people sit out – races for school board , water district and local runoffs .
In the more than 40 years she ’ s been registered to vote , Weisfeld only remembers missing one election .
But last year , her nearly-perfect record was broken .
Weisfeld voted by mail in a local race , signed her ballot and mailed it in well ahead of election day .
More than a month later , Weisfeld got a letter back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They examined the signature Weisfeld put on the ballot , compared it to one they had on file , and determined they weren ’ t from the same person .
By then , she had no recourse .
The election was over .
“ I was shocked , I was sad , I was upset .
I became mad and angry that my right to vote was taken away from me without any kind of consultation , ” said Weisfeld , now a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the way Texas rejects @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me , no one sent me a letter .
No one sent me an email to ask me : ‘ Is this your signature ?
’ ” As more Americans vote by mail this year amid the Covid-19 pandemic , there ’ s concern that thousands of eligible voters like Weisfeld could have their ballots rejected for small errors without a chance to fix them .
Mail-in ballots were more likely to be rejected in the 2016 election than ones cast in person .
In a typical election only a small percentage of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , about 1 % of those returned , were uncounted in the 2016 general election ) , according to data compiled by the US Election Assistance Commission ( EAC ) .
That could rise starkly during the presidential election when an unprecedented number of people are expected to vote by mail .
“ I have a hard time believing we aren ’ t going to see an increase in rejection rates across the country , ” said Daniel Smith , a professor at the University of Florida who has closely studied mail-in ballot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re having more people who are not familiar with the process , they ’ re not going to have people there to help and assist as you would in person.
” The vast majority of ballots that go uncounted are rejected for three reasons : the ballot arrives late , there is a problem with the signature on it , or there is no signature at all , according to EAC data .
Many states don ’ t count ballots if they arrive after election day , regardless of when they were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can also reject ballots if election officials determine the signature on the ballot doesn ’ t match one in a voter ’ s file – a decision that can be left to the whims of election officials with little guidance .
Four months ahead of the election , there are already warning signs .
In May , New Jersey officials rejected nearly 10 % of mail-in ballots during local elections held entirely by mail .
In Florida , just over 18,500 ballots were rejected during the state ’ s March primary .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were rejected because of signature matching issues .
In Kentucky ’ s June primary , more than 3,800 ballots were rejected in Jefferson county , home of Louisville , because they lacked a required signature .
There is also evidence that first-time , young and minority voters may be more likely to have their ballots rejected than other voters .
In Florida ’ s 2018 election , first-time voters accounted for 5 % of all vote by mail ballots cast in the state , but represented 12.7 % of the ballots that went @ @ @ @ @ @ @ March primary , minority voters were twice as likely to have their ballots rejected than their white counterparts , according to the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project .
“ There ’ s not sort of any individual reason at the theoretical level why these voters , these groups of voters , would be more likely to make a mistake , ” said Mara Suttman-Lea , a professor at Connecticut College , who has studied ballot rejections .
‘ Less trust in the system because of arbitrary rejections ’ Many states verify signatures on mail-in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ signature comparison is extremely difficult and some states do not provide uniform guidance to election officials on how to do it .
Allowing election officials with no expertise to reject ballots without first notifying voters is extremely risky , say forensic document examiners , who are trained in handwriting analysis .
No two signatures from the same person are exactly the same and it can take years of experience to determine whether a signature is a forgery .
There can be a number of factors that influence someone ’ s signature , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the position they ’ re sitting in , or their state of mind .
“ If you ’ re going to screen them and then don ’ t tell the voter , disenfranchise the voter without them knowing , that ’ s egregious , ” said Linton Mohammed , a forensic document examiner who has served as an expert witness in several lawsuits challenging signature matching practices ( he is also currently serving as an expert witness in the Texas case challenging signature practices ) .
“ It is subjective .
You @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In Texas , where Weisfeld ’ s ballot was rejected , the officials responsible for making signature comparisons are not handwriting experts and are appointed by political parties .
They can reject a ballot if a majority of the committee reviewing the signatures agrees they don ’ t match .
Neither the state nor the county is required to offer them training .
A state handbook acknowledges those responsible for comparing the signatures are not experts and merely instructs them to use their “ best judgment ” .
Election officials don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to verify their identity , and they don ’ t have to tell them the reason their ballot was rejected until 10 days after election day .
“ Especially now where we have situation where more people are going to use mail-in ballot because of the Covid pandemic , there will be less trust in the system because of these arbitrary rejections , ” said Hani Mirza , an attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project who is helping represent Weisfeld .
“ The best you can do is try to sign it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that , you have no real control .
It ’ s based on subjective control of other people.
” One of the easiest ways states can prevent this wrongful disenfranchisement is to give voters a chance to fix errors .
But less than 20 US states have such policies in place , according to the National Conference for State Legislatures .
States can also require uniform and robust training on comparing signatures – already the norm in some states like Colorado .
The state , which conducts its elections entirely by mail , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ballots in 2016 according to the EAC data .
Those fixes could have helped Maria Fallon Romo get her ballot counted in North Dakota ’ s 2018 general election .
Romo , 53 , has multiple sclerosis , a condition that can make it difficult to sign and hold things .
That year , she voted by mail for the election , but it wasn ’ t until two years later that she found out her ballot was rejected because officials determined the signature didn ’ t match the one on her mail-in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t mean to be dramatic or anything , but it was unbelievably unfair that my voice didn ’ t count , ” said Romo .
“ Clearly it was my signature .
I mean yes my signature does look a little different at times because of my numbness in my hands , the grip of the pen and my posture .
Everything comes into play , but not to the point where it ’ s just chicken scratch.
” Romo voted again by mail this year in her local election .
But before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ took a picture of her signature .
When she mailed back her ballot , she opened the picture on her phone so she could mimic it .
In June , a federal judge ordered North Dakota not to reject any ballots without contacting the voter first .
‘ It has motivated me to say it stops with me ’ Aside from signatures , there is concern that many Americans will be disenfranchised by state cutoffs requiring voters to return their ballots by election day .
While the election day cutoff may make it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it also means that a voter who puts their ballot in the mail a few days before election day might not have their vote counted if it isn ’ t delivered on time .
That ’ s what happened to Kirk Nielsen , a freelance journalist in Miami who mailed in his ballot eight days before election day in 2018 .
Florida requires mail-in ballots to arrive by 7pm on election night , but when Nielsen checked on the status of his ballot on election day , 6 November , he saw @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
When he filed a public records request , Nielsen learned his ballot didn ’ t arrive at the Miami-Dade supervisor of election office until 14 November .
It had taken more than two weeks for Nielsen ’ s ballot to travel 20 minutes across town .
Nielsen ’ s ballot was one of nearly 32,000 mail-in ballots rejected in the Florida ’ s general election that year , according to Smith ’ s research .
In the same election , Rick Scott won a US Senate seat by just over 10,000 votes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s race by just over 32,000 votes .
Just 14 states allow election officials to accept ballots postmarked on or before election day if they arrive in the days after , according to the Brennan Center for Justice ( a few additional states have accepted late arriving ballots for their primary elections ) .
During the primaries , many local election officials have been overwhelmed by a flood of absentee ballot requests and have struggled to get ballots to voters in time to return them by election day .
Democrats have filed a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to require officials to count ballots as long as they are postmarked by election day and received shortly after ( Nielsen is a plaintiff in one filed in Florida ) .
That small change that could make a huge difference .
In Wisconsin , where Democrats secured a court order requiring the state to accept ballots with an election day postmark , more than 79,000 ballots came in after election day for the state ’ s April election and were ultimately counted ( Trump won the state in 2016 by just under 23,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state law requires absentee ballots to arrive by 8pm on election night , tens of thousands of ballots arrived after election day during the state ’ s 2 June primary .
Many were only counted because of a one-time executive order issued by the governor on the eve of the election .
Trump ’ s 2016 margin of victory in the state was just over 44,000 votes .
Even in states that accept late arriving ballots , however , a new problem is emerging : some ballots are arriving without postmarks because of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kinds of mail .
There ’ s uncertainty over whether election officials can legally count these ballots , again leading to the possibility some voters could be disenfranchised through no fault of their own .
It ’ s been more than a year since her ballot was rejected , but Weisfeld , who loves to post pictures of her “ I voted ” sticker after an election , is still angry .
She ’ s continued her habit of voting in elections since then , but she ’ s still incredulous that her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chance to fix it .
“ It hasn ’ t stopped me .
It has motivated me to say it stops with me , ” she said .
“ What if someone else had gotten this letter , not me , and said ‘ oh why did I even bother ?
I ’ m not gon na participate anymore .
This doesn ’ t matter .
’ ”

Rosalie Weisfeld doesn’t skip elections – she just doesn’t.
The 64-year-old lives in McAllen, near the Texas-Mexico border, and she votes in the contests that a lot of people sit out – races for school board, water district and local runoffs. In the more than 40 years she’s been registered to vote, Weisfeld only remembers missing one election.
But last year, her nearly-perfect record was broken. Weisfeld voted by mail in a local race, signed her ballot and mailed it in well ahead of election day. More than a month later, Weisfeld got a letter back saying election officials had rejected her ballot. They examined the signature Weisfeld put on the ballot, compared it to one they had on file, and determined they weren’t from the same person. By then, she had no recourse. The election was over.
“I was shocked, I was sad, I was upset. I became mad and angry that my right to vote was taken away from me without any kind of consultation,” said Weisfeld, now a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the way Texas rejects absentee ballots. “No one called me, no one sent me a letter. No one sent me an email to ask me: ‘Is this your signature?’”
As more Americans vote by mail this year amid the Covid-19 pandemic, there’s concern that thousands of eligible voters like Weisfeld could have their ballots rejected for small errors without a chance to fix them. Mail-in ballots were more likely to be rejected in the 2016 election than ones cast in person. In a typical election only a small percentage of mail-in ballots get rejected (318,728 ballots, about 1% of those returned, were uncounted in the 2016 general election), according to data compiled by the US Election Assistance Commission (EAC). That could rise starkly during the presidential election when an unprecedented number of people are expected to vote by mail.
Election officials examined the signature of Rosalie Weisfeld put on the ballot, compared it to one they had on file, and determined they weren’t from the same person. Photograph: Guardian
“I have a hard time believing we aren’t going to see an increase in rejection rates across the country,” said Daniel Smith, a professor at the University of Florida who has closely studied mail-in ballot rejections. “The odds are you’re having more people who are not familiar with the process, they’re not going to have people there to help and assist as you would in person.”
The vast majority of ballots that go uncounted are rejected for three reasons: the ballot arrives late, there is a problem with the signature on it, or there is no signature at all, according to EAC data. Many states don’t count ballots if they arrive after election day, regardless of when they were put in the mail. But they can also reject ballots if election officials determine the signature on the ballot doesn’t match one in a voter’s file – a decision that can be left to the whims of election officials with little guidance.
Four months ahead of the election, there are already warning signs. In May, New Jersey officials rejected nearly 10% of mail-in ballots during local elections held entirely by mail. In Florida, just over 18,500 ballots were rejected during the state’s March primary. In Nevada, more than 6,700 ballots, were rejected because of signature matching issues. In Kentucky’s June primary, more than 3,800 ballots were rejected in Jefferson county, home of Louisville, because they lacked a required signature.
There is also evidence that first-time, young and minority voters may be more likely to have their ballots rejected than other voters. In Florida’s 2018 election, first-time voters accounted for 5% of all vote by mail ballots cast in the state, but represented 12.7% of the ballots that went uncounted. In the state’s March primary, minority voters were twice as likely to have their ballots rejected than their white counterparts, according to the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project.
“There’s not sort of any individual reason at the theoretical level why these voters, these groups of voters, would be more likely to make a mistake,” said Mara Suttmann-Lea, a professor at Connecticut College, who has studied ballot rejections.
‘Less trust in the system because of arbitrary rejections’
Many states verify signatures on mail-in ballots as an anti-fraud measure, but signature comparison is extremely difficult and some states do not provide uniform guidance to election officials on how to do it.
Allowing election officials with no expertise to reject ballots without first notifying voters is extremely risky, say forensic document examiners, who are trained in handwriting analysis. No two signatures from the same person are exactly the same and it can take years of experience to determine whether a signature is a forgery. There can be a number of factors that influence someone’s signature, including the surface they’re writing on, the position they’re sitting in, or their state of mind.
“If you’re going to screen them and then don’t tell the voter, disenfranchise the voter without them knowing, that’s egregious,” said Linton Mohammed, a forensic document examiner who has served as an expert witness in several lawsuits challenging signature matching practices (he is also currently serving as an expert witness in the Texas case challenging signature practices). “It is subjective. You have to be really properly trained.”
In Texas, where Weisfeld’s ballot was rejected, the officials responsible for making signature comparisons are not handwriting experts and are appointed by political parties. They can reject a ballot if a majority of the committee reviewing the signatures agrees they don’t match. Neither the state nor the county is required to offer them training. A state handbook acknowledges those responsible for comparing the signatures are not experts and merely instructs them to use their “best judgment”. Election officials don’t even have to give voters a chance to verify their identity, and they don’t have to tell them the reason their ballot was rejected until 10 days after election day.
“Especially now where we have situation where more people are going to use mail-in ballot because of the Covid pandemic, there will be less trust in the system because of these arbitrary rejections,” said Hani Mirza, an attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project who is helping represent Weisfeld. “The best you can do is try to sign it exactly the same way. But even that, you have no real control. It’s based on subjective control of other people.”
I don’t mean to be dramatic or anything, but it was unbelievably unfair that my voice didn’t count Maria Fallon Romo
One of the easiest ways states can prevent this wrongful disenfranchisement is to give voters a chance to fix errors . But less than 20 US states have such policies in place, according to the National Conference for State Legislatures. States can also require uniform and robust training on comparing signatures – already the norm in some states like Colorado. The state, which conducts its elections entirely by mail, rejected less than 1% of mail-in ballots in 2016 according to the EAC data.
Those fixes could have helped Maria Fallon Romo get her ballot counted in North Dakota’s 2018 general election. Romo, 53, has multiple sclerosis, a condition that can make it difficult to sign and hold things. That year, she voted by mail for the election, but it wasn’t until two years later that she found out her ballot was rejected because officials determined the signature didn’t match the one on her mail-in ballot application.
“I don’t mean to be dramatic or anything, but it was unbelievably unfair that my voice didn’t count,” said Romo. “Clearly it was my signature. I mean yes my signature does look a little different at times because of my numbness in my hands, the grip of the pen and my posture. Everything comes into play, but not to the point where it’s just chicken scratch.”
Romo voted again by mail this year in her local election. But before she sent in her application, she took a picture of her signature. When she mailed back her ballot, she opened the picture on her phone so she could mimic it.
In June, a federal judge ordered North Dakota not to reject any ballots without contacting the voter first.
‘It has motivated me to say it stops with me’
Aside from signatures, there is concern that many Americans will be disenfranchised by state cutoffs requiring voters to return their ballots by election day. While the election day cutoff may make it easier for election officials to process votes, it also means that a voter who puts their ballot in the mail a few days before election day might not have their vote counted if it isn’t delivered on time.
That’s what happened to Kirk Nielsen, a freelance journalist in Miami who mailed in his ballot eight days before election day in 2018. Florida requires mail-in ballots to arrive by 7pm on election night, but when Nielsen checked on the status of his ballot on election day, 6 November, he saw that it still hadn’t arrived. When he filed a public records request, Nielsen learned his ballot didn’t arrive at the Miami-Dade supervisor of election office until 14 November. It had taken more than two weeks for Nielsen’s ballot to travel 20 minutes across town.
Nielsen’s ballot was one of nearly 32,000 mail-in ballots rejected in the Florida’s general election that year, according to Smith’s research. In the same election, Rick Scott won a US Senate seat by just over 10,000 votes and Ron DeSantis won the governor’s race by just over 32,000 votes.
Just 14 states allow election officials to accept ballots postmarked on or before election day if they arrive in the days after
Just 14 states allow election officials to accept ballots postmarked on or before election day if they arrive in the days after, according to the Brennan Center for Justice (a few additional states have accepted late arriving ballots for their primary elections). During the primaries, many local election officials have been overwhelmed by a flood of absentee ballot requests and have struggled to get ballots to voters in time to return them by election day.
Democrats have filed a slew of lawsuits across the country seeking to require officials to count ballots as long as they are postmarked by election day and received shortly after (Nielsen is a plaintiff in one filed in Florida).
That small change that could make a huge difference. In Wisconsin, where Democrats secured a court order requiring the state to accept ballots with an election day postmark, more than 79,000 ballots came in after election day for the state’s April election and were ultimately counted (Trump won the state in 2016 by just under 23,000 votes).
In Pennsylvania, where state law requires absentee ballots to arrive by 8pm on election night, tens of thousands of ballots arrived after election day during the state’s 2 June primary. Many were only counted because of a one-time executive order issued by the governor on the eve of the election. Trump’s 2016 margin of victory in the state was just over 44,000 votes.
Even in states that accept late arriving ballots, however, a new problem is emerging: some ballots are arriving without postmarks because of the way the post office treats different kinds of mail. There’s uncertainty over whether election officials can legally count these ballots, again leading to the possibility some voters could be disenfranchised through no fault of their own.
It’s been more than a year since her ballot was rejected, but Weisfeld, who loves to post pictures of her “I voted” sticker after an election, is still angry. She’s continued her habit of voting in elections since then, but she’s still incredulous that her ballot was rejected before she had a chance to fix it.
“It hasn’t stopped me. It has motivated me to say it stops with me,” she said. “What if someone else had gotten this letter, not me, and said ‘oh why did I even bother? I’m not gonna participate anymore. This doesn’t matter.’”