theguardian--2020-08-03--TikTok sale: Trump approves Microsoft’s plan but says US should get a cut of any deal

Donald Trump on Monday said Microsoft can buy the Chinese-owned video app TikTok , but said the purchase would have to be completed by 15 September .
Trump also said the US Treasury should receive payment as a portion of any deal between the social media platform and a US company .
The president didn ’ t explain how that process would work .
On Sunday the US secretary of state , Mike Pompeo , had told Fox News that Trump was likely to take unspecified action against TikTok in the coming days .
Later in the day , Microsoft @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CEO , Satya Nadella , and Trump , it would move quickly on acquisition talks with TikTok ’ s parent company , ByteDance , for its US , Canada , Australia and New Zealand operations , aiming to complete the talks no later than 15 September .
It pledged to ensure that all private data of American users was transferred to , and remained in , the US .
On Monday China ’ s foreign ministry said it strongly opposed any US actions against Chinese software companies , and it hoped the US @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Pompeo told Fox that countless Chinese software companies were “ feeding data directly to the Chinese Communist party , their national security apparatus ” .
“ Could be their facial recognition patterns .
It could be information about their residence , their phone numbers , their friends , who they ’ re connected to .
Those are the issues that President Trump has made clear we ’ re going to take care of , ” he said .
TikTok ’ s US user data is stored in the US , with strict @ @ @ @ @ @ @ biggest investors come from the US , the company said on Sunday .
A TikTok spokesperson said : “ We are committed to protecting our users ’ privacy and safety as we continue working to bring joy to families and meaningful careers to those who create on our platform.
” Trump had said on Friday that he would soon ban TikTok in the US .
A federal committee is reviewing whether that is possible .
The treasury secretary , Steven Mnuchin , said its members agreed that TikTok could not remain in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ risks sending back information on 100 million Americans ” .
“ We all agree there has to be a change … everybody agrees it can ’ t exist as it does , ” Mnuchin said Sunday on ABC ’ s This Week .
The Republican senator Lindsey Graham tweeted that Trump ’ s new stance was “ a win-win in the making ” .
Chinese state media said banning Tik Tok would be “ a barbaric act of a rogue government ” , and rejected the US ’ s claims about national @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Sunday said a Microsoft acquisition was “ the hunting and looting of TikTok by the US government in conjunction with US high-tech companies ” .
The editorial also suggested any ban was politically motivated because many teens – who are the main users of TikTok – do not like Trump .
As speculation grew over a ban or sale of the social media ’ s US business , TikTok posted a video on Saturday saying : “ We ’ re not planning on going anywhere.
” On Monday morning ByteDance said it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ globalisation ” despite being “ faced with all kinds of complex and unimaginable difficulties ” .
TikTok ’ s catchy videos and ease of use has made it popular , and it says it has tens of millions of users in the US and hundreds of millions globally .
ByteDance launched TikTok in 2017 .
It bought Musical.ly , a video service popular with teens in the US and Europe , and combined the two .
It has a similar service , Douyin , for users in China .
But TikTok ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ potential for sharing user data with Chinese officials as well as censorship of videos critical of the Chinese government .
TikTok says it does not censor videos and it would not give the Chinese government access to US user data .
“ The president , when he makes his decision , will make sure that everything we have done drives us as close to zero risk for the American people , ” Pompeo said .
“ That ’ s the mission set that he laid out for all of us when we began @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We ’ re closing in on a solution .
And I think you will see the president ’ s announcement shortly.
” The debate over TikTok has parallels with a broader US security crackdown on Chinese companies , including telecom providers Huawei and ZTE .
The Trump administration has ordered that the US stop buying equipment from those providers to be used in US networks .
Trump has also tried to steer allies away from Huawei over concerns that the Chinese government has access to its data , which Huawei denies .
@ @ @ @ @ @


theguardian--2020-08-03--Facebook refuses to remove doctored Nancy Pelosi video

Factcheckers monitoring content on Facebook have put a “ partly false ” label on the latest video that it said was manipulated to make it appear as if the House speaker , Nancy Pelosi , was drunk or drugged , but by Monday the social media giant had refused to remove the video from its platform .
The video had been circulating on Facebook since Thursday and by Sunday night had been viewed more than 2m times , CNN reported .
Another false video of the leading Democratic politician in Washington went viral on Facebook in May 2019 .
Pelosi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not taking the content down , instead simply adding a factchecking label to it .
And instead of removing the new video , Facebook has given it a warning label and it will get less promotion by its algorithm , but that still allows people to view it on the platform .
Facebook has said it will also send an alert to those who have already shared the video , flagging the warning label on its accuracy .
The new video was shared on Facebook on Saturday , accompanied by a caption reading @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is blowed out of her mind , I bet this gets took down !
” The 55-second clip has been taken from a press conference in May when Pelosi responded to press questions about comments Donald Trump made about the MSNBC host Joe Scarborough , with whom he has had a long-running spat .
Scarborough is a strong critic of the president .
Lead Stories , a member of Facebook ’ s independent factchecking network , factchecked the post on Sunday , noting that the “ digitally slowed down to make it appear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The post now includes a “ partly false information ” message , which will significantly limit the video ’ s reach on the platform , according to Facebook policies .
Individuals who shared the video will also receive a notification .
“ The original video revealed [ Pelosi ] was speaking and acting normally , ” Lead Stories wrote in its assessment of the manipulated video .
A Facebook spokesperson told the Hill that the video did not meet the grounds for removal , based on company policies .
“ Following an incident @ @ @ @ @ @ @ video of Speaker Pelosi , we took a number of key steps , making it very clear to people on Facebook when a third-party factchecker determines content to be false and updating our policy to make explicit the kind of manipulated media we will remove , ” the spokesperson said .
“ And , as always , when a video is determined false , its distribution is dramatically reduced and people who see it , try to share it , or have already shared it , see warnings alerting them that it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Pelosi ’ s office did not immediately return a request for comment from the Hill .
“ This is garbage Facebook , ” Christine Pelosi , the daughter of the congresswoman , said in a tweet .
“ You  @ ChanZuckerberg and  @ sherylsandberg are profiting off fake and vile attacks – and you need to stop .
Tell the truth : the video is completely false .
Pull it down !
”

Factcheckers monitoring content on Facebook have put a “partly false” label on the latest video that it said was manipulated to make it appear as if the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, was drunk or drugged, but by Monday the social media giant had refused to remove the video from its platform.
The video had been circulating on Facebook since Thursday and by Sunday night had been viewed more than 2m times, CNN reported.
Another false video of the leading Democratic politician in Washington went viral on Facebook in May 2019. Pelosi at the time vociferously criticized Facebook for not taking the content down, instead simply adding a factchecking label to it.
And instead of removing the new video, Facebook has given it a warning label and it will get less promotion by its algorithm, but that still allows people to view it on the platform. Facebook has said it will also send an alert to those who have already shared the video, flagging the warning label on its accuracy.
The new video was shared on Facebook on Saturday, accompanied by a caption reading: “This is unbelievable, she is blowed out of her mind, I bet this gets took down!”
The 55-second clip has been taken from a press conference in May when Pelosi responded to press questions about comments Donald Trump made about the MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, with whom he has had a long-running spat. Scarborough is a strong critic of the president.
Lead Stories, a member of Facebook’s independent factchecking network, factchecked the post on Sunday, noting that the “digitally slowed down to make it appear as if Pelosi was intoxicated”. The post now includes a “partly false information” message, which will significantly limit the video’s reach on the platform, according to Facebook policies. Individuals who shared the video will also receive a notification.
“The original video revealed [Pelosi] was speaking and acting normally,” Lead Stories wrote in its assessment of the manipulated video.
A Facebook spokesperson told the Hill that the video did not meet the grounds for removal, based on company policies.
“Following an incident over a year ago with a previous video of Speaker Pelosi, we took a number of key steps, making it very clear to people on Facebook when a third-party factchecker determines content to be false and updating our policy to make explicit the kind of manipulated media we will remove,” the spokesperson said.
“And, as always, when a video is determined false, its distribution is dramatically reduced and people who see it, try to share it, or have already shared it, see warnings alerting them that it’s false,” the spokesperson continued.
Pelosi’s office did not immediately return a request for comment from the Hill.
“This is garbage Facebook,” Christine Pelosi, the daughter of the congresswoman, said in a tweet. “You @ChanZuckerberg and @sherylsandberg are profiting off fake and vile attacks – and you need to stop. Tell the truth: the video is completely false. Pull it down!”


theguardian--2020-08-03--Trump calls Birx's dire warning on widespread coronavirus in the US 'pathetic'

Donald Trump publicly rebuked a second member of the White House coronavirus taskforce on Monday morning , calling Deborah Birx ’ s assessment of Covid-19 ’ s spread “ pathetic ” in a tweet .
Birx warned on Sunday that the coronavirus was entering a new phase in the US and infections were now “ extraordinarily widespread ” across the country , instead of clustering mainly in a clutch of states and big cities .
That same day , the House speaker , Nancy Pelosi , was critical of Birx in an interview with ABC ’ s This Week .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ largest number of cases at 4.6m , or one-quarter of the global total , and 154,361 deaths .
Black , Latino and Native communities are experiencing a disproportionate number of deaths , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
But Trump said on Monday morning that it wasn ’ t the dismal figures which prompted Birx ’ s assessment , but Pelosi ’ s criticism .
“ In order to counter Nancy , Deborah took the bait & hit us .
Pathetic !
” Trump tweeted .
Birx was the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be publicly criticized by the president in three days .
On Saturday , the president wrote “ wrong !
” in a tweet that included a video of Anthony Fauci talking about how the US has seen more cases than other countries because it only did a partial shutdown earlier in the year .
While Trump has been in an ongoing public back-and-forth with Fauci , this is the first time he has singled out Birx , who has worked especially closely with the president , for a public shaming .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was delivering an optimistic outlook to Trump on the path of the coronavirus infections “ curve ” , which did not reflect a worse situation on the ground .
Pelosi spoke badly of Birx behind closed doors on Capitol Hill last week , Politico reported .
Trump ’ s Monday criticism of Birx was part of a flurry of morning tweets , as the White House and Congress were under pressure to respond to the urgent economic situation facing tens of millions of American families .
Key issues facing lawmakers were the expiration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the same weekend 30 million Americans received their last unemployment checks to include a $ 600 supplement .
The federal unemployment aid expansion officially expired a week later .
Trump has said addressing these two issues is a priority , but Senate Republicans only unveiled their stimulus proposal on 27 July and its contents have caused infighting in the party .
The bill also lacked some proposals the White House wanted and is far from including items which Democrats say are essential to address the country ’ s economic and healthcare crises @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will resume talks aimed at hammering out a coronavirus relief bill on Monday afternoon after negotiations remained deadlocked .
The White House chief of staff , Mark Meadows , who is helping lead stimulus negotiations with Congress , said on CBS ’ s Face the Nation on Sunday that a deal was some way off .
On Saturday , he met the treasury secretary , Steven Mnuchin , Pelosi and the Senate minority leader , Chuck Schumer , to discuss the deal .
“ Yesterday was a step in the right direction .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ there will be a solution in the very near term.
” Trump is considering unilateral actions to address the expired relief programs , two anonymous sources told the Washington Post , but it is not clear what he can actually do because of limits on executive authority .
On Monday morning , Trump again lied that the US was doing better than other countries in its response to the virus .
“ Much of our Country is doing very well , ” Trump tweeted .
“ Open the Schools !
” The president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Potomac Falls , the 13th day he has spent at one of his golf courses in the past 37 days .
A protester outside dressed as the grim reaper held up a sign that read “ 152K ” to represent the number of Americans to die from coronavirus .
That same day , Birx , told CNN the US had entered a “ new phase ” of the pandemic and warned the situation they were seeing was different from March and April , when the outbreak was heading to its first peak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world hotspot at the time , New York City .
Birx also warned people in hard-hit areas should consider wearing a mask at home .
“ If you have an outbreak in your rural area or in your city , you need to really consider wearing a mask at home , assuming that you ’ re positive , if you have individuals in your household with co-morbidities , ” Birx said .
States which have seen a recent increase in cases are attempting to manage an influx of patients at hospitals – including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In California , military medics have been deployed to overwhelmed hospitals .
Cases have increased in the state steadily since mid-June and this weekend , the number passed 500,000 .
State and local officials also remain concerned about the shortage of testing supplies in the US .
This is of particular concern for schools and universities seeking to reopensoon , with the summer break ending .
On Friday , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report showing how coronavirus spread through a summer camp in Georgia in late June .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ days , at which point 76 % of 344 campers and staffers had tested positive for the virus .

Donald Trump publicly rebuked a second member of the White House coronavirus taskforce on Monday morning, calling Deborah Birx’s assessment of Covid-19’s spread “pathetic” in a tweet.
Birx warned on Sunday that the coronavirus was entering a new phase in the US and infections were now “extraordinarily widespread” across the country, instead of clustering mainly in a clutch of states and big cities.
That same day, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, was critical of Birx in an interview with ABC’s This Week.
The US has the world’s largest number of cases at 4.6m, or one-quarter of the global total, and 154,361 deaths. Black, Latino and Native communities are experiencing a disproportionate number of deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But Trump said on Monday morning that it wasn’t the dismal figures which prompted Birx’s assessment, but Pelosi’s criticism. “In order to counter Nancy, Deborah took the bait & hit us. Pathetic!” Trump tweeted.
This video has been removed. This could be because it launched early, our rights have expired, there was a legal issue, or for another reason. Nancy Pelosi says she doesn't have confidence in Dr Deborah Birx over coronavirus – video
Birx was the second senior coronavirus taskforce public health official to be publicly criticized by the president in three days. On Saturday, the president wrote “wrong!” in a tweet that included a video of Anthony Fauci talking about how the US has seen more cases than other countries because it only did a partial shutdown earlier in the year.
While Trump has been in an ongoing public back-and-forth with Fauci, this is the first time he has singled out Birx, who has worked especially closely with the president, for a public shaming.
The New York Times previously reported that Birx was delivering an optimistic outlook to Trump on the path of the coronavirus infections “curve”, which did not reflect a worse situation on the ground. Pelosi spoke badly of Birx behind closed doors on Capitol Hill last week, Politico reported.
Trump’s Monday criticism of Birx was part of a flurry of morning tweets, as the White House and Congress were under pressure to respond to the urgent economic situation facing tens of millions of American families.
Key issues facing lawmakers were the expiration of the eviction moratorium on 24 July, the same weekend 30 million Americans received their last unemployment checks to include a $600 supplement. The federal unemployment aid expansion officially expired a week later.
Trump has said addressing these two issues is a priority, but Senate Republicans only unveiled their stimulus proposal on 27 July and its contents have caused infighting in the party. The bill also lacked some proposals the White House wanted and is far from including items which Democrats say are essential to address the country’s economic and healthcare crises.
05:28 From miracle cures to slowing testing: how Trump has defied science on coronavirus – video explainer
Congressional Democrats and Trump administration officials will resume talks aimed at hammering out a coronavirus relief bill on Monday afternoon after negotiations remained deadlocked.
The White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who is helping lead stimulus negotiations with Congress, said on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday that a deal was some way off. On Saturday, he met the treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, Pelosi and the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, to discuss the deal.
“Yesterday was a step in the right direction. But I’m not optimistic that there will be a solution in the very near term.”
Trump is considering unilateral actions to address the expired relief programs, two anonymous sources told the Washington Post, but it is not clear what he can actually do because of limits on executive authority.
On Monday morning, Trump again lied that the US was doing better than other countries in its response to the virus.
With the exception of New York & a few other locations, we’ve done MUCH better than most other Countries in dealing with the China Virus. Many of these countries are now having a major second wave. The Fake News is working overtime to make the USA (& me) look as bad as possible! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 3, 2020
“Much of our Country is doing very well,” Trump tweeted. “Open the Schools!”
The president went golfing on Sunday at Trump National in Potomac Falls, the 13th day he has spent at one of his golf courses in the past 37 days. A protester outside dressed as the grim reaper held up a sign that read “152K” to represent the number of Americans to die from coronavirus.
That same day, Birx, told CNN the US had entered a “new phase” of the pandemic and warned the situation they were seeing was different from March and April, when the outbreak was heading to its first peak in the US, led by the world hotspot at the time, New York City.
Birx also warned people in hard-hit areas should consider wearing a mask at home. “If you have an outbreak in your rural area or in your city, you need to really consider wearing a mask at home, assuming that you’re positive, if you have individuals in your household with co-morbidities,” Birx said.
States which have seen a recent increase in cases are attempting to manage an influx of patients at hospitals – including those which are underresourced or understaffed.
In California, military medics have been deployed to overwhelmed hospitals. Cases have increased in the state steadily since mid-June and this weekend, the number passed 500,000.
State and local officials also remain concerned about the shortage of testing supplies in the US.
This is of particular concern for schools and universities seeking to reopensoon, with the summer break ending.
On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report showing how coronavirus spread through a summer camp in Georgia in late June. The camp was forced to close within days, at which point 76% of 344 campers and staffers had tested positive for the virus.


theguardian--2020-08-03--Biden has shown that bold climate action is now common sense. Will UK politicians learn? | Matthew P

Biden has shown that bold climate action is now common sense. Will UK politicians learn? | Matthew Pennycook

Throughout the Democratic party presidential primary , candidate Joe Biden was variously chastised for his preference for incrementalism , for declining to fully endorse the Green New Deal , and for his perceived unwillingness to take on fossil fuel interests .
Last December , the Sunrise Movement , an influential youth-led activist group that backed Bernie Sanders , graded his primary-season climate plan an F- .
Yet even this group had to offer Biden cautious praise last month after he unveiled a plan to invest $ 2tn in clean energy , jobs and infrastructure in the four years of his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump in November ’ s election .
The chances of the plan making it through the US Congress without modification may be low but the boldness of the proposals it sets out is still instructive .
The Democratic nominee has committed to eliminating carbon emissions from the power sector of the world ’ s second-largest polluter within 15 years .
In the process , he intends to create millions of well-paying , unionised jobs making wind turbines , building sustainable homes and manufacturing electric vehicles ; to construct a new national high-speed rail @ @ @ @ @ @ @ large US city ; and to establish a civilian climate corps to plant trees and protect and restore vulnerable ecosystems .
And all of this while seeking to tackle racial and economic inequality by directing 40 % of the earmarked $ 2tn to those communities who are disproportionately impacted by pollution and climate breakdown .
That the former vice-president has chosen to put bold climate action at the heart of his presidential bid suggests not only an awareness that prioritising the issue is good politics , but also that the need to rebuild @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opportunity that can and must be seized for progressive ends .
As he argued when launching his plan : “ We can live up to our responsibilities , meet the challenges of a world at risk of climate catastrophe , build more climate-resilient communities , put millions of skilled workers on the job and make life markedly better and safer for the American people all at once.
” The plan is also a clear indication that a man viewed by many as the consummate centrist Democrat now accepts that averting runaway global heating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economy rather than mere tinkering around the edges , and that both the speed and scale of climate action matter .
By comparison , the climate proposals that formed part of Hillary Clinton ’ s 2016 presidential campaign , considered “ ambitious ” just four years ago , amounted to just $ 90bn of investment – about a 20th of what Biden is now promising .
That his commitment to a $ 2tn programme – approximately one-eighth of US federal spending – delivered over the course of a single presidential term , is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the climate crisis illustrates just how far the centre ground has shifted on this issue .
In the emphasis it places on the opportunities presented by the green transition , Biden ’ s plan is also rooted in a recognition that forging a broad consensus for transformative change requires climate action to be as much about retaining and creating decent jobs and addressing economic , racial , generational and regional inequalities as it is about cuts to greenhouse gas emissions .
Biden does not shy away from the hard truth that climate breakdown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but his agenda remains relentlessly optimistic , clothed in the language of the labour movement and progressive politics : innovation , technological progress , job creation and the pursuit of equality .
Biden ’ s plan – and the fact it has won praise from environmentalist groups and trade unions alike – has not come from nowhere .
It is the product of years of painstaking work within the Democratic party and beyond : of listening to communities ’ hopes and fears , building coalitions and establishing trust , and developing and testing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ task ahead for the labour and environmental movements here at home .
It is also far from perfect , not least in that it conspicuously avoids confronting many of the more difficult trade-offs that lie ahead and fails to engage with the obvious need to rapidly divest from fossil fuels .
Yet for all its flaws , Biden ’ s plan serves to highlight the UK government ’ s lack of climate ambition .
As the host of next year ’ s critical COP26 climate summit , Britain ’ s ministers need to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the candidate currently favourite to be the next US president is determined to seize this historic moment , has committed himself to a dramatic acceleration in the pace and scale of climate action , and is advocating rapid decarbonisation as the means to achieve social justice , national renewal and international leadership , illustrates that a bold climate agenda is now basic common sense .
• Matthew Pennycook MP is the shadow minister for climate change

Throughout the Democratic party presidential primary, candidate Joe Biden was variously chastised for his preference for incrementalism, for declining to fully endorse the Green New Deal, and for his perceived unwillingness to take on fossil fuel interests. Last December, the Sunrise Movement, an influential youth-led activist group that backed Bernie Sanders, graded his primary-season climate plan an F-. Yet even this group had to offer Biden cautious praise last month after he unveiled a plan to invest $2tn in clean energy, jobs and infrastructure in the four years of his first term, should he beat Donald Trump in November’s election.
The chances of the plan making it through the US Congress without modification may be low but the boldness of the proposals it sets out is still instructive. The Democratic nominee has committed to eliminating carbon emissions from the power sector of the world’s second-largest polluter within 15 years.
In the process, he intends to create millions of well-paying, unionised jobs making wind turbines, building sustainable homes and manufacturing electric vehicles; to construct a new national high-speed rail network and zero-emissions mass transit in every large US city; and to establish a civilian climate corps to plant trees and protect and restore vulnerable ecosystems. And all of this while seeking to tackle racial and economic inequality by directing 40% of the earmarked $2tn to those communities who are disproportionately impacted by pollution and climate breakdown.
That the former vice-president has chosen to put bold climate action at the heart of his presidential bid suggests not only an awareness that prioritising the issue is good politics, but also that the need to rebuild after the coronavirus crisis presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity that can and must be seized for progressive ends. As he argued when launching his plan: “We can live up to our responsibilities, meet the challenges of a world at risk of climate catastrophe, build more climate-resilient communities, put millions of skilled workers on the job and make life markedly better and safer for the American people all at once.”
The plan is also a clear indication that a man viewed by many as the consummate centrist Democrat now accepts that averting runaway global heating requires a fundamental reshaping of the US economy rather than mere tinkering around the edges, and that both the speed and scale of climate action matter. By comparison, the climate proposals that formed part of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, considered “ambitious” just four years ago, amounted to just $90bn of investment – about a 20th of what Biden is now promising. That his commitment to a $2tn programme – approximately one-eighth of US federal spending – delivered over the course of a single presidential term, is now viewed as a moderate response to the climate crisis illustrates just how far the centre ground has shifted on this issue.
In the emphasis it places on the opportunities presented by the green transition, Biden’s plan is also rooted in a recognition that forging a broad consensus for transformative change requires climate action to be as much about retaining and creating decent jobs and addressing economic, racial, generational and regional inequalities as it is about cuts to greenhouse gas emissions. Biden does not shy away from the hard truth that climate breakdown represents an “existential threat”, but his agenda remains relentlessly optimistic, clothed in the language of the labour movement and progressive politics: innovation, technological progress, job creation and the pursuit of equality.
Biden’s plan – and the fact it has won praise from environmentalist groups and trade unions alike – has not come from nowhere. It is the product of years of painstaking work within the Democratic party and beyond: of listening to communities’ hopes and fears, building coalitions and establishing trust, and developing and testing policies. And it points to the task ahead for the labour and environmental movements here at home.
It is also far from perfect, not least in that it conspicuously avoids confronting many of the more difficult trade-offs that lie ahead and fails to engage with the obvious need to rapidly divest from fossil fuels. Yet for all its flaws, Biden’s plan serves to highlight the UK government’s lack of climate ambition. As the host of next year’s critical COP26 climate summit, Britain’s ministers need to raise their game.
The fact that the candidate currently favourite to be the next US president is determined to seize this historic moment, has committed himself to a dramatic acceleration in the pace and scale of climate action, and is advocating rapid decarbonisation as the means to achieve social justice, national renewal and international leadership, illustrates that a bold climate agenda is now basic common sense.


theguardian--2020-08-04--Trump says US should take share of proceeds from proposed TikTok sale – video

Donald Trump says the Treasury should receive a share of proceeds from the proposed sale of Chinese-owned video app TikTok @ @ @ @ @ come after he reversed his call to ban the popular app in the US due @ @ @ @ @ from the White House , Trump said the US would make any sale of the @ @ @ @ @ be in line for a share of the proceeds .
'It would come from the @ @ @ @ @ .
'Which no one else would be thinking about but me' • TikTok sale : @ @ @ @ @ plan but says US should get a cut of any deal

Donald Trump says the Treasury should receive a share of proceeds from the proposed sale of Chinese-owned video app TikTok. The president's plans come after he reversed his call to ban the popular app in the US due to privacy concerns. Speaking from the White House, Trump said the US would make any sale of the app possible – and should be in line for a share of the proceeds. 'It would come from the sale,' he said. 'Which no one else would be thinking about but me'


theguardian--2020-08-04--Donald Trump flounders in interview over US Covid-19 death toll

Donald Trump visibly floundered in an interview when pressed on a range of issues , including the number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the US , his claims that mail-in voting is fraudulent , and his inaction over the “ Russian bounty ” scandal .
The US president also repeatedly cast doubt on the cause of death of Jeffrey Epstein , and said of Ghislaine Maxwell , the British socialite who has pleaded not guilty to allegedly participating in the sex-trafficking of girls by Epstein , that he wished her well .
In the interview , broadcast on HBO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s national political correspondent , Jonathan Swan , Trump again asserted that his administration is doing an “ incredible job ” responding to the coronavirus .
Claiming that the pandemic was unique , Trump said : “ This has never happened before .
1917 , but it was totally different , it was a flu in that case .
If you watch the fake news on television , they don ’ t even talk about it , but there are 188 other countries right now that are suffering .
Some , proportionately , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pressed the president on which countries were doing worse .
Trump brandished several pieces of paper with graphs and charts on them that he referred to as he attempted to suggest the US figures compared well internationally .
“ Right here , United States is lowest in numerous categories .
We ’ re lower than the world .
Lower than Europe.
” “ In what ?
” asks Swan .
As it becomes apparent that Trump is talking about the number of deaths as a proportion of cases , Swan says said : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ death as a proportion of cases .
I ’ m talking about death as a proportion of population .
That ’ s where the US is really bad .
Much worse than Germany , South Korea.
” Trump then says : “ You can ’ t do that.
” According to figures from the Johns Hopkins University , the US has had over 4.7m confirmed Covid-19 cases , with 155,471 deaths .
The US accounts for more than a quarter of all global confirmed infections .
In another section of the interview , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reason the US has a significantly higher number of cases is because it tests more than anyone else , saying : “ You know , there are those that say you can test too much .
You do know that.
” Asked who says that , Trump replies : “ Oh , just read the manuals .
Read the books.
” Trump also appears , without evidence , to assert that children are receiving positive Covid-19 test results for having a runny nose – which is not generally listed among the symptoms of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and a new continuous cough .
“ You test , some kid has even just a little runny nose , it ’ s a case .
And then you report many cases , ” Trump says .
The president attempts to shift blame for the outbreaks of coronavirus on to state governors , saying : “ We have done a great job .
We ’ ve got the governors everything they needed .
They didn ’ t do their job – many of them didn ’ t , some of them did.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ baseless assertion that due to mail-in voting , the forthcoming US election would be “ the most inaccurate and fraudulent election in history ” .
In the interview , Trump says : “ So we have a new phenomena , it ’ s called mail-in voting.
” Swan then clarifies that mail-in voting has existed since the US civil war .
Further attempting to cast doubt on the process , Trump says : “ So they ’ re going to send tens of millions of ballots to California , all over the place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them ?
Somebody got a ballot for a dog .
Somebody got a ballot for something else .
You got millions of ballots going .
Nobody even knows where they ’ re going.
” The interview took place last Tuesday , before the president ’ s tweet that falsely floated the idea that November ’ s election could be delayed .
On Maxwell and Epstein , the president appeared to cast doubt on the official account of the cause of Epstein ’ s death , which has been a repeated source of conspiracy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Her friend or boyfriend Epstein was either killed or committed suicide in jail .
She ’ s now in jail .
Yeah , I wish her well.
” Trump goes on twice more to say of Epstein : “ Was it suicide or was he killed ?
” In another part of the interview , he dismissed again as “ fake news ” intelligence reports that Russia had been offering bounties to the Taliban for attacks on US forces in Afghanistan .
Asked specifically by Swan whether he had ever discussed the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Putin , Trump confirms he has never mentioned it to him .
When Swan asks Trump about Russia supplying weapons to the Taliban , the president asserts : “ I have heard that , but it has never reached my desk .
”

Donald Trump visibly floundered in an interview when pressed on a range of issues, including the number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the US, his claims that mail-in voting is fraudulent, and his inaction over the “Russian bounty” scandal.
The US president also repeatedly cast doubt on the cause of death of Jeffrey Epstein, and said of Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite who has pleaded not guilty to participating in the sex-trafficking of girls by Epstein, that he wished her well.
In the interview, broadcast on HBO on Monday and conducted by Axios’s national political correspondent, Jonathan Swan, Trump again asserted that his administration was doing an “incredible job” responding to the coronavirus.
Claiming that the pandemic was unique, Trump said: “This has never happened before. Nineteen seventeen, but it was totally different, it was a flu in that case. If you watch the fake news on television, they don’t even talk about it, but there are 188 other countries right now that are suffering. Some, proportionately, far greater than we are.”
Trump has repeatedly referred to the 1917 flu pandemic, whereas the outbreak happened in 1918 and into 1919.
And when asked about the death toll from coronavirus so far in the US, of almost 155,000 killed, Trump appeared irritated and said: “It is what it is.”
His opponent in the upcoming presidential election, Democrat Joe Biden, tweeted on Tuesday morning: “Mr President, step up and do your job before even more American families feel the pain of losing a loved one.”
Biden also wrote: “On July 1st, Donald Trump predicted the coronavirus was going to ‘just disappear.’ He was wrong – and more than 25,000 Americans died due to the virus last month.”
Swan pressed the president on which countries were doing worse. Trump brandished several pieces of paper with graphs and charts on them that he referred to as he attempted to suggest the US figures compared well internationally.
“Right here, United States is lowest in numerous categories. We’re lower than the world. Lower than Europe.”
“In what?” asks Swan. As it becomes apparent that Trump is talking about the number of deaths as a proportion of cases, Swan says said: “Oh, you’re doing death as a proportion of cases. I’m talking about death as a proportion of population. That’s where the US is really bad. Much worse than Germany, South Korea.”
Trump then says: “You can’t do that.”
According to figures from Johns Hopkins University, the US has had over 4.7m confirmed Covid-19 cases, with 155,471 deaths. The US accounts for more than a quarter of all global confirmed infections.
In another section of the interview, Trump repeats his false assertion that the reason the US has a significantly higher number of cases is because it tests more than anyone else, saying: “You know, there are those that say you can test too much. You do know that.”
Asked who says that, Trump replies: “Oh, just read the manuals. Read the books.”
Trump also appears, without evidence, to assert that children are receiving positive Covid-19 test results for having a runny nose – which is not generally listed among the symptoms of coronavirus, which include a high temperature and a new continuous cough.
“You test, some kid has even just a little runny nose, it’s a case. And then you report many cases,” Trump says.
The president attempts to shift blame for the outbreaks of coronavirus on to state governors, saying: “We have done a great job. We’ve got the governors everything they needed. They didn’t do their job – many of them didn’t, some of them did.”
The actor and activist Mia Farrow tweeted: “Every American should watch this, the full, flabbergasting interview.”
Trump was also asked about his previous baseless assertion that due to mail-in voting, the forthcoming US election would be “the most inaccurate and fraudulent election in history”.
In the interview, Trump says: “So we have a new phenomena [sic], it’s called mail-in voting.” Swan then clarifies that mail-in voting has existed since the US civil war.
Further attempting to cast doubt on the process, Trump says: “So they’re going to send tens of millions of ballots to California, all over the place. Who’s going to get them? Somebody got a ballot for a dog. Somebody got a ballot for something else. You got millions of ballots going. Nobody even knows where they’re going.”
The interview took place last Tuesday, before the president’s tweet that falsely floated the idea that November’s election could be delayed.
On Maxwell and Epstein, the president appeared to cast doubt on the official account of the cause of Epstein’s death, which has been a repeated source of conspiracy theories.
Of Maxwell, Trump says “Her friend or boyfriend Epstein was either killed or committed suicide in jail. She’s now in jail. Yeah, I wish her well.” Trump goes on twice more to say of Epstein: “Was it suicide or was he killed?”
Trump again wishes Ghislaine Maxwell well pic.twitter.com/whWhZoO4mC — Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) August 4, 2020
In another part of the interview, he dismissed again as “fake news” intelligence reports that Russia had been offering bounties to the Taliban for attacks on US forces in Afghanistan. Asked specifically by Swan whether he had ever discussed the issue with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, Trump confirms he has never mentioned it to him.
When Swan asks Trump about Russia supplying weapons to the Taliban, the president asserts: “I have heard that, but it has never reached my desk.”
Lily Adams, a spokeswoman and adviser for the so-called war room of the Democratic party’s national committee slammed the president as incoherent and rambling through misinformation.
“Trump’s disastrous interview would be laughable if the stakes weren’t so high. More than 155,000 Americans have died, over 4.7 million have been infected, and we are in the sharpest economic downturn on record … coronavirus cases are skyrocketing and the economy is spiraling because of his failed response,” Adams said.


theguardian--2020-08-04--How did Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump earn as much as £120m last year?

Like many millennials , Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner juggle their day jobs with side hustles – and boy have they been hustling .
New financial disclosures show that the gruesome twosome made between $ 36.2m ( £27.7m ) and $ 157m in combined outside income while they worked in the White House last year .
( It is impossible to pinpoint the exact amount because they are each required only to report within a number of very large ranges , but suffice to say they are not struggling . )
Unlike many millennials , Javanka are not rustling up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ T-shirts .
So where does their money come from ?
I would love to be able to tell you , but the thing about ludicrously rich people is that their finances tend to be incredibly opaque .
A cynic might say this is by design – that many of the 1 % hide their wealth behind complex legal arrangements to avoid taxes and obscure dodgy dealings .
I am not accusing the Kushner-Trumps of anything so sordid – the US president ’ s senior advisers are devoted public servants , after all .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ disclosure documents that raise interesting questions .
Let ’ s start with Kushner ’ s stake in Cadre , an online property broker , which is worth between $ 25m and $ 50m .
“ Cadre is going to make us billionaires , ” the boy wonder announced to colleagues when he co-founded the company with his brother in 2014 .
It certainly seems to be doing well : the Guardian reported last year that Cadre had received $ 90m in foreign funding , funnelled through secretive offshore companies , since 2017 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ peace in the Middle East that apparently he forgot about Cadre and only belatedly added his stake in the company to his disclosure form .
It is still not clear how involved he is with the company .
At the beginning of the year , it was reported that Kushner had divested from the startup after scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest .
Then , last month , it was reported that he had put his plans to divest on hold ; in the meantime , Cadre has promised not to seek out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this , guys !
Nothing to see here .
Another item on Kushner ’ s financial report is the $ 1m- $ 5m he received from a company called Bergel 715 Associates last year .
The New York Times has dug into Bergel 715 ’ s dealings and discovered that Rosemary Vrablic , a Deutsche Bank employee , and two colleagues bought a $ 1.5m apartment from the company in 2013 .
This is notable because Vrablic is a longtime personal banker of Donald Trump and Kushner ; the pair had received $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the time .
Banks tend to restrict employees from personal dealings with clients because of potential conflicts of interest and Deutsche Bank has opened an internal review into the purchase of the property .
Who wants to bet that the outcome of this will be some form of “ nothing to see here ” ?
While most of Javanka ’ s riches come from property , it would be unfeminist of me not to mention Ivanka ’ s literary career .
Her disclosure for 2018 showed a $ 263,500 instalment of her advance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2017 literary masterpiece Women Who Work .
This is a steal for a book in which Ivanka imparts philosophical gems such as “ women who work are real ” and confesses that often she did not have time to treat herself to a massage during the 2016 election .
Alas , this year income from the book is listed as “ none ( or less than $ 201 ) ” .
Luckily , there is massage money elsewhere .
To paraphrase from her tome , women who work are real , as are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dividends and rent while pretending to work in the White House .

Like many millennials, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner juggle their day jobs with side hustles – and boy have they been hustling. New financial disclosures show that the gruesome twosome made between $36.2m (£27.7m) and $157m in combined outside income while they worked in the White House last year. (It is impossible to pinpoint the exact amount because they are each required only to report within a number of very large ranges, but suffice to say they are not struggling.)
Unlike many millennials, Javanka are not rustling up extra cash by walking dogs or selling T-shirts. So where does their money come from? I would love to be able to tell you, but the thing about ludicrously rich people is that their finances tend to be incredibly opaque. A cynic might say this is by design – that many of the 1% hide their wealth behind complex legal arrangements to avoid taxes and obscure dodgy dealings.
I am not accusing the Kushner-Trumps of anything so sordid – the US president’s senior advisers are devoted public servants, after all. However, there are items on their disclosure documents that raise interesting questions.
Let’s start with Kushner’s stake in Cadre, an online property broker, which is worth between $25m and $50m. “Cadre is going to make us billionaires,” the boy wonder announced to colleagues when he co-founded the company with his brother in 2014. It certainly seems to be doing well: the Guardian reported last year that Cadre had received $90m in foreign funding, funnelled through secretive offshore companies, since 2017. However, Kushner was so busy making peace in the Middle East that apparently he forgot about Cadre and only belatedly added his stake in the company to his disclosure form.
It is still not clear how involved he is with the company. At the beginning of the year, it was reported that Kushner had divested from the startup after scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest. Then, last month, it was reported that he had put his plans to divest on hold; in the meantime, Cadre has promised not to seek out foreign investors. Just trust them on this, guys! Nothing to see here.
Another item on Kushner’s financial report is the $1m-$5m he received from a company called Bergel 715 Associates last year. The New York Times has dug into Bergel 715’s dealings and discovered that Rosemary Vrablic, a Deutsche Bank employee, and two colleagues bought a $1.5m apartment from the company in 2013.
This is notable because Vrablic is a longtime personal banker of Donald Trump and Kushner; the pair had received $190m in loans from Deutsche Bank at the time. Banks tend to restrict employees from personal dealings with clients because of potential conflicts of interest and Deutsche Bank has opened an internal review into the purchase of the property. Who wants to bet that the outcome of this will be some form of “nothing to see here”?
While most of Javanka’s riches come from property, it would be unfeminist of me not to mention Ivanka’s literary career. Her disclosure for 2018 showed a $263,500 instalment of her advance (reportedly $787,500) for her 2017 literary masterpiece Women Who Work. This is a steal for a book in which Ivanka imparts philosophical gems such as “women who work are real” and confesses that often she did not have time to treat herself to a massage during the 2016 election.
Alas, this year income from the book is listed as “none (or less than $201)”. Luckily, there is massage money elsewhere. To paraphrase from her tome, women who work are real, as are people who generate enormous passive income from dividends and rent while pretending to work in the White House.


theguardian--2020-08-04--Donald Trump defends Dr Deborah Birx after calling her Covid-19 assessment 'pathetic' – video

The US president has defended his public health expert Deborah Birx after she drew criticism from House speaker Nancy Pelosi @ @ @ @ @ tweet , labelling her assessment of Covid-19 's spread as 'pathetic ' .
Pelosi targeted @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus misinformation and Birx was his appointee .
The president pointed to coronavirus flareups overseas @ @ @ @ @ US success , saying the country was doing very well and adding he had a @ @ @ @ @ • Trump calls Birx 's dire warning on widespread coronavirus in the US 'pathetic '

The US president has defended his public health expert Deborah Birx after she drew criticism from House speaker Nancy Pelosi and from his own earlier tweet, labelling her assessment of Covid-19's spread as 'pathetic'. Pelosi targeted Birx, saying Trump spread coronavirus misinformation and Birx was his appointee. The president pointed to coronavirus flareups overseas as a measure of the US success, saying the country was doing very well and adding he had a lot of respect for Birx


theguardian--2020-08-05--Biden says 'do your job' as Trump continues campaign of misinformation – as it happened

At least four people were killed as Tropical Storm Isaias spawned tornadoes and dumped rain Tuesday along the US east coast after making landfall as a hurricane in North Carolina , where it caused floods and fires that displaced dozens of people .
Two people died when Isaias spun off a tornado that struck a North Carolina mobile home park .
Authorities said two others were killed by falling trees toppled by the storm in Maryland and New York City .
More than 15 hours after coming ashore , Isaias still had sustained top winds of 65mph .
Mid-Tuesday afternoon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about 65 miles west of New York City , where winds forced the Staten Island ferry and outdoor subway lines to shut down .
Forecasters said it would continue to inflict damage while moving into New England by late Tuesday .
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio issued a tornado watch through 4pm after the hurricane center reported numerous storms throughout the mid-Atlantic region , and by 1pm strong winds and rain were lashing New York .
Social media images showed tornadoes in Cape May , Marmora and Long Beach Island along @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as well as tornado damage in Dover , Delaware .
A tropical storm warning remained in effect from North Carolina to Maine .

Maanvi Singh (now), Tom McCarthy and Martin Belam (earlier)

5 Aug 2020 01.10 BST Summary From me and Tom McCarthy: Donald Trump repeated false claims about the mortality rate and mail-in voting at a news conference. He also expressed confidence that the explosions in Lebanon were an attack - though no public information has yet confirmed that is the case.
He also expressed confidence that the explosions in Lebanon were an attack - though no public information has yet confirmed that is the case. Mississippi’s Republican governor Tate Reeves announced a statewide mask mandates after previously resisting doing so. He also announced that upper-level classes would be delayed in counties with the most cases.
He also announced that upper-level classes would be delayed in counties with the most cases. Trump signed the Great American Outdoors Act, major conservation legislation. The law permanently funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund and addresses a nearly $12bn maintenance backlog in national parks and other public lands. He managed to pronounce sequoia, but struggled with Yosemite.
The law permanently funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund and addresses a nearly $12bn maintenance backlog in national parks and other public lands. He managed to pronounce sequoia, but struggled with Yosemite. After Trump’s disastrous handling of the coronavirus figures in last night’s Axios TV interview , Joe Biden attacked the US president over his handling of the coronavirus crisis . Trump called into a a much more friendly interview with Lou Dobbs of Fox Business on Tuesday afternoon.
, . Trump called into a a much more friendly interview with Lou Dobbs of Fox Business on Tuesday afternoon. In new polling, almost half of Americans (46%) report knowing someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus . Only 29% of Americans have a “fair amount” or a “great deal” of trust in the federal government looking out for the best interests of them and their families – that’s a new low.
. Only 29% of Americans have a “fair amount” or a “great deal” of trust in the federal government looking out for the best interests of them and their families – that’s a new low. Kim Gardner, St. Louis’, Missouri’s first Black circuit attorney, is facing a primary challenge today from Mary Pat Carl. Gardner recently drew criticism from Donald Trump for filing charges against a couple who waved their guns at Black Lives Matter protesters marching near their home.
4 Aug 2020 00.41 BST From Guardian staff and agencies: At least four people were killed as Tropical Storm Isaias spawned tornadoes and dumped rain Tuesday along the US east coast after making landfall as a hurricane in North Carolina, where it caused floods and fires that displaced dozens of people. Two people died when Isaias spun off a tornado that struck a North Carolina mobile home park. Authorities said two others were killed by falling trees toppled by the storm in Maryland and New York City. More than 15 hours after coming ashore, Isaias still had sustained top winds of 65mph. Mid-Tuesday afternoon, the storm’s center was about 65 miles west of New York City, where winds forced the Staten Island ferry and outdoor subway lines to shut down. Forecasters said it would continue to inflict damage while moving into New England by late Tuesday. New York City mayor Bill de Blasio issued a tornado watch through 4pm after the hurricane center reported numerous storms throughout the mid-Atlantic region, and by 1pm strong winds and rain were lashing New York. Social media images showed tornadoes in Cape May, Marmora and Long Beach Island along New Jersey’s southern shore, as well as tornado damage in Dover, Delaware. A tropical storm warning remained in effect from North Carolina to Maine. At least four dead as Tropical Storm Isaias lashes US east coast Read more
4 Aug 2020 00.14 BST My colleague Abené Clayton reports: The Covid-19 death toll at California’s San Quentin state prison hit 22 on Tuesday, in the deadliest of several outbreaks that have hit prisons across the state. Prison officials announced the most recent death on Tuesday morning. Authorities did not make public the name of the victim but said the prisoner died at a hospital. Over the weekend, authorities had announced the 20th and 21st deaths. The first announcement was of the death of Orlando Romero, the ninth person on San Quentin’s death row to die of Covid complications. The identity of the other victim – whose death was announced the same day – has not been released. San Quentin – California’s oldest prison and home to the only death row for men – has experienced the largest outbreak of coronavirus among prisoners in the state, with 168 positive cases as of Tuesday morning. At the outbreak’s peak, the prison had 1,636 infections, more than a third of the institution’s population. The outbreak has prompted demands for California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, to grant mass releases in order to stop the virus from spreading further. On 10 July officials announced new initiatives that will lead to the expedited release of 8,000 people from Californian prisons by the end of August.
4 Aug 2020 23.57 BST Donald Trump ended the news conference by continuing his misinformation campaign against mail-in voting. He implied that voter fraud was to blame for delays in ascertaining New York primary results. “I think they have to do that election over,” Trump said. The absentee ballot count has indeed been a challenge in New York, but there’s no evidence that fraud was at play. A New York Times piece on the delays, which Trump appeared to reference, explains: “The primary reason for the delays is the sheer number of absentee ballots: In New York City, 403,203 ballots were mailed for the June primary; as a comparison, just 76,258 absentee and military ballots were counted in New York City in the 2008 general election when Barack Obama was elected president.” The president, however, defended the mail-in voting system in Florida, where he has voted absentee. “Florida has done a great job, and we have confidence that if you mail in your ballots in Florida, they’re going to matter,” Trump said, emphasizing that the state is led by a Republican governor. He had exempted Florida from his overall campaign against mail-in voting earlier today, in a tweet.
Updated at 00.19 BST
4 Aug 2020 23.44 BST Trump was pressed once again on his false claims about the coronavirus mortality rate. Per the Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker, the US has the fourth-highest mortality rate of the twenty countries most affected by Covid-19. But the president baselessly insisted that the US was “at the bottom” of lists ranking mortality, Later he said if we took New York and New Jersey out of the calculations, the US mortality rate would be “among the lowest”. I haven’t done the calculations to figure out those numbers, but the assertion that discounting some deaths in America would lower the national death toll is – odd.
Updated at 00.20 BST
4 Aug 2020 23.37 BST Donald Trump said he is confident that the explosions in Lebanon were an attack. “It would seem like it, based on the explosion,” the president said, noting that some generals he spoke with “seem to feel” it was an attack. Here’s what my Guardian colleagues Martin Chulov in Beirut and Michael Safi in Amman have reported so far: Hours after the explosion, which took place at 6.05pm (16.05 BST), the cause remained unclear. Israel denied responsibility and said it had offered humanitarian and medical aid. Initial reports suggested that a fireworks warehouse was involved. The Lebanese security chief, Abbas Ibrahim, later blamed combustible chemicals stored in a warehouse. The interior minister, Mohammed Fahmi, said ammonium nitrate had been among the materials stored and called for an investigation into how it ignited. Lebanon: at least 73 killed as huge explosion rocks Beirut Read more
4 Aug 2020 23.29 BST Fact check: Coronavirus deaths Trump: “The recent rise in cases has not been accompanied by a significant increase in deaths.” Fact: The daily deaths have been increasing, per the Covid Tracking Project. Even with the uncertainty of testing in Florida and elsewhere, cases nationwide have trended down for the past week. Deaths, however, continue to climb towards a 7-day average of 1,100. pic.twitter.com/90hCt2XfJn — The COVID Tracking Project (@COVID19Tracking) August 4, 2020
Updated at 00.21 BST
4 Aug 2020 22.55 BST Mississippi governor announces statewide mask mandate Tate Reeves, the Republican governor of Mississippi, said he is issuing an order mandating masks in public. He also delayed the start of the school year for upper grades in some counties and signaled that he will sign an order requiring that all adults and students wear masks in school, as the number of coronavirus cases mounts in the state. Reeves had been reluctant to take such measures in the past. Previously, he set a mask order in some countries but resisted a statewide rule. More than 1 in 5 coronavirus tests in the are coming back positive, and more than 62,000 Covid-19 cases have been recorded so far.
4 Aug 2020 22.42 BST The Chicago Sky basketball team are wearing “Vote Warnock” t-shirts - in support of Raphael Warnock, the Atlanta Reverand running against Republican senator Kelly Loeffler. Loffler is a co-owner of the Atlanta Dream, which will play against Chicago Sky this week. She recently told ESPN that she believes the WNBA’s public support for the Black Lives Matter movement would drive fans away and wrote a letter to the women’s basketball league’s commissioner objecting to its support for the movement against police brutality. Don't boo...VOTE 🗳
Register to vote at https://t.co/zXnPqmFZQ7 #Vote2020 pic.twitter.com/4yMmEqgXMS — Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) August 4, 2020 “I think we all agree the life of every African American is important. There’s no room for racism in this country, and we have to root it out where it exists. But there’s a political organization called Black Lives Matter that I think is very important to make the distinction between their aim and where we are as a country at this moment,” Loeffler said. “The Black Lives Matter political organization advocates things like defunding and abolishing the police, abolishing our military, emptying our prisons, destroying the nuclear family. It promotes violence and antisemitism. To me, this is not what our league stands for.” WNBA players have denounced her sentiment and asked the league to remove Loeffler as co-owner of the Dream.
4 Aug 2020 22.24 BST Hi there, it’s Maanvi Singh, blogging from the west coast. We’re expecting Donald Trump to hold a news conference at 5:30. He’s prepping for the main event with a call-in to Fox Business’ Lou Dobbs. “We would’ve lost millions had I just let it ride,” Trump told Dobbs, addressing the coronavirus crisis. The president’s interview with ally Dobbs comes after a much more contentious and widely discussed interview with Axios’ Jonathan Swan.
Updated at 22.30 BST
4 Aug 2020 20.50 BST Kenya Evelyn Donald Trump refused to praise the late John Lewis, the Georgia congressman and original Freedom Rider, during his latest one-on-one interview, and also questioned the value of the pivotal Civil Rights Act of the 1960s, which Lewis fought and almost died for. When asked how history would remember the civil rights leader, the president replied, “I don’t know. I really don’t know” and brought the point back around to himself. “I never met John Lewis, I don’t believe,” Trump said. Representative John Lewis speaks at a news conference held by Democrats on the state of voting rights in America the US Capitol. Photograph: Leah Millis/Reuters In the interview, released late on Monday, with the Axios reporter Jonathan Swan, Trump instead centered his view of the late congressman on their lack of a personal relationship, noting Lewis “chose not to come to [his] inauguration”. “He didn’t come to my State of the Union speeches, and that’s OK,” he said. “That’s his right. He should’ve come. I think he made a big mistake.” The interview was conducted as the Georgia congressman lay in state in the Capitol rotunda. Trump did not pay his respects while Lewis’s casket was in Washington, nor attend Lewis’s funeral in Atlanta last week, at which Barack Obama delivered a soaring eulogy that was personally poignant but also a barnstorming political attack on the Trump administration’s efforts at voter and protest suppression. Read further: Trump refuses to praise late civil rights leader John Lewis Read more
4 Aug 2020 19.58 BST Veep, the hit politics satire series starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, found seven seasons of success on HBO. Louis-Dreyfus does not like the new HBO material: God, I wish this was just a dumb show like ours. https://t.co/n3edLDiqiq — Julia Louis-Dreyfus (@OfficialJLD) August 4, 2020
Updated at 21.58 BST
4 Aug 2020 19.51 BST Lauren Gambino Joe Biden’s election campaign on Tuesday unveiled a plan to address the economic inequalities facing Latinos in America amid financial turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which has disproportionately harmed communities of color. The plan was introduced a day after the anniversary of the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, that took the lives of 23 people and where the shooter is accused in federal court of deliberately targeting Hispanics. It comes as Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee to face Donald Trump in November, attempts to build a bridge to Latino voters, who are poised to make up the largest share of non-white voters in the country this election. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden holds campaign event in Wilmington, Delaware. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters Senior campaign officials announced plans and commitments focused on investing in the economic mobility of Latinos, starting with education and healthcare, as well as a commitment to support the building of a Smithsonian Latino museum on the National Mall in Washington DC. Biden had previously promised to introduce a sweeping immigration plan on his first day in office, including protecting recipients of the Daca program, affording protections and rights to qualifying, young, undocumented immigrants, known as Dreamers– and also undoing the Trump administration’s hardline international asylum policies. “The policies of [the Trump] administration amount to an onslaught of violence and fear against the community. That ends when Joe Biden is president,” a senior campaign official said on a call with reporters on Tuesday morning. Read further: Biden reaches out to Latino voters with plan to tackle inequalities Read more


theguardian--2020-08-04--'They're dying … it is what it is': key takeaways from Trump's shocking interview

Donald Trump stumbled through his second damaging interview in as many weeks , floundering in a conversation with the news website Axios over key issues he is tasked with responding to as president .
It ’ s been just over two weeks since the president made a series of shocking statements in a one-on-one interview with Fox News , but he packed another host of extraordinary claims into a 37-minute interview released on Monday night by Axios .
Here are the eight most glaring things Trump said to reporter Jonathan Swan .
‘ It is what it is ’ In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s poor response to coronavirus , Trump described the pandemic as “ under control ” .
“ They are dying .
That ’ s true .
And you – it is what it is , ” Trump said .
“ But that doesn ’ t mean we aren ’ t doing everything we can .
It ’ s under control as much as you can control it.
” The president then appeared unable to distinguish between different measurements of coronavirus deaths .
Trump brandished several pieces of paper with graphs and charts .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ categories .
We ’ re lower than the world .
Lower than Europe.
” “ In what ?
” Swan asked .
As it becomes apparent that Trump is talking about the number of deaths as a proportion of confirmed Covid-19 cases , Swan said : “ Oh , you ’ re doing death as a proportion of cases .
I ’ m talking about death as a proportion of population .
That ’ s where the US is really bad .
Much worse than Germany , South Korea.
” ‘ He didn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump downplayed the work of the congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis , whose funeral was held last week in Atlanta , Georgia .
Instead of Lewis ’ s legacy , Trump focused on Lewis in relation to himself .
“ I never met John Lewis , actually , ” Trump said .
“ He didn ’ t come to my inauguration .
He didn ’ t come to my State of the Union speeches , and that ’ s OK. That ’ s his right.
” Lewis ’ s fight for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by state troopers during the 1965 Bloody Sunday march in Alabama .
As a congressman he worked across the aisle .
‘ I did more for the black community than anybody ’ Swan pressed for an analysis of systemic racism .
Trump said : “ I have seen where there is a difference and I don ’ t want there to be a difference.
” When asked why black men are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police , the president spoke about how many white people are killed by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did more for the black community than anybody with a possible exception of Abraham Lincoln , whether you like it or not.
” When asked whether he did more than Lyndon B Johnson , who signed into law the Civil Rights Act in 1964 ( and the Voting Rights Act in 1965 ) , Trump didn ’ t really answer the question .
‘ I do wish her well ’ Trump stood by a 21 July comment where he said “ I wish her well ” of Ghislaine Maxwell , a longtime associate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for allegedly enabling the disgraced financier ’ s sex trafficking of minor girls .
Asked for his thoughts on Maxwell , Trump said , “ Yeah , I wish her well .
I ’ d wish you well .
I wish a lot of people well.
” He also promoted the conspiracy theory that Epstein was murdered when he died in a New York jail last August .
This has been disputed by the attorney general , William Barr .
“ Her boyfriend died in jail and people are still trying to figure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it suicide , was he killed ?
” Trump said .
“ I do wish her well .
I ’ m not looking for anything bad for her.
” Trump again attacked mail-in voting , which is expected to occur at higher rates in the November election because of the pandemic .
“ It could be decided many months later , ” Trump said .
“ Do you know why ?
Because lots of things will happen during that period of time .
Especially when you have tight margins , lots of things @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been anything like this … Now , of course , right now we have to live with it , but we ’ re challenging it.
” ‘ I have heard that , but it has never reached my desk ’ Trump said reports that Russia had been offering bounties to the Taliban for attacks on US forces in Afghanistan were “ fake news ” .
When Swan asked whether Trump had ever discussed the bounties with the Russian president , Vladimir Putin , Trump said he had not .
When Swan asked Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the president asserted : “ I have heard that , but it has never reached my desk .
”

Donald Trump stumbled through his second damaging interview in as many weeks, floundering in a conversation with the news website Axios over key issues he is tasked with responding to as president.
It’s been just over two weeks since the president made a series of shocking statements in a one-on-one interview with Fox News, but he packed another host of extraordinary claims into a 37-minute interview released on Monday night by Axios.
Here are the eight most glaring things Trump said to reporter Jonathan Swan.
‘It is what it is’
In a lengthy discussion about the US’s poor response to coronavirus, Trump described the pandemic as “under control”.
Swan responded: “How? A thousand Americans are dying a day.”
“They are dying. That’s true. And you – it is what it is,” Trump said. “But that doesn’t mean we aren’t doing everything we can. It’s under control as much as you can control it.”
‘You can’t do that’
The president then appeared unable to distinguish between different measurements of coronavirus deaths.
Trump brandished several pieces of paper with graphs and charts.
“United States is lowest in numerous categories. We’re lower than the world. Lower than Europe.”
“In what?” Swan asked. As it becomes apparent that Trump is talking about the number of deaths as a proportion of confirmed Covid-19 cases, Swan said: “Oh, you’re doing death as a proportion of cases. I’m talking about death as a proportion of population. That’s where the US is really bad. Much worse than Germany, South Korea.”
Trump responded: “You can’t do that.”
00:59 'You can't do that': Trump argues with reporter over Covid-19 death figures – video
‘He didn’t come to my inauguration’
Trump downplayed the work of the congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis, whose funeral was held last week in Atlanta, Georgia. Instead of Lewis’s legacy, Trump focused on Lewis in relation to himself.
“I never met John Lewis, actually,” Trump said. “He didn’t come to my inauguration. He didn’t come to my State of the Union speeches, and that’s OK. That’s his right.”
Lewis’s fight for racial equality includes having his skull broken by state troopers during the 1965 Bloody Sunday march in Alabama. As a congressman he worked across the aisle.
‘I did more for the black community than anybody’
Swan pressed for an analysis of systemic racism. Trump said: “I have seen where there is a difference and I don’t want there to be a difference.”
When asked why black men are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police, the president spoke about how many white people are killed by the police.
Then said: “I did more for the black community than anybody with a possible exception of Abraham Lincoln, whether you like it or not.”
When asked whether he did more than Lyndon B Johnson, who signed into law the Civil Rights Act in 1964 (and the Voting Rights Act in 1965), Trump didn’t really answer the question.
‘I do wish her well’
Trump stood by a 21 July comment where he said “I wish her well” of Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein who faces federal charges for allegedly enabling the disgraced financier’s sex trafficking of minor girls.
Asked for his thoughts on Maxwell, Trump said, “Yeah, I wish her well. I’d wish you well. I wish a lot of people well.”
Promotes Epstein conspiracy theory
He also promoted the conspiracy theory that Epstein was murdered when he died in a New York jail last August. This has been disputed by the attorney general, William Barr.
“Her boyfriend died in jail and people are still trying to figure out how did it happen, was it suicide, was he killed?” Trump said. “I do wish her well. I’m not looking for anything bad for her.”
‘Lots of things can happen’
Trump again attacked mail-in voting, which is expected to occur at higher rates in the November election because of the pandemic.
“It could be decided many months later,” Trump said. “Do you know why? Because lots of things will happen during that period of time. Especially when you have tight margins, lots of things can happen. There’s never been anything like this … Now, of course, right now we have to live with it, but we’re challenging it.”
‘I have heard that, but it has never reached my desk’
Trump said reports that Russia had been offering bounties to the Taliban for attacks on US forces in Afghanistan were “fake news”. When Swan asked whether Trump had ever discussed the bounties with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, Trump said he had not.
When Swan asked Trump about Russia supplying weapons to the Taliban, the president asserted: “I have heard that, but it has never reached my desk.”


theguardian--2020-08-04--Plan to shorten census deadline sounds alarm for disadvantaged Americans

The Census Bureau will end its efforts to count every living person in the US a month earlier than expected , a move that will probably lead to an undercount of communities of color , poorer Americans and other hard-to-count groups .
Such an undercount would be catastrophic for those communities .
The numbers from the census , which happens every 10 years , are used to determine how nearly $ 1.5tn in federal funds get allocated and how electoral districts are drawn for the next decade .
The bureau will shorten the deadline to respond to the census by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 30 September , it announced on Monday .
In April , the agency said it needed until 31 October to finish the count and asked Congress to give it a four-month extension of the 31 December deadline to produce data because of the Covid-19 pandemic .
Monday ’ s announcement came after the bureau quietly removed references to the 31 October deadline from its website and offered no explanation for the reversal and the decision to cut back on the timeline .
The abrupt reversal comes as Trump has shown renewed interest in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the decision to drop the additional follow-up appears to be an effort to produce data that disadvantages minority groups to use for the next decade .
After unsuccessfully trying to add a citizenship question to the census , Trump ordered the Census Bureau last month not to count undocumented immigrants in the tally it uses to determine how districts are drawn .
The order , already being challenged in court , is probably unconstitutional .
The US constitution specifically requires the census to count all “ persons ” .
The shortened deadline @ @ @ @ @ @ @ called non-response follow-up ( NRFU ) , when bureau employees knock on doors to follow up with people who have not responded to the census .
Experts and census advocates are deeply worried about curtailing the operation , noting that NRFU is one of the most important ways the bureau ensures traditionally hard-to-count groups get included in the census .
“ If you reduce your efforts , the most likely populations you ’ re not going to count are the hard-to-count , ” said John Thompson , the director of the Census Bureau @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s unclear whether the Census Bureau will be able to produce reliable data to be used to determine how many seats in Congress each state gets .
Under the original requested delay , there was a six-month gap between the end of counting and when the bureau would be required to produce the data .
That period is used to review and verify data , but under the new plan , officials will have just three months .
“ Cutting NRFU a month short is bad enough , but even ending on 9/30 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time to process the data in a way that ’ s up to our standards before 12/31 , ” said one Census Bureau employee who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly .
“ The best we can do at this point is document all the myriad of limitations that will be imposed as a result of not extending the delivery deadline.
” Americans were able to begin self-responding to the census in March , and 62.9 % of US households had done so as of Tuesday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country are further behind in their response rate than they were at the same point during the 2010 census .
Many places also have rates that are far lower than the national rate .
In Detroit , for example , less than half of households have self-responded to the census .
“ If you go into cities and look at the track-level analysis … you ’ ll see some really low response rates , ” Thompson said .
“ Those are going to be the ones that are going to be the hardest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to have to do a lot more work , get a lot more people in there.
” Thompson added that the bureau may have to rely more on statistical imputation to model information for households that don ’ t respond .
In the past , the process has been used for just a small percentage of households for whom the bureau can ’ t get information after extensive follow-up .
That kind of imputation could also lead to underrepresentation of hard-to-count groups , Thompson said .
“ The Census Bureau is facing unprecedented @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s just putting one more challenge in front of them , ” Thompson said .
“ The end result could be some pretty serious undercounts.
” Federal law requires the Census Bureau to report data for apportionment by 31 December , but the Trump administration ’ s request for an extension came after Covid-19 upended the census and made it virtually impossible for the bureau to collect data .
Even Donald Trump said publicly in April that the bureau needed a delay in producing data .
Top bureau officials said earlier this year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ point ” of being able to deliver data by the end of the year , NPR reported .

The Census Bureau will end its efforts to count every living person in the US a month earlier than expected, a move that will probably lead to an undercount of communities of color, poorer Americans and other hard-to-count groups.
Such an undercount would be catastrophic for those communities. The numbers from the census, which happens every 10 years, are used to determine how nearly $1.5tn in federal funds get allocated and how electoral districts are drawn for the next decade.
The bureau will shorten the deadline to respond to the census by a month and will end counting on 30 September, it announced on Monday. In April, the agency said it needed until 31 October to finish the count and asked Congress to give it a four-month extension of the 31 December deadline to produce data because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Monday’s announcement came after the bureau quietly removed references to the 31 October deadline from its website and offered no explanation for the reversal and the decision to cut back on the timeline.
The abrupt reversal comes as Trump has shown renewed interest in using the census for partisan gain, and the decision to drop the additional follow-up appears to be an effort to produce data that disadvantages minority groups to use for the next decade.
After unsuccessfully trying to add a citizenship question to the census, Trump ordered the Census Bureau last month not to count undocumented immigrants in the tally it uses to determine how districts are drawn. The order, already being challenged in court, is probably unconstitutional. The US constitution specifically requires the census to count all “persons”.
The shortened deadline will also curtail a critical census operation called non-response follow-up (NRFU), when bureau employees knock on doors to follow up with people who have not responded to the census. Experts and census advocates are deeply worried about curtailing the operation, noting that NRFU is one of the most important ways the bureau ensures traditionally hard-to-count groups get included in the census.
“If you reduce your efforts, the most likely populations you’re not going to count are the hard-to-count,” said John Thompson, the director of the Census Bureau from 2013 to 2017.
It’s unclear whether the Census Bureau will be able to produce reliable data to be used to determine how many seats in Congress each state gets. Under the original requested delay, there was a six-month gap between the end of counting and when the bureau would be required to produce the data. That period is used to review and verify data, but under the new plan, officials will have just three months.
“Cutting NRFU a month short is bad enough, but even ending on 9/30, there just will not be enough time to process the data in a way that’s up to our standards before 12/31,” said one Census Bureau employee who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
“The best we can do at this point is document all the myriad of limitations that will be imposed as a result of not extending the delivery deadline.”
Americans were able to begin self-responding to the census in March, and 62.9% of US households had done so as of Tuesday afternoon. But many localities in the country are further behind in their response rate than they were at the same point during the 2010 census. Many places also have rates that are far lower than the national rate. In Detroit, for example, less than half of households have self-responded to the census.
“If you go into cities and look at the track-level analysis … you’ll see some really low response rates,” Thompson said. “Those are going to be the ones that are going to be the hardest to enumerate because you’re going to have to do a lot more work, get a lot more people in there.”
The bureau is facing unprecedented challenges already, and now it’s just putting one more in front of them John Thompson
Thompson added that the bureau may have to rely more on statistical imputation to model information for households that don’t respond. In the past, the process has been used for just a small percentage of households for whom the bureau can’t get information after extensive follow-up. That kind of imputation could also lead to underrepresentation of hard-to-count groups, Thompson said.
“The Census Bureau is facing unprecedented challenges already, and now it’s just putting one more challenge in front of them,” Thompson said. “The end result could be some pretty serious undercounts.”
Federal law requires the Census Bureau to report data for apportionment by 31 December, but the Trump administration’s request for an extension came after Covid-19 upended the census and made it virtually impossible for the bureau to collect data. Even Donald Trump said publicly in April that the bureau needed a delay in producing data.
Top bureau officials said earlier this year that the agency had “passed the point” of being able to deliver data by the end of the year, NPR reported.


theguardian--2020-08-04--Jerry Falwell Jr accused of hypocrisy after sharing photo of pants unzipped

The head of the evangelical Liberty University , which has strict rules over dress code and social activities , has been accused of hypocrisy after he shared a photo of himself with his pants unzipped to reveal his underwear .
Jerry Falwell Jr , who is also a prominent backer of Donald Trump and one of America ’ s most power evangelical leaders , posted the photo , which apparently shows him portraying a character from the cult Canadian comedy Trailer Park Boys , to Instagram this week .
Falwell Jr deleted the image , which he said was taken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shared by a Houston Chronicle reporter on Twitter .
The photo shows Falwell Jr , who has recently been criticized for reopening Liberty University despite the coronavirus risk , wearing a black T-shirt and dark pants .
The pants have been unzipped at the fly and are stretched open to reveal Falwell ’ s navel , stomach and upper crotch .
Falwell ’ s underpants , which appear to be grey , are visible .
“ More vacation shots , ” Falwell said in a comment below the photo .
“ Lots of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” In the photo Falwell is carrying a glass which is filled with a dark beverage .
“ I promise that ’ s just black water in my glass , ” Falwell wrote in the comment .
“ It was a prop only.
” An accompanying video , obtained by the Pulpit and Pen website , says Falwell was portraying Julian , one of the lead characters in Trailer Park Boys .
Julian is known for wearing black T-shirts , having a black beard , and perpetually holding a glass of rum and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his pants unzipped to reveal his underwear .
Liberty University did not immediately respond to a Guardian email asking why Falwell had shared a photo of himself with his pants unzipped .
On Twitter the the singer and actor Bette Midler said the photo had “ strained her eyeballs ” , while author John Pavlovitz posted : “ Imagine the righteous outrage from people like Jerry Falwell if those kinds of pictures had been posted by AOC ; the sermonizing we ’ d have heard from the “ families values ” folks .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ seemed inconsistent with dress code regulations of Liberty University , a favorite of evangelical Republicans .
The university rules that skirts may not be shorter than two inches above the knee and forbids male students from wearing shorts in class .
Liberty University does not have a specific rule regarding wearing one ’ s pants unzipped to reveal the crotch area , but does state that “ hairstyles and fashion should avoid extremes ” .
Falwell has previously faced questions over his behavior , including after he was photographed partying at a Miami @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who attend a dance face a fine of $ 20 , and are also barred from “ visiting alone with the opposite sex at an off-campus residence ” , according to the Washington Post .
The university also deems sex outside of marriage , and same-sex relations , to be “ not permissible ” .
Falwell also raised eyebrows after he and his wife struck up a close friendship with Giancarlo Granda , a 21-year-old pool boy .
Falwell went on to contribute $ 1.8m to Granda ’ s purchase of a Miami @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as “ gay-friendly ” and Politico said was a “ cesspool of vice ” .

The head of the evangelical Liberty University, which has strict rules over dress code and social activities, has been accused of hypocrisy after he shared a photo of himself with his pants unzipped to reveal his underwear.
Jerry Falwell Jr, who is also a prominent backer of Donald Trump and one of America’s most power evangelical leaders, posted the photo, which apparently shows him portraying a character from the cult Canadian comedy Trailer Park Boys, to Instagram this week.
Falwell Jr deleted the image, which he said was taken on a yacht, but it was shared by a Houston Chronicle reporter on Twitter.
The photo shows Falwell Jr, who has recently been criticized for reopening Liberty University despite the coronavirus risk, wearing a black T-shirt and dark pants. The pants have been unzipped at the fly and are stretched open to reveal Falwell’s navel, stomach and upper crotch.
Falwell’s underpants, which appear to be grey, are visible.
“More vacation shots,” Falwell said in a comment below the photo. “Lots of good friends visited us on the yacht.”
In the photo Falwell is carrying a glass which is filled with a dark beverage.
“I promise that’s just black water in my glass,” Falwell wrote in the comment. “It was a prop only.”
An accompanying video, obtained by the Pulpit and Pen website, says Falwell was portraying Julian, one of the lead characters in Trailer Park Boys.
Julian is known for wearing black T-shirts, having a black beard, and perpetually holding a glass of rum and coke, but less so for wearing his pants unzipped to reveal his underwear.
Liberty University did not immediately respond to a Guardian email asking why Falwell had shared a photo of himself with his pants unzipped.
On Twitter the the singer and actor Bette Midler said the photo had “strained her eyeballs”, while author John Pavlovitz posted: “Imagine the righteous outrage from people like Jerry Falwell if those kinds of pictures had been posted by AOC; the sermonizing we’d have heard from the “families values” folks. #hypocrites.”
Falwell’s outfit seemed inconsistent with dress code regulations of Liberty University, a favorite of evangelical Republicans. The university rules that skirts may not be shorter than two inches above the knee and forbids male students from wearing shorts in class.
Liberty University does not have a specific rule regarding wearing one’s pants unzipped to reveal the crotch area, but does state that “hairstyles and fashion should avoid extremes”.
Falwell has previously faced questions over his behavior, including after he was photographed partying at a Miami nightclub.
At Liberty University, students who attend a dance face a fine of $20, and are also barred from “visiting alone with the opposite sex at an off-campus residence”, according to the Washington Post. The university also deems sex outside of marriage, and same-sex relations, to be “not permissible”.
Falwell also raised eyebrows after he and his wife struck up a close friendship with Giancarlo Granda, a 21-year-old pool boy. Falwell went on to contribute $1.8m to Granda’s purchase of a Miami hostel which the New York Times described as “gay-friendly” and Politico said was a “cesspool of vice”.