theguardian--2020-09-02--'Get off Twitter': Joe Biden urges Trump to focus on safely reopening schools

Joe Biden attempted to regain the narrative in the US presidential election on Wednesday , telling Donald Trump to “ get off Twitter ” and focus on safely reopening schools during the coronavirus pandemic .
The Democratic nominee sought to put the virus back at the heart of the campaign after two weeks that saw the president capitalise on sporadic violence in American cities , which has blighted largely peaceful protests over police brutality and systemic racism , to push a “ law and order ” theme and force Biden on to the back foot .
With opinion polls narrowing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Biden gave duelling speeches , both in cities called Wilmington but in different states , as they entered the final sprint to 3 November .
Declaring reopening schools “ a national emergency ” as he spoke in his home town , Wilmington , Delaware , Biden demanded : “ Mr President , where are you ?
Where are you ?
Why aren ’ t you working on this ?
We need emergency support funding for our schools and we need it now .
Mr President , that ’ s your job , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ added : “ That ’ s what you should be focused on now , getting our kids back to school safely , keeping schools safely able to remain open once they open .
Not whipping up fear and division , not inciting violence in our streets .
“ Get off Twitter and start talking to the congressional leaders in both parties .
Invite them to the Oval Office .
You always talk about your ability to negotiate .
Negotiate a deal .
A deal for somebody other than yourself.
” Trump was in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ marking the 75th anniversary of the end of the second world war .
Showcasing the symbolic power on an incumbent president , Trump marked his visit to a battleground state with a speech in front of battleship .
His remarks mostly concerned the creation of the first “ American World War II Heritage City ” , but he included a reference to his key campaign theme .
“ American warriors did not defeat fascism and oppression overseas only to watch our freedoms be trampled by violent mobs here at home , ” Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been peaceful .
Those that have turned violent have involved factions from either side of the political divide .
“ These people only know one thing , ” Trump said , “ and that ’ s strength .
That ’ s all they know , strength.
” Across the US this week , more than six months into the pandemic , millions of children have been unable to attend school in person , forcing them to undergo virtual learning and leaving parents struggling to get out to work .
Democrats believe the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could prove more important than Trump ’ s frequent distractions .
The president has urged schools to fully reopen , even threatening to cut federal funding to those that refuse , while he and his education secretary , Betsy DeVos , have asserted that children are virtually immune to the virus .
Scott Atlas , Trump ’ s new coronavirus adviser , has described schools as “ a low-risk environment ” and claimed “ there is virtually zero risk of death ” for children .
But the New York Times reported this week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ classes , data compiled by the American Academy of Pediatrics from the summer show that cases , hospitalisations and deaths from the coronavirus have increased at a faster rate in children and teenagers than among the general public.
” Teachers have threatened to strike , over the risk to their health .
Biden and his wife , Jill , a longtime teacher , received a briefing on Wednesday from public health and education experts .
“ Let me be clear , ” he said .
“ If President Trump and his administration had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would be open .
Instead , America ’ s families are paying the price for his failures.
” The former vice-president criticised the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( Fema ) for announcing that it will not help pay for basic sanitation supplies , cloth masks and other protective equipment .
“ This is an emergency , Mr President , this is an emergency , and Donald Trump and his Fema should treat it as one.
” If Biden were president , he said , he would direct Fema to guarantee full access to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and to work with congressional leaders immediately to pass an emergency package .
America now has more than 6m coronavirus infections and 185,000 deaths , according to Johns Hopkins University .
More than 16 million are out of work .
Yet last month ’ s Republican convention hailed Trump ’ s response and implied the pandemic was a thing of the past , Trump delivering his acceptance speech to an almost entirely mask-free crowd .
Leading federal public health experts continue to warn that Covid-19 is not under control , even as Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Greeting supporters in North Carolina , the president criticised Biden , claiming he did not mention “ law and order ” or “ police ” in remarks earlier this week .
Polls suggest the Republican convention , and scenes of civil unrest in Kenosha , Wisconsin , and Portland , Oregon , have enabled Trump to narrow the gap on Biden .
A USA Today/Suffolk University poll showed Biden at 50 % and Trump at 43 % nationally .
However , the Biden campaign announced it raised $ 364.5m in August , believed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by a presidential candidate in a single month .
The campaign also said Biden would travel to Kenosha on Thursday , for a community meeting “ to bring together Americans to heal and address the challenges we face ” .
The former vice-president is likely to emphasise racial injustice , in stark contrast to Trump ’ s pro-police message in the city on Tuesday .
Asked by reporters how he would curb outbreaks of violence , Biden said : “ First of all , I wouldn ’ t incite violence .
I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This president keeps throwing gasoline on the fire every place he goes … I wish he ’ d take responsibility .
“ As much as he ’ d like to be running against somebody else , he ’ s running against me , Joe Biden , and the fact is that he is not acting very responsibly .
”

Joe Biden attempted to regain the narrative in the US presidential election on Wednesday, telling Donald Trump to “get off Twitter” and focus on safely reopening schools during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Democratic nominee sought to put the virus back at the heart of the campaign after two weeks that saw the president capitalise on sporadic violence in American cities, which has blighted largely peaceful protests over police brutality and systemic racism, to push a “law and order” theme and force Biden on to the back foot.
With opinion polls narrowing two months before election day, Trump and Biden gave duelling speeches, both in cities called Wilmington but in different states, as they entered the final sprint to 3 November.
Declaring reopening schools “a national emergency” as he spoke in his home town, Wilmington, Delaware, Biden demanded: “Mr President, where are you? Where are you? Why aren’t you working on this? We need emergency support funding for our schools and we need it now. Mr President, that’s your job, that’s your job.”
He added: “That’s what you should be focused on now, getting our kids back to school safely, keeping schools safely able to remain open once they open. Not whipping up fear and division, not inciting violence in our streets.
“Get off Twitter and start talking to the congressional leaders in both parties. Invite them to the Oval Office. You always talk about your ability to negotiate. Negotiate a deal. A deal for somebody other than yourself.”
Biden, who also announced plans to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Thursday amid the ongoing unrest over racial injustice and policing, said he believes the police officer who shot Jacob Blake “needs to be charged”. Blake, a young Black man, remains gravely injured after he was shot seven times in the back by police.
Biden also called for charges in the death of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman killed in her Louisville, Kentucky, home by police in March. Biden did not name specific charges and said authorities must conduct full investigations.
Trump was in Wilmington, North Carolina, for ceremonies marking the 75th anniversary of the end of the second world war.
Showcasing the symbolic power on an incumbent president, Trump marked his visit to a battleground state with a speech in front of battleship. His remarks mostly concerned the creation of the first “American World War II Heritage City”, but he included a reference to his key campaign theme.
“American warriors did not defeat fascism and oppression overseas only to watch our freedoms be trampled by violent mobs here at home,” Trump said.
The vast majority of protests have been peaceful. Those that have turned violent have involved factions from either side of the political divide.
“These people only know one thing,” Trump said, “and that’s strength. That’s all they know, strength.”
Donald Trump delivers remarks to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the second world war, in Wilmington, North Carolina. Photograph: Leah Millis/Reuters
Across the US this week, more than six months into the pandemic, millions of children have been unable to attend school in person, forcing them to undergo virtual learning and leaving parents struggling to get out to work. Democrats believe the issue hits home with every parent and could prove more important than Trump’s frequent distractions.
The president has urged schools to fully reopen, even threatening to cut federal funding to those that refuse, while he and his education secretary, Betsy DeVos, have asserted that children are virtually immune to the virus. Scott Atlas, Trump’s new coronavirus adviser, has described schools as “a low-risk environment” and claimed “there is virtually zero risk of death” for children.
But the New York Times reported this week: “As some schools begin in-person classes, data compiled by the American Academy of Pediatrics from the summer show that cases, hospitalisations and deaths from the coronavirus have increased at a faster rate in children and teenagers than among the general public.”
Teachers have threatened to strike, over the risk to their health.
Biden and his wife, Jill, a longtime teacher, received a briefing on Wednesday from public health and education experts.
“Let me be clear,” he said. “If President Trump and his administration had done their jobs America’s schools would be open. Instead, America’s families are paying the price for his failures.”
The former vice-president criticised the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) for announcing that it will not help pay for basic sanitation supplies, cloth masks and other protective equipment.
“This is an emergency, Mr President, this is an emergency, and Donald Trump and his Fema should treat it as one.”
If Biden were president, he said, he would direct Fema to guarantee full access to disaster relief and emergency assistance for schools and to work with congressional leaders immediately to pass an emergency package.
America now has more than 6m coronavirus infections and 185,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 16 million are out of work. Yet last month’s Republican convention hailed Trump’s response and implied the pandemic was a thing of the past, Trump delivering his acceptance speech to an almost entirely mask-free crowd.
Leading federal public health experts continue to warn that Covid-19 is not under control, even as Trump repeatedly asserts the virus will disappear.
Greeting supporters in North Carolina, the president criticised Biden, claiming he did not mention “law and order” or “police” in remarks earlier this week.
A Trump supporter and a Black Lives Matter protester face off in Kenosha. Photograph: Amy Katz/Zuma Wire/Rex/Shutterstock
Polls suggest the Republican convention, and scenes of civil unrest in Kenosha and Portland have enabled Trump to narrow the gap on Biden. A USA Today/Suffolk University poll showed Biden at 50% and Trump at 43% nationally. However, the Biden campaign announced it raised $364.5m in August, believed to be the highest total ever raised by a presidential candidate in a single month.
The campaign also said Biden would travel to Kenosha on Thursday, for a community meeting “to bring together Americans to heal and address the challenges we face”. The former vice-president is likely to emphasise racial injustice, in stark contrast to Trump’s pro-police message in the city on Tuesday.
The former vice president said he plans to meet in Kenosha with civic and business leaders and law enforcement. He also will meet with members of the Blake family; he’s already talked with some of them by phone.
Asked by reporters how he would curb outbreaks of violence, Biden said: “First of all, I wouldn’t incite violence. I’d condemn it when it occurred … This president keeps throwing gasoline on the fire every place he goes … I wish he’d take responsibility.
“As much as he’d like to be running against somebody else, he’s running against me, Joe Biden, and the fact is that he is not acting very responsibly.”


theguardian--2020-09-02--Covid cases could surge in battleground midwest during Labor Day holiday

As health officials warned that gatherings on the upcoming Labor Day holiday weekend in the United States could fuel the spread of coronavirus , political observers are closely watching attitudes about the virus in the midwest , where Donald Trump and Joe Biden are locked in a struggle that could decide the presidential election .
Two new national polls published on Wednesday found that Trump retained the support of 40 % -41 % of voters – within the narrow band of support he has held since he took office , even as the confirmed death toll from Covid-19 in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the polls , for Grinnell College by the highly reputed Selzer & Company , found that Trump enjoys a 49-45 lead over Biden among voters ages 55 and older – precisely the group most vulnerable to serious complications or death from coronavirus .
But in midwestern states such as Iowa and Minnesota , in particular , new warnings about coronavirus are being sounded just as the presidential election enters its final weeks and absentee voting begins .
“ We can not afford to have this Labor Day weekend further accelerate the community spread @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comes next is going to be worse , ” Jan Malcolm , the Minnesota health commissioner , told local MPR News on Monday .
“ For a while now , we feel we ’ ve been kind of walking on the edge of a cliff.
” A White House coronavirus taskforce sent Iowa health officials a report this week warning that the state has the highest rate of cases in the United States , according to the Des Moines Register .
The state has recorded just over 1,000 deaths from Covid-19 , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disproportionately affected communities tied to regional packing plants .
Biden was scheduled to speak on Wednesday about Trump ’ s handling of the pandemic , and on Thursday the former vice-president planned to hold a community meeting in Kenosha , Wisconsin , the site of protests after the shooting of Jacob Blake by a white police officer last month .
While approval of Trump ’ s handling of the coronavirus has been in the low-30s for months , the pandemic might not have altered the basic dynamics of the election , pollsters in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ observed .
But politically vulnerable Republicans aligned with Trump are following his lead in downplaying the virus .
The Iowa senator Joni Ernst , who was given a primetime speaking slot at the Republican national convention last week in an effort to help her pull off a tight re-election bid , said on Monday that she was “ so skeptical ” of the official death count from coronavirus .
In remarks reported by the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier , Ernst advanced a false claim about coronavirus statistics that the infectious disease expert Anthony @ @ @ @ @ @ @ White House coronavirus taskforce , has been at pains to debunk .
After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) released a report last week showing that about 140,000 people who died of Covid-19 also had a second cause of death listed , Fauci went on ABC News ’ Good Morning America to underscore that all of the more than 180,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States are “ real deaths from Covid-19 ” .
But Ernst amplified a debunked interpretation of the CDC report , saying : “ They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or less deaths that were actually singularly Covid-19 .
I ’ m just really curious .
It would be interesting to know that.
” Health officials have warned that expressions of skepticism about coronavirus by Trump and other politicians risk creating a sense of complacency and endangering public health , particularly the health of elderly and otherwise vulnerable populations .
Iowa ranks among the top three states for proportion of active voters over the age of 65 .
In a conference call this week with governors , a recording of which was obtained @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Labor Day weekend will be key in determining whether the US gets a “ running start ” at containing the coronavirus this fall .
Fauci said it was important to avoid a surge in coronavirus cases like those seen after the Memorial Day and Fourth of July holidays when people gathered together at events , often with masks , after months of restrictions on movement .
In an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday , Fauci said there could be a US coronavirus vaccine by November or December this year .
The comment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Drug Administration is vulnerable to political pressure to rush vaccine approval unsafely .
The worst outbreaks in the United States over the summer – in Florida , Texas , Arizona and California – followed Memorial Day activities in late May .
Those states have since managed to reel in their case numbers .
But other states , such as South Dakota , saw outbreaks following Fourth of July festivities attended by Trump at Mount Rushmore – and the state is suffering from an ongoing outbreak following a huge annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of all the counties in the US have been visited by someone who attended Sturgis , a 10-day event that ended on 16 August , AP reported .
Fauci said on Monday he had a “ great deal of faith in the American people ” to wash their hands , practice social distancing , wear masks , avoid crowds and congregate outside during the weekend celebrations .
Trump won Iowa by 10 points in 2016 but his lead has narrowed to within the margin of error , latest polls show .
“ Iowa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , indicating more than 100 new cases per 100,000 population last week , with the highest rate in the country , ” the White House taskforce report said .
“ Iowa is in the red zone for test positivity , indicating a rate above 10 % , with the fifth highest rate in the country .
”

As health officials warned that gatherings on the upcoming Labor Day holiday weekend in the United States could fuel the spread of coronavirus, political observers are closely watching attitudes about the virus in the midwest, where Donald Trump and Joe Biden are locked in a struggle that could decide the presidential election.
Two new national polls published on Wednesday found that Trump retained the support of 40%-41% of voters – within the narrow band of support he has held since he took office, even as the confirmed death toll from Covid-19 in the United States approaches 200,000.
One of the polls, for Grinnell College by the highly reputed Selzer & Company, found that Trump enjoys a 49-45 lead over Biden among voters ages 55 and older – precisely the group most vulnerable to serious complications or death from coronavirus.
But in midwestern states such as Iowa and Minnesota, in particular, new warnings about coronavirus are being sounded just as the presidential election enters its final weeks and absentee voting begins.
“We cannot afford to have this Labor Day weekend further accelerate the community spread, because if that happens, what comes next is going to be worse,” Jan Malcolm, the Minnesota health commissioner, told local MPR News on Monday. “For a while now, we feel we’ve been kind of walking on the edge of a cliff.”
A White House coronavirus taskforce sent Iowa health officials a report this week warning that the state has the highest rate of cases in the United States, according to the Des Moines Register.
The state has recorded just over 1,000 deaths from Covid-19, and the more than 65,000 confirmed cases have disproportionately affected communities tied to regional packing plants.
Biden was scheduled to speak on Wednesday about Trump’s handling of the pandemic, and on Thursday the former vice-president planned to hold a community meeting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the site of protests after the shooting of Jacob Blake by a white police officer last month.
Trump supporters and protesters gather near the Kenosha county court while Donald Trump visits the city on 1 September. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images
While approval of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus has been in the low-30s for months, the pandemic might not have altered the basic dynamics of the election, pollsters in key swing states such as Pennsylvania have observed.
But politically vulnerable Republicans aligned with Trump are following his lead in downplaying the virus.
The Iowa senator Joni Ernst, who was given a primetime speaking slot at the Republican national convention last week in an effort to help her pull off a tight re-election bid, said on Monday that she was “so skeptical” of the official death count from coronavirus.
In remarks reported by the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier, Ernst advanced a false claim about coronavirus statistics that the infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, a key member of the White House coronavirus taskforce, has been at pains to debunk.
After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report last week showing that about 140,000 people who died of Covid-19 also had a second cause of death listed, Fauci went on ABC News’ Good Morning America to underscore that all of the more than 180,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States are “real deaths from Covid-19”.
But Ernst amplified a debunked interpretation of the CDC report, saying: “They’re thinking there may be 10,000 or less deaths that were actually singularly Covid-19. I’m just really curious. It would be interesting to know that.”
Health officials have warned that expressions of skepticism about coronavirus by Trump and other politicians risk creating a sense of complacency and endangering public health, particularly the health of elderly and otherwise vulnerable populations. Iowa ranks among the top three states for proportion of active voters over the age of 65.
In a conference call this week with governors, a recording of which was obtained by the Associated Press, Fauci warned that Labor Day weekend will be key in determining whether the US gets a “running start” at containing the coronavirus this fall. Fauci said it was important to avoid a surge in coronavirus cases like those seen after the Memorial Day and Fourth of July holidays when people gathered together at events, often without masks, after months of restrictions on movement.
In an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday, Fauci said there could be a US coronavirus vaccine by November or December this year.
On risk of promising a vaccine too early, Dr. Fauci: "I think we'll know by the end of this year, Nov or Dec, that we do have a safe and effective vaccine. And I'm cautiously optimistic, although, you can never guarantee when you're dealing with vaccines." #AMRstaff — Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) September 2, 2020
The comment followed recent alarm that the Food and Drug Administration is vulnerable to political pressure to rush vaccine approval unsafely.
The worst outbreaks in the United States over the summer – in Florida, Texas, Arizona and California – followed Memorial Day activities in late May. Those states have since managed to reel in their case numbers. But other states, such as South Dakota, saw outbreaks following Fourth of July festivities attended by Trump at Mount Rushmore – and the state is suffering from an ongoing outbreak following a huge annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis.
Case trackers estimate that 61% of all the counties in the US have been visited by someone who attended Sturgis, a 10-day event that ended on 16 August, AP reported.
Fauci said on Monday he had a “great deal of faith in the American people” to wash their hands, practice social distancing, wear masks, avoid crowds and congregate outside during the weekend celebrations.
Trump won Iowa by 10 points in 2016 but his lead has narrowed to within the margin of error, latest polls show.
“Iowa is in the red zone for cases, indicating more than 100 new cases per 100,000 population last week, with the highest rate in the country,” the White House taskforce report said. “Iowa is in the red zone for test positivity, indicating a rate above 10%, with the fifth highest rate in the country.”


theguardian--2020-09-02--Trump is trying to pin Kenosha on Biden – but he created the chaos and violence | Richard Wolffe

Donald Trump took a trip to a place called Biden ’ s America on Tuesday .
It is a strange land where the president of the United States is a helpless guest , a doomed corner of his own country that is somehow ruled by a former vice president .
It is a topsy-turvy place , this Biden ’ s America .
Occasionally , the president can regain his magical ruling powers by summoning assorted minions in uniforms and incanting a spell with his thumbs to tweet the words LAW AND ORDER .
But mostly our president is lawless and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been laid low by a virus from China , a candidate from Delaware , and a bunch of friendly questions from Fox News .
He is as befuddled as anyone on Facebook about what the hell is going on around him .
But rather than trying to fix this dysfunctional version of the land of the free , he prefers to scare the bejesus out of white voters so they might forget this historic pandemic and recession .
To steady his wobbly step , Trump leaned on two men who best represent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ order ” .
Sitting on one side of our impotent leader was Chad Wolf , the illegally appointed acting secretary of homeland security , who likes to send unidentified paramilitaries to assault American citizens but insists that they are not “ the Gestapo , storm troopers or thugs ” .
Sitting on the other side was Bill Barr , the totally impartial attorney general – who called Black Lives Matter protesters “ essentially Bolsheviks ” – driven by some kind of religious lust for power .
Heaven knows that politics and religion are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ never lust for .
Together , these three outlaws descended on a small outer suburb of Milwaukee and Chicago home to fewer than 100,000 souls , where the Bolsheviks have decided to stage a pivotal uprising against everything good .
The facts can be tricky here on the mostly white shores of Lake Michigan , but one thing is clear : Trump can not feel your pain in Biden ’ s America .
His audience at what this White House called “ a community safety roundtable ” included a pointless smattering of local @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a horrified nation .
There were the owners of an office furniture store .
“ You got hit pretty hard .
That ’ s all right , ” said our discomforter-in-chief .
“ It ’ s going to get rebuilt.
” There was the owner of a candle store .
“ That ’ s a very fancy name you have there , ” said the man trying to scare white America to its core .
“ But I ’ ll bet it was beautiful .
Is it – are you going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” “ We were not destroyed , very fortunately , ” said the candle lady .
“ Well , we ’ ll be giving you some help , ” Trump said anyway .
You never know , the Bolsheviks might come tomorrow .
Then there was the camera store guy , who has been in business for 109 years , according to Trump .
“ You ’ re insured , right , ” he asked .
Yes , said the camera guy .
“ And so they ’ re helping , and they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yes , said the store owner .
So much suffering caused by the strange revolutionary forces of Biden ’ s America , gathering on the shores of a great lake for no great reason .
“ To stop the political violence , we must also confront the radical ideology that includes this violence , ” said our explainer-in-chief .
“ Reckless , far-left politicians continue to push the destructive message that our nation and our law enforcement are oppressive or racist .
They ’ ll throw out any word that comes to them.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ these politicians throw out words like bullets fired into the back of a father climbing into his car where his three children were waiting for him .
You see , in Trump ’ s version of Biden ’ s America , violence springs like Athena from the head of Joe Biden , or AOC , or Lenin .
It has no relationship to Jacob Blake , who was not named by Trump or his sidekicks at their community safety roundtable .
It has nothing to do George Floyd , or Breonna Taylor , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t even have anything to do with Kyle Rittenhouse , the teenager charged with killing two protesters and injuring another in Kenosha , as part of a self-styled white militia that arrived from out of state .
Somehow the town ’ s non-racist law enforcement turned a blind eye to Rittenhouse , walking the streets with his AR-15-style assault rifle , and his friends even after the shootings .
Some types of radical ideology are good , and some are bad .
The original Bolsheviks understood that distinction pretty well .
There are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s America .
As Trump told Laura Ingraham of Fox News on Monday , there were people wearing black clothes on “ a plane from a certain city this weekend ” who were headed to the Republican convention that just ended .
“ A lot of people were on the plane to do big damage , ” said the man tasked with protecting the constitution , as well as a nation of confused citizens .
As if that isn ’ t bad enough , there are police who shoot unarmed civilians because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It ’ s a bit like playing golf , Trump told the audibly horrified – but otherwise entirely supportive – Fox News interviewer .
“ You know , a choker , they choke , ” Trump explained , somehow managing to dehumanize both the shooting victim and the police officer who pulled the trigger .
“ Shooting the guy in the back many times .
Couldn ’ t you have done something different ?
… But they choke .
Just like in a golf tournament , they miss a three-foot.
” It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ party that campaigned for so long on the war on terrorism finds it so hard to see homegrown terrorists in places like Kenosha .
It ’ s weirder still that the party now blindly follows a man who likens shooting someone in the back to missing a putt .
But the weirdest thing in Biden ’ s America is that Donald Trump can only echo Joe Biden .
One of them said this week , “ I know most cops are good and decent people .
I know the risk they take every @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said : “ The vast and overwhelming majority of police officers are honorable , courageous , and devoted public servants.
” Which candidate hates law enforcement again ?
The last Republican president to promise to keep us safe was George W Bush , running for re-election after 9/11 .
But every few days in Trump ’ s America , we lose more Americans to the rampant pandemic than to the terrorist attacks that traumatized this nation 19 years ago .
That ’ s not just weird .
It ’ s the symptom of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a half years of a lawless and lying president .
This is Trump ’ s America , and we just vote in it .

Donald Trump took a trip to a place called Biden’s America on Tuesday. It is a strange land where the president of the United States is a helpless guest, a doomed corner of his own country that is somehow ruled by a former vice president.
It is a topsy-turvy place, this Biden’s America. Occasionally, the president can regain his magical ruling powers by summoning assorted minions in uniforms and incanting a spell with his thumbs to tweet the words LAW AND ORDER.
But mostly our president is lawless and disorderly, wandering through a country that has been laid low by a virus from China, a candidate from Delaware, and a bunch of friendly questions from Fox News.
It’s weird that the Republican party finds it so hard to see homegrown terrorists in places like Kenosha
He is as befuddled as anyone on Facebook about what the hell is going on around him. But rather than trying to fix this dysfunctional version of the land of the free, he prefers to scare the bejesus out of white voters so they might forget this historic pandemic and recession.
To steady his wobbly step, Trump leaned on two men who best represent what he understands by “law and order”. Sitting on one side of our impotent leader was Chad Wolf, the illegally appointed acting secretary of homeland security, who likes to send unidentified paramilitaries to assault American citizens but insists that they are not “the Gestapo, storm troopers or thugs”.
Sitting on the other side was Bill Barr, the totally impartial attorney general – who called Black Lives Matter protesters “essentially Bolsheviks” – driven by some kind of religious lust for power. Heaven knows that politics and religion are the kind of bedfellows this president would never lust for.
Together, these three outlaws descended on a small outer suburb of Milwaukee and Chicago home to fewer than 100,000 souls, where the Bolsheviks have decided to stage a pivotal uprising against everything good.
The facts can be tricky here on the mostly white shores of Lake Michigan, but one thing is clear: Trump cannot feel your pain in Biden’s America.
His audience at what this White House called “a community safety roundtable” included a pointless smattering of local suffering – mere pimples on the face of a horrified nation.
There were the owners of an office furniture store. “You got hit pretty hard. That’s all right,” said our discomforter-in-chief. “It’s going to get rebuilt.”
There was the owner of a candle store. “That’s a very fancy name you have there,” said the man trying to scare white America to its core. “But I’ll bet it was beautiful. Is it – are you going to rebuild? Will you be rebuilding?”
“We were not destroyed, very fortunately,” said the candle lady.
“Well, we’ll be giving you some help,” Trump said anyway.
You never know, the Bolsheviks might come tomorrow.
Then there was the camera store guy, who has been in business for 109 years, according to Trump.
“You’re insured, right,” he asked. Yes, said the camera guy. “And so they’re helping, and they’re being responsible?” Why yes, said the store owner.
So much suffering caused by the strange revolutionary forces of Biden’s America, gathering on the shores of a great lake for no great reason.
“To stop the political violence, we must also confront the radical ideology that includes this violence,” said our explainer-in-chief. “Reckless, far-left politicians continue to push the destructive message that our nation and our law enforcement are oppressive or racist. They’ll throw out any word that comes to them.”
It’s almost as if these politicians throw out words like bullets fired into the back of a father climbing into his car where his three children were waiting for him.
You see, in Trump’s version of Biden’s America, violence springs like Athena from the head of Joe Biden, or AOC, or Lenin. It has no relationship to Jacob Blake, who was not named by Trump or his sidekicks at their community safety roundtable. It has nothing to do George Floyd, or Breonna Taylor, or Ahmaud Arbery.
It doesn’t even have anything to do with Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager charged with killing two protesters and injuring another in Kenosha, as part of a self-styled white militia that arrived from out of state. Somehow the town’s non-racist law enforcement turned a blind eye to Rittenhouse, walking the streets with his AR-15-style assault rifle, and his friends even after the shootings.
Some types of radical ideology are good, and some are bad. The original Bolsheviks understood that distinction pretty well.
There are many strange things that happen in Biden’s America. As Trump told Laura Ingraham of Fox News on Monday, there were people wearing black clothes on “a plane from a certain city this weekend” who were headed to the Republican convention that just ended. “A lot of people were on the plane to do big damage,” said the man tasked with protecting the constitution, as well as a nation of confused citizens.
As if that isn’t bad enough, there are police who shoot unarmed civilians because they can’t take the pressure. It’s a bit like playing golf, Trump told the audibly horrified – but otherwise entirely supportive – Fox News interviewer.
“You know, a choker, they choke,” Trump explained, somehow managing to dehumanize both the shooting victim and the police officer who pulled the trigger. “Shooting the guy in the back many times. Couldn’t you have done something different? … But they choke. Just like in a golf tournament, they miss a three-foot.”
It’s weird enough that a Republican party that campaigned for so long on the war on terrorism finds it so hard to see homegrown terrorists in places like Kenosha. It’s weirder still that the party now blindly follows a man who likens shooting someone in the back to missing a putt.
But the weirdest thing in Biden’s America is that Donald Trump can only echo Joe Biden. One of them said this week, “I know most cops are good and decent people. I know the risk they take every day with their lives.” The other said: “The vast and overwhelming majority of police officers are honorable, courageous, and devoted public servants.” Which candidate hates law enforcement again?
The last Republican president to promise to keep us safe was George W Bush, running for re-election after 9/11. But every few days in Trump’s America, we lose more Americans to the rampant pandemic than to the terrorist attacks that traumatized this nation 19 years ago.
That’s not just weird. It’s the symptom of a political sickness inflicted by three and a half years of a lawless and lying president. This is Trump’s America, and we just vote in it.


theguardian--2020-09-03--Nancy Pelosi says she was 'set up' in hair salon mask dispute – video

House speaker Nancy Pelosi says she was 'set up ' after she was photographed in a San Francisco hair salon @ @ @ @ @ breaking the city 's coronavirus prevention rules . '
I take responsibility for trusting the @ @ @ @ @ that I have been to over the years many times , ' she said .
@ @ @ @ @ a mask when I 'm washing my hair .
Do you wear a mask when @ @ @ @ @ ? '
Security camera footage of Pelosi in the salon was obtained by Fox News @ @ @ @ @ incident which was pounced on by Donald Trump • Nancy Pelosi says she was victim @ @ @ @ @ salon mask dispute

House speaker Nancy Pelosi says she was 'set up' after she was photographed in a San Francisco hair salon without a face covering, breaking the city's coronavirus prevention rules. 'I take responsibility for trusting the word of a neighbourhood salon that I have been to over the years many times,' she said. 'I don't wear a mask when I'm washing my hair. Do you wear a mask when you're washing your hair?' Security camera footage of Pelosi in the salon was obtained by Fox News, sparking outcry over the incident which was pounced on by Donald Trump


theguardian--2020-09-02--Joe Biden tells Trump to 'get off Twitter' and focus on reopening schools – video

Joe Biden has described school closures as a ‘ national emergency ’ as he sought to put the coronavirus pandemic @ @ @ @ @ the US election campaign , after two weeks of Trump seeking to capitalise on sporadic @ @ @ @ @ to push a ‘ law and order ’ theme

Joe Biden has described school closures as a 'national emergency' as he sought to put the coronavirus pandemic back at the heart of the US election campaign, after two weeks of Trump seeking to capitalise on sporadic scenes of violence in cities to push a 'law and order' theme


theguardian--2020-09-03--'A political awakening': south Asians to play growing role in US elections

This article was published in collaboration with the Juggernaut Around 2016 , Aamina Ahmed found herself wondering why , for all the talk about getting out to vote , no one had been canvassing in her neighborhood in Canton , Michigan .
Canton is a township between Detroit and Ann Arbor with a growing south Asian population .
Ahmed , who is Pakistani American and works and volunteers for several civic engagement organizations , started to speak up about the absence of activity at local candidate forums .
Intrigued , a worker at a voter outreach organization went back to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ visited these neighborhoods .
It turned out that the field workers had skipped visiting voters with names they felt they couldn ’ t pronounce .
“ They were viewing it as , ‘ Well , we don ’ t want to offend the person by mispronouncing their name versus you are actually excluding them from the opportunity to participate in democracy , ” Ahmed said .
Such is the kind of story that turns up when probing why south Asian Americans , who historically have high voter turnout rates and lean toward the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vote .
Coupled with voter suppression tactics and difficulty understanding the complex US political process , targeted outreach has lagged , and some south Asians face issues related to language access and gender inclusion .
These factors are hindering a burgeoning American political awakening , according to more than a dozen community organizers , researchers and political campaigners .
But it would be a mistake to overlook the south Asian community ’ s political significance .
Growing numbers among multiple south Asian communities underscore their strength within the Asian American demographic , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ US electorate .
The south Asian American population – those who trace their ancestry to the southern region of Asia – grew by 43 % from 2011 to 5.7 million people in 2018 , according to the American Community Survey , while the total US population grew by only 4.7 % during that same time period .
And about 2 million Indian Americans , the second largest immigrant group in the country , are eligible to vote in the US , according to Devesh Kapur , professor of south Asian studies at Johns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ One Percent : Indians in America .
Meanwhile , Democratic activists and donors hope Joe Biden ’ s running mate Kamala Harris , the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica , can help sway undecided Indian Americans – as Donald Trump ’ s campaign also tries to double-down on outreach to the community it began four years ago with a new ad targeting Indian American voters .
The 2016 US presidential election was a watershed moment for Indian American influence in American electoral politics , according to Adi Sathi , the former @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the Republican National Committee .
Trump won Michigan by only 10,704 votes , he said , shining a spotlight on the potential role of new voters .
“ I do think that the Indian American community came out in support of the president more than they might have in the past , ” Sathi said .
Sathi credits the Michigan Republican party , which had created an Indian American Coalition that election cycle to engage voters through grassroots campaigns , fundraisers and appearances at high-profile events for the Indian community , such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But given the south Asian community ’ s booming numbers , distinguishing how different south Asians – not just Indian Americans – vote bears significance .
The 2016 Post-Election National Asian American survey shows that Bangladeshi and Pakistani Americans were much more inclined to Hillary Clinton than Indian Americans : 90 % of Bangladeshi Americans and 88 % of Pakistani Americans voted for Clinton compared with 77 % of Indian Americans .
It ’ s also important to look at where voters live – for example , according to data from 2018 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voters in the US , about 500,000 live in battleground states .
With razor-thin margins in these regions , voter mobilization within the south Asian community could have the greatest impact in Arizona , Florida , Georgia , Michigan , North Carolina , Pennsylvania , Texas and Wisconsin , said Karthick Ramakrishnan , a political scientist at University of California Riverside and founder of AAPI Data .
Constituencies with significant south Asian American populations , including Democratic strongholds in California , New Jersey and Illinois , and purple regions in Texas like the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the attention of grassroots organizers trying to capture south Asian votes .
Outreach is essential to bringing these communities into the fold , particularly since people tend to become politicized during their high school and college years , and most south Asians immigrate to the US after obtaining their college degrees , said Ramakrishnan .
“ If many of these south Asians found their political awakening in south Asia , it might not always translate that well into US politics .
So there ’ s a new kind of socialization that needs to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effective outreach among south Asians relies on knowing the nuances of these communities .
According to the 2018 Population Survey , for example , the median household income for Indian US citizens in Michigan is $ 100,559 ; for Bangladeshi US citizens , it ’ s $ 57,605 .
Indian Americans tend to have high English proficiency levels , which correlates with slightly higher voter turnout of 89 % among those who are registered ( v 87 % for the US total ) .
In contrast , Pakistani and Bangladeshi Americans turn out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % and 83 % among registered voters , respectively .
Even for Bangladeshi Americans who can speak and read English , not being able to read a voter ballot in Bengali is challenging , said Fatema Haque of the Michigan non-profit Rising Voices of Asian American Families .
“ Most folks are working-class , ” she said , referring to Bangladeshi communities in the Detroit and Hamtramck areas .
The border between the two cities is known as “ Banglatown ” because it ’ s home to one of the largest Bangladeshi populations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years [ in Michigan ] , there wasn ’ t a ballot in Bengali.
” Raihan Faroqui of the New York-based grassroots group Bangladeshi Americans for Political Progress ( BAPP ) echoed the sentiment .
“ What we know is that language access is the number-one impediment [ to voter engagement ] , ” he said , adding that BAPP has spent the past year translating instructions on how to fill out absentee ballots and other election material into the languages of New York ’ s electorate , including Bengali , Hindi , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rights Act mandates that jurisdictions make language assistance available once they reach a specified threshold of voting-age citizens from a single language minority group .
That means accessibility depends on where you live : the only non-English language available on voter ballots in Georgia , for example , is Spanish , whereas California ’ s multiple ballot languages include Punjabi .
Temples , mosques and other religious and cultural centers – places south Asian voters and future voters might visit under normal , non-pandemic circumstances – can serve as natural access points to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issues .
But whether and how those groups interact with politics affects engagement .
Some older mosques in the Detroit and Hamtramck area , for instance , are gender-segregated according to different times of the day but still mostly attract men , Haque said .
And it was only this year – before Covid-19 broke out – that some Hindu temples finally welcomed on-site voter registration , said Ratna Rao of the Michigan-based group Samosa , or South Asians of Michigan Organizing for Serious Action .
The temples would insist that they don @ @ @ @ @ @ @ though voter registration is a non-partisan activity .
“ I mean , you couldn ’ t get through to them , ” Rao said .
Rao also found a certain detachment when knocking on the doors of upper-middle-class Indian immigrant enclaves .
Often , a child would answer the door – “ Mom , the voting auntie is here !
” they would call out .
But the family would be hesitant to engage , even with another south Asian .
“ They will say , ‘ Oh , I can ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s my husband ’ s job , ’ ” Rao said .
Sunil Mehta , co-founder of They See Blue , a nationwide grassroots campaign focused on mobilizing south Asian Americans to elect Democratic candidates , also observes a cultural divide .
“ Many south Asians have not yet detached themselves from south Asian politics , ” he said .
As Trump tries to capitalize on this through events targeting the Indian American community , like Howdy !
Modi , where he appeared alongside the Indian prime minister and his cheering fans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reaching south Asian voters where they are is key .
In the 2018 midterm elections , for example , his organization invested in spots on Radio Punjab in California ’ s Central Valley , a stronghold for the state ’ s Punjabi Indian population .
Every day for two weeks before the election , listeners , including an audience of tens of thousands of Indian truck drivers , could hear upwards of six spots about voting .
Similarly , voters looking for a debate among the candidates for New York assembly district 34 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Jackson Heights in Queens , needed to look no further than TBN24 on Facebook Live – “ the voice for Non-Resident Bangladeshis and Bengali speakers living across the globe ” .
This year ’ s debate included Joy Chowdhury , a Bangladeshi-born Uber driver , who was the only immigrant in the race .
Even with media interest , though , south Asians still face broader challenges in the electoral system .
During Georgia ’ s upended June primary , voters faced hours-long lines , equipment malfunctions and poll worker shortages because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ showed up in the state where Indians are the largest subgroup of Asians in Georgia .
Two-thirds of all Asians in the state are citizens .
“ The way that voter suppression works in Georgia , specifically targeting the Asian American community or immigrant communities , is just as insidious as it ’ s targeting … to suppress the vote of people of color , ” said Stephanie Cho , the executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice ( AAJC ) in Atlanta .
When Cho ’ s group received tips from two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at a Georgia high school in North Fulton – a historically Republican , affluent , white area with high numbers of Indians and Koreans – she went to monitor the situation .
She took notice of the poll manager , an older white woman .
“ I just observed the way she talked to people .
And it was really different , how she talked to white voters versus this one Indian couple , because they were just asking questions about this form that they needed to sign , ” said Cho .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ had delayed the polls ’ closing time to 9pm , it took a white man to convince the poll manager that that was the case , even though an election monitor from AAJC – a south Asian American – had also been trying to tell her the same thing .

This article was published in collaboration with the Juggernaut
Around 2016, Aamina Ahmed found herself wondering why, for all the talk about getting out to vote, no one had been canvassing in her neighborhood in Canton, Michigan.
Canton is a township between Detroit and Ann Arbor with a growing south Asian population. Ahmed, who is Pakistani American and works and volunteers for several civic engagement organizations, started to speak up about the absence of activity at local candidate forums. Intrigued, a worker at a voter outreach organization went back to their colleagues to inquire if they had visited these neighborhoods. It turned out that the field workers had skipped visiting voters with names they felt they couldn’t pronounce.
“They were viewing it as, ‘Well, we don’t want to offend the person by mispronouncing their name versus you are actually excluding them from the opportunity to participate in democracy,” Ahmed said.
Such is the kind of story that turns up when probing why south Asian Americans, who historically have high voter turnout rates and lean toward the Democratic party, might not cast their vote. Coupled with voter suppression tactics and difficulty understanding the complex US political process, targeted outreach has lagged, and some south Asians face issues related to language access and gender inclusion. These factors are hindering a burgeoning American political awakening, according to more than a dozen community organizers, researchers and political campaigners.
But it would be a mistake to overlook the south Asian community’s political significance. Growing numbers among multiple south Asian communities underscore their strength within the Asian American demographic, the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the US electorate.
The south Asian American population – those who trace their ancestry to the southern region of Asia – grew by 43% from 2011 to 5.7 million people in 2018, according to the American Community Survey, while the total US population grew by only 4.7% during that same time period. And about 2 million Indian Americans, the second largest immigrant group in the country, are eligible to vote in the US, according to Devesh Kapur, professor of south Asian studies at Johns Hopkins University and co-author of The Other One Percent: Indians in America.
Harini Krishnan, right, of South Asians for Biden and her daughter Janani Krishnan-Jha watch the Democratic convention at home in California. Photograph: Michael Short/Getty Images
Meanwhile, Democratic activists and donors hope Joe Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris, the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, can help sway undecided Indian Americans – as Donald Trump’s campaign also tries to double-down on outreach to the community it began four years ago with a new ad targeting Indian American voters.
The 2016 US presidential election was a watershed moment for Indian American influence in American electoral politics, according to Adi Sathi, the former national director for Asian Pacific American Engagement at the Republican National Committee. Trump won Michigan by only 10,704 votes, he said, shining a spotlight on the potential role of new voters.
“I do think that the Indian American community came out in support of the president more than they might have in the past,” Sathi said.
Sathi credits the Michigan Republican party, which had created an Indian American Coalition that election cycle to engage voters through grassroots campaigns, fundraisers and appearances at high-profile events for the Indian community, such as the annual India Day parade.
But given the south Asian community’s booming numbers, distinguishing how different south Asians – not just Indian Americans – vote bears significance. The 2016 Post-Election National Asian American survey shows that Bangladeshi and Pakistani Americans were much more inclined to Hillary Clinton than Indian Americans: 90% of Bangladeshi Americans and 88% of Pakistani Americans voted for Clinton compared with 77% of Indian Americans.
It’s also important to look at where voters live – for example, according to data from 2018, of the estimated 2 million Indian American voters in the US, about 500,000 live in battleground states. With razor-thin margins in these regions, voter mobilization within the south Asian community could have the greatest impact in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin, said Karthick Ramakrishnan, a political scientist at University of California Riverside and founder of AAPI Data.
Volunteers for Long Island south Asian congressional candidate Shaniyat Chowdhury hand out gyros outside the legally mandated distance from a polling site in June. Photograph: Raihan Faroqui
Constituencies with significant south Asian American populations, including Democratic strongholds in California, New Jersey and Illinois, and purple regions in Texas like the Houston suburbs, are also increasingly attracting the attention of grassroots organizers trying to capture south Asian votes.
Outreach is essential to bringing these communities into the fold, particularly since people tend to become politicized during their high school and college years, and most south Asians immigrate to the US after obtaining their college degrees, said Ramakrishnan.
“If many of these south Asians found their political awakening in south Asia, it might not always translate that well into US politics. So there’s a new kind of socialization that needs to happen,” he said.
Executing effective outreach among south Asians relies on knowing the nuances of these communities. According to the 2018 Population Survey, for example, the median household income for Indian US citizens in Michigan is $100,559; for Bangladeshi US citizens, it’s $57,605. Indian Americans tend to have high English proficiency levels, which correlates with slightly higher voter turnout of 89% among those who are registered (v 87% for the US total). In contrast, Pakistani and Bangladeshi Americans turn out at slightly lower levels, at 86% and 83% among registered voters, respectively.
Even for Bangladeshi Americans who can speak and read English, not being able to read a voter ballot in Bengali is challenging, said Fatema Haque of the Michigan non-profit Rising Voices of Asian American Families.
“Most folks are working-class,” she said, referring to Bangladeshi communities in the Detroit and Hamtramck areas. The border between the two cities is known as “Banglatown” because it’s home to one of the largest Bangladeshi populations in the US. “For many years [in Michigan], there wasn’t a ballot in Bengali.”
Muslim men pray at the Baitul Mukarram Mosque for Zuhar prayer in Hamtramck, Michigan. Photograph: Bryan Mitchell/The Guardian
Raihan Faroqui of the New York-based grassroots group Bangladeshi Americans for Political Progress (BAPP) echoed the sentiment. “What we know is that language access is the number-one impediment [to voter engagement],” he said, adding that BAPP has spent the past year translating instructions on how to fill out absentee ballots and other election material into the languages of New York’s electorate, including Bengali, Hindi, Tibetan and Nepali.
The federal Voting Rights Act mandates that jurisdictions make language assistance available once they reach a specified threshold of voting-age citizens from a single language minority group. That means accessibility depends on where you live: the only non-English language available on voter ballots in Georgia, for example, is Spanish, whereas California’s multiple ballot languages include Punjabi.
Temples, mosques and other religious and cultural centers – places south Asian voters and future voters might visit under normal, non-pandemic circumstances – can serve as natural access points to register to vote and learn about civic issues. But whether and how those groups interact with politics affects engagement.
Some older mosques in the Detroit and Hamtramck area, for instance, are gender-segregated according to different times of the day but still mostly attract men, Haque said. And it was only this year – before Covid-19 broke out – that some Hindu temples finally welcomed on-site voter registration, said Ratna Rao of the Michigan-based group Samosa, or South Asians of Michigan Organizing for Serious Action. The temples would insist that they don’t get involved in politics even though voter registration is a non-partisan activity. “I mean, you couldn’t get through to them,” Rao said.
Rao also found a certain detachment when knocking on the doors of upper-middle-class Indian immigrant enclaves. Often, a child would answer the door – “Mom, the voting auntie is here!” they would call out. But the family would be hesitant to engage, even with another south Asian. “They will say, ‘Oh, I can’t talk to you about that because that’s my husband’s job,’” Rao said.
Sunil Mehta, co-founder of They See Blue, a nationwide grassroots campaign focused on mobilizing south Asian Americans to elect Democratic candidates, also observes a cultural divide.
“Many south Asians have not yet detached themselves from south Asian politics,” he said.
As Trump tries to capitalize on this through events targeting the Indian American community, like Howdy! Modi, where he appeared alongside the Indian prime minister and his cheering fans in Houston last September, or ‘Hindus for Trump’ in New Jersey, Mehta believes reaching south Asian voters where they are is key.
In the 2018 midterm elections, for example, his organization invested in spots on Radio Punjab in California’s Central Valley, a stronghold for the state’s Punjabi Indian population. Every day for two weeks before the election, listeners, including an audience of tens of thousands of Indian truck drivers, could hear upwards of six spots about voting.
Crowds chant as they wait for the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, and Donald Trump to speak at the ‘Howdy Modi’ event in Houston, Texas, in 2019. Photograph: Patric Schneider/EPA
Similarly, voters looking for a debate among the candidates for New York assembly district 34, which includes the south Asian-heavy neighborhood of Jackson Heights in Queens, needed to look no further than TBN24 on Facebook Live – “the voice for Non-Resident Bangladeshis and Bengali speakers living across the globe”. This year’s debate included Joy Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi-born Uber driver, who was the only immigrant in the race.
Even with media interest, though, south Asians still face broader challenges in the electoral system.
During Georgia’s upended June primary, voters faced hours-long lines, equipment malfunctions and poll worker shortages because of Covid-19. Many absentee ballots never showed up in the state where Indians are the largest subgroup of Asians in Georgia. Two-thirds of all Asians in the state are citizens.
“The way that voter suppression works in Georgia, specifically targeting the Asian American community or immigrant communities, is just as insidious as it’s targeting … to suppress the vote of people of color,” said Stephanie Cho, the executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC) in Atlanta.
When Cho’s group received tips from two different Asian Americans that issues were arising at a Georgia high school in North Fulton – a historically Republican, affluent, white area with high numbers of Indians and Koreans – she went to monitor the situation. She took notice of the poll manager, an older white woman.
“I just observed the way she talked to people. And it was really different, how she talked to white voters versus this one Indian couple, because they were just asking questions about this form that they needed to sign,” said Cho.
Later that night, after Fulton county had delayed the polls’ closing time to 9pm, it took a white man to convince the poll manager that that was the case, even though an election monitor from AAJC – a south Asian American – had also been trying to tell her the same thing.


theguardian--2020-09-03--Head of USPS board of governors has high-level ties to Republican party

Intense scrutiny of the United States Postal Service and its likely role in November ’ s election is calling new attention to the chairman of the organization ’ s board of governors , who has deep ties to influential Republicans including the Senate majority leader , Mitch McConnell .
The postal service ’ s smooth running is seen as key to the success of mail-in voting in 2020 , with tens of millions of voters expected to use postal votes instead of going to polling stations , out of health fears due to the coronavirus pandemic .
Democrats have raised @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the agency ’ s operations in ways that could hinder mail-in voting .
The USPS board of governors chairman , Robert M Duncan , is partially the target of a request by the House oversight committee .
The committee , chaired by Carolyn Maloney , a Democrat from New York , is asking for documents related to how the postmaster general , Louis DeJoy , was selected for his position .
Through a spokesman for the USPS board of governors , Duncan declined a request by the Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ DeJoy , a major Republican donor .
The 11-member USPS board of governors oversees the policies and expenditures of the postal service .
The board can also fire the postmaster general .
To at least one former member of the board of governors , having a sitting member , much less a chair like Duncan , with such extensive political ties that could be a conflict of interest is unprecedented .
“ We never had that type of situation come up , ” said the former Nevada congressman James Bilbray , who served @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a decade .
“ I don ’ t think we would have hired anybody or picked anybody that had a conflict .
The reason is it just would not be the right thing to do , at least on my part.
” But Alan Kessler , another former board chairman , said “ it is not unusual ” to have board members with political backgrounds or connections on the panel .
DeJoy has overseen and proposed major changes to the mail service .
He has said that those changes are meant to streamline @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , though , have slowed down mail delivery and limited access for some Americans .
Those changes , conspicuously , came a few months before the presidential election as Donald Trump has falsely warned that voting by mail is especially susceptible to voter fraud .
Trump has also expressed support for withholding funding to the postal service as a way to restrict voting by mail .
For months , McConnell has been blocking a $ 25bn fundraising bill for the postal service .
Democrats argue that the mail changes are meant to help @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mail across the country .
Congressional Democrats have been holding hearings and investigating aspects of the USPS and ties of the service ’ s leadership to the Republican party .
Duncan , who did not reply to an inquiry from the Guardian , has deep ties to major Republican political organizations and top Republican lawmakers .
Duncan continues to serve in some of those leadership roles .
According to new filings with the Commonwealth of Virginia State Corporation Commission on Monday , Duncan retains a post as a director of the Senate Leadership @ @ @ @ @ @ @ focused on the Senate .
Duncan is also listed as a director of American Crossroads , another major Republican Super Pac .
Duncan is also a former chairman of the Republican National Committee .
He served in that role from 2007 to 2009 , overlapping the end of George W Bush ’ s second term as president .
He is still listed as a Republican national committeeman in Kentucky .
Robert M Duncan Jr , Duncan ’ s son , currently serves as the United States attorney for the eastern district of Kentucky @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that position by Trump .
His appointment was announced by McConnell .
McConnell and the Kentucky senator Rand Paul , together , recommended Duncan Jr to Trump for his district attorney job .
Duncan is a longtime donor to Republican politicians .
In the last few months he has donated $ 11,200 to the Trump campaign .
He has donated to Paul as well .
In local Kentucky press Duncan is described as a “ longtime fundraiser for and ally of ” McConnell .
McConnell himself called him a “ good friend ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s office declined to respond to questions sent by the Guardian on Tuesday .
But in August , the Louisville Courier Journal reported a statement from McConnell ’ s office saying the two have known each other for a long time .
McConnell recommended Duncan to the president for a position on the board of governors .
McConnell , in a public hearing for Duncan ’ s confirmation , called him “ an outstanding choice to help oversee ” the postal service .
Karl Rove , the longtime Republican strategist , told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the Super Pacs are in charge of helping “ oversee the staff , set the policies , etc ” .
Phil Cox , a fellow director for SLF , described him as an “ exceptional guy ” .
In September 2018 , Duncan posted a picture of him with Donald Trump Jr on Facebook .
Duncan ’ s longstanding ties to Republican political infrastructure have irked Democrats .
The Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren has urged members of of the USPS board to publicize any potential financial conflicts of interest .
Warren wrote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ members that “ your role in appointing a Postmaster General with significant financial conflicts of interest , and who has been engaged in an effort to undermine the mission of the agency – and your failure to address and counter this sabotage of the Postal Service raise questions about whether you are meeting those responsibilities.
” Warren has also suggested members such as Duncan should resign if they don ’ t fire DeJoy .
But there is no sign that the support DeJoy has among the board of governors has cracked .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ would not have got appointed ” to his post on the board of governors .

Intense scrutiny of the United States Postal Service and its likely role in November’s election is calling new attention to the chairman of the organization’s board of governors, who has deep ties to influential Republicans including the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell.
The postal service’s smooth running is seen as key to the success of mail-in voting in 2020, with tens of millions of voters expected to use postal votes instead of going to polling stations, out of health fears due to the coronavirus pandemic. Democrats have raised concerns that Republicans are seeking to disrupt the agency’s operations in ways that could hinder mail-in voting.
The USPS board of governors chairman, Robert M Duncan, is partially the target of a request by the House oversight committee. The committee, chaired by Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from New York, is asking for documents related to how the postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, was selected for his position.
Through a spokesman for the USPS board of governors, Duncan declined a request by the Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer to provide more information on the appointment of DeJoy, a major Republican donor. The 11-member USPS board of governors oversees the policies and expenditures of the postal service. The board can also fire the postmaster general.
To at least one former member of the board of governors, having a sitting member, much less a chair like Duncan, with such extensive political ties that could be a conflict of interest is unprecedented.
People demonstrate on 25 August against changes to the USPS they say have harmed the postal service. Photograph: Katharine Kimball/Zuma Wire/Rex/Shutterstock
“We never had that type of situation come up,” said the former Nevada congressman James Bilbray, who served on the board in different capacities for a decade. “I don’t think we would have hired anybody or picked anybody that had a conflict. The reason is it just would not be the right thing to do, at least on my part.”
But Alan Kessler, another former board chairman, said “it is not unusual” to have board members with political backgrounds or connections on the panel.
DeJoy has overseen and proposed major changes to the mail service. He has said that those changes are meant to streamline the organization. Aspects of the overhaul, though, have slowed down mail delivery and limited access for some Americans. Those changes, conspicuously, came a few months before the presidential election as Donald Trump has falsely warned that voting by mail is especially susceptible to voter fraud.
Trump has also expressed support for withholding funding to the postal service as a way to restrict voting by mail. For months, McConnell has been blocking a $25bn fundraising bill for the postal service.
Democrats argue that the mail changes are meant to help Trump and Republicans by hindering voting by mail across the country. Congressional Democrats have been holding hearings and investigating aspects of the USPS and ties of the service’s leadership to the Republican party.
Duncan, who did not reply to an inquiry from the Guardian, has deep ties to major Republican political organizations and top Republican lawmakers. Duncan continues to serve in some of those leadership roles.
According to new filings with the Commonwealth of Virginia State Corporation Commission on Monday, Duncan retains a post as a director of the Senate Leadership Fund, the main Republican Super Pac focused on the Senate. Duncan is also listed as a director of American Crossroads, another major Republican Super Pac.
Duncan is also a former chairman of the Republican National Committee. He served in that role from 2007 to 2009, overlapping the end of George W Bush’s second term as president. He is still listed as a Republican national committeeman in Kentucky. Robert M Duncan Jr, Duncan’s son, currently serves as the United States attorney for the eastern district of Kentucky. The younger Duncan was appointed to that position by Trump. His appointment was announced by McConnell.
McConnell and the Kentucky senator Rand Paul, together, recommended Duncan Jr to Trump for his district attorney job.
The postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, a major Republican donor, faces questioning during a House oversight committee hearing last month. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock
Duncan is a longtime donor to Republican politicians. In the last few months he has donated $11,200 to the Trump campaign. He has donated to Paul as well. In local Kentucky press Duncan is described as a “longtime fundraiser for and ally of” McConnell. McConnell himself called him a “good friend” and “valued partner”.
McConnell’s office declined to respond to questions sent by the Guardian on Tuesday.
But in August, the Louisville Courier Journal reported a statement from McConnell’s office saying the two have known each other for a long time. McConnell recommended Duncan to the president for a position on the board of governors. McConnell, in a public hearing for Duncan’s confirmation, called him “an outstanding choice to help oversee” the postal service.
Karl Rove, the longtime Republican strategist, told the Guardian that members of the board for the Super Pacs are in charge of helping “oversee the staff, set the policies, etc”. Phil Cox, a fellow director for SLF, described him as an “exceptional guy”.
In September 2018, Duncan posted a picture of him with Donald Trump Jr on Facebook.
Duncan’s longstanding ties to Republican political infrastructure have irked Democrats. The Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren has urged members of of the USPS board to publicize any potential financial conflicts of interest.
Warren wrote in a 24 August letter to the members that “your role in appointing a Postmaster General with significant financial conflicts of interest, and who has been engaged in an effort to undermine the mission of the agency – and your failure to address and counter this sabotage of the Postal Service raise questions about whether you are meeting those responsibilities.”
Warren has also suggested members such as Duncan should resign if they don’t fire DeJoy.
The @USPS Board of Governors has a responsibility to serve the public interest. That means delivering the mail on time – not acting as accomplices for the Postmaster General’s partisan sabotage. If the Board won’t fire Louis DeJoy and reverse the damage, they should resign too. https://t.co/7lA3mlyRw3 — Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) August 22, 2020
But there is no sign that the support DeJoy has among the board of governors has cracked.
In the past, said Bilbray, Duncan “would not have got appointed” to his post on the board of governors.


theguardian--2020-09-03--Trump says North Carolinians should vote twice – despite it being illegal

Donald Trump has suggested that people in the state of North Carolina should vote twice in the November election , once in person and once by mail , although doing so is a crime .
“ Let them send it in and let them go vote , ” Trump said in an interview with WECT-TV in Wilmington , North Carolina , on Wednesday when asked about the security of mail-in votes .
“ And if the system is as good as they say it is then obviously they won ’ t be able to vote ” in person .
Voting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ illegal .
“ President Trump outrageously encouraged ” North Carolinians “ to break the law in order to help him sow chaos in our election , ” said the state attorney general , Josh Stein , in a tweet .
“ Make sure you vote , but do NOT vote twice !
I will do everything in my power to make sure the will of the people is upheld in November.
” The US attorney general , William Barr , told CNN that Trump “ was trying to make the point that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ good ” .
When told that voting twice is illegal , he said , “ I don ’ t know what the law in the particular state says.
” Barr said mail-in ballots for the election on 3 November could be vulnerable to fraud , echoing an argument Trump has made to denounce the use of voting by mail .
Trump has previously said the voting method is susceptible to large-scale fraud , although experts say voter fraud of any kind is extremely rare in the United States .
Voting by mail is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one in four voters cast presidential ballots in 2016 that way .
A record number of mail-in ballots are expected for the election due to concerns about in-person voting during the coronavirus pandemic .
Trump has accused Democrats of trying to steal the election by pushing the use of mail-in voting .
The re-election campaign of Trump has recently sued states like New Jersey and Nevada for expanding access to mail-in voting .
Democrats have said Trump and fellow Republicans are attempting to suppress the vote to help their side .

Donald Trump has suggested that people in the state of North Carolina should vote twice in the November election, once in person and once by mail, although doing so is a crime.
“Let them send it in and let them go vote,” Trump said in an interview with WECT-TV in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Wednesday when asked about the security of mail-in votes. “And if the system is as good as they say it is then obviously they won’t be able to vote” in person.
Voting more than once in an election is illegal.
“President Trump outrageously encouraged” North Carolinians “to break the law in order to help him sow chaos in our election,” said the state attorney general, Josh Stein, in a tweet. “Make sure you vote, but do NOT vote twice! I will do everything in my power to make sure the will of the people is upheld in November.”
The US attorney general, William Barr, told CNN that Trump “was trying to make the point that the ability to monitor this system is not good”. When told that voting twice is illegal, he said, “I don’t know what the law in the particular state says.”
Barr said mail-in ballots for the election on 3 November could be vulnerable to fraud, echoing an argument Trump has made to denounce the use of voting by mail. Trump has previously said the voting method is susceptible to large-scale fraud, although experts say voter fraud of any kind is extremely rare in the United States.
Voting by mail is not new in the US – nearly one in four voters cast presidential ballots in 2016 that way. A record number of mail-in ballots are expected for the election due to concerns about in-person voting during the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump has accused Democrats of trying to steal the election by pushing the use of mail-in voting. The re-election campaign of Trump has recently sued states like New Jersey and Nevada for expanding access to mail-in voting.
Democrats have said Trump and fellow Republicans are attempting to suppress the vote to help their side.


theguardian--2020-09-03--As election nears, Trump builds the very 'deep state' he railed against

Two months before the presidential election , the US intelligence agencies are under increasing pressure from the Trump administration to provide only the information it wants to hear .
After installing loyalist John Ratcliffe at the pinnacle of the intelligence community , the administration is seeking to limit congressional oversight , and has removed a veteran official from a sensitive national security role in the justice department One former senior intelligence officer has suggested Donald Trump is seeking to create the very thing he was repeatedly complained about : a “ deep state ” .
Another official has compared it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2003 Iraq invasion .
The intense focus of the current struggle is the covert Russian role in the election campaign .
The intelligence community has assessed that Moscow is taking an active role , as it did in 2016 , to damage Joe Biden and boost Trump , largely through spreading disinformation .
But administration officials have sought to stop public discussion of such interference .
ABC News reported this week that an aide to the homeland security secretary , Chad Wolf , blocked a bulletin in July warning about Russian efforts to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mental health .
Ratcliffe , the new director of national intelligence ( DNI ) , informed Congress at the end of last week that his office would no longer provide in-person briefings on election security , but would instead deliver written reports that could not be subjected to cross-examination by sceptical legislators .
He justified his action by accusing Congress of leaking classified material but did not explain why the same risk did not apply to written reports .
John McLaughlin , former deputy CIA director , said the fears of leaks should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Frankly , having briefed the Congress many times , it ’ s possible to talk about sensitive things without giving away sources and methods , ” McLaughlin told the Guardian .
“ In my view the American voter needs to know as much about this as can be revealed .
They need to know if someone is attempting to influence their vote or manipulate them.
” Ratcliffe ’ s predecessor as acting DNI , Richard Grenell , another highly partisan figure , had sought to consolidate responsibility for election security under that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out of the hands of career intelligence professionals .
And on Monday it emerged that the attorney general , William Barr , had abruptly removed a veteran official running the law and policy office in the justice department ’ s national security division .
The official , Brad Wiegmann , was a widely respected career professional , part of whose job was to advise on public disclosure of evidence of election interference .
He was replaced by a much younger prosecutor , Kellen Dwyer , a conservative cyber-security specialist with very limited national @ @ @ @ @ @ @ former national security official who helped draft the policy by which the law and policy office could raise the alarm on meddling , said : “ It remains the only avenue the [ justice department ] has to disclose foreign interference in the absence of criminal charges .
“ As you can imagine , when it comes to foreign interference we may have things going on that the public should know , and we don ’ t want to wait to have all our ducks in a row for an indictment , before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Mulligan argued .
Is China really the biggest meddler ?
As more voices on the issue have been muted , senior Trump officials have been putting out a different message on election interference – that it is China , not Russia , that is the biggest meddler .
“ It simply isn ’ t true that somehow Russia is a greater national security threat than China , ” Ratcliffe told Fox News .
“ China is the greatest threat that we face.
” On Wednesday evening , Barr echoed the claim .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” he told CNN , “ because I ’ ve seen the intelligence , that ’ s what I ’ ve concluded.
” He would not say who China was backing , but he did not need to .
In early August , William Evanina , director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center , issued a statement in which he said Russia and China were backing different sides in the election .
“ Russia is using a range of measures to primarily denigrate former vice-president Biden , ” Evanina said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prefers that President Trump – whom Beijing sees as unpredictable – does not win re-election.
” He gave details of concrete actions that Moscow was taking to damage Biden but was much more vague about Beijing , saying it was “ expanding its influence efforts ahead of November 2020 to shape the policy environment ” to “ deflect and counter criticism of China ” .
Democrats and intelligence professionals have complained a false equivalence is being made between the two threats when it comes to direct election interference .
“ The documentary evidence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evidence – in public at least – on China is minuscule , ” McLaughlin said .
John Sipher , a CIA veteran who once ran the agency ’ s Russia operations , argued in a New York Times commentary on Tuesday that the pattern of the Trump administration ’ s actions “ smacks of the very thing that Mr Trump has used to stoke outrage in his followers – the formation of a politicised national security apparatus that can serve as a personal weapon for the president .
A ‘ deep state ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ author of a book published in April on the issue – In Deep : The FBI , the CIA , and the Truth about America ’ s “ Deep State ” – agreed with Sipher ’ s assessment .
“ If a ‘ deep state ’ is a group of officials who secretly wield government power with little accountability or transparency , Trump and his loyalists increasingly fit that definition , ” Rohde said .
“ Under the guise of stopping a ‘ coup ’ that does not exist , Trump is politicising @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and using them to boost his re-election effort.
” The battle over intelligence is set to intensify as the election approaches .
Barr has picked a prosecutor , John Durham , to investigate the FBI and special counsellor investigators who looked into Russian interference in the 2016 election .
The attorney general has said he would not observe normal protocol and wait until after the election to publish Durham ’ s findings , or at least a version of those findings , with the likely aim of creating the impression that Trump was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his presidency .
“ The Durham investigation presents the opportunity for bad actors to make a lot of mischief , but the lack of clarity makes it difficult for observers to criticise , ” said Susan Hennessey , a former National Security Agency attorney .
She added that the Trump tactics in manipulating US intelligence represented a historic threat , potentially overshadowing the fiasco that led to the 2003 Iraq invasion .
“ What we are seeing now is , in some respects , even worse than the intelligence failures surrounding weapons of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and executive editor of the Lawfare blog .
“ Iraq was obviously immensely consequential and illustrates why it is imperative to guard against even subtle political influence in intelligence reporting .
But the politicisation here is brazen and explicitly partisan in nature .
“ It ’ s all these little things and so it ’ s often hard to pin down the precise place where the line has been crossed , ” she added .
“ Lots of lines have been crossed .
At this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we are at is not that there is a risk of politicisation of intelligence , but that we ’ ve already crossed the Rubicon .
”

Two months before the presidential election, the US intelligence agencies are under increasing pressure from the Trump administration to provide only the information it wants to hear.
After installing loyalist John Ratcliffe at the pinnacle of the intelligence community, the administration is seeking to limit congressional oversight, and has removed a veteran official from a sensitive national security role in the justice department
One former senior intelligence officer has suggested Donald Trump is seeking to create the very thing he was repeatedly complained about: a “deep state”. Another official has compared it to the intelligence fiasco that preceded the 2003 Iraq invasion.
The intense focus of the current struggle is the covert Russian role in the election campaign. The intelligence community has assessed that Moscow is taking an active role, as it did in 2016, to damage Joe Biden and boost Trump, largely through spreading disinformation. But administration officials have sought to stop public discussion of such interference.
ABC News reported this week that an aide to the homeland security secretary, Chad Wolf, blocked a bulletin in July warning about Russian efforts to create doubts about Joe Biden’s mental health.
John Ratcliffe has halted in-person security briefings, preventing any chance of cross-examination. Photograph: Andrew Harnik/AFP/Getty Images
Ratcliffe, the new director of national intelligence (DNI), informed Congress at the end of last week that his office would no longer provide in-person briefings on election security, but would instead deliver written reports that could not be subjected to cross-examination by sceptical legislators.
He justified his action by accusing Congress of leaking classified material but did not explain why the same risk did not apply to written reports. John McLaughlin, former deputy CIA director, said the fears of leaks should not outweigh the need for transparency.
“Frankly, having briefed the Congress many times, it’s possible to talk about sensitive things without giving away sources and methods,” McLaughlin told the Guardian.
“In my view the American voter needs to know as much about this as can be revealed. They need to know if someone is attempting to influence their vote or manipulate them.”
Ratcliffe’s predecessor as acting DNI, Richard Grenell, another highly partisan figure, had sought to consolidate responsibility for election security under that office, taking the highly charged issue out of the hands of career intelligence professionals.
And on Monday it emerged that the attorney general, William Barr, had abruptly removed a veteran official running the law and policy office in the justice department’s national security division.
The official, Brad Wiegmann, was a widely respected career professional, part of whose job was to advise on public disclosure of evidence of election interference. He was replaced by a much younger prosecutor, Kellen Dwyer, a conservative cyber-security specialist with very limited national security experience.
Katrina Mulligan, a former national security official who helped draft the policy by which the law and policy office could raise the alarm on meddling, said: “It remains the only avenue the [justice department] has to disclose foreign interference in the absence of criminal charges.
“As you can imagine, when it comes to foreign interference we may have things going on that the public should know, and we don’t want to wait to have all our ducks in a row for an indictment, before we disclose that to the public,” Mulligan argued.
Is China really the biggest meddler?
As more voices on the issue have been muted, senior Trump officials have been putting out a different message on election interference – that it is China, not Russia, that is the biggest meddler.
“It simply isn’t true that somehow Russia is a greater national security threat than China,” Ratcliffe told Fox News. “China is the greatest threat that we face.”
On Wednesday evening, Barr echoed the claim. “I believe it’s China,” he told CNN, “because I’ve seen the intelligence, that’s what I’ve concluded.”
What we are seeing is, in some respects, worse than the intelligence failures surrounding weapons of mass destruction Susan Hennessey, former National Security Agency attorney
He would not say who China was backing, but he did not need to. In early August, William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, issued a statement in which he said Russia and China were backing different sides in the election.
“Russia is using a range of measures to primarily denigrate former vice-president Biden,” Evanina said, adding: “We assess that China prefers that President Trump – whom Beijing sees as unpredictable – does not win re-election.”
He gave details of concrete actions that Moscow was taking to damage Biden but was much more vague about Beijing, saying it was “expanding its influence efforts ahead of November 2020 to shape the policy environment” to “deflect and counter criticism of China”.
Democrats and intelligence professionals have complained a false equivalence is being made between the two threats when it comes to direct election interference.
“The documentary evidence on Russia is massive and the documentary evidence – in public at least – on China is minuscule,” McLaughlin said.
US attorney general William Barr has echoed claims that China is a greater threat than Russia. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
John Sipher, a CIA veteran who once ran the agency’s Russia operations, argued in a New York Times commentary on Tuesday that the pattern of the Trump administration’s actions “smacks of the very thing that Mr Trump has used to stoke outrage in his followers – the formation of a politicised national security apparatus that can serve as a personal weapon for the president. A ‘deep state’.”
David Rohde, journalist and author of a book published in April on the issue – In Deep: The FBI, the CIA, and the Truth about America’s “Deep State” – agreed with Sipher’s assessment.
“If a ‘deep state’ is a group of officials who secretly wield government power with little accountability or transparency, Trump and his loyalists increasingly fit that definition,” Rohde said. “Under the guise of stopping a ‘coup’ that does not exist, Trump is politicising the intelligence community and the justice department and using them to boost his re-election effort.”
The battle over intelligence is set to intensify as the election approaches. Barr has picked a prosecutor, John Durham, to investigate the FBI and special counsellor investigators who looked into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The attorney general has said he would not observe normal protocol and wait until after the election to publish Durham’s findings, or at least a version of those findings, with the likely aim of creating the impression that Trump was the victim of a conspiracy to undermine his presidency.
“The Durham investigation presents the opportunity for bad actors to make a lot of mischief, but the lack of clarity makes it difficult for observers to criticise,” said Susan Hennessey, a former National Security Agency attorney.
She added that the Trump tactics in manipulating US intelligence represented a historic threat, potentially overshadowing the fiasco that led to the 2003 Iraq invasion.
“What we are seeing now is, in some respects, even worse than the intelligence failures surrounding weapons of mass destruction,” said Hennessey, now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and executive editor of the Lawfare blog. “Iraq was obviously immensely consequential and illustrates why it is imperative to guard against even subtle political influence in intelligence reporting. But the politicisation here is brazen and explicitly partisan in nature.
“It’s all these little things and so it’s often hard to pin down the precise place where the line has been crossed,” she added. “Lots of lines have been crossed. At this point, the cumulative picture of where we are at is not that there is a risk of politicisation of intelligence, but that we’ve already crossed the Rubicon.”