truthout--2020-11-09--California Law Is Step Forward But Fails to Guarantee Safety for Trans Prisoners

Syiaah Skylit has been imprisoned in California since 2015 .
Despite multiple requests to be placed in a women ’ s prison , Skylit , a Black trans woman , has always been incarcerated in the state ’ s men ’ s prisons .
There , she has faced attacks by incarcerated men as well as sexual abuse and retaliation by prison staff .
She has filed a complaint of housing discrimination with the state ’ s Department of Fair Employment and Housing .
For now , she remains not only in a men ’ s prison , but in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ solitary confinement — where she spends 23 hours each day locked alone in a cell .
A new law may change that .
On September 26 , 2020 , California Gov .
Gavin Newsom signed SB 132 , the Transgender Respect , Agency and Dignity Act , into law .
The act requires the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation ( CDCR ) to house trans people in prisons in accordance with their own perception of health and safety .
The act also requires that prison officials privately ask each newly arriving person @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whether they identify as trans , non-binary or intersex .
The new law mandates that prison staff and volunteers use the correct gender pronouns and conduct searches for each person in accordance to CDCR ’ s search policy for their gender identity ( meaning that a trans woman in a men ’ s prison can request to be searched by a female officer ) .
SB 132 also requires CDCR to house people in the gendered prison according to their preference ( with some exceptions ) .
As previously reported in Truthout , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , such as Skylit , are 13 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than cisgender men .
According to data provided by CDCR , over 50 percent report fearing for their safety if they report harassment , discrimination or violence .
SB 132 only applies to California state prisons .
Trans , intersex and non-binary people incarcerated in other states or in the federal prison system still face being housed according to their genitalia or their gender assigned at birth .
Jennifer Amelia Rose has been incarcerated in California ’ s men @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Skylit , she has repeatedly requested to be placed in a women ’ s prison — to no avail .
Rose has refused to comply with strip searches conducted by male officers or in front of incarcerated men .
In 2008 , she refused to be placed in a cell with a man , stating , “ I don ’ t want to be put in a cell with a strange man who is going to pressure me or force me to have sex.
” Her refusal resulted in prison officials stripping her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ commissary or use the phone for 90 days and removing 30 days of worktime credit , which would have shortened her prison sentence .
In 2009 , she once again requested to be placed in a women ’ s prison , citing housing and safety concerns .
In his response , the associate warden addressed Rose as “ Mr. ” before denying her request .
In 2016 , Rose was physically attacked by a correctional officer , who shouted homophobic slurs at her .
Under the Prison Rape Elimination Act , an incarcerated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ internal grievance ( complaint ) process before filing a lawsuit in an outside court .
Determined to hold the officer accountable for his violence , Rose went through the prison ’ s internal process , being denied at each level , before filing a handwritten lawsuit in federal court in 2018 .
Skylit and Rose were briefly cellmates at Mule Creek State Prison , another California men ’ s prison .
By 2019 , however , they had been transferred to different prisons — Skylit to Kern Valley State Prison and Rose to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their separate prison cells , both women contacted Medina Orthwein LLP , a queer-owned civil rights law firm , and filed housing discrimination complaints with California ’ s Department of Fair Employment and Housing .
California ’ s Department of Fair Employment and Housing did not respond to Truthout ’ s request for comment .
According to Medina Orthwein , the Department of Fair Employment and Housing had initially stated that it planned to file a class-action complaint against CDCR for housing discrimination with Skylit and Rose as lead plaintiffs .
In October @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decided not to pursue the complaint and closed both women ’ s cases .
In June 2011 , CeCe McDonald , a 23-year-old Black transgender woman and her friends were walking to the grocery store in Minneapolis .
As they passed a bar , she was first verbally harassed , then physically attacked , by some of its white patrons .
One woman smashed a glass into McDonald ’ s face , slicing her cheek .
More people joined in the attack and ultimately , Dean Schmitz , who had instigated the harassment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the hospital .
McDonald was arrested and charged with second-degree murder .
Facing 20 to 40 years in prison , McDonald pled guilty to second-degree manslaughter due to negligence , a plea that the prosecutor offered after an outpouring of support from thousands demanding that the charges be dropped .
McDonald was sentenced to 41 months in prison , which she served in men ’ s prisons .
She asked that supporters not mount a campaign to have her transferred to Shakopee , the state ’ s sole women ’ s prison @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the prison-industrial complex and the history behind African Americans in incarceration , ” she told Democracy Now !
upon her release in 2014 .
“ I felt like sending me to any prison wouldn ’ t solve my issue .
Men ’ s prisons , women ’ s prisons — they ’ re prisons , and they ’ re not good.
” Instead , she told her supporters that their efforts were better spent “ to make sure that I was safe wherever I went.
” McDonald , now an activist-in-residence at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , acknowledged the importance of safety for trans people .
But , at the same time , she told Truthout , “ Prison is prison .
Who ’ s to say that trans women wouldn ’ t be raped in a women ’ s prison ?
We know that rape culture is thriving .
In prison , everyone is a target.
” While in prison , McDonald faced verbal threats , intimidation and physical attacks .
She sees this violence not as unique to prisons , but “ the same bullshit I deal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a Black trans woman , she challenges the idea that being in a women ’ s prison would have kept her safer .
“ The idea that cisgender and cis-het [ cisgender-heterosexual ] women are less racist is a very toxic and debilitating notion , ” she reflected .
Joe Vanderford is a biracial Asian-and-white trans man currently incarcerated in Shakopee .
“ I think the transwomen would be safe here because it is so gosh darn small that the hateful staff can ’ t get away with physical assaults yet , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Truthout .
“ There are cameras everywhere and a few good staff that if threatened with their jobs from the governor would spill the beans.
” But , he added , “ There would be ridicule .
gawd knows i have heard it and endured it.
” For Vanderford , this includes staff saying to each other , in front of him , “ If I wanted to be a man , I wouldn ’ t come to a women ’ s prison to do it.
” He also recalls a prison event @ @ @ @ @ @ @ convert him and offered to find him “ a good church man ” to date .
He and other trans people have also faced more scrutiny and punishments than their cisgender counterparts .
“ I had a [ citation for ] sexual misconduct while fully dressed , sitting in plain view of everyone .
the officers never said anything to me so i didn ’ t know it- they had a team called to take me to lock [ punitive solitary confinement ] .
three women stripped me out much more sexually traumatizing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I spent 25 days in lock .
talking too loud would be taken as aggressive .
nails showing past the meat of the finger when holding palms to cop is reason to be sent inside & sanctioned.
” Still , he concurred in an e-message , “ CeCe is right there is no good prison .
the only reason I think this would be better is the prison is small with lots of cameras – so chances of assault may be less likely.
” “ If They Put Me in a Women ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Have Happened to Me ” Precious , a white trans woman , was raped earlier this year while incarcerated at the Minnesota Correctional Facility – Moose Lake , a men ’ s prison , as previously reported on Truthout .
She was brought to an outside hospital where she underwent a rape kit exam , then returned to the prison the following day .
The man who assaulted her was transferred to another prison .
On July 27 , Precious was raped again .
Once again , she was brought to the hospital @ @ @ @ @ @ @ return to the prison , she was quarantined for 14 days , then placed in solitary for another 30 days , supposedly for her own safety .
She was then transferred to another men ’ s prison .
“ I ’ m super far from my family and my parents are too old to drive three hours here to see me , then back home , ” she told Truthout one month after the second assault .
“ This has been mentally , emotionally , psychically draining on me .
I was raped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so I don ’ t know what will happen from here.
” Fearing further sexual assault , she now stays in her cell for the majority of the day , leaving only to use the vending machine , phone or e-messaging kiosk .
“ I feel safest locked in my room , ” she wrote .
Upon learning of the California law , she wrote , “ I believe if they would have put me in a woman ’ s prison like Shakopee , none of this would have happened to me .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ at all .
I ’ m always scared paranoid , etc .
I wish someone would launch a campaign to get me transferred I don ’ t belong in a men ’ s prison.
” Furthermore , she agrees that prison staff should ask trans people where they would feel most safe and use their preferred pronouns .
Both she and Vanderford have told Truthout that a new Minnesota policy allows them to have prison identification cards with their preferred prefixes ( Mr. , Ms. or Mx . )
though staff still verbally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mister.
” Will Other States Take a Cue From California ?
Being in a women ’ s prison doesn ’ t automatically mean that trans people will not face violence .
As reported previously on Truthout , Ky Peterson , a Black trans man , spent nine years in Georgia ’ s Pulaski State Prison for Women .
“ In the women ’ s prison , people saw me as different , ” he told Truthout .
Sometimes this resulted in verbal harassment .
Other times , women wanted to fight him .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ situation , but sometimes he was unable to .
Sometimes , he was punished more harshly than the person who attacked him .
At one point , he was housed in a cell with a woman who , at first , wanted to have sex with him .
When Peterson refused , she began threatening him .
Peterson reported her threats to prison staff , asking to be moved .
Staff refused , telling him , “ If y ’ all gon na fight , I ’ m taking you both to lockdown.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ after Peterson ’ s cellmate hit him with a lock while he was sleeping .
Both Peterson and his assailant were punished with placement in solitary confinement .
“ She got out two weeks before me , ” he recalled .
Peterson spent nearly two months in lockdown .
He was placed in isolation again in February 2016 when he began hormone replacement therapy , in which he was given hormones to induce physical changes to his body .
Prison staff justified his placement by saying that they feared he would become violent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in isolation for a week .
Every day , he recalled , he asked the deputy warden of security why he had been placed in isolation .
“ I ’ m not a threat to security , ” he continually insisted .
He was allowed to return to general population after agreeing to mow the prison lawns every day .
“ I was out there all day , ” he recalled .
Staff also harassed him , constantly misgendering him , using incorrect pronouns and calling him derogatory names .
When Peterson attempted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was told , “ It doesn ’ t matter what you want to be called .
You ’ re here now .
You should have stayed home.
” “ Georgia needs to adapt some of these same laws and policy changes , ” he said when told about California ’ s new law .
“ People should be given that option [ as to where to be housed ] .
It ’ s already hard enough being in the prison system .
It ’ s even harder when you ’ re being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Better Chance at Surviving in Prison ” Jen Orthwein is part of the coalition helped advocate for SB 132 .
They are also a founding partner with Medina Orthwein LLP , which represents Rose , Skylit and other trans women in California ’ s prisons .
“ CeCe ’ s assertion that prisons are not safe for anyone is well known to all of us and became somewhat of our mantra from the beginning , ” Orthwein said in an email to Truthout .
“ We want people to understand that we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will make prisons safe for anyone , including gender variant people .
We just hope that this bill makes it possible for transgender , nonbinary and intersex people to survive prison with as much of their mental and bodily integrity intact as possible.
” From her segregation cell , Skylit wrote , “ Is it really a new start or is it just starting over in a new place ?
Are we guaranteed safety because truly we will never be fully safe in prison.
” At the same time , she called the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ transwomen and persons under the transgender umbrella… .
This is a huge milestone , this is a better chance at surviving in prison .
”

Syiaah Skylit has been imprisoned in California since 2015. Despite multiple requests to be placed in a women’s prison, Skylit, a Black trans woman, has always been incarcerated in the state’s men’s prisons. There, she has faced attacks by incarcerated men as well as sexual abuse and retaliation by prison staff. She has filed a complaint of housing discrimination with the state’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing. For now, she remains not only in a men’s prison, but in its segregation unit — otherwise known as solitary confinement — where she spends 23 hours each day locked alone in a cell.
A new law may change that. On September 26, 2020, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 132, the Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act, into law. The act requires the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to house trans people in prisons in accordance with their own perception of health and safety. The act also requires that prison officials privately ask each newly arriving person their gender identity, their pronouns and whether they identify as trans, non-binary or intersex. The new law mandates that prison staff and volunteers use the correct gender pronouns and conduct searches for each person in accordance to CDCR’s search policy for their gender identity (meaning that a trans woman in a men’s prison can request to be searched by a female officer). SB 132 also requires CDCR to house people in the gendered prison according to their preference (with some exceptions).
As previously reported in Truthout, trans women in men’s prisons, such as Skylit, are 13 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than cisgender men. According to data provided by CDCR, over 50 percent report fearing for their safety if they report harassment, discrimination or violence.
SB 132 only applies to California state prisons. Trans, intersex and non-binary people incarcerated in other states or in the federal prison system still face being housed according to their genitalia or their gender assigned at birth.
Filing Housing Discrimination Complaints
Jennifer Amelia Rose has been incarcerated in California’s men’s prisons since 1991. Like Skylit, she has repeatedly requested to be placed in a women’s prison — to no avail.
Rose has refused to comply with strip searches conducted by male officers or in front of incarcerated men. In 2008, she refused to be placed in a cell with a man, stating, “I don’t want to be put in a cell with a strange man who is going to pressure me or force me to have sex.” Her refusal resulted in prison officials stripping her of the ability to buy items at commissary or use the phone for 90 days and removing 30 days of worktime credit, which would have shortened her prison sentence. In 2009, she once again requested to be placed in a women’s prison, citing housing and safety concerns. In his response, the associate warden addressed Rose as “Mr.” before denying her request. In 2016, Rose was physically attacked by a correctional officer, who shouted homophobic slurs at her. Under the Prison Rape Elimination Act, an incarcerated person must exhaust the prison’s internal grievance (complaint) process before filing a lawsuit in an outside court. Determined to hold the officer accountable for his violence, Rose went through the prison’s internal process, being denied at each level, before filing a handwritten lawsuit in federal court in 2018.
SB 132 only applies to California state prisons. Trans, intersex and non-binary people incarcerated in other states or in the federal prison system still face being housed according to their genitalia or their gender assigned at birth.
Skylit and Rose were briefly cellmates at Mule Creek State Prison, another California men’s prison. By 2019, however, they had been transferred to different prisons — Skylit to Kern Valley State Prison and Rose to the Salinas Valley State Prison. From their separate prison cells, both women contacted Medina Orthwein LLP, a queer-owned civil rights law firm, and filed housing discrimination complaints with California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing. California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing did not respond to Truthout’s request for comment. According to Medina Orthwein, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing had initially stated that it planned to file a class-action complaint against CDCR for housing discrimination with Skylit and Rose as lead plaintiffs. In October, citing agency discretion, the department decided not to pursue the complaint and closed both women’s cases.
“Men’s Prisons, Women’s Prisons — They’re Prisons, and They’re Not Good”
In June 2011, CeCe McDonald, a 23-year-old Black transgender woman and her friends were walking to the grocery store in Minneapolis. As they passed a bar, she was first verbally harassed, then physically attacked, by some of its white patrons. One woman smashed a glass into McDonald’s face, slicing her cheek. More people joined in the attack and ultimately, Dean Schmitz, who had instigated the harassment, was stabbed. He later died in the hospital. McDonald was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
Facing 20 to 40 years in prison, McDonald pled guilty to second-degree manslaughter due to negligence, a plea that the prosecutor offered after an outpouring of support from thousands demanding that the charges be dropped. McDonald was sentenced to 41 months in prison, which she served in men’s prisons. She asked that supporters not mount a campaign to have her transferred to Shakopee, the state’s sole women’s prison.
“I did some educating myself on the prison-industrial complex and the history behind African Americans in incarceration,” she told Democracy Now! upon her release in 2014. “I felt like sending me to any prison wouldn’t solve my issue. Men’s prisons, women’s prisons — they’re prisons, and they’re not good.” Instead, she told her supporters that their efforts were better spent “to make sure that I was safe wherever I went.”
McDonald, now an activist-in-residence at the Barnard Center for Research on Women, acknowledged the importance of safety for trans people. But, at the same time, she told Truthout, “Prison is prison. Who’s to say that trans women wouldn’t be raped in a women’s prison? We know that rape culture is thriving. In prison, everyone is a target.”
While in prison, McDonald faced verbal threats, intimidation and physical attacks. She sees this violence not as unique to prisons, but “the same bullshit I deal with on the streets.”
Furthermore, as a Black trans woman, she challenges the idea that being in a women’s prison would have kept her safer. “The idea that cisgender and cis-het [cisgender-heterosexual] women are less racist is a very toxic and debilitating notion,” she reflected.
Joe Vanderford is a biracial Asian-and-white trans man currently incarcerated in Shakopee. “I think the transwomen would be safe here because it is so gosh darn small that the hateful staff can’t get away with physical assaults yet,” he wrote in an e-message to Truthout. “There are cameras everywhere and a few good staff that if threatened with their jobs from the governor would spill the beans.”
But, he added, “There would be ridicule. gawd knows i have heard it and endured it.” For Vanderford, this includes staff saying to each other, in front of him, “If I wanted to be a man, I wouldn’t come to a women’s prison to do it.” He also recalls a prison event in which a church volunteer attempted to convert him and offered to find him “a good church man” to date.
He and other trans people have also faced more scrutiny and punishments than their cisgender counterparts. “I had a [citation for] sexual misconduct while fully dressed, sitting in plain view of everyone. the officers never said anything to me so i didn’t know it- they had a team called to take me to lock [punitive solitary confinement]. three women stripped me out much more sexually traumatizing than even what I was accused of I spent 25 days in lock. talking too loud would be taken as aggressive. nails showing past the meat of the finger when holding palms to cop is reason to be sent inside & sanctioned.”
Still, he concurred in an e-message, “CeCe is right there is no good prison. the only reason I think this would be better is the prison is small with lots of cameras – so chances of assault may be less likely.”
“If They Put Me in a Women’s Prison, None of This Would Have Happened to Me”
Precious, a white trans woman, was raped earlier this year while incarcerated at the Minnesota Correctional Facility – Moose Lake, a men’s prison, as previously reported on Truthout. She was brought to an outside hospital where she underwent a rape kit exam, then returned to the prison the following day. The man who assaulted her was transferred to another prison.
On July 27, Precious was raped again. Once again, she was brought to the hospital for a rape kit exam. Upon return to the prison, she was quarantined for 14 days, then placed in solitary for another 30 days, supposedly for her own safety. She was then transferred to another men’s prison.
“I’m super far from my family and my parents are too old to drive three hours here to see me, then back home,” she told Truthout one month after the second assault. “This has been mentally, emotionally, psychically draining on me. I was raped twice at Moose Lake within four months so I don’t know what will happen from here.” Fearing further sexual assault, she now stays in her cell for the majority of the day, leaving only to use the vending machine, phone or e-messaging kiosk. “I feel safest locked in my room,” she wrote.
Upon learning of the California law, she wrote, “I believe if they would have put me in a woman’s prison like Shakopee, none of this would have happened to me. I don’t feel safe here at all. I’m always scared paranoid, etc. I wish someone would launch a campaign to get me transferred I don’t belong in a men’s prison.”
Furthermore, she agrees that prison staff should ask trans people where they would feel most safe and use their preferred pronouns. Both she and Vanderford have told Truthout that a new Minnesota policy allows them to have prison identification cards with their preferred prefixes (Mr., Ms. or Mx.) though staff still verbally call Precious “sir” and “mister.”
Will Other States Take a Cue From California?
Being in a women’s prison doesn’t automatically mean that trans people will not face violence. As reported previously on Truthout, Ky Peterson, a Black trans man, spent nine years in Georgia’s Pulaski State Prison for Women.
“… we are under no delusion that this bill will make prisons safe for anyone, including gender variant people. We just hope that this bill makes it possible … to survive.”
“In the women’s prison, people saw me as different,” he told Truthout. Sometimes this resulted in verbal harassment. Other times, women wanted to fight him. Usually Peterson was able to defuse the situation, but sometimes he was unable to. Sometimes, he was punished more harshly than the person who attacked him.
At one point, he was housed in a cell with a woman who, at first, wanted to have sex with him. When Peterson refused, she began threatening him. Peterson reported her threats to prison staff, asking to be moved. Staff refused, telling him, “If y’all gonna fight, I’m taking you both to lockdown.”
That’s exactly what happened after Peterson’s cellmate hit him with a lock while he was sleeping. Both Peterson and his assailant were punished with placement in solitary confinement. “She got out two weeks before me,” he recalled. Peterson spent nearly two months in lockdown.
He was placed in isolation again in February 2016 when he began hormone replacement therapy, in which he was given hormones to induce physical changes to his body. Prison staff justified his placement by saying that they feared he would become violent because of the hormones. Peterson remained in isolation for a week. Every day, he recalled, he asked the deputy warden of security why he had been placed in isolation. “I’m not a threat to security,” he continually insisted. He was allowed to return to general population after agreeing to mow the prison lawns every day. “I was out there all day,” he recalled.
Staff also harassed him, constantly misgendering him, using incorrect pronouns and calling him derogatory names. When Peterson attempted to correct them or file grievances, he was told, “It doesn’t matter what you want to be called. You’re here now. You should have stayed home.”
“Georgia needs to adapt some of these same laws and policy changes,” he said when told about California’s new law. “People should be given that option [as to where to be housed]. It’s already hard enough being in the prison system. It’s even harder when you’re being threatened and bullied.”
“This Is a Better Chance at Surviving in Prison”
Jen Orthwein is part of the coalition helped advocate for SB 132. They are also a founding partner with Medina Orthwein LLP, which represents Rose, Skylit and other trans women in California’s prisons.
“CeCe’s assertion that prisons are not safe for anyone is well known to all of us and became somewhat of our mantra from the beginning,” Orthwein said in an email to Truthout. “We want people to understand that we are under no delusion that this bill will make prisons safe for anyone, including gender variant people. We just hope that this bill makes it possible for transgender, nonbinary and intersex people to survive prison with as much of their mental and bodily integrity intact as possible.”
From her segregation cell, Skylit wrote, “Is it really a new start or is it just starting over in a new place? Are we guaranteed safety because truly we will never be fully safe in prison.” At the same time, she called the new law “a victory for all transwomen and persons under the transgender umbrella…. This is a huge milestone, this is a better chance at surviving in prison.”
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-11-09--Trump Plans Obituary Readings at Rallies to Support False Claims of Voter Fraud

President Donald Trump , unwilling to concede an election loss to President-elect Joe Biden , is reportedly planning to hold campaign-style rallies in support of his push to dispute the outcome of last week ’ s contest .
Those rallies , per reporting from Axios , are set to include Trump reading off names from newspaper obituaries , alleging that those individuals had voted in the election even though they were dead .
Trump ’ s unsubstantiated attempts to suggest that deceased individuals participated in the election may be accepted by his most ardent supporters , but there is no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ claim .
Indeed , the multiple allegations of posthumous voting appearing on social media have been thoroughly debunked by fact-checking sites .
One claim that 21,000 dead individuals in Pennsylvania had voted spread on social media late last week , but was proven to be completely baseless upon closer inspection .
Another claim , shared by Donald Trump Jr. , purported that a man in Michigan who shared the same name as his deceased father had voted on his behalf .
That claim was also exaggerated , as it was a clerical error @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the father and son .
Besides , only one vote was cast under the name in question and the error was corrected .
Yet another claim that spread on Twitter last week insisted that thousands of deceased individuals in Michigan had taken part in that state ’ s election .
A CNN analysis of a sample of 50 names on that list found that , indeed , some of those included were deceased .
However , the claim that those individuals had cast ballots in this election was false , the analysis noted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voted , it turned out , were very much alive and had been erroneously included on that list .
Opinions within the White House appear to be mixed over whether Trump should continue his baseless fight against the electoral outcome or concede defeat .
Some news agencies have reported that the president ’ s wife , Melania Trump , has asked Trump to concede , as has his son-in-law and senior adviser , Jared Kushner .
Other media organizations , however , have said Kushner is fully behind Trump ’ s efforts to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and campaign adviser Jason Miller .
Biden was announced the winner of the 2020 presidential election on Saturday , after a week of vote counting showed that he had pulled ahead of Trump in several key states .
After Pennsylvania was announced as a clear win for Biden , the Associated Press made the call that the former vice president had won the race , breaching the 270 Electoral College vote threshold in order to beat Trump .
In addition to Pennsylvania , Nevada was also called for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ currently leading in Arizona and Georgia and has won in two other states that Hillary Clinton had lost to Trump four years ago : Wisconsin and Michigan .
According to a recent poll , the number of Americans who are likely to believe Trump ’ s accusations of voter fraud will be small but still significant .
A Navigator/Global Strategy Group poll , conducted from November 4 to 5 , found that only 31 percent of Americans lacked confidence that the election ’ s outcome was accurate , while 69 percent said they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ results reflected how people had voted .

President Donald Trump, unwilling to concede an election loss to President-elect Joe Biden, is reportedly planning to hold campaign-style rallies in support of his push to dispute the outcome of last week’s contest.
Those rallies, per reporting from Axios, are set to include Trump reading off names from newspaper obituaries, alleging that those individuals had voted in the election even though they were dead.
Trump’s unsubstantiated attempts to suggest that deceased individuals participated in the election may be accepted by his most ardent supporters, but there is no evidence of any kind to support that claim. Indeed, the multiple allegations of posthumous voting appearing on social media have been thoroughly debunked by fact-checking sites.
One claim that 21,000 dead individuals in Pennsylvania had voted spread on social media late last week, but was proven to be completely baseless upon closer inspection. Another claim, shared by Donald Trump Jr., purported that a man in Michigan who shared the same name as his deceased father had voted on his behalf. That claim was also exaggerated, as it was a clerical error that had mixed up the names of the father and son. Besides, only one vote was cast under the name in question and the error was corrected.
Yet another claim that spread on Twitter last week insisted that thousands of deceased individuals in Michigan had taken part in that state’s election. A CNN analysis of a sample of 50 names on that list found that, indeed, some of those included were deceased. However, the claim that those individuals had cast ballots in this election was false, the analysis noted. Individuals on the list who had voted, it turned out, were very much alive and had been erroneously included on that list.
Opinions within the White House appear to be mixed over whether Trump should continue his baseless fight against the electoral outcome or concede defeat. Some news agencies have reported that the president’s wife, Melania Trump, has asked Trump to concede, as has his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.
Other media organizations, however, have said Kushner is fully behind Trump’s efforts to contest the results, alongside Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and campaign adviser Jason Miller.
Biden was announced the winner of the 2020 presidential election on Saturday, after a week of vote counting showed that he had pulled ahead of Trump in several key states. After Pennsylvania was announced as a clear win for Biden, the Associated Press made the call that the former vice president had won the race, breaching the 270 Electoral College vote threshold in order to beat Trump.
In addition to Pennsylvania, Nevada was also called for Biden over the weekend. Biden is currently leading in Arizona and Georgia and has won in two other states that Hillary Clinton had lost to Trump four years ago: Wisconsin and Michigan.
According to a recent poll, the number of Americans who are likely to believe Trump’s accusations of voter fraud will be small but still significant. A Navigator/Global Strategy Group poll, conducted from November 4 to 5, found that only 31 percent of Americans lacked confidence that the election’s outcome was accurate, while 69 percent said they were sure or mostly sure that the results reflected how people had voted.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-11-09--Black Lives Matter Helped Win the Election. We Can’t Simply Return to Centrism.

As President-elect Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris prepare to take power , we continue to look at the growing debate over the direction of the Democratic Party .
House Majority Whip James Clyburn went on several Sunday talk shows to criticize calls to “ defund the police ” and argued the phrase hurt Democratic congressional candidates .
“ It is actually insane that we would think the way to respond to the scale of problems that we confront as a nation is to harken back to an older form of politics that … seems to try to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that they are so obsessed with , ” responds Eddie Glaude , author and chair of Princeton University ’ s Department of African American Studies .
“ It makes no sense that we would go back to the politics that produced Trump in the first place.
” We also speak to artist and antiracist activist Bree Newsome Bass , who argues Black voters “ are scapegoated when it ’ s convenient , and then we are thrown under the bus when it ’ s convenient … That ’ s a dynamic that has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
, democracynow.org , The Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
History has been made : President-elect Joe Biden , Vice President-elect Kamala Harris .
Kamala Harris set so many precedents here .
She becomes the first woman vice president , the first African American vice president , the first Indian American vice president , first South Asian vice president , the first Tamil American vice president , the first Caribbean American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
As we continue our conversation with Eddie Glaude and as well as Bree Newsome Bass , we ’ re going to turn right now to a comment that is brewing part of the debate that ’ s happening right now about the direction of the Democratic Party .
This is House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina , who went on several Sunday talk shows to criticize calls to defund the police , arguing the phrase hurts Democratic congressional candidates .
Here he is on NBC ’ s Meet the Press @ @ @ @ @ @ @ South Carolina against incumbent Republican Senator Lindsey Graham .
AMY GOODMAN : That ’ s Congressmember Clyburn speaking on the Sunday talk shows .
Clyburn is credited with really Joe Biden winning the Democratic primaries , having endorsed him right before the South Carolina primary , which then launched him to victory .
I wanted to first go to Bree Newsome Bass .
You ’ re in the Carolinas , but you ’ re in the other one : You ’ re in North Carolina .
Can you talk about this major debate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Democratic Party right now , Bree ?
BREE NEWSOME BASS : Yeah , certainly .
Well , I mean , first of all , to this argument that is being made so fiercely right now , you know , attacking the “ defund the police ” effort , I mean , I have yet to see anyone provide any concrete data that supports that claim , other than people making this conjecture .
I mean , I live in the Carolinas .
I have seen all of the ads that have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also running a lot of ads trying to tie Jaime Harrison to Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi .
So , I mean , unless someone is showing data that can really show that one or the other is what led to Jaime Harrison specifically plateauing in South Carolina , which is a deeply red state , you know , was an uphill battle against Lindsey Graham to begin with , I frankly don ’ t give that a whole lot of weight .
And I think , again , we can not gloss @ @ @ @ @ @ @ situation .
So , we ’ re talking about a situation where the Democratic leadership is making the claim — simultaneously making the claim that we need to reach across the aisle , we need to engage in bipartisanship with the party that is not acknowledging the election results ; the party that just tried to prevent us from having a free and fair election ; the party that engaged in rampant voter suppression , disenfranchisement and intimidation , and particularly in communities of color ; the party that , you know , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our existence ; the party that is essentially advocating a form of genocide through medical neglect , that has been ravaging our communities .
And so , we can ’ t just gloss over when people are saying that the path forward is to build with Republicans and at the same time to essentially demonize , make a boogeyman of Black activism and Black causes .
Ro Khanna is exactly correct .
It is the organizers , the same exact people who have been organizing Black communities around issues that impact us , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ win .
You know , I ’ ve also seen people making reference to progressives as being the ones who are being divisive or , you know , ending the truce within the Democratic Party .
And it ’ s quite the opposite .
You had a situation where you have a significant segment of people who either traditionally vote Democrat , a lot of people who are completely disengaged from the electoral process completely because they feel that regardless of who is in power , their needs are not met ; regardless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police continue to kill us ; regardless of who is in power , we do not have access to proper healthcare , we do not have access to housing .
So , you had a lot of organizers who had to do a lot of heavy lifting to convince folks that it was worthwhile simply to get Trump out , to mobilize behind Biden and Harris .
And that ’ s why you got Georgia turning out as it did .
That ’ s why you got Arizona turning out as it did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for anyone to look at the election results and for the takeaway to be we need to figure out how to appeal to the Lindsey Graham voters , you know , and the deeply red districts , as opposed to recognizing that there ’ s an entire electorate that is younger , that represents where the electorate is going — it ’ s younger , it ’ s more diverse , it can win you states in the South — this is the argument that Stacey Abrams has been making for quite some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and saying , “ How can we invest more in Black and Indigenous and people of color organizing ?
How can we really look at those issues ?
” — this is again going to what Ro Khanna was saying — I mean , politically , that makes a lot more sense than saying , “ How do we tap into the electorate that lost the presidential election , the electorate that is shrinking , and then , morally , the electorate that opposes democracy ?
” because they are more committed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a democracy that allows everyone to participate .
So , you know , again , I just think that we can not — we can not gloss over .
Yes , I recognize , of course , that James Clyburn is a long-standing politician from South Carolina .
He is Black .
And I don ’ t — you know , I ’ m sure that he recognizes what the political landscape is like in South Carolina .
But if we ’ re looking at the bigger picture , they ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Georgia if the case that they ’ re making is that we ’ re going to try to lean more towards Republican than making it clear to people that unless they turn folks out for those Senate seats in Georgia , you ’ re not going to have access to the things that you need , like healthcare and all these other things .
So , if they embrace a more centrist or Republican agenda , then the takeaway from folks is going to be , again , that it doesn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vote or not .
So I think it ’ s just like the complete opposite .
And the fact that the focus in the immediate aftermath of the election , when we are still dealing with the situation of a president who does not acknowledge the election results , we ’ ve got him stoking violence among white supremacists who are threatening violence against sitting governors , who have threatened to blow up ballot-counting centers , that folks would pick defunding the police as the target , as the threat , as the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about communities that are still being killed by police and still turning out to support this party in spite of that , complete opposite direction of where they should be going .
AMY GOODMAN : That brings us to professor Eddie Glaude .
Professor , you tweeted this quote from James Baldwin : “ It has always seemed much easier to murder than to change .
And this is really the choice with which we are confronted now.
” Explain .
EDDIE GLAUDE : Well , you know , there ’ s a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ find ourselves involves the question of whether or not we ’ re going to fundamentally embrace the idea that we are a multiracial democracy .
And the history of the country suggests that we constantly , when faced with that question , will double down on violence , that white America will choose violence to defend its way of life , to defend those noxious assumptions , that have , in some ways , led to the organization of our way of life predicated upon this idea that white people ought to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will in fact exact a certain kind of violence to defend that view .
And so , Baldwin , in this moment , is kind of marking this , right ?
That America is always talking about it changing , but it never changes , right ?
And so , what ’ s so interesting about the conversation around the Democratic Party is that it ’ s actually insane — right ?
— that we would think that the way to respond to the scale of problems that we confront as a nation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ form of politics that is DLC , “ Third Way ” Democratic-oriented — you know , Democratic politics , that seems to try to triangulate and appeal to this Reagan Democrat that they are so obsessed with as a way of responding to this problem .
It makes no sense that we would go back to the politics that actually produced Trumpism in the first place .
That ’ s the first point .
The second — or the second point .
The third point is this : We can ’ t allow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republican Party .
I think this is what Bree Newsome Bass is trying to suggest to us .
We can ’ t allow them to disentangle these two things .
They are one and the same .
So what are you asking for when you talk about reaching across the aisle ?
What are you asking us to do when you talk about reaching across the aisle in unity ?
We won ’ t do that again .
That ’ s not going to happen this time .
And then , lastly , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think , these narrow labels .
The politics is much more muddled .
Right ?
We need to get beyond these narrow labels .
We need to get beyond big government and small government and smart government and get to transformational government .
We need to understand what “ defund the police ” means .
Budget your values .
Budget your values .
That ’ s what it means at the heart of it , right ?
Why are you spending 60 , 70 % of your municipal budgets on policing , when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the like ?
Stop lying .
Stop lying .
And then what we need to pay attention to , lastly — I ’ ll say this really quickly — we need to pay attention to who Biden appoints as his secretary of treasury .
If we get another Rubinite , if we see someone in that tradition , we know what we got .
And so , remember , we celebrate yesterday and the day before , but today begins the hard work .
The problems of this nation require us to break @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will not allow Clyburn , we will not allow Kamala Harris ’ s symbolic and significance , we will not allow the threat of Donald Trump to get us from seeing that that is the issue .
We have to break the political frame that got us in this mess in the first place .
AMY GOODMAN : I wanted to ask you , Professor Glaude , Black male voters , a lot is being made of , came out in higher numbers for Trump this time than last time .
But my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ brilliant analysis of the information that ’ s come out on who voted in this unprecedentedly high turnout campaign , the highest in absolute history .
Now , what it looks like at this point , as he was pointing out , white voters did not increase that much .
That meant people of color increased .
Yes , there were more people of color who voted for Trump , but overwhelmingly more who voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris .
Apparently , many people are concerned about — well , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ concerned about how close the election was — Trump winning possibly about , at this point , 57 % of the white vote .
And you , in your piece in Time magazine , said , “ Alongside the details of policy and the particulars of governing a deeply divided country , [ Biden ] will have to confront what Donald Trump refused to face : that our way of life is broken.
” Can you end with that ?
EDDIE GLAUDE : Sure .
You know , I think we have to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Close to 240,000 Americans are dead , and there ’ s no communal , public rituals to acknowledge the collective grief and individual sorrow that we ’ re experiencing .
We have to deal with loneliness and what does it mean for us to be stuck in our homes and hidden behind our masks , where social interactions are kind of overdetermined by the specter of death and the virus .
And then , of course , the principal issue is selfishness , that you have folk who have simply given up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ own selfish ends .
And so , when we look at those numbers among Black men and Latino men , we can say that , you know , the epidemic of selfishness doesn ’ t end at the doorstep of white people .
And so you have people who are concerned about their 401 ( k ) s , concerned about their own individual self-gain , individual self-interest .
And so , these folk have opted out , in some ways , of any robust conception of the public good .
So we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with death , loneliness and selfishness and how it poses , I think , an existential threat to our democratic way of life .
But , you know , everybody is bringing up Black men .
When you look at Black folk , when you think about what happened in Atlanta , when you think about what happened in Milwaukee , when you think about what happened in Detroit , when you think about what happened in Philly , you see the path for the Biden-Harris ticket to get to the White House @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black men voted at 80-plus percent .
They need to start talking about why white women have voted at 56 % for Donald Trump , given what he ’ s done .
But , again , who ’ s at the center of the gravity of our politics ?
Who are folks thinking about all the time in a certain sort of way ?
We need to — these numbers will allow us to drill down at some point , but we need to understand the reality for what it is .
BREE @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I think that there is this constant abusive relationship between party politics and Black communities , where we are scapegoated when it ’ s convenient , and then we are thrown under the bus when it ’ s convenient .
And otherwise , it ’ s , you know , “ Show up to the polls to help us stay in power , because we can ’ t get elected without you.
” And that ’ s a dynamic that has to end .
When it ’ s time to try to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , why did Trump do better , then they want to talk about Black men .
When it ’ s time to talk about the issues and why 80 % of Black men turned out to vote for Biden , no one wants to talk about defunding the police .
That ’ s the dynamic that has to end .
And I think the last thing I would say is it ’ s important for everyone to recognize that the Black movement , the Black organizing of our communities , that is independent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interacting with party politics , but this movement began during the Obama administration , it continued through the Trump administration , and it will continue through the Biden administration .
We ’ re not altering our agenda based on what the Democratic leadership decides .
AMY GOODMAN : We have to leave it there , and I thank you so much for being with us , Bree Newsome Bass , antiracist activist , and Princeton professor Eddie Glaude .

As President-elect Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris prepare to take power, we continue to look at the growing debate over the direction of the Democratic Party. House Majority Whip James Clyburn went on several Sunday talk shows to criticize calls to “defund the police” and argued the phrase hurt Democratic congressional candidates. “It is actually insane that we would think the way to respond to the scale of problems that we confront as a nation is to harken back to an older form of politics that … seems to try to triangulate and appeal to this Reagan Democrat that they are so obsessed with,” responds Eddie Glaude, author and chair of Princeton University’s Department of African American Studies. “It makes no sense that we would go back to the politics that produced Trump in the first place.” We also speak to artist and antiracist activist Bree Newsome Bass, who argues Black voters “are scapegoated when it’s convenient, and then we are thrown under the bus when it’s convenient … That’s a dynamic that has to end.”
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
History has been made: President-elect Joe Biden, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris set so many precedents here. She becomes the first woman vice president, the first African American vice president, the first Indian American vice president, first South Asian vice president, the first Tamil American vice president, the first Caribbean American vice president, her father from Jamaica.
As we continue our conversation with Eddie Glaude and as well as Bree Newsome Bass, we’re going to turn right now to a comment that is brewing part of the debate that’s happening right now about the direction of the Democratic Party. This is House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina, who went on several Sunday talk shows to criticize calls to defund the police, arguing the phrase hurts Democratic congressional candidates. Here he is on NBC’s Meet the Press citing the defeat of Jaime Harrison in South Carolina against incumbent Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.
REP. JAMES CLYBURN: Jaime Harrison started to plateau with “defund the police,” showed up with a caption on TV right across his head. That stuff hurt Jaime. And that’s why I spoke out against it a long time ago. I have always said that these headlines can kill a political effort.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Congressmember Clyburn speaking on the Sunday talk shows. Clyburn is credited with really Joe Biden winning the Democratic primaries, having endorsed him right before the South Carolina primary, which then launched him to victory. I wanted to first go to Bree Newsome Bass. You’re in the Carolinas, but you’re in the other one: You’re in North Carolina. Can you talk about this major debate, this debate for the soul of the Democratic Party right now, Bree?
BREE NEWSOME BASS: Yeah, certainly. Well, I mean, first of all, to this argument that is being made so fiercely right now, you know, attacking the “defund the police” effort, I mean, I have yet to see anyone provide any concrete data that supports that claim, other than people making this conjecture. I mean, I live in the Carolinas. I have seen all of the ads that have been running. I mean, they were also running a lot of ads trying to tie Jaime Harrison to Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi. So, I mean, unless someone is showing data that can really show that one or the other is what led to Jaime Harrison specifically plateauing in South Carolina, which is a deeply red state, you know, was an uphill battle against Lindsey Graham to begin with, I frankly don’t give that a whole lot of weight.
And I think, again, we cannot gloss over the racial aspect of this whole situation. So, we’re talking about a situation where the Democratic leadership is making the claim — simultaneously making the claim that we need to reach across the aisle, we need to engage in bipartisanship with the party that is not acknowledging the election results; the party that just tried to prevent us from having a free and fair election; the party that engaged in rampant voter suppression, disenfranchisement and intimidation, and particularly in communities of color; the party that, you know, is completely opposed to the idea of our existence; the party that is essentially advocating a form of genocide through medical neglect, that has been ravaging our communities. And so, we can’t just gloss over when people are saying that the path forward is to build with Republicans and at the same time to essentially demonize, make a boogeyman of Black activism and Black causes.
Ro Khanna is exactly correct. It is the organizers, the same exact people who have been organizing Black communities around issues that impact us, that mobilized those voters for the Biden-Harris win. You know, I’ve also seen people making reference to progressives as being the ones who are being divisive or, you know, ending the truce within the Democratic Party. And it’s quite the opposite. You had a situation where you have a significant segment of people who either traditionally vote Democrat, a lot of people who are completely disengaged from the electoral process completely because they feel that regardless of who is in power, their needs are not met; regardless of who is in power, the police continue to kill us; regardless of who is in power, we do not have access to proper healthcare, we do not have access to housing. So, you had a lot of organizers who had to do a lot of heavy lifting to convince folks that it was worthwhile simply to get Trump out, to mobilize behind Biden and Harris. And that’s why you got Georgia turning out as it did. That’s why you got Arizona turning out as it did.
So, in my view, for anyone to look at the election results and for the takeaway to be we need to figure out how to appeal to the Lindsey Graham voters, you know, and the deeply red districts, as opposed to recognizing that there’s an entire electorate that is younger, that represents where the electorate is going — it’s younger, it’s more diverse, it can win you states in the South — this is the argument that Stacey Abrams has been making for quite some time — instead of looking at things and saying, “How can we invest more in Black and Indigenous and people of color organizing? How can we really look at those issues?” — this is again going to what Ro Khanna was saying — I mean, politically, that makes a lot more sense than saying, “How do we tap into the electorate that lost the presidential election, the electorate that is shrinking, and then, morally, the electorate that opposes democracy?” because they are more committed to racism than they are to the idea of a democracy that allows everyone to participate. So, you know, again, I just think that we cannot — we cannot gloss over.
Yes, I recognize, of course, that James Clyburn is a long-standing politician from South Carolina. He is Black. And I don’t — you know, I’m sure that he recognizes what the political landscape is like in South Carolina. But if we’re looking at the bigger picture, they’re going to cost themselves the Senate race in Georgia if the case that they’re making is that we’re going to try to lean more towards Republican than making it clear to people that unless they turn folks out for those Senate seats in Georgia, you’re not going to have access to the things that you need, like healthcare and all these other things. So, if they embrace a more centrist or Republican agenda, then the takeaway from folks is going to be, again, that it doesn’t matter whether they turn out to vote or not. So I think it’s just like the complete opposite.
And the fact that the focus in the immediate aftermath of the election, when we are still dealing with the situation of a president who does not acknowledge the election results, we’ve got him stoking violence among white supremacists who are threatening violence against sitting governors, who have threatened to blow up ballot-counting centers, that folks would pick defunding the police as the target, as the threat, as the danger, when you’re talking about communities that are still being killed by police and still turning out to support this party in spite of that, complete opposite direction of where they should be going.
AMY GOODMAN: That brings us to professor Eddie Glaude. Professor, you tweeted this quote from James Baldwin: “It has always seemed much easier to murder than to change. And this is really the choice with which we are confronted now.” Explain.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Well, you know, there’s a sense in which the reckoning that we find ourselves involves the question of whether or not we’re going to fundamentally embrace the idea that we are a multiracial democracy. And the history of the country suggests that we constantly, when faced with that question, will double down on violence, that white America will choose violence to defend its way of life, to defend those noxious assumptions, that have, in some ways, led to the organization of our way of life predicated upon this idea that white people ought to be valued more than others, that they will in fact exact a certain kind of violence to defend that view. And so, Baldwin, in this moment, is kind of marking this, right? That America is always talking about it changing, but it never changes, right?
And so, what’s so interesting about the conversation around the Democratic Party is that it’s actually insane — right? — that we would think that the way to respond to the scale of problems that we confront as a nation is to harken back to an older form of politics that is DLC, “Third Way” Democratic-oriented — you know, Democratic politics, that seems to try to triangulate and appeal to this Reagan Democrat that they are so obsessed with as a way of responding to this problem. It makes no sense that we would go back to the politics that actually produced Trumpism in the first place. That’s the first point. The second — or the second point.
The third point is this: We can’t allow these folk to disentangle Trumpism from the Republican Party. I think this is what Bree Newsome Bass is trying to suggest to us. We can’t allow them to disentangle these two things. They are one and the same. So what are you asking for when you talk about reaching across the aisle? What are you asking us to do when you talk about reaching across the aisle in unity? We won’t do that again. That’s not going to happen this time.
And then, lastly, we need to get beyond, I think, these narrow labels. The politics is much more muddled. Right? We need to get beyond these narrow labels. We need to get beyond big government and small government and smart government and get to transformational government. We need to understand what “defund the police” means. Budget your values. Budget your values. That’s what it means at the heart of it, right? Why are you spending 60, 70% of your municipal budgets on policing, when you have education, social services and the like? Stop lying. Stop lying.
And then what we need to pay attention to, lastly — I’ll say this really quickly — we need to pay attention to who Biden appoints as his secretary of treasury. If we get another Rubinite, if we see someone in that tradition, we know what we got. And so, remember, we celebrate yesterday and the day before, but today begins the hard work. The problems of this nation require us to break from the old frames. And we will not allow Clyburn, we will not allow Kamala Harris’s symbolic and significance, we will not allow the threat of Donald Trump to get us from seeing that that is the issue. We have to break the political frame that got us in this mess in the first place.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to ask you, Professor Glaude, Black male voters, a lot is being made of, came out in higher numbers for Trump this time than last time. But my colleague, co-host Juan González did a brilliant analysis of the information that’s come out on who voted in this unprecedentedly high turnout campaign, the highest in absolute history. Now, what it looks like at this point, as he was pointing out, white voters did not increase that much. That meant people of color increased. Yes, there were more people of color who voted for Trump, but overwhelmingly more who voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Apparently, many people are concerned about — well, I mean, obviously, many people are concerned about how close the election was — Trump winning possibly about, at this point, 57% of the white vote. And you, in your piece in Time magazine, said, “Alongside the details of policy and the particulars of governing a deeply divided country, [Biden] will have to confront what Donald Trump refused to face: that our way of life is broken.” Can you end with that?
EDDIE GLAUDE: Sure. You know, I think we have to deal with the reality of our dead. Close to 240,000 Americans are dead, and there’s no communal, public rituals to acknowledge the collective grief and individual sorrow that we’re experiencing. We have to deal with loneliness and what does it mean for us to be stuck in our homes and hidden behind our masks, where social interactions are kind of overdetermined by the specter of death and the virus. And then, of course, the principal issue is selfishness, that you have folk who have simply given up stake in the American life for their own selfish ends. And so, when we look at those numbers among Black men and Latino men, we can say that, you know, the epidemic of selfishness doesn’t end at the doorstep of white people. And so you have people who are concerned about their 401(k)s, concerned about their own individual self-gain, individual self-interest. And so, these folk have opted out, in some ways, of any robust conception of the public good. So we’re going to have to deal with death, loneliness and selfishness and how it poses, I think, an existential threat to our democratic way of life.
But, you know, everybody is bringing up Black men. When you look at Black folk, when you think about what happened in Atlanta, when you think about what happened in Milwaukee, when you think about what happened in Detroit, when you think about what happened in Philly, you see the path for the Biden-Harris ticket to get to the White House through Black America, Black folk. Black men voted at 80-plus percent. They need to start talking about why white women have voted at 56% for Donald Trump, given what he’s done. But, again, who’s at the center of the gravity of our politics? Who are folks thinking about all the time in a certain sort of way? We need to — these numbers will allow us to drill down at some point, but we need to understand the reality for what it is.
AMY GOODMAN: Last 30 seconds, Bree Newsome Bass.
BREE NEWSOME BASS: Yes. I mean, I think that there is this constant abusive relationship between party politics and Black communities, where we are scapegoated when it’s convenient, and then we are thrown under the bus when it’s convenient. And otherwise, it’s, you know, “Show up to the polls to help us stay in power, because we can’t get elected without you.” And that’s a dynamic that has to end. When it’s time to try to scapegoat and talk about, you know, why did Trump do better, then they want to talk about Black men. When it’s time to talk about the issues and why 80% of Black men turned out to vote for Biden, no one wants to talk about defunding the police. That’s the dynamic that has to end.
And I think the last thing I would say is it’s important for everyone to recognize that the Black movement, the Black organizing of our communities, that is independent of the Democratic Party. We are interacting with party politics, but this movement began during the Obama administration, it continued through the Trump administration, and it will continue through the Biden administration. We’re not altering our agenda based on what the Democratic leadership decides.
AMY GOODMAN: We have to leave it there, and I thank you so much for being with us, Bree Newsome Bass, antiracist activist, and Princeton professor Eddie Glaude.
Happy Birthday to John Hamilton and Kieran Krug-Meadows! I’m Amy Goodman.


truthout--2020-11-09--Trump’s Baseless Fraud Accusations Are Already Sparking Far Right Violence

On Saturday , the media declared victory for now President-elect Joe Biden .
Staying true to form , Donald Trump is following through on his promises to reject defeat by declaring fraud .
The two-and-a-half months between now and Inauguration Day will undoubtedly be filled with tension as we watch to see whether Republican leaders and/or state forces will take steps beyond echoing Trump ’ s rhetoric of fraud to tangibly ensure that their leader holds on to power .
Far more likely than a pro-Trump military-backed coup , however , is enhanced militancy on the part of far right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s unfounded accusations of fraud have inspired an attempted armed attack on the Philadelphia convention center and bomb threats against the mall next to the convention center , not to mention the plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan .
Indeed , Trump ’ s ramblings about election fraud — which he has peddled for four years now — fit perfectly into the conspiratorial worldview of QAnon and provide ample fodder for far right efforts to expand their popular support and undermine faith in the electoral system .
As Spencer Sunshine points @ @ @ @ @ @ @ white nationalist wing of the ‘ alt right ’ … continues to implode ” with the dissolution of the American Identity Movement ( formerly Identity Evropa ) and other developments .
Nevertheless , there is still much cause for long-term concern .
To a limited extent , the emergence of this revanchist Trumpian myth of betrayal at the ballot box is reminiscent of the Dolchstoßlegende ( or stab-in-the-back myth ) that emerged in right-wing circles after the German defeat in World War I in 1918 .
Unable to fathom that the war effort @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that it was not military defeat but rather the treacherous actions of politicians , socialists , trade unionists and especially Jews that sealed their fate .
There were , of course , myriad factors that made conditions a century ago very different from those of today , and a sequel to the major results of the stab-in-the-back myth — i.e.
, the rise of Hitler and the Holocaust — is very unlikely .
Nevertheless , the racialized discrediting of the election , evident in how Trump , Tucker Carlson , and others singled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ situated within a larger antisemitic far right ecosphere that accuses Jews like George Soros of being the puppet masters controlling Black resistance , bears resemblance to earlier antisemitism .
At the very least , over the coming years this emerging mythology of deceitful election fraud will further polarize much of the right and erode faith in the republic .
So while figures like Jon Meacham may argue that Biden ’ s victory is the “ beginning of the end of an era of perpetual partisan warfare , ” it is more likely that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of an era of social strife as this country continues to grapple with its genocidal and white supremacist history .
Although the demographic foundation of Trumpism will continue to shrink as the United States becomes less white , a corresponding accentuation of the erroneous perception of white victimhood on the part of more and more conservatives may make the threat of the far right grow in size and in its level of violence .
If they believe that the 2020 election was stolen , many conservatives may feel like the “ democracy ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ loving them back .
And so perhaps , from their twisted perspective , another American Revolution may be necessary to rescue the country from what they see as internal enemies .
While the increasing percentage of nonwhite people in the United States appears to provide a roadblock on the potential path to power of a white nationalist leader , it is possible to imagine the emergence of a more cunning , calculated version of Trump who could pull from a broader base of support , particularly in a time of acute crisis .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is unknown , perhaps Zeynep Tufekci is right to warn that “ America ’ s next authoritarian will be much more competent.
” Unfortunately , many liberals are unable to envision strategies of opposition to such a figure that go beyond electoral politics .
Certainly this has changed somewhat over the past year as thousands of people have taken to the streets in Black Lives Matter protests and other mobilizations .
Overall , however , for many liberals , particularly many white liberals , # TheResistance amounted to little more than desperately following @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people like former FBI Director James Comey ) as Trump ’ s administration rolled on .
Fortunately for them , Biden won .
If he had not , they may have been forced to countenance the limitations of their political horizons .
Such a reckoning may come nevertheless if sufficient support develops for Trump to remain in the White House .
But even if the end of Trump ’ s reign is uneventful , they may not get such a reprieve in the future .
A mainstream narrative accompanying the defeat of Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ history of our political system is over , and that bigotry and misogyny have been banished from the White House , despite Biden ’ s racist and sexually abusive history and the structurally white supremacist nature of our entire system .
This shows how there is a mobilizing and a demobilizing dynamic at play with the result of the election .
While Trump ’ s defeat will energize many to push further in their pursuit of justice , Biden ’ s victory will also have a “ brunch ” effect : As an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hillary was president we ’ d all be at brunch.
” With Biden in office , how many will ( metaphorically ) trade in their molotovs for mimosas ?
And how can we work to ensure that those newly activated people who mobilized against Trump continue to actively push back against the forces that spurred on his presidency ?
In politics as in life , not all steps forward are without their challenges and complications .
Specifically in terms of resistance to a potentially energized and even more dangerous far right , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kind of symbiosis between the far right and the political center ( when the far right is not powerful enough to destroy all opposition ) .
The more threatening the right-wing threat , the more leftists will strategically support the centrist opposition to stave off complete catastrophe .
Meanwhile , the far right infiltrates the liberal rhetoric of diversity , inclusion and tolerance to gain access to popular political discourse and cast leftist anti-fascist initiatives as “ intolerant ” and unjust .
Even when the right-wing threat fails , the effect that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opposition to the center means that the status quo remains more favorable to their outlook than it would have been otherwise .
Hillary Clinton articulated this symbiosis when she counseled European leaders to clamp down on immigration in order to deprive the far right of one of its animating political issues .
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn ( D-South Carolina ) cautioned regarding the Georgia runoff elections , “ if we are going to run on Medicare for All , defund the police , socialized medicine , we ’ re not going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ boil down to the classic struggle that radical organizers face in attempting to balance “ meeting people where they ’ re at ” politically and attempting to advance the agenda in a leftward direction .
But particularly in the broader context of an anti-fascist struggle , how do those of us whose political aspirations do not fit in the Biden-Harris White House push back against the centrist assumption that radicalism gives increased propagandistic fodder for the enemy ?
While there are no easy answers , moving forward we must capitalize as best we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the powerful social movements of recent years .
We must build enough popular power from below to prevent our resistance from being funneled into the political center as we defeat the next would-be racist authoritarian demagogue .

On Saturday, the media declared victory for now President-elect Joe Biden. Staying true to form, Donald Trump is following through on his promises to reject defeat by declaring fraud. The two-and-a-half months between now and Inauguration Day will undoubtedly be filled with tension as we watch to see whether Republican leaders and/or state forces will take steps beyond echoing Trump’s rhetoric of fraud to tangibly ensure that their leader holds on to power.
Far more likely than a pro-Trump military-backed coup, however, is enhanced militancy on the part of far right militias and fascist groups. Already Trump’s unfounded accusations of fraud have inspired an attempted armed attack on the Philadelphia convention center and bomb threats against the mall next to the convention center, not to mention the plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan. Indeed, Trump’s ramblings about election fraud — which he has peddled for four years now — fit perfectly into the conspiratorial worldview of QAnon and provide ample fodder for far right efforts to expand their popular support and undermine faith in the electoral system. As Spencer Sunshine points out, however, recently the “white nationalist wing of the ‘alt right’… continues to implode” with the dissolution of the American Identity Movement (formerly Identity Evropa) and other developments.
Nevertheless, there is still much cause for long-term concern. To a limited extent, the emergence of this revanchist Trumpian myth of betrayal at the ballot box is reminiscent of the Dolchstoßlegende (or stab-in-the-back myth) that emerged in right-wing circles after the German defeat in World War I in 1918. Unable to fathom that the war effort was failing, the German right argued that it was not military defeat but rather the treacherous actions of politicians, socialists, trade unionists and especially Jews that sealed their fate. There were, of course, myriad factors that made conditions a century ago very different from those of today, and a sequel to the major results of the stab-in-the-back myth — i.e., the rise of Hitler and the Holocaust — is very unlikely. Nevertheless, the racialized discrediting of the election, evident in how Trump, Tucker Carlson, and others singled out cities like Detroit and Philadelphia, situated within a larger antisemitic far right ecosphere that accuses Jews like George Soros of being the puppet masters controlling Black resistance, bears resemblance to earlier antisemitism. At the very least, over the coming years this emerging mythology of deceitful election fraud will further polarize much of the right and erode faith in the republic.
So while figures like Jon Meacham may argue that Biden’s victory is the “beginning of the end of an era of perpetual partisan warfare,” it is more likely that this is the end of the beginning of an era of social strife as this country continues to grapple with its genocidal and white supremacist history. Although the demographic foundation of Trumpism will continue to shrink as the United States becomes less white, a corresponding accentuation of the erroneous perception of white victimhood on the part of more and more conservatives may make the threat of the far right grow in size and in its level of violence. If they believe that the 2020 election was stolen, many conservatives may feel like the “democracy” that they thought they loved is not loving them back. And so perhaps, from their twisted perspective, another American Revolution may be necessary to rescue the country from what they see as internal enemies.
While the increasing percentage of nonwhite people in the United States appears to provide a roadblock on the potential path to power of a white nationalist leader, it is possible to imagine the emergence of a more cunning, calculated version of Trump who could pull from a broader base of support, particularly in a time of acute crisis. In that sense, although the future is unknown, perhaps Zeynep Tufekci is right to warn that “America’s next authoritarian will be much more competent.”
Unfortunately, many liberals are unable to envision strategies of opposition to such a figure that go beyond electoral politics. Certainly this has changed somewhat over the past year as thousands of people have taken to the streets in Black Lives Matter protests and other mobilizations. Overall, however, for many liberals, particularly many white liberals, #TheResistance amounted to little more than desperately following the Mueller investigation (and even lionizing people like former FBI Director James Comey) as Trump’s administration rolled on. Fortunately for them, Biden won. If he had not, they may have been forced to countenance the limitations of their political horizons. Such a reckoning may come nevertheless if sufficient support develops for Trump to remain in the White House. But even if the end of Trump’s reign is uneventful, they may not get such a reprieve in the future.
A mainstream narrative accompanying the defeat of Trump says that a hateful aberration in the history of our political system is over, and that bigotry and misogyny have been banished from the White House, despite Biden’s racist and sexually abusive history and the structurally white supremacist nature of our entire system. This shows how there is a mobilizing and a demobilizing dynamic at play with the result of the election. While Trump’s defeat will energize many to push further in their pursuit of justice, Biden’s victory will also have a “brunch” effect: As an infamous protest sign claimed, “If Hillary was president we’d all be at brunch.” With Biden in office, how many will (metaphorically) trade in their molotovs for mimosas? And how can we work to ensure that those newly activated people who mobilized against Trump continue to actively push back against the forces that spurred on his presidency?
In politics as in life, not all steps forward are without their challenges and complications. Specifically in terms of resistance to a potentially energized and even more dangerous far right, we must recognize how there can be a kind of symbiosis between the far right and the political center (when the far right is not powerful enough to destroy all opposition). The more threatening the right-wing threat, the more leftists will strategically support the centrist opposition to stave off complete catastrophe. Meanwhile, the far right infiltrates the liberal rhetoric of diversity, inclusion and tolerance to gain access to popular political discourse and cast leftist anti-fascist initiatives as “intolerant” and unjust. Even when the right-wing threat fails, the effect that the far right often has in pulling their opposition to the center means that the status quo remains more favorable to their outlook than it would have been otherwise. Hillary Clinton articulated this symbiosis when she counseled European leaders to clamp down on immigration in order to deprive the far right of one of its animating political issues. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-South Carolina) cautioned regarding the Georgia runoff elections, “if we are going to run on Medicare for All, defund the police, socialized medicine, we’re not going to win.”
How do those of us whose political aspirations do not fit in the Biden-Harris White House push back against the centrist assumption that radicalism gives increased propagandistic fodder for the enemy?
To some extent such debates boil down to the classic struggle that radical organizers face in attempting to balance “meeting people where they’re at” politically and attempting to advance the agenda in a leftward direction. But particularly in the broader context of an anti-fascist struggle, how do those of us whose political aspirations do not fit in the Biden-Harris White House push back against the centrist assumption that radicalism gives increased propagandistic fodder for the enemy? While there are no easy answers, moving forward we must capitalize as best we can on the vindicated energy of anti-Trumpism and the powerful social movements of recent years. We must build enough popular power from below to prevent our resistance from being funneled into the political center as we defeat the next would-be racist authoritarian demagogue.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-11-09--Trump Freezes Wages of Farmworkers Following Election Day

Just days after U.S. voters went to the polls to help deny President Donald Trump another four years in the White House , the Trump administration issued a little-noticed rule freezing the wages of farm laborers working under H-2A visas , a move that could severely harm low-wage guest workers who have already been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic .
The rule ( pdf ) , published in the Federal Register by the Department of Labor on November 5 , will “ help corporate interests deny pay hikes to frontline farmworkers who help maintain America ’ s food supply @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Julia Rock reported Monday .
“ The wage freeze is the Trump administration ’ s second attempt this fall to cut wages for H-2A visa holders , ” Rock explained .
“ On Sept. 30 , Secretary of Agriculture [ Sonny ] Perdue published a one-page notice announcing that the USDA was suspending the Farm Labor Survey , a data collection tool that has been used for over a century to calculate wages for migrant workers , known as Adverse Effect Wage Rates ( AEWRs ) .
” A federal judge blocked the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prompting the Trump administration to come back “ with a second attempt to cut the wages of H-2A workers , enacting a rule to freeze wages for H-2A workers , ” Rock explained .
The new rule would freeze the wages of H-2A workers until 2023 .
“ The rule that was published last week only included the wage aspects of the rule that was initially proposed , ” Rock continued .
“ The new rule will raise the AEWRs for a small number of H-2A workers in more specialized or supervisory roles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the vast majority of H-2A workers.
” Workers on the H-2A guest worker program make up around 10 % of the U.S. agricultural workforce .
HuffPost labor reporter Dave Jamieson , who was among the first to call attention to the rule after it was quietly published last week , noted in a series of tweets that the wage freeze “ is obviously a boon to growers , ” which Perdue readily admitted in a statement hailing the measure as a significant victory .
Jamieson warned that the new rule is an example @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attempt to inflict on his way out of office .
“ The Trump administration is trying to get a lot of stuff like this out the door ASAP , ” Jamieson said .
“ Lawsuits can slow it , and some of it can be undone by a subsequent administration , but it ’ s a cumbersome process through rulemaking.
” In a public comment ( pdf ) on the Labor Department ’ s rule , a coalition of dozens of advocacy groups led by Farmworker Justice warned that “ many workers will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worse housing conditions , and more uncertainty regarding job terms ” due to the wage freeze .
“ Overall , ” the coalition said , “ the proposed changes to the regulations would be harmful to many agricultural workers .
”

The new rule is an example of the kind of damage Trump could attempt to inflict on his way out of office.
Just days after U.S. voters went to the polls to help deny President Donald Trump another four years in the White House, the Trump administration issued a little-noticed rule freezing the wages of farm laborers working under H-2A visas, a move that could severely harm low-wage guest workers who have already been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
The rule (pdf), published in the Federal Register by the Department of Labor on November 5, will “help corporate interests deny pay hikes to frontline farmworkers who help maintain America’s food supply,” The Daily Poster’s Julia Rock reported Monday.
“The wage freeze is the Trump administration’s second attempt this fall to cut wages for H-2A visa holders,” Rock explained. “On Sept. 30, Secretary of Agriculture [Sonny] Perdue published a one-page notice announcing that the USDA was suspending the Farm Labor Survey, a data collection tool that has been used for over a century to calculate wages for migrant workers, known as Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs).”
A federal judge blocked the suspension of the Farm Labor Survey, prompting the Trump administration to come back “with a second attempt to cut the wages of H-2A workers, enacting a rule to freeze wages for H-2A workers,” Rock explained. The new rule would freeze the wages of H-2A workers until 2023.
“The rule that was published last week only included the wage aspects of the rule that was initially proposed,” Rock continued. “The new rule will raise the AEWRs for a small number of H-2A workers in more specialized or supervisory roles, but will lower the rate for the vast majority of H-2A workers.” Workers on the H-2A guest worker program make up around 10% of the U.S. agricultural workforce.
HuffPost labor reporter Dave Jamieson, who was among the first to call attention to the rule after it was quietly published last week, noted in a series of tweets that the wage freeze “is obviously a boon to growers,” which Perdue readily admitted in a statement hailing the measure as a significant victory.
There may be bigger things going on, but the Trump administration just instituted a de facto 2-year wage freeze for farm workers on H-2A visas. These are low-wage workers doing essential work. And these are the actions the Labor Department is taking during a pandemic. pic.twitter.com/UbJDBHmoov — Dave Jamieson (@jamieson) November 5, 2020
Jamieson warned that the new rule is an example of the kind of damage Trump could attempt to inflict on his way out of office.
“The Trump administration is trying to get a lot of stuff like this out the door ASAP,” Jamieson said. “Lawsuits can slow it, and some of it can be undone by a subsequent administration, but it’s a cumbersome process through rulemaking.”
In a public comment (pdf) on the Labor Department’s rule, a coalition of dozens of advocacy groups led by Farmworker Justice warned that “many workers will suffer increased debt, lower wages, worse housing conditions, and more uncertainty regarding job terms” due to the wage freeze.
“Overall,” the coalition said, “the proposed changes to the regulations would be harmful to many agricultural workers.”
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
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truthout--2020-11-09--Biden Announces COVID Team Including Vaccines Specialist Ousted by Trump

President-elect Joe Biden has announced a list of names that will be part of his and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris ’ s COVID-19 advisory board .
The group of health experts consists almost entirely of doctors — including one who was demoted by the Trump administration for speaking out against unproven treatments for the virus .
The advisory board will provide guidance to Biden and Harris as they transition into the White House and will continue to serve the Biden administration after he is sworn in as president in January .
The group will be co-chaired by former Surgeon General @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Administration Commissioner David Kessler and Marcella Nunez-Smith , a Yale University professor and deputy director of the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation .
Also on the task force will be Rick Bright , the former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority ( BARDA ) , who claims he was forced out of his position and demoted due to his opposition to President Donald Trump ’ s insistence that hydroxychloroquine be promoted as a treatment for coronavirus .
Bright had argued that more research had to be conducted before making such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ indeed , numerous studies found that while it was generally ineffective at treating the virus , it also possibly caused harm to some patients .
Bright filed a whistleblower complaint in the spring alleging that he was pushed into a lesser role at BARDA due to his resistance to pushing the drug as Trump had wanted .
In October , Bright formally resigned from the Trump administration .
“ I spoke out then and I am testifying today , because science — not politics or cronyism — must lead the way to combat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in testimony in May , regarding his demotion .
He also offered a stark warning about the virus during his testimony , stating that , “ without clear planning and implementation of the steps that I and other experts have outlined , 2020 will be the darkest winter in modern history.
” Others have offered the same dire warnings in recent weeks .
In late October , Anthony Fauci , a member of Trump ’ s coronavirus task force who has often butted heads with the president on coronavirus , predicted the winter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to missteps taken earlier in the handling of the pandemic .
“ We ’ re in for a whole lot of hurt .
It ’ s not a good situation , ” Fauci explained in an interview last month .
“ All the stars are aligned in the wrong place as you go into the fall and winter season , with people congregating at home indoors .
You could not possibly be positioned more poorly.
” More than 10 million Americans have been diagnosed with coronavirus since the start of the pandemic , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ daily cases being reported have exceeded 100,000 per day .
More than 237,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 , and the recent seven-day average of deaths per day sits at above 900 , the first time it has exceeded that number since August .
According to a widely respected coronavirus infection model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington , if no steps are taken between now and January 1 , daily deaths will likely exceed 2,214 per day .

President-elect Joe Biden has announced a list of names that will be part of his and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s COVID-19 advisory board. The group of health experts consists almost entirely of doctors — including one who was demoted by the Trump administration for speaking out against unproven treatments for the virus.
The advisory board will provide guidance to Biden and Harris as they transition into the White House and will continue to serve the Biden administration after he is sworn in as president in January. The group will be co-chaired by former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler and Marcella Nunez-Smith, a Yale University professor and deputy director of the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation.
Also on the task force will be Rick Bright, the former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), who claims he was forced out of his position and demoted due to his opposition to President Donald Trump’s insistence that hydroxychloroquine be promoted as a treatment for coronavirus.
Bright had argued that more research had to be conducted before making such an endorsement for the drug, and indeed, numerous studies found that while it was generally ineffective at treating the virus, it also possibly caused harm to some patients.
Bright filed a whistleblower complaint in the spring alleging that he was pushed into a lesser role at BARDA due to his resistance to pushing the drug as Trump had wanted. In October, Bright formally resigned from the Trump administration.
“I spoke out then and I am testifying today, because science — not politics or cronyism — must lead the way to combat this deadly virus,” Bright said in testimony in May, regarding his demotion.
He also offered a stark warning about the virus during his testimony, stating that, “without clear planning and implementation of the steps that I and other experts have outlined, 2020 will be the darkest winter in modern history.”
Others have offered the same dire warnings in recent weeks. In late October, Anthony Fauci, a member of Trump’s coronavirus task force who has often butted heads with the president on coronavirus, predicted the winter would be a bad one, due to missteps taken earlier in the handling of the pandemic.
“We’re in for a whole lot of hurt. It’s not a good situation,” Fauci explained in an interview last month. “All the stars are aligned in the wrong place as you go into the fall and winter season, with people congregating at home indoors. You could not possibly be positioned more poorly.”
More than 10 million Americans have been diagnosed with coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, and for the past five days, daily cases being reported have exceeded 100,000 per day. More than 237,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, and the recent seven-day average of deaths per day sits at above 900, the first time it has exceeded that number since August.
According to a widely respected coronavirus infection model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, if no steps are taken between now and January 1, daily deaths will likely exceed 2,214 per day.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.