Category: 2020 election

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Queer Quislings Gather For ‘Trump Pride’ Events

Gay Republicans, choosing to ignore Donald Trump’s anti-LGBTQ record, are instead organizing so-called ‘Trump Pride’ events in battleground states. The first of the events, held Tuesday evening in Newton Square, Pennsylvania, featured homocon Richard Grenell (former U.S. Ambassador To Germany) who has led the late-in-the-game LGBTQ outreach for the Trump campaign, and Trump’s daughter in law, Lara Trump. Queer folks, including activist/author Michelangelo Signorile, made note of the fact that the announcement didn’t use “LGBTQ” or “gay” in the announcement, so we’re not sure how much ‘pride’ was involved there.

Charles Moran, a co-chair for the ‘Trump Pride’ coalition, told the Washington Blade a second event is scheduled for Wednesday night in Phoenix, Arizona. Out conservative journalist, Chadwick Moore, currently the editor for the Log Cabin Republican’s Outspoken project, is scheduled to attend. Additional gatherings are reportedly planned for Tampa, Florida, and more. Prior to the ’Trump Pride’ events, a group calling itself OUTspoken held a gathering in Nashville which attracted an estimated 75 gay conservatives. You’ll note not a trace of social distancing or face masks…

Moran told the Blade that the Nashville event was intended “to create a space to convene some of our major influencers and movement leaders in the center-right LGBTQ community.” Trump and virulently anti-LGBTQ Vice President Mike Pence phoned in during the event to address the group and “express their appreciation.”

Brandon Straka, who hosted a “Walk Away” rally in Nashville the same weekend, said he hopes the Trump events will lead to “freeing LGBT people from the clutches of the destructive Democrat (sic) party.” But not all Log Cabin Republicans are all the same page. As Instinct reported last fall, the organization’s endorsement of Trump for reelection led to several prominent members resigning from the group. As has been widely reported by media outlets, the Trump administration has been a disaster for LGBTQ people with attacks on queer rights in the workplace, in health care, in public accommodations, adoptions and more. (source: Washington Blade)

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Trump Promotes Conspiracy Theory That Osama bin Laden Is Alive

Donald Trump
Donald Trump has been retweeting a conspiracy theory that Osama Bin Laden was not assassinated in 2011 but it was his ‘body double’ that was killed. From The Daily Beast:

President Donald Trump backed a budding conspiracy theory on Tuesday that four Americans were killed in the 2012 Benghazi attack to cover up the blood-sacrifice of Navy SEALs and the “fact” that Osama Bin Laden is still alive, marking what is perhaps the president’s strangest brush yet with far-right conspiracy theories.

Trump’s promotion of the new Benghazi conspiracy theory, which is fast gaining traction on the far right, came in the form of a retweet of a QAnon believer pushing the claim.

The president’s backing helped push the tweet about Benghazi above 14,000 retweets. Trump retweeted another video about the conspiracy theory later on Tuesday night, marking the second time he had promoted the Benghazi claims on Twitter.

The bizarre theory, which is outre even by the standards of the right’s usual Benghazi claims, also alleges that Osama Bin Laden’s body-double, rather than the terrorist mastermind himself, was killed in 2011.

(screen capture)
One of the Navy SEALS who actually went on the mission to kill Bin Laden responded:

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Dueling Town Halls Replace Presidential Debate

L-R Donald Trump, Joe Biden
It’ll be dueling town hall events on Thursday instead of a debate. After refusing to participate in the scheduled second presidential debate of the 2020 cycle, Donald Trump has agreed to take part in an NBC News town hall event on Thursday at the same time former Vice President Joe Biden will take questions in an ABC News town hall to be hosted by George Stephanopoulos.

From NBC News: The town hall, moderated by “TODAY” anchor Savannah Guthrie, will take place on the same evening — and at the same time — that Joe Biden is doing his own town hall event in Philadelphia on ABC News at 8 p.m. ET.

Trump and Biden were supposed to hold their second debate on Thursday night, but Trump pulled out after organizers announced it was going to be conducted virtually. The last presidential debate is scheduled for next Thursday, Oct. 22.

During the one-hour town hall with Trump on Thursday, Guthrie will moderate a conversation between Trump and a group of Florida voters.

I know Trump loves to hear about his ratings. Because his NBC News town hall will be simulcast on CNBC and MSNBC, I’ll go ahead and predict he’ll probably get more viewers given the wider reach of three networks. But in the end, I doubt these events will change any voter’s mind.

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News Round-Up: October 13, 2020

Some news items you might have missed: • Reuters: The 2023 European Games, a regional Olympic event, will be held in Krakow, Poland. The announcement was met with disapproval since Krakow has embraced so-called ‘LGBT-free zone’ ideology. • Gallup Polling: Donald Trump’s attempts to push-push-push the approval of a coronavirus vaccine before Election Day appears to have backfired as Americans’ willingness to be vaccinated quickly has dropped 11 percentage points, falling to 50% in late September. • The Hill: Former president Barack Obama (above) released multiple state-specific tutorials on how to vote on Tuesday, 21 days before the Nov. 3 election. The state-specific videos included battleground states like Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. #VOTE

• Washington Post: The federal prosecutor appointed by AG Bill Barr to review whether Obama-era officials improperly “unmasked” individuals whose names were redacted in intelligence documents has completed his work without finding any substantive wrongdoing. Conservatives have tried to paint the “unmasking” of names — a common practice in government to help understand classified documents — as a political conspiracy. • Politico: For the fourth time in 3 months, an ad promoting President Donald Trump’s reelection has used footage from Russia. • The Upshot: If you’re curious about the latest polls – both national and in battleground states – hit the link. The bottom line? Today’s newly-released results show “Biden is ahead, and his lead is either holding steady or widening.” • Election 2020: Bruce Springsteen himself gave his blessing to the use of his song “Streets of Philadelphia” for a new campaign ad titled, “America Needs Pennsylvania.” This might be one of the most powerful campaign spots of the 2020 cycle. #VOTE

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Campaign Strategy: ‘Stable Genius’ Announces Blue States Have ‘Gone To Hell’

Donald Trump

Here’s a campaign strategy I’ve never seen in presidential politics. Donald Trump took to Twitter today to demonize several states including California, New York, and Illinois. According to Trump, the Golden State is “going to hell,” the Empire State has “gone to hell,” and the Land of Lincoln “has no place to go.” Why would a president of the “United States” attack Americans in such a manner? And by the way, does the Donald forget there are Republicans running for public office in those states?

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Biden Gaining Strength In Michigan & Wisconsin

Former Vice President Joe Biden (photo via campaign)
New data from the latest New York Times/Siena College poll shows former Vice President Joe Biden leading Donald Trump in the vital battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin. Trump won the two northeastern states in 2016 with less than one percent each.

Overall, Mr. Biden led Mr. Trump by eight percentage points in Michigan, 48 percent to 40 percent, among likely voters. His lead in Wisconsin was slightly larger, 51 percent to 41 percent.

The new results, along with recent Times/Siena surveys from elsewhere in the Northern battlegrounds, suggest that the president has not yet managed to reassemble his winning coalition across the region. He faces modest but significant defections among white and independent voters, while facing a groundswell of opposition from those who voted for a minor-party candidate or didn’t vote at all in 2016.

The president’s path to re-election is narrow if he doesn’t win either Wisconsin or Michigan. If Mr. Biden puts those two states in his column, along with the states carried by Hillary Clinton in 2016, he will hold 258 electoral votes, putting him on the doorstep of the 270 needed to win.

(image via NY Times)
Click here for a breakdown of where Trump is losing support among voters in the battleground states. Note – This report is not meant to condone complacency or think it’s safe to not participate in the 2020 presidential election. I share this information in an attempt to encourage citizens to VOTE.

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Georgia Senate Races Could Result In Run-Off Elections

A prosecutor in Georgia is reportedly in the early stages of investigating Donald Trump for attempting to overturn the election results in the state

A new poll by Public Policy Polling shows the two Senate races in Georgia may well end in run-off elections in January. Georgia is one of seven that require a run-off election if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in a primary election. Not saying a Democrat will necessarily win, but I found this interesting as a possibility.

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Democrats Mail-In Votes Outpace Republicans In Battleground States

Michelle Obama encouraging voting by mail (photo: Jocelyn Augustino/Obama for America)
We all know Donald Trump has bad-mouthed and demonized voting by mail because Democrats tend to use the voting method more than Republicans. Plus, with the ongoing pandemic, Dems have (in general) been more likely to embrace safety guidelines regarding the COVID-19 crisis than Repubs. Which brings me to these tweets. While we don’t know which presidential candidate received votes in the returned ballots, if the majority of ballots are for the party aligned with the voter, you can see why Trump has been so vocal about mail-in ballots. As of today: • Florida – Democrats 791,730; Republicans 450,447; No Party 287,704 • North Carolina – Democrats 238,789; Republicans 81,913; No Party 142,633 • Maine – Democrats 56,623; Republicans 16,623; No Party 18,502 • Iowa – Democrats 59,768; Republicans 23,247; No Party 12,917 • Pennsylvania – Democrats 198,448; Republicans 42,447; No party 19,448 As Amy Siskind says below, we need to build up these “cushions” because the Trumpers will show up as well.

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Presidential Commission Cancels Debate After Trump Refuses Virtual Format

L-R President Donald Trump, former Vice President Joe Biden
After Donald Trump refused to take part in a virtual presidential debate (in light of the fact that he’s still contagious for the coronavirus), the Commission on Presidential Debates canceled the scheduled second debate between Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. From CNN:

The cancellation is the culmination of a furious 48-hour back-and-forth between the commission and both campaigns and means what would have been the third debate in Nashville on October 22 will likely be the final meeting between the two candidates. The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the commission’s decision.
The commission, with the backing of their health advisers, announced on Thursday morning that — because Trump tested positive for the coronavirus — the debate that was scheduled for Miami would be held virtually, with the two candidates appearing from remote locations.
Trump swiftly rejected that plan, saying he would not show up and setting off a series of events that put the future of all general election debates into question.
In response to Trump’s cancellation, a Biden spokeswoman swiftly said that they would have agreed to a virtual format for next Thursday’s contest, but because the President had seemingly bailed, they would book another format for the former vice president to take questions.

In fact, ABC News has already announced it will be hosting a town hall with Biden on October 15 to be moderated by ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos. You should note that for some time Trump has told his followers Biden would be the one to cancel. “Joe Biden is too weak to lead this country,” Trump said at a rally last week. “You know Biden lost badly when his supporters are saying he should cancel the rest of the debates. Now, I understand he is canceling the debates. Let’s see what happens. I think that’s not going to be a good move for him.” Clearly, Trump knows he can’t win a debate where his ability to bully and speak over his opponent is limited.

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Pete Buttigieg On Trump Refusing Virtual Debate: ‘Probably A Reflection Of Weakness Of His Campaign’

Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg on Fox News (screen capture)
Donald Trump announced that he wouldn’t “waste his time” on the upcoming October 15 presidential debate after the Commission on Presidential Debates determined it would be handled in a virtual manner due to Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis. Fox News invited former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg to discuss Trump’s refusal to debate. Buttigieg told Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, “Well, it’s too bad, I don’t know why the president’s afraid to participate in a debate.” “All of us have had to get used to a virtual format. Parents are having to deal with e-learning, which is not what we’re used to,” continued Buttigieg. “We’re having to take meetings over Zoom. It’s not something I think most of us enjoy, but it’s a safety measure.” “I think part of why the US is badly behind the rest of the developed world on dealing with the pandemic is because every time there’s been a choice between doing something in a way that’s more safe or less safe, this president seems to push for less safe.” “I think it’s also probably a reflection of the weakness of his campaign… and it’s too bad because I think the more the American people can hear two candidates side by side, even if it’s virtual, the better,” he added. “Of course, the only reason we’re here in the first place is that the president of the United States is still contagious with a deadly disease.” #BAM