Category: 2020 election

Posted on

Judge Throws Out Trump Lawsuit To Stop Mail-In Voting In Nevada

Donald Trump

The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) lost today in a legal court fight meant to derail mail-in voting in Nevada for the 2020 presidential election. From Talking Points Memo:

U.S. District Judge James Mahan on Monday threw out the Trump campaign’s lawsuit over Nevada’s vote-by-mail measure that directs all local elections officials to send mail-in ballots to all of the registered voters in the state.

Mahan ruled that the Trump campaign, along with the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Nevada GOP, “make no showing” of an unfair advantage against GOP candidates caused by the measure, known as Assembly Bill 4 (AB 4).

The judge described the plaintiffs’ claims–that voting by mail hurts Republicans and that mail-in ballots illegally distort the vote count–as “generalized and speculative.”

“Plaintiffs never describe how their member voters will be harmed by vote dilution where other voters will not,” Mahan wrote. Republican candidates “face no harms that are unique from their electoral opponents.”

Trump has repeatedly attacked AB 4 in his attempts to undermine and suppress the vote in the battleground state. In sowing seeds of doubt, the Donald continually alleges – without any evidence – that Democrats (but not Republicans) would somehow cheat with mail-in voting. And yet the last time there was any voter fraud of note actually found, it was on behalf of a North Carolina Republican candidate back in 2018. Several states – including Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Washington – have handled their elections via mail-in ballots for years with no irregularities reported.

Posted on

Poll: Majority Of Americans Don’t Trust Trump’s Promises Of ‘Safe’ Vaccine By Spring

The first confirmed case of the omicron variant in the U.S. has been discovered in California.

A new ABC News/Ipsos poll shows the majority of Americans have little to no confidence in Donald Trump vouching for the safety or effectiveness of a coronavirus vaccine he claims could be available to everyone by Spring 2021. From ABC News:

Fewer than 1 in 10 (9%) Americans have a great deal of confidence in Trump to confirm vaccine effectiveness with another 18% reporting only a “good amount” of confidence in the poll conducted by Ipsos in partnership with ABC News using Ipsos’ Knowledge Panel.

In contrast, 69% don’t have confidence in the president vouching for a vaccine, including 16% saying “not so much” and 53% saying “none at all.”

On Wednesday, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield told the Senate Appropriations Committee that he did not foresee a coronavirus inoculation becoming “generally available” to Americans for another year. Later that day, Trump described Redfield as “confused” and said he thought Redfield made “a mistake.”

The survey also asked respondents which of the presidential candidates they believe is “more honest and trustworthy.” Biden scored much higher than Trump garnering 58 percent support on the question while Trump lagged 19 points behind the Democrat at 39 percent.

Posted on

Trump Alleges Ginsburg’s Dying Wish Was Penned By Democrats

L-R Donald Trump, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
According to NPR’s Nina Totenberg, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dictated this message to her granddaughter Clara Spera just days before her passing: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.” This morning, Donald Trump phoned into Fox & Friends, and with no evidence of any kind, alleged that Ginsburg’s dying wish was written by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), or Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). “I don’t know that she said that, or was that written out by Adam Schiff and Schumer and Pelosi?” said Trump. “I would be more inclined to the second. That came out of the wind, it sounds so beautiful. But that sounds like a Schumer deal, or maybe a Pelosi, or shifty Schiff. So that came out of the wind.” Schiff clapped back in a tweet: “Mr. President, this is low. Even for you. No, I didn’t write Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dying wish to a nation she served so well, and spent her whole life making a more perfect union. But I am going to fight like hell to make it come true. No confirmation before inauguration.”

Posted on

Murkowski Opposes Senate Vote On Supreme Court Nominee Before Election

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) issued a statement on Sunday announcing she publicly opposes voting to confirm a new Supreme Court nominee to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg before the November election. From NBC News:

“For weeks, I have stated that I would not support taking up a potential Supreme Court vacancy this close to the election,” Murkowski said in a statement. “Sadly, what was then a hypothetical is now our reality, but my position has not changed.”

Murkowski joins Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, facing a tough re-election battle, in opposing taking up President Donald Trump’s forthcoming nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ginsburg died Friday at 87 from complications from pancreatic cancer.

“I did not support taking up a nomination eight months before the 2016 election to fill the vacancy created by the passing of Justice [Antonin] Scalia,” she continued. “We are now even closer to the 2020 election – less than two months out – and I believe the same standard must apply.”

Donald Trump has already announced he will nominate a new justice in the next few days, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has pledged “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.” McConnell can afford to lose three Republican votes and still confirm a Trump nominee, but four ‘no’ votes would force him to wait until a lame-duck session after the election. In a statement dictated to her granddaughter days before her death, Ginsburg said: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”

Posted on

Sen. Susan Collins: Senate Should Not Vote On SCOTUS Nominee Prior To Election

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
In the aftermath of the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) has issued a statement saying the Senate should not vote on a new SCOTUS justice before the upcoming presidential election.

“In order for the American people to have faith in their elected officials, we must act fairly and consistently – no matter which political party is in power.

“President Trump has the constitutional authority to make a nomination to fill the Supreme Court vacancy, and I would have no objection to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s beginning the process of reviewing his nominee’s credentials.

“Given the proximity of the presidential election, however, I do not believe that the Senate should vote on the nominee prior to the election.

“In fairness to the American people, who will either be re-electing the president or selecting a new one, the decision on a lifetime appointment the Supreme Court should be made by the president who is elected on November 3rd.”

Posted on

Lindsey Graham: ‘Let’s Let The Next President Make That Nomination’

On the day after the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, it’s interesting to revisit the words of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) from just a few years ago: “This is the last year of a lame-duck, and if Ted Cruz or Donald Trump get to be president, they’ve all asked us not to confirm or take up a selection by President Obama. So if a vacancy occurs in their last year, of their first term, guess what, you will use their words against them. You will use their words against them. “I want you to use my words against me. If there is a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said ‘let’s let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination,’ and you could use my words against me and you’d be absolutely right.” The Washington Post reports that in 2018, when Graham was in line to take over the committee with jurisdiction over Supreme Court nominees, he said that ‘if an opening comes in the last year of President Trump’s term, and the primary process has started, we’ll wait till the next election.’” Graham is in a tight race for reelection himself this year – the most recent polls show him tied with his Democratic challenger, Jaime Harrison. How will his state react if he supports a vote on RGB’s replacement before the election?

Two other Republican Senators have signaled opposition to confirming a new justice so close to an election. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told The Hill in August of this year: “When Republicans held off Merrick Garland it was because nine months prior to the election was too close, we needed to let people decide. And I agreed to do that. If we now say that months prior to the election is okay when nine months was not, that is a double standard and I don’t believe we should do it. So I would not support it.” And Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), also in a tough reelection campaign, told the New York Times‘ Jonathan Martin earlier this month, she would not seat a Supreme Court justice in October. “I think that’s too close, I really do,” she said. She added she’d also oppose seating a justice in the lame-duck session if there’s a change in presidents.

Posted on

Trump: ‘I’m The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Puerto Rico’

(photo: public domain – Flickr/WhiteHouse)
Forty-six days before the presidential election, and with a very tight race in battleground state Florida (I’ll get to that), the Trump administration has suddenly announced a new $13 billion aid package to help rebuild Puerto Rico which was decimated by Hurricane Maria in 2017. The Hill reports the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will award $9.6 billion in grants to help rebuild the Puerto Rico Electrical Power Authority addressing repairs to electrical substations, power generation systems and transmission lines. Additionally, $2 billion will be targeted to rebuilding the U.S. territory’s school buildings and educational facilities. During a press briefing today, Donald Trump told reporters, “I have to say in a very nice way, very respectful way, I’m the best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico. Nobody even close.” Hold the phone… You may recall this is the same man who, in November 2018, told congressional leaders he didn’t want anymore relief funds going to Puerto Rico. He also claimed officials in Puerto Rico inflated Hurrican Maria’s death toll in an effort to make him look bad. In June 2019, when Congress was finally able to pass additional relief funds for Puerto Rico, Trump attempted to take credit for the move even though he’d worked to block such funding. At the press event today, Trump tried to say “Democrats don’t want to see” aid to Puerto Rico passed, but the Democratic-led House passed billions in aid to Puerto Rico in February amid Republican objections. Now, I’d sooner bite my tongue than be cynical, but it’s a fact that thousands of Puerto Ricans migrated to Florida after the devastation of Hurricane Maria. And in a race where every vote counts, the timing of this new funding certainly is convenient. Real Clear Politics average of polls in Florida shows Democrat Joe Biden just 1.6 points ahead of the Donald. If Trump loses the Sunshine State’s 29 electoral votes, his path to winning becomes VERY tight.

Posted on

Long Lines As Early Voting Begins In Virginia

(screen capture via CNN)
Today is the first day of early voting in Virginia, and CNN reports the lines at polling stations are very long with folks waiting over 2 hours to cast their ballot. One gentleman told CNN, “I don’t trust the mail right now – If I got to stand here all day, I’m going to vote today.”

Posted on

Former Pence Aide Endorses Biden, Says Trump Only Concerned With Reelection

Donald Trump smirks during a press event

Donald Trump smirks during a press event
Donald Trump (photo: public domain/Flickr)
Olivia Troye, a former homeland security official who served in Vice President Mike Pence’s office for the coronavirus task force, endorsed Joe Biden for president today. She described her time in the White House (she resigned two months ago) as “terrifying” and said the president “could have saved lives” in his response to the coronavirus pandemic in a video released Thursday. In the video, she says Trump was only concerned with his reelection. From CNN:

A former top aide to Vice President Mike Pence assailed President Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic in a new video Thursday, adding to the growing list of former Trump administration officials who have criticized the President and, in several cases, endorsed his Democratic opponent Joe Biden.

Olivia Troye, who was a homeland security adviser to Pence and his lead staffer on the White House’s coronavirus task force, charged in the two-minute video that Trump failed to protect the American public because he only cared about himself and getting reelected. Troye’s criticism is particularly striking because of her role working on the coronavirus task force, which Pence leads.

“Towards the middle of February, we knew it wasn’t a matter of if Covid would become a big pandemic here, it was a matter of when,” said Troye, who left the White House in late July. “But the President didn’t want to hear that, because his biggest concern was that we were in an election year, and how was this going to affect what he considered to be his record of success?”

At one coronavirus task force meeting, Troye claimed that Trump suggested “maybe this Covid thing is a good thing.”

“I don’t like shaking hands with people. I don’t have to shake hands with these disgusting people,” Troye claimed Trump said at the meeting.

The White House denied Troye’s statements and predictably accused her of being a disgruntled former employee.