Tag: 2020 election

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Biden Tops Trump In Dueling Town Hall Ratings

L-R Former Vice President Joe Biden, Donald Trump
It was a tale of two Town Halls last night as Donald Trump and Joe Biden took questions in separate events from likely voters. As many on social media noted, the tone and tenor of the events couldn’t have been more different. Donald Trump was being combative with his host, NBC News’s Savannah Guthrie when she would ask follow-up questions to many of his vague responses. Over on ABC, Biden was calm and collected as he looked each person in the eye as he answered their questions. At one point, his answer was so lengthy and detailed, host George Stephanopoulos interrupted to ask the questioner if they’d gotten the response they needed. Another clear difference between the two events was Trump’s town hall was only an hour (low-energy) and Biden’s was 90 minutes. But even after those 90 minutes, Biden stayed in the TV studio and answered follow-up questions from folks in the venue.

The Biden town hall marked one of the few times LGBTQ issues came up in a broadcast election event as Joe Biden clearly and with no equivocation vowed to protect the rights of LGBTQ Americans. When Mieke Haeck, a mother of two including an 8-year-old transgender daughter, asked how he would reverse Trump’s anti-LGBTQ actions, “The Trump administration has attacked the rights of transgender people,” asked Haeck, “banning them from military service, weakening non-discrimination protections, and even removing the word ‘transgender from some government websites. How will you, as president, reverse this dangerous and discriminatory agenda and ensure that the lives and rights of LGBTQ people are protected under U.S. law?” Biden was direct and unwavering in his response. “I will flat-out just change the law,” he told Haeck, adding that he would reverse Trump’s anti-LGBTQ executive orders. Biden also recounted an anecdote from his youth when he and his father witnessed two men sharing a kiss in public. Upon seeing the kiss, Biden turned to his father who said simply, “Joey, it’s simple. They love each other.” Circling back around to the beginning of the issue, Biden was clear: “There should be zero discrimination.”

Biden also took a question from a gentleman who asked Biden what he would say to LGBTQ Americans and others who are worried about erosions of their rights. Biden said, “I think there’s great reason to be concerned for the LGBTQ community, something I fought very hard for.” At the Trump Town Hall, things were a little bit more contentious. When Savannah Guthrie asked Trump about retweeting misinformation and conspiracy theories, he blew the question off. One such retweet contained a conspiracy theory that Biden and President Barack Obama orchestrated a cover-up regarding Navy SEAL Team Six faking the death of terrorist Osama bin Laden. “That was a retweet,” defended Trump. “That was an opinion of somebody and that was a retweet. I’ll put it out there. People can decide for themselves. I don’t take a position.” “You’re the president,” Guthrie responded. “You’re not someone’s crazy uncle who can retweet whatever.”

Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg saw his tweet go viral (shared over 47K times, Liked over 350K times) when he shared, “Just imagine turning on the TV, seeing your president, and feeling your blood pressure go down instead of up.” And Donald Trump’s own niece, Mary Trump, scored with a single word tweet when someone playfully took issue with Savannah Guthrie referring to Trump as “someone’s crazy uncle.” #Actually By the way, Biden’s town hall on ABC News reportedly drew 2.3 million more viewers than the Trump town hall on NBC News. Variety reports Biden drew 12.7 million total viewers on the Disney-owned network, while Trump drew 10.4 million in the same 9-10 p.m. time slot on NBC.

More reactions from Twitter about the dueling Town Hall events below.

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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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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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Poll: Harris Won Veep Debate 59%-38%

In case you missed it, the 2020 Vice Presidential Debate last night was pretty much what we all expected. Vice President Mike Pence spent a lot of the 90 minutes interrupting Sen. Kamala Harris, and a fly landed on his head stealing the veep’s thunder. Harris was fairly restrained and was more successful than Pence at following the agreed upon rules for the debate. A CNN snap poll taken directly after the event found Harris was viewed as the winner of the debate by an overwhelming majority of 59% versus 38% who thought Pence came out on top. Also from that survey, Harris went into the debate with 56 percent favorability and afterward that rose to 63 percent, while Pence began and ended the night at 41 percent. Female respondents said Harris did the best job in the debate by a 69% to 30% margin. Men, meanwhile, split about evenly between Harris (48%) and Pence (46%). Note – women make up a majority of the voting public. Over at the New York Times, the opinion writers were split over the victor with 11 calling it for Harris, 4 for Pence, and 2 a tie. Click here to see what the group of writers thought were the most pivotal moments and some small remarks that resonated. At the end of the day, the veep event did little-to-nothing to change the direction of the election. And in that case, Harris did her job. Social media, however, became enthralled by a fly landing on Pence’s head and remaining for several minutes.

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Patti LuPone & Randy Rainbow Parody “If Donald Was Fired!”

Broadway legend Patti LuPone and Randy Rainbow (screen capture)
Political satirist Randy Rainbow is back today with a special guest, Broadway legend Patti LuPone. The duo teams up on a parody of “If Mama Was Married” from the 1959 Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim musical Gypsy. LuPone took home the Best Actress in a Musical Tony Award in 2008 for her star turn in the revival the acclaimed musical. In the video, Rainbow is attempting to ‘moderate’ a presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, but becomes frustrated in the process. LuPone appears in a puff of smoke: “When gay men are in crisis, I just materialize.” I won’t spoil the jokes, but these are some of Rainbow’s best parody lyrics in some time. Hit the play button and enjoy 🙂

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Michelle Obama’s ‘Closing Argument’ For Joe Biden

Former First Lady Michelle Obama
The election is in less than a month and early votes are already being cast across the country. But, for anyone who might be undecided, former First Lady Michelle Obama offers this “closing argument” for Americans to support Joe Biden. “If we want to regain any kind of stability, we have to ensure that every eligible voter is informed and engaged on this election,” says Obama. Noting Trump’s “constant downplaying of the importance of masks and social distancing” as well as his “relentless pressure” to reopen schools while people are still in danger, Obama adds, “We simply can’t trust this president to tell us the truth about anything.” Obama added. “It’s painful to think that months into this crisis, this is still where we are, with no clear plan, no peace of mind, and the worst part is, it didn’t have to be like this. Look around the world.” “He boasts about gains in the stock market, but when you look at the lives of regular folks, whether it’s creating blue-collar jobs, making healthcare more affordable, protecting the environment, keeping our families safe from gun violence, let alone the coronavirus, there’s nothing much to brag about.” “By contrast, Joe Biden has lived his life guided by values and principles that mirror ones that most Americans can recognize. I know Joe… he’s a good man who understands the struggles of everyday folks.” Watch the compelling message below. And please – VOTE.

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Trump To Be Hospitalized For COVID-19 Treatment

Donald Trump (image via Flickr/WhiteHouse – public domain)
Just 15 hours after testing positive for the coronavirus, Donald Trump will be hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. From CNN:

Trump was due to be flown aboard his Marine One helicopter to the hospital. It is routine for the President to travel to Walter Reed aboard Marine One.

In a statement, the President’s spokeswoman said Trump “remains in good spirits, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day.”

When it comes to iconic sneakers, heck, when it comes to the entire history of footwear, you’d be hard-pressed to come up with a more beloved or influential shoe than the Superstar

“Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the President will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days,” press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said. “President Trump appreciates the outpouring of support for both he and the First Lady.”

Trump reportedly has a fever, congestion, and a cough. There have been no announcements regarding whether Trump plans to transfer power to Pence temporarily as he remains in the hospital. For his part, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden told the nation via Twitter, “This cannot be a partisan moment. This must be an American moment. We have to come together as a nation.” The Biden campaign also announced it is pulling attack campaign ads and will only air positive ads for the time being.

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Joe Biden Tests Negative For Coronavirus & More Updates

Former Vice President Joe Biden (photo via campaign)
The Washington Post reports former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, have tested negative for coronavirus. Some folks were concerned that, in light of Donald Trump testing positive for the virus, and the two men shared a stage without face masks on Tuesday night, that Biden might have been exposed. Let’s hear it for social distancing! Other updates regarding Trump and the coronavirus: • The Trump campaign has cancelled all previously scheduled events while the president is quarantined for the next several days. • Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who attended Trump’s Supreme Court announcement on Saturday has tested positive for the coronavirus and told the press he will self-quarantine for 10 days. • Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee, also tested positive for the coronavirus and has experienced mild symptoms from Covid-19. • Vice President Mike Pence and his wife have tested negative as well. • The coronavirus has infected over 7.2 million Americans and killed over 207,000.