Tag: Joe Biden

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Joe Biden Nominated For Nobel Peace Prize

Former Vice President Joe Biden (image via Instagram)
Former Vice President Joe Biden has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by British Labour MP Chris Bryant. From Sky News:

Mr Bryant, a member of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee and chair of the Standards and Privileges Committee, said Mr Biden deserved to be nominated for his dedication to argument and political debate during a turbulent time in American politics.

He added: “When American cities have been in flames and citizen has been pitched against citizen, Joe has been a calming influence to bear.

“When others have resorted to violent solutions, he has argued that the best force is the force of argument because guns can stop a heart but well-placed words can change many hearts and many hearts can change the world.”

Peace prize nominations can be made by members of governments and international courts of law, university chancellors, professors of social science, history, philosophy, law and theology; leaders of peace research institutes and institutes of foreign affairs.

The honor, decided by a committee, will be announced on October 9. Expect Donald Trump’s head to explode in 3, 2, 1…

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Trump Preps Attacks On Biden’s Family For First Debate

L-R President Donald Trump, former Vice President Joe Biden
The Washington Post reports that Donald Trump is preparing to hit Joe Biden with personal attacks that include the former vice president’s family.

President Trump is gearing up to launch blistering personal attacks on Joe Biden and his family in the first presidential debate on Tuesday, while Biden is bracing for an onslaught and worried allies are warning the Democratic nominee not to lose his temper and lash out, according to people with knowledge of the strategies in both camps.

Trump has told associates he wants to talk specifically about his opponent’s son Hunter Biden and mused that the debates are when “people will finally realize Biden is just not there,” according to one adviser.

The president is so eager to lay into his rival that he has called aides to test out various attacks, focusing on broadsides that cast Biden as a longtime Washington insider with a limited record of accomplishment, said another adviser.

Biden and his advisers are anticipating a venomous barrage, according to a person with knowledge of their thinking, and they are preparing to counter with an affirmative case for a Biden presidency. The Democrat wants to stay focused on how he would address the coronavirus pandemic and the country’s economic problems, which he blames Trump for worsening.

Friends and allies of Biden are a bit concerned because Biden’s ‘passion and empathy’ can sometimes bleed into anger when opponents go after his family.

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Fox News State Polls: Biden Ahead +11 In NV, +7 In PA, +5 In Ohio

L-R Former Vice President Joe Biden, Donald Trump
Let me start by pointing out this is a FOX News poll, ok…? From Fox News:

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump in the battleground states of Nevada, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, according to Fox News statewide likely voter surveys.

In each of the three states, majorities disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president, pluralities say coronavirus is “not at all” under control, and Biden is the preferred choice when it comes to handling the virus. Plus, he’s favored over Trump to nominate the next U.S. Supreme Court justice.

There are few undecided voters, and Biden’s support is 50 percent or better in each state. His advantage over Trump is outside the margin of error in Nevada and Pennsylvania, but not Ohio.

Bolding is mine. NEVADA Biden: 52% Trump: 41% OHIO Biden: 50% Trump: 45% PENNSYLVANIA Biden: 51% Trump: 44% That said, this is totally NOT a done deal. We all need to get to the polls and cast our vote – either by mail or in person – by election day.

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Cindy McCain, Widow Of 2008 GOP Nominee, Endorses Joe Biden For Prez

Cindy McCain (photo: Flickr/Gage Skidmore – CC License)
From NPR:

Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain, is the latest prominent conservative to urge Republicans to cross party lines and support Joe Biden for president.

“There’s only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is Joe Biden,” she tweeted Tuesday evening.

McCain’s endorsement comes nearly a month after she contributed to a video that aired during the Democratic National Convention that detailed the friendship between her late husband and the Democratic presidential nominee.

Ms. McCain says she hopes she can encourage disillusioned voters in Arizona, which her late husband spent years representing in the Senate, to consider Biden over Trump amid the country’s current woes. In response, Trump predictably clapped back on Twitter saying he hardly knows Cindy McCain: “Joe Biden was John McCain’s lapdog. So many BAD decisions on Endless Wars & the V.A., which I brought from a horror show to HIGH APPROVAL. Never a fan of John. Cindy can have Sleepy Joe!”

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Trump Got How Much Support In New Poll Of Gay Voters?

L-R President Donald Trump, former Vice President Joe Biden
As the U.S. heads into the final weeks of the 2020 presidential campaign, gay dating app Hornet surveyed 10,000 gay men on who they support in the race for the White House. Twelve percent of those polled (1,200) identified as American citizens and 51 percent indicated they plan to vote for former Vice President Joe Biden. Forty-five percent said they plan to vote for Donald Trump. Those numbers align fairly closely with recent national polling. Real Clear Politics average of polls shows the former Vice President currently averaging 49.9 percent while Trump’s support is 42.9 percent. Data-crunching website FiveThirtyEight also reports Biden leads in national polling by 7 or 8 percentage points. Here’s the breakdown of responses to the question “Describe your support of Donald Trump:” • 49% said “I do not support him at all” • 11% said “I disagree with him on most issues” • 9% responded “I disagree with him on some issues and agree with him on others” • 11% said “I agree with him on most issues” • 16% responded “I fully support him”
(graphic via Hornet)
Overall, among the 10,000 respondents worldwide, 66 percent said they support Biden while 34 percent indicated support for Trump. What’s surprising is the American LGBTQ community historically skews to the left politically. For Trump to garner slightly higher support in this poll than current national averages raised some eyebrows. Plus, as has been widely reported, the Trump administration’s track record regarding the LGBTQ community has been hostile on numerous fronts including the transgender military ban, arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court LGBTQ people shouldn’t be protected under federal civil rights law, supporting taxpayer-funded religious adoption agencies that refuse to place children in LGBTQ homes, and opposing passage of The Equality Act. Related: White House Spokeswoman ‘Trump Has Great Record On LGBTQ Issues’ (Oh My Sides…) The Washington Blade reported that national exit polls for the 2016 presidential campaign showed Hillary Clinton garnered a lopsided 78 percent of the queer vote versus Trump’s 14 percent – which is the lowest percentage for a Republican presidential candidate in modern history. In 2012, President Obama won 76 percent of the vote compared to Mitt Romney’s 22 percent support. Of course, many point out Trump’s surprise win in 2016 seemed to defy most polls, so this poll by Hornet could be an outlier. You can check out more from the Hornet survey here.

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News Round-Up: September 9, 2020

(image via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Brogan (above) shares some #BigDogEnergy from Los Angeles with his bestie Astrid. • WeHo Times: Rage Nightclub, located in the heart of West Hollywood’s LGBT Rainbow District), has announced it will permanently close after 37 years. According to sources, the restaurant/bar and multi-level nightclub did not renew their lease which was up in November. Former employees also blame the COVID-19 pandemic and high rent as factors in its closure. • Gay Star News: Gay reality TV personality Joe Exotic (of Tiger King fame) has written to Donald Trump begging for a presidential pardon to get him out of jail. In January a court sentenced him to 22 years in prison over his plot to kill his rival Carol Baskin and for killing five tigers in his zoo.
Joe Exotic and friend (image via Netflix)
• Fox News: Former ‘pool boy’ Giancarlo Granda claims Jerry Falwell Jr. has been ‘relentlessly harassing’ him since the sex scandal broke that brought an end to Falwell’s tenure at Liberty University. Granda is now sharing text messages, emails and photos with that appear to back up his allegations and, at the very least, show the Falwells breaking Liberty’s code of conduct on multiple occasions. • NY Daily News: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today indoor dining will be allowed to resume in New York City restaurants beginning September 30. Capacity will be limited to 25%, tables must be six feet apart, patrons will be required to have temperature checks, there will be no walk-up bar service, and customers will be required to leave contact information. • Election 2020: Joe Biden called out Donald Trump for lying to the American people about knowing the true severity of the coronavirus health threat – “He knew how deadly it was,” said Biden. “It was much more deadly than the flu. He knew and purposely played it down. Worse, he lied to the American people. He knowingly and willingly lied about the threat it posed to the country for months. He had the information. He knew how dangerous it was. And while this deadly disease ripped through our nation, he failed to do his job on purpose! It was a life and death betrayal on the American people.”

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Joe Biden Meets With The Family Of Jacob Blake

Joe Biden in Kenosha, Wisconsin (image via Joe Biden/Instagram)
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Jill Biden met with the family of Jacob Blake during a trip to Kenosha, Wisconsin. The city has been rocked by unrest following the shooting of Blake, a Black man, was shot in the back seven times by a police officer. From CBS News:

The Bidens met privately with members of the Blake family in a Milwaukee airport terminal. They spoke with Blake’s parents, three siblings and members of Blake’s legal team. Blake, a 29-year-old father of six, is now paralyzed from his injuries.

Ben Crump, Blake’s attorney, said in a statement that Blake himself joined the conversation by phone.

“The family was grateful for the meeting and was very impressed that the Bidens were so engaged and willing to really listen,” Crump said. He said that Blake’s mother led the group in prayer, and his father talked about the need for systemic police reform.

“It was very obvious that Vice President Biden cared, as he extended to Jacob Jr. a sense of humanity, treating him as a person worthy of consideration and prayer,” Crump said.

Donald Trump didn’t meet with Jacob Blake’s family in Wisconsin because they asked to have a lawyer involved which Trump called “inappropriate.” Biden clearly didn’t have a problem with having a lawyer “involved.” Biden later met with community leaders to talk on addressing issues of racial justice. He also denounced recent rioting and looting which has taken place while speaking with a business owner whose store was damaged during the unrest. “Protesting is protesting, it’s a right, as my friend John Lewis would say. But that does not include looting, burning or anything else,” Biden said. If you watch anything today, please watch the first video posted below. Just watch and listen.  

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News Round-Up: September 2, 2020

Paleontologist and Crossfit athlete Francesc Gascó (photo: Lee Faircloth)
Some news stories you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Paleontologist Francesc Gascó (above) says good night from Madrid. You can follow him on the Gram of Insta here. • MetroWeekly: A Missouri man, Freddie Doyle, has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for attempting to shoot patrons of an LGBTQ bar in St. Louis with an AR-15-style rifle. After being apprehended, Doyle told police he would “have killed those faggots” if he had more time. • Fox News: New polling from three battleground states show Joe Biden leading Donald Trump.

ARIZONA – Joe Biden 49% Donald Trump 40%

NORTH CAROLINA – Joe Biden 50% Donald Trump 46%

WISCONSIN – Joe Biden 50% Donald Trump 42%

• Washington Blade: Openly gay Mayor Alex Morse of Holyoke fell short in his attempt to unseat longtime Congressman Richard Neal. In the weeks leading up to the primary, Morse became the target of an ugly, homophobic smear campaign. • New York Times: Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, will travel Thursday to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to visit a city still reeling from the Aug. 23 police shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake. The Bidens will be meeting with Mr. Blake’s father and other family members during the trip. During Donald Trump’s recent visit, the president did not mention Mr. Blake, who was paralyzed in the shooting, or speak with his family. • New Music: Out artist Michael Fairman’s music video for “Other Side” depicts some of the biggest social issues of 2020 including the Covid-19 pandemic, the call to stomp out systemic racism, domestic violence, LGBTQ equality, and the rights of the disabled. A new artist to me, Fairman’s packing some serious vocals (and biceps) here.

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Podcast: Cher Stumps For Biden, LGBTQ Icon Honored By Her State, New Music From NIKO

The Randy Report podcast

The Randy Report podcast delivers the week's top stories in a quick, convenient podcast - 'the 60 Minutes of gay news - only shorter' In this week’s podcast: • The Trump campaign claims the Donald is the “most pro-gay president in American history” – but don’t fall for that • A federal court rules in favor of a gay couple granting their daughter her legal US citizenship • Scientists discover an HIV strain resistant to PrEP • LGBTQ icon Marsha P Johnson gets honored in her home state • The one and only Cher raises $2 million for Joe Biden hosting an LGBTQ fund-raiser • Out singer/songwriter NIKO dropped his newest single “Try” dedicated to his partner All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report

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Joe Biden: Rioting, Looting, Violence Are NOT Protesting

Former Vice President Joe Biden (screen capture)
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden denounced the violence and looting that has been taking place during protests across the country in the name of Black Lives Matter. From CNN:

“I want to be very clear about all of this: Rioting is not protesting. Looting is not protesting. Setting fires is not protesting. None of this is protesting. It’s lawlessness, plain and simple. And those who do it should be prosecuted,” Biden said. “Violence will not bring change, it will only bring destruction. It’s wrong in every way.”

Responding to Trump’s claims that the suburbs, where Trump needs to win back White voters who have abandoned the GOP in droves on his watch, would not be safe if Biden wins, Biden asked, incredulously: “You know me. You know my heart. You know my story, my family’s story. Ask yourself: Do I look like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters? Really?”