US Politics

High-spend politics might make great TV, but democracy pays the price for itTorsten BellThose who wish Westminster was more like The West Wing should take note of research on election spending caps in Brazil A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (pre-Brexit that is), I was vaguely involved in British politics. One thing that always stood out for me was how people from both main parties would often complain that British politics was very drab. They always meant in comparison to the US variety – with its higher production values that mirrored television long before Donald Trump turned it into a grim reality show.Among the reasons for our political glamour deficit are the limits on how much parties can spend on campaigns (£30,000 per constituency) and what they can spend it on (TV advertisements are banned). But people in Westminster should get over their dreams of reliving The West Wing, because it’s a small price to pay for ensuring money doesn’t play an even bigger role in our politics.Those needing further convincing should read new research that examines the impact of spending limits in mayoral elections in Brazil. Areas with more stringent limits attracted more candidates (a 25% lower spending cap resulted in 9% more candidates) and saw fewer incumbents re-elected.Some (idiots) defend high spending limits by arguing that political candidates raising funds from their fellow citizens is key to the cut and thrust of democracy.But is that what actually happens? The Brazilian research work shows that winners in the high spending cap regions did have more cash. But where did the money come from? Themselves.Allowing more money into our politics would be a very dangerous game. You’ve got to keep the spending limits down to keep the oligarchs out.TopicsPoliticsHidden gems from the world of researchPolitics TVThe West WingUS politicscommentReuse this content More

‘A history maker’: Karine Jean-Pierre set for White House press secretary role She will be the first Black openly gay woman to step into the role, a symbol of change after the Donald Trump era This week the blue door will slide back, a Black woman will walk to the lectern and a piece of White House history will be made.Karine Jean-Pierre, facing rows of reporters and cameras, will be making her briefing room debut as the first Black woman and first openly gay person in the role of press secretary. Not that there will be much time to stand on ceremony.“Karine is the right person to carry the weight of being a history maker but that aspect of it will last all of five warm minutes at the podium,” predicted Patrick Gaspard, a longtime colleague who is now chief executive of the Center for American Progress thinktank in Washington.“About five minutes in, being the first ever is going to mean hardly anything to folks who are hearing from her and certainly it’s not a crutch that Karine is going to rely upon. She knows that she’s got to be better prepared than anyone.”‘Long-overdue’: all-Black, female second world war battalion to receive congressional gold medal Read moreIt does indeed promise to be baptism of fire. Jean-Pierre takes over as top messenger for a Joe Biden administration grappling with inflation, Ukraine and a national shortage of baby formula as the Democratic party is bracing for November election losses that could end its control of Congress.But the symbolism of the appointment is inescapable after the Donald Trump era in which all four press secretaries were white. Jean-Pierre once declared: “I am everything that Donald Trump hates. I’m a Black woman, I’m gay, I am a mom. Both my parents were born in Haiti.”The 47-year-old was born in Martinique to Haitian parents and raised in the Queens Village neighborhood of New York. Her early career included a stint working for James Sanders, then a city council member in New York, now a state senator, and at the Center for Community and Corporate Ethics, pushing big companies such as Walmart to change their business practices.She has not always picked winners. Jean-Pierre was press secretary to Congressman Anthony Weiner of New York, later jailed for sending sexually explicit text messages to a minor, and served on the presidential election campaign of John Edwards, who also fell from grace in a sex scandal.But her big break came when Gaspard hired her to work on Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign and then in the Obama White House as a regional director in the office of political affairs. Gaspard, the son of Haitian immigrants, said: “She and I have been in the trenches together. We’re Haitian-American family.“She and I can sometimes finish one another’s thoughts just on the basis of the culture that we’re steeped in. There is a deep sense of public service and the integrity of governance that’s really important to most immigrant communities and certainly for Haitian-Americans who appreciate that there are opportunities in democratic service available to them here that are tragically denied at home.”Jean-Pierre was deputy campaign manager on Martin O’Malley’s 2016 presidential campaign, then chief public affairs officer for the progressive grassroots group MoveOn.At one of its events in 2019, an animal rights protester leaped on stage and tried to seize then Senator Kamala Harris’s microphone. Jean-Pierre kept her cool, springing from her chair to shoo him away. Old colleagues say she has the ideal temperament for the pressure cooker of the briefing room with its sometimes hostile questioning.Ben Wikler, a former senior adviser at MoveOn, now chair of the Wisconsin Democratic party, said: “One of Karine’s superpowers is to keep her nerve in the face of chaos and high stakes.”“She has a deep wealth of experience in working on the political side and communications roles and doing a lot of live television work has really given her a sense of poise and confidence about handling delicate and breaking news situations.”He added: “Everyone’s blood temperature went down when she had the microphone because they knew that she is so effective at bringing things back to the message that needed to be conveyed.”Jean-Pierre appeared as a political analyst on the NBC and MSNBC networks but, with Biden’s election, returned to the White House. As principal deputy press secretary she has sometimes briefed in Psaki’s absence, for example when the latter was ill with coronavirus.Psaki, a self-declared policy wonk, has told the New York Times that, before the door to the briefing room slides open, both women often do a dance to shake off their nerves. With Psaki now reportedly heading to MSNBC, Biden offered the top job to Jean-Pierre in the Oval Office.A day after her appointment, she received a standing ovation at a recent media awards ceremony in New York organised by the LGBTQ+ organisation Glaad. Sarah Kate Ellis, its chief executive and president, said: “Just when we thought her standing ovation would subside, the audience at the Glaad Media Awards issued another wave of applause, because representation matters.“When Karine takes the podium as press secretary, every little girl, especially Black girls, and every LGBTQ kid, will see they can belong just as they are, that you can be LGBTQ and can contribute and be valued wherever you go. Karine represents the best of America and what we can be.”Jean-Pierre’s partner is Suzanne Malveaux, a correspondent at CNN. Amid questions over potential conflicts of interest, the network has said Malveaux “will continue in her role as CNN National Correspondent covering national/international news and cultural events but will not cover politics, Capitol Hill, or the White House”.On Friday, at her 224th and final briefing – more than all Trump’s press secretaries combined, though with rather less drama or viewers – Psaki was asked what lessons she wants to pass on to Jean-Pierre, who smiled from her familiar position at the side of the room.“The last thing I would say is that it can be repetitive in here from time to time,” she reflected. “That’s not a critique. You are all doing your jobs. But in the age of social media, always provide the context and all of the details, because you never want to be a meme with one line.“But otherwise be yourself and Karine, as I said last week, is going to bring her own magic, her brilliance, her style to this briefing room.”TopicsBiden administrationUS politicsRaceLGBT rightsnewsReuse this content More

‘Part of me hopes for change. I really hope that this rally has an impact’Allison from Baltimore, wearing a long red outfit and a white hat from the Margaret Atwood book A Handmaid’s Tale, was standing at the Washington Monument shortly before the march began.“I’m just here to let my voice be heard and to be a part of the movement to fight for what should be a really easy right for us to have,” she said. “ I feel that women should be in control of their own bodies and in so many ways we are not already. I don’t want to see this country become Gilead – hence the outfit – and I don’t know if Roe v Wade is overturned then a set of complex cells will have more rights than an already living human being and that just doesn’t sit right with me. I’m not necessarily pro like abortion, but like pro like, that’s not my business to choose that for somebody else.”The Handmaid’s Tale chronicles the life and times of the dystopia of Gilead, a a totalitarian society. It is ruled by a strict religious regime that treats women as property, forcing fertile women, or “handmaids”, to produce children.Allison said she’s hoping for change. “Part of me hopes for change. I really hope that this rally has an impact. I’ve been pretty cynical the last few years. But I hope – I really hope that you know that this does change,” she said. Front of #prochoice March reaches #SupremeCourt building across from the #USCapitol @guardian pic.twitter.com/u2qOc3BUNo— Lauren Burke (@LVBurke) May 14, 2022
‘We’re the generation that’s going to have to deal with this’One of the main rallies in New York city is now in the Foley Square area, where the crowd remains energized despite the rain – and the fact that many present gathered early this morning in Brooklyn and walked across the bridge into Manhattan.A group of high-school students stood atop a monument, wearing white pants with red coloring to mimic blood. They held signs with the photographs and names of women who died after being denied safe abortions. A group of high-school students stands at Foley Square to protest for reproductive rights. pic.twitter.com/MO6LFhKodY— Victoria Bekiempis (@vicbekiempis) May 14, 2022
Another group of high school students at Foley Square explained that they were protesting, as a Roe reversal would fall on their generation. Eliza and Adriana, both 16, co-founded the feminist student group at their high school. This is their first protest, they said. “We’re the generation that’s going to have to deal with the repercussions of this court decision,” Eliza said. “I wish I could say I was surprised, but I don’t think I was. It’s still devastating.”Adriana voiced similar sentiments. “The sign I’m carrying today says “My uterus does not belong to the state,” Adriana said. Adriana noted that this was the same slogan advocates used decades ago, to note that the fundamental issues had not changed. “It’s infuriating.”At the Los Angeles rally, Megan Triay was at her first reproductive rights protest on Saturday. “This is crazy. Abortion is healthcare. It’s human rights,” she said. “It’s so hard to put into words how insane it is that you have to explain it’s my body, it’s my choice.”Triay missed work to join thousands of other protesters at the Bans Off Our Bodies rally in LA: “I might get fired but I had to be here.”“I’ve been in this position. I don’t regret my abortion, she said, describing how she was terrified and healthcare workers treated her with compassion and care. “To think woman after me aren’t going to get that care … There is no way this can happen.”Megan Triay was one of thousands of protesters who joined the #BansOffOurBodies rally in LA. “Abortion is healthcare,” she said. “I’ve been in this position. I don’t regret my abortion. To think women after me won’t have that care … There is no way this can happen.” pic.twitter.com/RwLlOTHduL— Dani Anguiano (@Dani_Anguiano) May 14, 2022
DC abortion rights activists marching to Supreme Court Large #prochoice March to #SupremeCourt building nears #USCapitol @guardian pic.twitter.com/SMAnCXIRz0— Lauren Burke (@LVBurke) May 14, 2022
Front of #prochoice March reaches #SupremeCourt building across from the #USCapitol @guardian pic.twitter.com/u2qOc3BUNo— Lauren Burke (@LVBurke) May 14, 2022
Gloria Allred, women’s right lawyer, has shared the story of an illegal abortion she had in California in the 1960s, telling a grim story about the US before Roe V Wade became the law of the land.At a rally in Los Angeles, Allred, who has represented women in cases against Bill Cosby, Donald Trump and Roman Polanski, described how she became pregnant after being raped at gunpoint and then nearly died from the abortion. “I was left in a bathtub in a pool of my own blood,” the renowned feminist said. “A nurse said to me: I hope this teaches you a lesson. It did reach me a lesson, but not the one she wanted.”“Abortion must be safe, it must be legal, it must be affordable, it must be available.”Congresswoman Maxine Waters just spoke at a reproductive rights rally in Los Angeles, telling the thousands outside city hall: “We are not backing down.”“We are not about to give up control of our body because of the supreme court or anyone else,” she said.The crowd greeted Waters, a longtime US representative, with thunderous applause, cheering louder under the morning sun as she said “we are going to fight like hell. We are going to fight until our right are restored”. Thousands of people have filled up the blocks between a federal courthouse and city hall, carrying signs reading “Bans off our bodies”, “Stop the Supreme Court” and “Abortion is healthcare”, and dancing in between speeches from lawmakers and actors.Congresswoman Karen Bass, LA mayoral candidate, led the crowd in cheers: “We will fight. We will vote.”Anti-choice protesters filled up street corners around the protest, sometimes preaching through loudspeakers. Opponents took to the skies, leaving aerial messages overhead that said “Alex Jones was right” and promoted the website for a conservative news outlet.People who have turned up at the protests spoke of their alarm over the prospect of losing a right that women have relied upon for the past 50 years. “How can they take away what I feel is a human right from us?” said Julie Kinsella, a teacher who took part in the New York protest. Kinsella said she felt “anger” and “outrage” when she heard the news of the draft opinion.“It just made me think: what direction is the US moving toward with that decision?” she said. “We have made so much progress up until this point. I would just hate to see us backtrack and fight for what we already have right now.”‘We will not go back’: Thousands rally for abortion rights across the US Read morePro-choice advocates rally in DC and listen to speakers at the National MallCrowd grows larger as #prochoice advocates rally on #NationalMall @guardian pic.twitter.com/fUXuYvLiYw— Lauren Burke (@LVBurke) May 14, 2022
New York city protesters cross the Brooklyn bridge into Manhattan The #BansOffOurBodies #BansOffNYC just now crossing onto the Brooklyn Bridge. pic.twitter.com/mChrwLvOaI— Victoria Bekiempis (@vicbekiempis) May 14, 2022
Another protest group is walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, into BK. Cheers as groups crossed paths. pic.twitter.com/mLhIeiRGUX— Victoria Bekiempis (@vicbekiempis) May 14, 2022
The #BansOffOurBodies #BansOffNYC march is in Manhattan pic.twitter.com/ptiWn54oZ5— Victoria Bekiempis (@vicbekiempis) May 14, 2022
Abortion rights protesters marching in Chicago At a rally in Chicago, speaker after speaker told the crowd that if abortion is banned that the rights of immigrants, minorities and others will also be “gutted,” as Amy Eshleman, wife of Chicago Mayor Lori lightfoot put it. “This has never been just about abortion. It’s about control,” Eshleman told the crowd of thousands. “My marriage is on the menu and we cannot and will not let that happen,” she added.Kjirsten Nyquist, a nurse toting daughters ages 1 and 3, agreed about the need to vote. “As much as federal elections, voting in every small election matters just as much,” she said.From Pittsburgh to Pasadena, California, and Nashville, Tennessee, to Lubbock, Texas, tens of thousands are participating in the “Bans off our Bodies” events. Organizers expected that among the hundreds of events, the largest would take place in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and other big cities. “If it’s a fight they want, it’s a fight they’ll get,” Rachel Carmona, executive director of the Women’s March, said before the march.Thousands rally in Washington DCIn the nation’s capital, thousands gathered at the Washington Monument before marching to the Supreme Court, which is now surrounded by two layers of security fences.Caitlin Loehr, 34, of Washington, wore a black T-shirt with an image of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s “dissent” collar on it and a necklace that spelled out “vote.”“I think that women should have the right to choose what to do with their bodies and their lives. And I don’t think banning abortion will stop abortion. It just makes it unsafe and can cost a woman her life,” Loehr said.As one of the New York city protests moved onto the entrance of the Brooklyn bridge, demonstrators chanted “Bans off our bodies now!” Drummers in the procession provided a powerful rhythm alongside the chants. “This bridge represents all of the states in this nation. We will not be divided!” New York state attorney General Letitia James said. Striking images have emerged from the Bans Off Our Bodies rally in Washington DC. Here are a few:People of all ages, races and genders marching for abortion rightsProtesters have started to march from Cadman Plaza, in Brooklyn, toward the Brooklyn Bridge, en route to Downtown Manhattan, in a demonstration for reproductive health rights. It is one of hundreds of demonstrations across the US following a leaked draft Supreme Court decision that suggests the justices will vote to overturn Roe v Wade, which legalized abortion in the US. The mood among the two-to-three thousand present is enthusiasm marked by solemnity. People of all ages, races, and genders are participating in this walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. The front line is carrying a green sign that reads “Our bodies, our abortions.” Others hold signs that read “Abortion is healthcare” and “My body, my choice.”“I always want my right to an abortion to be free and accessible,” protester Nicole Cornell 22, told The Guardian. “It’s my own choice to be pregnant. I don’t want the government to infringe on that right.” Protesters are also expected to gather in New York City’s Union Square at 2 pm.Abortion rights activists are rallying outside Texas’s State Capitol:Happening now: Texas abortion rights advocates are hosting the Bans Off Our Bodies rally at the State Capitol. @KVUE pic.twitter.com/WC67X41SOk— Maria E. Aguilera (@maria_aguilera) May 14, 2022
The ‘Bans Off Our Bodies’ rally at the state Capitol. @KVUE pic.twitter.com/0ZjKyQBu0w— Maria E. Aguilera (@maria_aguilera) May 14, 2022
People chant “abortion is a human right” at the Bans Off Our Bodies rally. @KVUE pic.twitter.com/3C9uCKMxSa— Maria E. Aguilera (@maria_aguilera) May 14, 2022
As the US braces for the end of a federal right to abortion, a new six-week ban in Oklahoma offers a preview of what’s to come. The day after the supreme court leak, Andrea Gallegos had already started to cancel patients’ appointments.In the aftermath, Gallegos, the administrator for Tulsa Women’s Clinic, an Oklahoma-based abortion provider, wasn’t worried about Roe – at least, it wasn’t the first thing she was worried about. To her, there was a bigger, more immediate threat: a six-week abortion ban the Republican governor was expected to sign any day now. That same evening, to little fanfare, Governor Kevin Stitt signed into law the six-week abortion ban. The state supreme court declined to block the ban. If the clinic saw their patients on Wednesday, they risked civil lawsuits with a penalty of up to $10,000.So Gallegos did what she had dreaded. She began calling back patients who were past six weeks pregnant. The scheduled appointments would have to be canceled. If they wanted to seek an abortion, she told them, they should look somewhere else – Kansas, New Mexico or, a bit further away, Colorado.More protesters arrive in New York The crowd is growing in Cadman Plaza for the #BansOffOurBodies March #BansOffNYC protest. The demonstration is expected to begin at 1 pm, and will March across Brooklyn Bridge. Here is the plaza thus far. pic.twitter.com/ehmHTN4XVW— Victoria Bekiempis (@vicbekiempis) May 14, 2022 More

Mitch McConnell visits Kyiv with delegation of Republican US senatorsSenators meet Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy who praises US bipartisan support for his country More

Can this offbeat tattooed Democrat flip a Pennsylvania Senate seat?John Fetterman, a proponent of marijuana legalization and sentencing reform, is the frontrunner in his party’s primary John Fetterman isn’t like most politicians, and not just because of his tattoos, his goatee, his 6ft 8in frame and his penchant for sweatsuits.What really sets the frontrunner in Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate primary apart is his demeanor. Fetterman is a bit awkward, the opposite of the stereotypical smooth-talking politician. He tends to stumble through debates, and in personal interactions he doesn’t always hold eye contact. On the campaign trail, it sometimes looks as though he just doesn’t want to be here. And maybe that’s part of the secret to his success.“It’s hard to brand him as a politician,” says Lara Putnam, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh who studies grassroots politics, “because he literally shows up in shorts everywhere, year-round – with such commitment that it’s not a gimmick.”Now this least slick of politicians is poised to win the most heavily contested elections in America, and to test the strength of Democrats under Joe Biden in a crucial race. Pennsylvania is the swingiest of swing states, and, not incidentally, its Senate race this year will be the most expensive in the nation. It presents the Democratic party’s best chances to flip a seat away from Republican control, and could even decide the fate of the Democratic majority in the Senate.Yet Fetterman’s ideology is hard to peg. He’s an enthusiastic union supporter who says he would vote for Medicare for all, but does not support scrapping the electoral college or defunding the police. He’s a longtime proponent of legalizing marijuana, but he also cares passionately about the minutiae of prison policy. When asked about the precise targeting of a wealth tax proposal, he shrugged and said, “You know it when you see it.”“He doesn’t come across as a generic Democrat, in ways that may benefit him electorally and compensate for him not being a telegenic, charismatic gladhander,” says Putnam.In fact, Fetterman’s ability to find strength in not being a predictable politician reminds some observers of another successful outsider.“Donald Trump does things a lot of people find counterintuitive, but his finger is on the pulse of the Republican base,” says public affairs consultant and state political insider Larry Ceisler. “Maybe Fetterman has that ability.”Pennsylvania initially seemed tailor-made for a different candidate: Connor Lamb. A clean-cut former marine and congressman with a record of winning tough races in Trump-friendly areas, he seemed like the perfect man for the race. Instead, Lamb badly lags Fetterman in every poll and has raised only a third of the money. That’s not to say that Lamb and state representative Malcolm Kenyatta, the other competitive player in the primary, aren’t trying. In two bruising televised debates, they have jabbed at the frontrunner, probing his weak spots. Lamb claims Fetterman is too progressive for the state; Kenyatta attacks from the left. Fetterman simply stares forward and repeats his talking points.“This is 2022, you don’t have to be great on the debate stage. Maybe you don’t even have to be on the debate stage at all,” says Ceisler.From affluent childhood to steel-town mayorFetterman hails from York county, one of the most heavily Republican corners of Pennsylvania. His family was well-off – his father is an insurance executive – and quite conservative. According to his college roommate and football teammate, Fetterman was a conservative too.But as a volunteer with Big Brothers, Big Sisters he was exposed to an America far beyond the exurban gentry class. Instead of going into business, he attended Harvard’s Kennedy School for Government and got a job teaching in a GED program in the deeply depressed steel town of Braddock, a mostly Black community where from a peak of 21,000 the population has fallen to less than 2,000.His students persuaded him to run for mayor, and he won the 2005 election by one vote. Soon his gigantic stature and casually grizzled style attracted media attention – Levi’s even featured him in a series of advertisements set in Braddock, in exchange for a new playground and a $1m community center.“He was known as someone who was trying to advocate for a really hard-hit community and bring new jobs and opportunities to that region and to that city,” says Putnam. Although he couldn’t stop the population loss, a handful of new businesses opened in town, and he parlayed his civic fame to attract corporate donations.Above all, in a town scarred by violence, he says his greatest accomplishment is a stretch of five and a half years with no gun deaths. He championed community policing tactics and has never embraced the more aggressive leftwing critiques of law enforcement.“I’m the only Democrat or Republican [in the race] that’s actually been in charge of a police department,” he boasted at one debate. “I fought to increase their wages, I fought to shore up their benefits, and I fought to increase budgets consistently every year.”Gun violence is also at the root of the most uncomfortable criticisms of Fetterman. In the winter of 2013, he heard a burst of gunfire in his neighborhood and saw a man running in a ski mask and dark clothing. Fetterman grabbed a shotgun and drove his pickup truck in pursuit. He apprehended the man, who turned out to be an innocent Black jogger, until the police arrived.The story raised eyebrows, and in the Black Lives Matter era looks even worse. Fetterman says he never aimed the shotgun at the jogger and that he didn’t know the man was Black. (The runner, who is incarcerated for unrelated reasons, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Fetterman is lying but that he should be elected to the Senate anyway.)“For somebody who has cut an image as an incredibly tough guy, you’re so afraid of two little words: I’m sorry,” said Kenyatta, who is Black, at one of the debates. Fetterman noted that he won re-election in Braddock twice more after the incident, and Ceisler says polling found that the story did not hurt Fetterman’s standing among canvassed Black voters.“If they were counting on that story about the gun and the African American working against him, I don’t see it,” says Maurice Floyd, a Black political consultant in Philadelphia. “He’s got a lead like that and, what, you think there aren’t any African Americans in those polls?”Fetterman’s case for facing the Republicans in November is rooted in his non-Braddock campaigns. In 2016 he launched a quixotic bid for the US Senate, embraced Sanders’ socialist presidential campaign, and energetically stumped all over the state. He lost, but won a respectable 20% of the primary vote.Two years later Fetterman ran for lieutenant governor against the incumbent Democrat, a scandal-plagued politician from Philadelphia. This time Fetterman won a resounding victory.The position is mostly ceremonial, but he has used it aggressively, visiting every county in the state on a listening tour about legalizing marijuana.“John doesn’t wait for campaign season to show up,” says Joe Calvello, director of communications for Fetterman. “The first thing he did as lieutenant governor was to tour 67 counties to talk to people, to get out there, to hear people’s concerns, whether it’s about legalizing marijuana or forging new lives. He’s had these conversations for years.”Fetterman also powerfully exercises one of his only actual powers in this odd duck role. The lieutenant governor sits on the board of pardons, which can review contested prison sentences and put them before the governor. As Politico reported in 2021, the board had at that point recommended for leniency more than twice as many cases under Fetterman than in the previous 20 years combined.The 2018 race is also proof he can win a statewide election, something none of the other candidates can claim. His campaign believes his unusual political brand, idiosyncratic political ideology, and attention to rural areas and small towns will win voters who wouldn’t go for a cookie-cutter Democrat.“Democrats cannot be writing off any community – that’s why we’re going anywhere in anywhere and everywhere,” says Calvello. “We don’t believe we’re going to flip these counties blue, but you cut down the margins by showing up, being honest, talking to voters. That matters in a statewide race.”His detractors argue that the lieutenant governor’s race was a low-profile affair, won in an extremely Democratic year, and that Fetterman has never been under a harsh spotlight. “The choices he has made place him too far to the extreme to win at the statewide level in Pennsylvania,” said Lamb during a debate. “When he was running around the state in his gym shorts, making marijuana the number one issue, campaigning with Bernie Sanders, he lost a lot of swing voters already.”‘Every county, every vote’So far, these fears do not seem to have infected the larger Democratic electorate. Republicans are locked in an extremely competitive and crowded primary, with two millionaires recently moved in from out of state – celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz and hedge fund manager David McCormick – dealing each other expensive body blows. The Republican attack line on Fetterman is likely to be that he’s a false working-class hero who cries poor but comes from money. “The guy’s a show-off fake,” says Christopher Nicholas, a Republican political consultant who is not working on the Senate campaign. “He is an interesting MSNBC and social media novelty. He parlayed that into raising a bunch of money, but when you strip away all the technology it’s still a people business. And he can’t go to meetings and do small talk.”But in the debates Fetterman has already begun attacking McCormick: he couldn’t ask for a better foil than an exceedingly wealthy mogul who served in George W Bush’s treasury department and only just moved to Pennsylvania from Connecticut.Such a contest would be the supreme test of Fetterman’s theory of the electorate: that even in a year where all signs are against Democrats on the national level, a socially awkward, heavily tattooed man who is deeply committed to his state can break through.“We are able to bring out margins that we are going to need,” said Fetterman, making the pitch for himself at the second debate. “I’m the only candidate that has always embraced an every-county, every-vote philosophy. That’s how I believe we’re going to win in a tough cycle.”TopicsUS midterm elections 2022US politicsPennsylvaniaUS SenatefeaturesReuse this content More

Demonstrators across the US protest expected reversal of Roe v WadeBans Off Our Bodies marches follow the Senate’s failure to pass legislation protecting the right to an abortion With the US supreme court apparently poised to overturn the 1973 landmark decision which made abortion legal, hundreds of thousands of people across America are planning to take to the streets to protest the looming decision.A coalition of groups such as Planned Parenthood, UltraViolet, MoveOn and the Women’s March are organizing Saturday’s demonstrations, whose rallying cry is “Bans Off Our Bodies”. More than 370 protests are planned, including in Washington DC, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.The demonstrations come after the leak on 2 May of a draft opinion showing five conservatives on the nine-justice supreme court had voted to reverse their predecessors’ ruling in Roe v Wade nearly 50 years ago.How soon could US states outlaw abortions if Roe v Wade is overturned?Read moreUnless the provisional ruling is changed substantially before becoming final, abortion would be outlawed essentially immediately in more than half of US states. People in those 26 states hostile to abortion would be forced to either travel hundreds of miles to a clinic in a state where terminating a pregnancy is legal or seek to self-administer an abortion through medication from grassroots or illicit groups.While conservatives have celebrated the leak ruling, liberals have objected vociferously, gathering outside the supreme court building in Washington DC as well as the homes of some of the conservative justices to signal their displeasure.The activists championing DIY abortions for a post-Roe v Wade worldRead moreThose rallies – generally peaceful – have been relatively small, while Saturday’s planned events will almost certainly be compared to the 2017 Women’s March the day after Donald Trump was inaugurated as president, which drew an estimated 3 million to 4 million participants across the US.The “Bans Off Our Bodies” gatherings will take place three days after Democrats in the US Senate on Wednesday made a largely symbolic effort to advance legislation that would codify the right to an abortion into federal law. All 50 Republicans and one conservative-aligned Democrat – West Virginia’s Joe Manchin – voted against the measure, leaving it well short of the 60 votes necessary for it to advance.TopicsProtestRoe v WadeUS politicsAbortionnewsReuse this content More

Lloyd Austin, the US defense secretary, held a call with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Friday in which he called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, the Pentagon said.During the call Austin also “emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication”, according to Pentagon press secretary John Kirby.The call is the first time Austin had spoken with Shoigu since February 18, six days before Russia invaded Ukraine.The call came after Republican senator Rand Paul blocked the passage of a $40bn aid bill for Ukraine on Thursday. The bill will be taken up again next week.Russia has shown no signs of halting its aggression. On Friday the UK ministry of defence said Russia was stepping up its attacks near the cities of Izyum and Severodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine, in an attempt to “envelop Ukrainian forces”.We’ll wrap up the blog here, after another busy day in Washington and US politics as a whole. To close on a sobering note, in light of the protests planned across the US tomorrow over the supreme court’s apparent desire to overturn the right to abortion, here’s Maanvi Singh’s report from Oakland, about the challenges which face those protecting that right even in states which support it:Even in abortion ‘safe havens’ finding care can be challengingRead moreWidespread marches are planned for Saturday, in protest of the apparent readiness of the supreme court to strike down the right to abortion. Here’s some preparatory reading from David Sirota and Andrew Perez…Even as the Democrats’ feeble legislative attempt to codify federal protections for abortion rights goes down in flames, many Washington elites are directing their attention and anger towards the same target: no, not rightwing judges reaching their ideological hands into millions of people’s bodies, but instead the protesters peacefully demonstrating outside the homes of supreme court justices who are about to overturn Roe v Wade.Prominent Republican lawmakers, conservative operatives and Beltway pundits are demanding the government arrest demonstrators – and to do so, they are citing a McCarthy-era statute passed to stop people from protesting against the prosecutions of alleged communists. Ignored in the discourse is a past ruling from the supreme court effectively blessing conservative protests at the homes of abortion clinic workers.The largely manufactured outrage is the latest distraction designed to shift attention away from the issue at hand: the US supreme court’s conservative supermajority is about to deny basic reproductive rights to tens of millions of people in roughly half the country.Conservative operatives want Washington reporters focused on inane questions like who leaked the court’s draft opinion, and they want journalists and Democrats to criticize protesters who are outraged by the court’s overriding lack of respect for people’s bodily autonomy. It is part of a larger rightwing movement in recent years to cancel, criminalize and literally crush dissent throughout the country, even as the conservative political noise machine continues to blare Braveheart-esque screams of “freedom!” against so-called “cancel culture”.Read more:Prepare for McCarthy-era crackdowns on pro-choice protesters | Andrew Perez and David SirotaRead moreThe population of the United States is much younger than that of most European countries, but its political establishment is much older. The 2020 presidential election was fought between 74-year-old Donald Trump and 77-year-old Joe Biden – compare that to 53-year-old Marine Le Pen and 44-year-old Emmanuel Macron in last month’s French presidential election. The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, is 71, while minority leader Mitch McConnell is 80. In the generally younger House of Representatives, the majority leader, Nancy Pelosi, is 82, making minority leader Kevin McCarthy look like a spring chicken at a mere 57. This is not just a problem for the functioning of the democratic system; it endangers the survival of it.Read more:The Democratic party needs new, younger leadership before it’s too late | Cas MuddeRead moreAriana Grande, Billie Eilish, Megan Thee Stallion, Olivia Rodrigo and Selena Gomez joined a slew of fellow music stars and other celebrities to take out a full-page advertisement in Friday’s New York Times, decrying the looming fall of nationwide abortion rights.“The supreme court is planning to overturn Roe v Wade,” read the ad, referring to the landmark 1973 ruling that in effect legalized abortion across the US. “Our power to plan our own futures and control our own bodies depends on our ability to access sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion.”It continued: “We are artists. Creators. Storytellers. We are the new generation stepping into our power. Now we are being robbed of our power. We will not go back – and we will not back down.”More than 160 musicians, songwriters, actors, models and other celebrities signed the ad, which invited the public to take to the streets on Saturday and participate in planned demonstrations across the US protesting the supreme court’s expected reversal of Roe v Wade.Other notable names include Asa Butterfield, Camila Cabello, Camila Mendes, Demi Lovato, Dove Cameron, Lil Dicky, Dylan O’Brien, Finneas, Hailee Steinfeld, Hailey Bieber, Halsey, Ilana Glazer, Joey King, Kendall Jenner, Miley Cyrus, Paramore, Phoebe Bridgers, Quvenzhané Wallis, Shawn Mendes, Tate McRae and Thomas Doherty.Full story:Ariana Grande and other stars support Roe v Wade in New York Times adRead moreThe House select committee investigating the Capitol attack made a political and legal gambit when it issued unprecedented subpoenas that compel five Republican members of Congress to reveal inside information about Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election.The move sets into motion an extraordinary high-stakes showdown of response and counter-response for both the subpoenaed House Republicans – the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan, Scott Perry, Andy Biggs and Mo Brooks – and the panel itself.Bennie Thompson, the Democrat chair of the committee, authorized the subpoenas on Wednesday after the panel convened for final talks about whether to proceed with subpoenas, with House investigators needing to wrap up work before June public hearings.“We inquired to most of them via letter to come forward, and when they told us they would not come, we issued the subpoena,” Thompson said of McCarthy and his colleagues. “It’s a process. And the process was clearly one that required debate and discussion.”The decision came after a recognition that their investigation into January 6 would not have been complete if they did not at least attempt to force the cooperation of some of the House Republicans most deeply involved in Trump’s unlawful schemes to return himself to office.But the subpoenas are about deploying a political and legal power play in the crucial final moments of the investigation as much as they are about an effort to gain new information for the inquiry into efforts to stop Joe Biden’s certification in time for public hearings.Full story:Subpoenas of Trump allies by January 6 panel set up high-stakes showdownRead moreWe’re on to the Iran nuclear deal and whether Russia is now an obstacle to resurrecting the pact, which Donald Trump dropped. Russia is an obstacle, Psaki says, given its invasion of Ukraine.Why is the US not calling for an independent inquiry into the shooting of Shireen Abu Aqleh, an Al Jazeera journalist, in the West Bank?The US will provide assistance if Israel wants it, Psaki says. That’s that.Asked about immigration reform, which is stalled, Psaki points out simply that Congress won’t move on it. Biden was elected in part on a promise to work with Republicans in Congress, based on his three decades there as a senator, but that’s all part of the fun.Obviously, in a lot of ways a White House briefing should be this frustrating, in that the press secretary should spend the time parrying questions no matter how many times they are rephrased by the press, and should achieve that parrying by verbal sleight of hand or by simply drowning the inconvenient questions in inexorable verbiage.Which is what Jen Psaki does here, before nodding, closing her binder and leaving the White House podium for the final time, with a simple: “Thank you, everyone.”So it goes.Psaki is asked about Republican attacks over the baby formula situation. “We do like facts here,” Psaki says, flipping her binder, and trying to make the point that perhaps Republican critics of the administration are, let’s say, less keen on facts in such circumstances.Will there soon be a Covid vaccine for the under-fives? Psaki says she as a parent is eager for such a move but Joe Biden “moves at the pace of science”.Psaki is also asked about the absence of meaningful reform on police and policing promised in light of the murder of George Floyd and the national protests that followed.She says the administration is taking such efforts seriously and hopes Republicans will support Biden’s efforts, including $10m for policing announced today, and a police reform executive order “will be a part of that”.Asked about advice for Karine Jean-Pierre, her successor as press secretary who is in the room, Psaki says she will have to “project and convey the positions of the president of the United States”. As a “bit of a policy nerd”, Psaki advises deep engagement on that front too.“You never want to be a meme with one line,” Psaki also says, advising the provision of context in answers. The camera does not cut to Peter Doocy of Fox News, with Psaki the subject of many such memes. Shame.Baby formula is back on the agenda. Psaki notes administration approaches and what it claims are successes.Jen Psaki continues her final briefing as White House press secretary, fielding questions about Americans held in Iran and about Brittney Griner, the women’s NBA star who is being held in Russia. Griner has been “wrongfully detained”, Psaki says, without giving much of an answer beyond saying efforts continue to get Griner home.Here’s our story:WNBA star Brittney Griner’s detention in Russia extended by monthRead morePsaki is also asked about Covid funding from Congress and says, “There is no Plan B”, which seems rather stark as such funding runs out. “More Americans will die needlessly,” she says, if funding is allowed to lapse.Psaki is asked about all the other pressing issues too: the price of living, of gas, the scarcity of baby formula. They all have their roots in the pandemic, she says. And the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. And there are good signs, Psaki insists, including strong economic performance in the US.She rattles through Biden achievements on oil, internet access for the less well off, and so forth, like the pro she is. “Look at the alternative,” she says. “What are Republicans presenting as the option?”A lot of questions are being asked about baby formula. Specifically, when will parents be able to get it.“[The] FDA took a step to ensure that babies were taking safe formula,” Psaki says. “We’re going to work with manufacturers, we’re going to import more to expedite this as quickly as possible.”Asked whether the government should push to produce more formula, Psaki says:“The production of baby formula is so specialised and so specific that you can’t just use the Defense Production Act to say to a company that makes something else: produce baby formula.”A nationwide baby formula shortage has forced parents into online groups to swap and sell to each other to keep their babies fed.US infant formula shortage: what you need to knowRead morePsaki’s final White House briefing continues.“I promised myself I wouldn’t get emotional,” she says. She succeeds.Psaki thanks the president and first lady, and some staffers, and then the assembled members of the press.“Without accountability and debate democracy is not as strong and you all play a pivotal role,” she says.Before asking questions the White House press corps, not known for being the most combative of journalists, are each thanking Psaki for her service.Psaki is asked if the president has a reaction to images from this morning of Israeli troops beating people carrying the casket of Shireen Abu Aqleh, a Palestinian-American journalist.Abu Aqleh was shot in the head on Wednesday morning in the West Bank city of Jenin during what her colleagues at the scene said was a burst of Israeli fire on a small group of journalists covering an expected Israeli military raid.“We have all seen those images and they’re obviously deeply disturbing,” Psaki says. “We regret the intrusion into what should have been a peaceful procession,” she adds. The US government has been in touch with both Israeli and Palestinian governments, she says.Jen Psaki is holding her final White House press conference, and she’s arrived with a couple of local officials.There’s a mayor and a chief of police. Psaki says they are sterling examples of how cities can use money from the 2021 $1.9tn Covid-19 relief package – the American Rescue Plan – to provide “historic levels of support to make our communities safer”.Quinton Lucas, the mayor of Kansas City, says money from the rescue plan – which was introduced to support Americans impacted by the coronavirus pandemic – has enabled the city to retain and hire more police officers.The Detroit chief of police, James White, says money from the plan has helped train law enforcement officers, including crisis intervention training.This comes as Joe Biden plans to urge states and cities to use unspent money from the Covid relief package to fund crime prevention programs and hire police officers. When the plan was introduced in January 2021 – Biden signed it into law the following March – Biden said it would help the “millions of Americans, [who] through no fault of their own, have lost the dignity and respect that comes with a job and a paycheck”.A lawyer for the New York attorney general’s office said Friday that the office is “nearing the end” of its three-year investigation into former president Donald Trump and his business practices, The Associated Press reports. Andrew Amer made the disclosure during a hearing in a federal lawsuit Trump filed against attorney general Letitia James as he seeks to put an end to her investigation.His lawyers argued the probe is a politically motivated fishing expedition.Trump is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the investigation, which James has said uncovered evidence that Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, misstated the value of assets like skyscrapers and golf courses on financial statements for over a decade.James has asked a judge to dismiss Trump’s lawsuit.US district judge Brenda Sannes said she would weigh both issues and deliver a decision in writing. She heard arguments for about an hour via video. She did not give a timetable for a ruling.Trump lawyer Alina Habba argued that James, a Democrat, campaigned for office in 2018 as a Trump antagonist and, as attorney general, has used the office to harass the Republican former president and his company with myriad subpoenas and evidence requests. Habba said:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}“We’ve produced millions and millions and millions of pages” of evidence…We keep getting subpoenas. They keep looking for things. If they don’t find it, they look again.”Amer, a special litigation counsel for James, countered that the state judge overseeing legal fights over subpoenas issued by the attorney general’s office has found there is a “sufficient basis for continuing its investigation.”That finding, combined with evidence uncovered to date, “really shuts the door on any argument” by Trump’s lawyers that the office was proceeding in bad faith, Amer said.It’s been a lively morning so far in US political news and there is more to come, so do stay tuned. Here’s where things stand:
US defense secretary Lloyd Austin held a call with Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu on Friday in which he called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine
In an overt break from Donald Trump, former US vice president Mike Pence will hold a rally on May 23 with Georgia governor – and Trump foe – Brian Kemp, a day before Georgia’s midterms Republican primary
Lloyd Austin, the US defense secretary, held a call with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Friday in which he called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, the Pentagon said.During the call Austin also “emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication”, according to Pentagon press secretary John Kirby.The call is the first time Austin had spoken with Shoigu since February 18, six days before Russia invaded Ukraine.The call came after Republican senator Rand Paul blocked the passage of a $40bn aid bill for Ukraine on Thursday. The bill will be taken up again next week.Russia has shown no signs of halting its aggression. On Friday the UK ministry of defence said Russia was stepping up its attacks near the cities of Izyum and Severodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine, in an attempt to “envelop Ukrainian forces”.Bernie Sanders has written an interesting op-ed piece today on his new Medicare for All bill, and it has been published in an interesting place: Fox News.The op-ed appears to be an attempt to reach out to Americans who might not normally hear Sanders’ case for universal healthcare. It focuses on the cost and corruption of the medical healthcare system, as Sanders champions his bill, which has 15 co-sponsors in the Senate. The legislation be implemented over a four-year period and would guarantee health care in the United States as a fundamental human right to all.“Despite spending more than twice as much on healthcare as the average developed country our health outcomes are worse than most. For example, our life expectancy is about 4.5 years lower than Germany’s and we have the highest infant mortality rate of almost any major country on earth,” Sanders writes.Sanders continues:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Now, if Medicare for All was so great, you might ask, why hasn’t it been enacted by now? Why hasn’t the United States joined every major country on earth in guaranteeing health care for all?
Well, the answer is pretty simple. Follow the money. Since 1998, in our corrupt political system, the private health care sector has spent more than $10.6 billion on lobbying and over the last 30 years it has spent more than $1.7 billion on campaign contributions to maintain the status quo. And, by the way, they are “bi-partisan.” In fact, they own many of the politicians in both the Democratic and Republican parties.
Here is the bottom line: If every major country on earth can guarantee health care to all and achieve better health outcomes, while spending substantially less per capita than we do, there is no reason, other than greed, that the United States of America cannot do the same.Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, will give her last briefing today, before reportedly taking up a tv host role at MSNBC.Psaki’s departure will mark the end of a 16-month stint as Joe Biden’s chief spokesperson. Karine Jean-Pierre, currently the principal deputy press secretary, will be taking over, becoming the first Black person and first out gay person in the role.In joining MSNBC – a move that has not been officially announced, but was revealed by Axios last month – Psaki is following a well-trodden path of White House communications to television pundit.A slew of Donald Trump’s four former White House press secretaries, Kayleigh McEnany has gone on to be a Fox News host, while Sean Spicer has his own show on the right-wing network Newsmax.Multiple rallies are set to take place on Saturday across the country as abortion rights activists take to the streets in opposition to the news that a majority of the Supreme Court favors overturning Roe v Wade, according to a draft ruling leaked on May 2.The so-called “Bans Off Our Bodies” marches will take place across small towns and major cities, including Washington, DC, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Birmingham and Chicago. A coalition of pro-choice advocacy groups, including Planned Parenthood, UltraViolet, Move On and the Women’s March, is helping organize Saturday’s nationwide protests.“This Saturday we are taking to the streets to express our outrage—and our determination,” Planned Parenthood Action Fund executive director Kelley Robinson said in a press statement. “Abortion access is in crisis, and Planned Parenthood organizations are proud to stand with partners and hundreds of thousands of people nationwide to come together and show that we reject the rollback our rights and freedoms,” she added. With tens of thousands expected to turnout across the country, Saturday’s protests could be the biggest women-focussed protest since the first official Women’s March, held in Washington with support marches in other cities on January 21, 2017, the day after Donald Trump was inaugurated as president.The brash Republican took the White House despite allegations from dozens of women about sexual harassment and misconduct, which he has always denied, and the emergence on the eve of the 2016 election of a tape of him boasting that he just approaches women he is attracted to and grabs “them by the pussy”. In Washington DC, protestors are expected to march from the Washington Monument to the Supreme Court, which has been heavily shielded with metal barricades since protests immediately erupted after the draft decision was leaked that the supreme court is minded, with its conservative super-majority, to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe decision that established a woman’s constitutional right to seek an abortion in America.Many anti-abortion activists are also expected to turn out in support of banning the procedure.Former US vice president Mike Pence plans to hold a rally for incumbent Georgia governor Brian Kemp on the eve of that state’s midterms Republican primary – in very public defiance of former president Donald Trump who has chosen to support Kemp’s GOP rival.The Georgia primary is on May 24 and Pence will hold the rally for Kemp on May 23. Trump, who has repeatedly attacked Kemp for refusing to entertain his outlandish and untrue claims of voter fraud, has endorsed former David Perdue for the governorship, the former US Senator who lost his seat to Democrat Jon Ossoff in a sensational sweep by Democrats to turn Georgia blue in 2020.Pence has gently gone against Trump in recent months. In March Pence told Republican donors that “there is no room in this party for apologists for Putin”, comments which came a few days after Trump had called the Russian leader “smart” and “savvy”.Pence has also disputed Trump’s nonsense claim that the former vice-president could have overturned the 2020 election.But Pence’s enthusiastic endorsement of Kemp is his most overt pushback against Trump yet. It marks a big change from Pence, who was a famously sycophantic deputy during Trump’s four-year term.Find someone who looks at you the way Pence looks at Trump pic.twitter.com/lRzuEHq3ep— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) February 14, 2020
Beyond the Pence-Trump intrigue, the Georgia governor primary will offer a revealing look at Trump’s influence over Republican voters – and the future of the Republican party.Trump has had some hits with his endorsed candidates for the Senate and the House so far this year, but appears to wield less influence in governors races. Trump endorsed Charles Herbster for Nebraska governor, but Hebster lost this week. The former president has also endorsed a primary contender to Brad Little, the sitting governor of Nebraska, but Little is expected to win easily next week.Good morning and welcome to the Guardian’s coverage of daily US political news. Mike Pence has made himself a target for the ire of his former boss, by announcing he will holding a rally with Georgia governor – and Trump foe – Brian Kemp.Politico reported that Pence will hold an event with Kemp on May 23, the day before a contentious Georgia primary. Trump, who has repeatedly attacked Kemp for refusing to entertain his outlandish and untrue claims of voter fraud, has endorsed Kemp’s rival, David Perdue.It sets up what will be revealing clash between Pence and Trump, who apparently remains furious that Pence did not do more to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.Trump has campaigned for Perdue, and the former president’s political action committee has pumped money into Perdue’s campaign. But polling from April showed Kemp was likely to defeat Trump’s man in the Republican primary.In a statement, Pence called Kemp “one of the most successful conservative governors in America”, per Politico.“Brian Kemp is my friend, a man dedicated to faith, family and the people of Georgia,” Pence said. “I am proud to offer my full support for four more years of Brian Kemp as governor of the great state of Georgia.” In other news, Rand Paul, the Kentucky senator, single-handedly held up a bill on Thursday which would have pledged $40bn aid for Ukraine. Paul’s blockage delayed passage of the measure into next week – the Senate has scheduled an initial procedural vote on the bill for late Monday afternoon. More

Ariana Grande and other stars support Roe v Wade in New York Times adBillie Eilish and Megan Thee Stallion denounce likely overturning of abortion rights: ‘We will not go back – and we will not back down’ Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Megan Thee Stallion, Olivia Rodrigo and Selena Gomez joined a slew of fellow music stars and other celebrities to take out a full-page advertisement in Friday’s New York Times decrying the looming fall of nationwide abortion rights.“The supreme court is planning to overturn Roe v Wade,” read the ad, referring to the landmark 1973 ruling that in effect legalized abortion across the US. “Our power to plan our own futures and control our own bodies depends on our ability to access sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion.”Ending Roe v Wade could badly backfire on Republicans during elections this year | Lloyd GreenRead moreIt continued: “We are artists. Creators. Storytellers. We are the new generation stepping into our power. Now we are being robbed of our power. We will not go back – and we will not back down.”More than 160 musicians, songwriters, actors, models and other celebrities signed the ad, which invited the public to take to the streets on Saturday and participate in planned demonstrations across the US protesting the supreme court’s expected reversal of Roe v Wade.Other notable names include Asa Butterfield, Camila Cabello, Camila Mendes, Demi Lovato, Dove Cameron, Lil Dicky, Dylan O’Brien, Finneas, Hailee Steinfeld, Hailey Bieber, Halsey, Ilana Glazer, Joey King, Kendall Jenner, Miley Cyrus, Paramore, Phoebe Bridgers, Quvenzhané Wallis, Shawn Mendes, Tate McRae and Thomas Doherty.02:17The protests follow the 2 May leak of a draft opinion showing five conservatives on the nine-justice supreme court had voted to reverse the Roe v Wade ruling, which was made nearly 50 years ago. If that provisional decision becomes final, abortion would be outlawed almost overnight in 26 states, or more than half the country.Conservatives have celebrated the leaked ruling and liberals have protested it, gathering outside the supreme court building in Washington as well as the homes of some of the conservative justices.The much larger protests being planned for Saturday across the country are being organized by a coalition of groups such as Planned Parenthood, UltraViolet, MoveOn and the Women’s March, under the slogan “Bans Off Our Bodies”. Friday’s ad invites readers to visit bansoff.org for more information on the demonstrations.TopicsUS newsRoe v WadeUS politicsnewsReuse this content More