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      ‘Tired of trickle-down economics’: Biden calls for expansion of unions in Labor Day speech

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      ‘Tired of trickle-down economics’: Biden calls for expansion of unions in Labor Day speechPresident again pledges to be ‘most pro-union president’ in history during speech in Milwaukee Joe Biden used a Labor Day speech in the battleground state of Wisconsin to endorse the expansion of unions, reiterating his election promises to be the “most pro-union president” in American history.The US president argued in Milwaukee that a skilled, unionised workforce would help the US regain its place as a world leader in infrastructure and manufacturing.Drawing on Franklin D Roosevelt’s explicit support for unions during the New Deal, Biden said: “I am encouraging unions … we need key worker protections to build an economy from the bottom up and middle out. I am sick and tired of trickle-down economics.”Biden’s comments come amid a major resurgence for the labor movement in the US, with more support for unions than at any time in the past 60 years, especially as low-paid workers across a range of industries try unionising.Biden warns US democracy imperiled by Trump and Maga extremistsRead moreEarlier on Monday, Biden came out in support of a proposed law in California, the Agricultural Labor Relations Voting Choice Act – currently on Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk – that would make it easier for farmhands to organise.“The least we owe them is an easier path to make a free and fair choice to organize a union,” Biden said.The Labor Day holiday in an election year typically marks the start of the final sprint before the November vote. With so much at stake in this year’s midterm elections, Biden and Republican leaders are revving up the rhetoric.There is also fevered speculation about whether Donald Trump will announce, before the election, a fresh run for the Republican nomination to recapture the White House in 2024, while he is embroiled in a host of criminal and civil investigations, from New York to Georgia.In Wisconsin, Biden again attempted to distinguish between the type of mainstream Republicans whom he has previously worked with and the “extreme right, Maga Republicans, Trumpies”, he said, who “pose a threat to democracy and economic security, and embrace political violence”.His use of the word “Trumpies” lit up social media. Biden in office has largely avoided referring to his predecessor by name in public or taking direct aim at his loyalist voter base.But last month he referred to the phenomenon of extremist Republicans hewing unshakably to Trump’s “Make America great again” nationalist agenda amid encouragement of “political violence” as “semi-fascism”, then last week said the US was in a battle for the soul of the nation.Biden refers to MAGA republicans as “The Trumpies” pic.twitter.com/I49hQZRzIe— Acyn (@Acyn) September 5, 2022
      On Monday he said: “You can’t be pro-insurrection and pro-democracy,” referring to defenders of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by extremist Trump supporters hoping to overturn Biden’s victory. Biden continued on the campaign trail from Milwaukee to Pittsburgh for his third visit to Pennsylvania in a week – underscoring the importance of the swing state, which the president, a Pennsylvania native, won back for the Democrats in 2020. Trump, who won Pennsylvania in 2016, rallied there on Saturday.After months of dire polling, the signs are more positive for Biden and the Democrats after a spate of legislative and policy wins, including getting a historic bill to tackle the climate crisis and healthcare costs over the line.Could unexpected Democratic gains foil a midterm Republican victory?Read moreThe US supreme court’s decision in June to overturn the right to abortion also seems to be galvanising the Democrat base, independent and swing voters, especially women, which could hurt Republicans at the polls.In Wisconsin, Biden listed some of his administration’s key victories for workers and ordinary Americans through last year’s American Rescue Act (Arpa) and most recently the Inflation Reduction act (IRA) – without any Republican support.TopicsJoe BidenUS politicsWisconsinMilwaukeeUS unionsDemocratsnewsReuse this content More

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      Ad campaign targets Latino voters as key bloc for Democrats in midterms

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      Ad campaign targets Latino voters as key bloc for Democrats in midtermsNon-profit Voto Latino aims to challenge Republican ‘disinformation’ in key battleground states With midterm elections on the horizon, Americans are subject to a flurry of Democratic and Republican ads. As the second-largest voting bloc in 2020, Latino voters are expected to play a significant role in the 2022 elections. They are therefore a key target group.One non-profit, Voto Latino, aims to fight political disinformation and communicate with self-identified moderate Latino voters through a series of ads.Are Latino voters really moving right? The end of Roe may muddy the pictureRead moreAmeer Patel, vice-president of programs for Voto Latino, said: “We’ve seen a lot of Republicans make headway through disinformation campaigns targeting Latino voters, basically through disinformation narratives that are calling Democrats socialists who are trying to erode trust in institutions, calling Democrats unpatriotic.“We’ve seen a lot of inroads Republicans have made in some of those disinformation theories and so what we wanted to do was basically debunk some of those and promote Democratic messaging.”Based on a mid-May poll of 1,600 Latinos in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania, Voto Latino and Rising Tide Interactive, a political strategy company, developed 10 ads about issues voters said were most important to them.According to a Voto Latino memo reviewed by the Guardian, the issues include taxes, immigration, pandemic relief, small business relief, infrastructure, child tax credits and abortion rights.“There’s been a lot of political communication that comes across as overly promotional or polished,” Patel said. “We’ve seen those ads not have high effect sizes.”Patel said Voto Latino spent a month gathering stories from Latino voters. The resulting ads were tested in online mixed panels, with participants recruited through online ads. Respondents were initially limited to people self-identified as Latino, then to those who also self-identified as politically moderate.Patel said: “Basically we were trying to get them on the record to talk about issues that matter to them, what they see in politics … These are real people, these weren’t actors. Furthermore we wanted it to be a testimonial-style video instead of some of those voiceovers that are more polished.“For a lot of these people, they’ve never done that before. You can see [some of them] are visibly uncomfortable in front of the camera and so we feel that all of those things would basically contribute to the likelihood of success here and make that seem more genuine.”Each ad is 30 seconds long. In one ad, on taxes, a young man named Felipe wears a dark polo shirt as he looks into the camera and says: “My parents broke their back working multiple jobs just to make ends meet.“It made me angry that Republicans passed a law to give millionaires and billionaires a tax break while my parents paid real money … Your vote matters and when you vote for the Democrats, it helps hardworking families like mine to get by.”Voto Latino measured the effectiveness of each ad based on questions in three categories, compared to a placebo ad.The three categories were care, trust and vote choice. The questions concerned whether Democrats or Republicans truly care about the voter and his or her best interests more than the other party; whether the voter trusts Democrats or Republicans to deliver on issues that matter most to him or herself; and if the November 2022 general election were held today, would the voter vote for the Democratic or Republican candidate for US representative in their district.According to Voto Latino, the ads proved very effective at increasing Democratic favorability on trust, care and vote choice, especially when it came to abortion and religion.The group memo said: “In certain instances, these ads had a lift upwards of 26% compared to the placebo group. In general, results recommend using the “Abortion/Religion” or “Taxes” ads when communicating to moderate Latinos.The chief executive of Voto Latino, Maria Teresa Kumar, said: “The numbers we’re seeing are the kinds of results that can transform a race. Latino voters are positioned to help Democrats win some of the most important contests in November. The question is whether or not our groups decide to engage with them.“This is an unprecedented opportunity; we just need to take advantage of it.”TopicsDemocratsUS midterm elections 2022RaceUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Democracy is under attack – and reporting that isn’t ‘violating journalistic standards’ | Robert Reich

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      Democracy is under attack – and reporting that isn’t ‘violating journalistic standards’Robert ReichBiden gave a rare primetime address on the most important challenge facing America – and the media coverage was just more he-said/she-said reaction Joe Biden’s message Thursday evening was clear. American democracy is under attack.This was a rare primetime address on the most important challenge facing the nation.But the media treated the speech as if it were just another in an endless series of partisan vollies instead of what it was – a declaration by the president of the United States that America must choose between democracy and authoritarianism.The major networks didn’t broadcast the speech.Friday’s media coverage of the speech was just more he-said/she-said reaction.The New York Times quoted the Republican House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, as claiming Democrats are the ones “dismantling Americans’ democracy”.The Times failed to point out that McCarthy’s claim is a lie. Nor did it state that McCarthy himself was one of 139 House Republicans who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election even after the attack on the Capitol.The same Times article quoted Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the Republican National Committee, as calling Biden “the divider in chief” and accusing him of exhibiting “disgust and hostility towards half the country”. But there was no mention of McDaniel’s role in advancing Trump’s “big lie”.The Times characterized a more general Republican objection to Biden’s speech – that he “was maligning the 74 million people” who voted for Trump in 2020. But the Times didn’t mention that Trump has illegally refused to concede the election.It is dangerous to believe that “balanced journalism” gives equal weight to liars and to truth-tellers, to those intent on destroying democracy and those seeking to protect it, to the enablers of an ongoing attempted coup and those who are trying to prevent it.Two Sundays ago, CNN’s Brian Stelter, host of the show Reliable Sources, put it well:“It’s not partisan to stand up for decency and democracy and dialogue. It’s not partisan to stand up to demagogues. It’s required. It’s patriotic. We must make sure we don’t give platforms to those who are lying to our faces.”Not incidentally, that was Stelter’s last show on CNN.On Friday, CNN White House reporter John Harwood said:“The core point [Biden] made in that political speech about a threat to democracy is true. Now, that’s something that’s not easy for us, as journalists, to say. We’re brought up to believe there’s two different political parties with different points of view and we don’t take sides in honest disagreements between them. But that’s not what we’re talking about. These are not honest disagreements. The Republican party right now is led by a dishonest demagogue.”Harwood went on to say:“Many, many Republicans are rallying behind his lies about the 2020 election and other things as well. And a significant portion – or a sufficient portion – of the constituency that they’re leading attacked the Capitol on January 6. Violently.”Shortly after making these remarks, Harwood announced he was no longer with CNN.A source told Dan Froomkin of Press Watch that CNN had informed Harwood last month that he was being let go. That was despite his long-term contract with the network. The source also said that Harwood had used his last broadcast to “send a message”.Why must we wait until some of America’s ablest journalists are sacked before they are willing and able to tell America the truth?It is not “partisan” to explain what Trump and his anti-democracy movement are seeking.It is not “taking sides” to point out that the Trump Republicans are trying to establish an authoritarian government in America.It is not “violating journalistic standards” to tell the unvarnished truth about what America is facing today.In fact, a failure to call out the Trump Republicans for what they are – liars, enablers, and accessories to crimes against the constitution – itself violates the most basic canons of journalistic ethics.“Balanced journalism” does not exist halfway between facts and lies.
      Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com
      TopicsUS politicsOpinionJoe BidenDonald TrumpRepublicansDemocratscommentReuse this content More

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      ‘I want to work with everyone’: Alaska’s history-making new congresswoman

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      Interview‘I want to work with everyone’: Alaska’s history-making new congresswomanMaanvi Singh in Anchorage Mary Peltola, the first Alaska Native elected to Congress, having defeated former vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, is a relentless coalition builderAhead of her astonishing victory this week in a special election to fill Alaska’s sole congressional seat, Mary Peltola was delighted to get recognized at Costco. “I was approached by some people to do a selfie,” she laughed.It seemed like months of traversing the state for meet-and greets was paying off. “I am getting recognized more.”Wind in Democrats’ sails as Sarah Palin humbled in Alaska special electionRead moreNow, people all over the US are learning her name. Peltola, who is Yup’ik Eskimo, will make history as the first Alaska Native to represent the state in Congress, and as the first Democrat to hold the seat in nearly 50 years.On Wednesday, she prevailed over the Trump-endorsed former vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin and Republican party-backed Nick Begich III – in a state that favoured Trump by 10 points in 2020. She will serve out the remainder of the late Republican congressman Don Young’s term.A former state legislator and fisheries manager, Peltola campaigned as a relentlessly amicable coalition builder. “I want to work with everyone and anyone who is a reasonable person to find solutions to Alaska’s challenges,” she said.In a race where Palin’s celebrity – and her self-described “right-winging, bitter-clinging” attack dog energy – loomed large in the media and in voters’ minds, Peltola would often bring up her warm relationship with Palin. She’d talk about how both she and Palin were pregnant at the same time, while Peltola was serving as a legislator and Palin was governor. “Our teenagers are just a month apart,” she said. Before Palin left to campaign as Republican John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 elections, she bequeathed Peltola her backyard trampoline.Resolute nicenessPeltola was born in 1973, the year that Young was elected to office, and her father was a friend of the late congressman. While Young – a bombastic character with a taxidermy-stuffed office, a reputation for making racist and sexist jokes and a zeal for oil – was very much a contrast to Peltola, in demeanour and philosophy, voters in Anchorage nonetheless said they shared a sense of pragmatic bipartisanship.In 2010, Peltola helped to run the write-in campaign for Lisa Murkowski, the Republican senator with an independent streak now fighting for her political life after she voted for Trump’s impeachment.First elected to the state legislature in 1998, Peltola built a reputation for resolute niceness. She helped build the Bush Caucus – a bipartisan group of legislators representing the most rural and remote parts of the state – and showed a knack for winning over even her most conservative colleagues to advance policies on natural resource management and infrastructure.Peltola’s own politics diverge from the Republicans she is often willing to work with. In the US House race, she was the only candidate who endorsed abortion rights. “Alaska Natives have a history of forced sterilisation against their knowledge or consent,” she said. “People should have to build their families the way, when and how they choose. And for that to be infringed on is very troubling.”A majority of Alaskans support the right to choose – and after the supreme court decision to revoke the constitutional right to abortion access, the issue has energized voters in the Last Frontier as it has in other parts of the country.Peltola’s policies on climate adaptation also reflect the nuanced realities of Alaska – a state whose economy is intricately entwined with the oil and gas industry and whose people live at the Arctic edge of the climate crisis. Alaska is losing glacier ice faster than anywhere else in the world. “In the near term, we are tied to oil and gas. And in the near term, that is how we are paying our bills as Alaskans,” Peltola said. But “I have seen firsthand the effects of climate change across Alaska. We had over 250 wildfires this summer before June, we had the largest tundra fire we’ve ever seen in May.” Fisheries and salmon stock, which many Alaskans depend on for sustenance, are suffering, she added.Her platform focused on investment in renewable energy and a gradual transition for Alaska’s economy.A focus on bipartisanship could pay offIt remains unclear if Peltola’s moderate way will pave her path to victory in November when she’ll be running again in the race to serve the next full, two-year term in Congress. Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system, which the state tried for the first time with the special election, could be shaped as much by Alaskans’ scepticism about Palin as their support for Peltola.But in a state that tends to elect a Republican but where the majority of voters declare no party preference, her focus on bipartisanship could pay off.“We all have to help each other out if we’re going to survive. That’s the fundamental nature of Alaskans,” said Ivan Moore, an Anchorage-based pollster who has been tracking Peltola’s rise in Alaska politics. “We can be political assholes, just like everywhere else. But when push comes to shove, when it’s life and death, Alaskans will help each other. And I think Mary tapped into that.”“She speaks in a language that connects people,” said Shirley Mae Springer Staten, 76, an Anchorage-based arts educator who supported Peltola. “There’s a new wave of unkindness in politics these days, and I like that Mary Peltola pushes against that.”News of her victory this week came on Peltola’s 49th birthday – a “GOOD DAY”, she tweeted shortly after the elections division released preliminary results.Now more people know who she is. But she’s sticking with what works. “Support a regular Alaskan,” is the slogan.TopicsAlaskaDemocratsUS politicsSarah PalinClimate crisisinterviewsReuse this content More

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      Biden targets Trump and says ‘anyone who fails to condemn violence is a threat to democracy’ – as it happened

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      Joe Biden delivered a brief and impromptu speech seemingly targeting Donald Trump as “a threat to Democracy”. Responding to a question from a reporter on whether “all Trump supporters are a threat to this country”, Biden said he does not consider any Trump supporter to be a threat. “I do think that anyone who calls for the use of violence, fails to condemn violence when it’s used, refuses to acknowledge when an election has been won, insists upon changing the way in which you count votes, that is a threat to democracy and everything we stand for,” Biden said. “Everything we stand for rests on the platform of democracy.” Biden continued by saying that those who voted for Trump in 2020 “weren’t voting to attack the Capitol, they weren’t voting for overruling the election. They were voting for a philosophy he put forward.”The comments came after Biden shifted his tone in a primetime address last night, directly calling out Trump and his allies, saying “democracy is under assault”. Here’s a quick summary of what happened today:
      Joe Biden implicitly criticized Donald Trump for threatening democracy, saying that anyone who fails to condemn violence is a threat. Both Biden and Trump will be in Pennsylvania this weekend rallying for candidates in their respective parties.
      Gina McCarthy, Biden’s top climate adviser, is stepping down in less than two weeks. The White House announced that John Podesta, former top adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton, will be senior clean energy adviser to Biden.
      The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released data today that showed 315,000 jobs were added to the US economy in August. Biden celebrated the numbers, saying “American has some really good news going into Labor Day weekend”.
      As Trump heads back onto the campaign trail for Republican candidates, there are rumblings about a potential 2024 bid from the former president. Son-in-law Jared Kushner said in an interview that Trump has been thinking about it, while a former Trump White House official predicted that Trump will bow out after raising cash for his campaign.
      That’s it for the live blog today. Thanks for reading.Bill Barr, former attorney general, think that Florida governor Ron DeSantis could be elected president if he runs in 2024.“I don’t know Ron DeSantis that well, but I’ve been impressed with his record down in Florida,” Barr told Bari Weiss on her podcast, “Honestly”.Though Barr was once a part of Trump’s band of loyalists, he has taken to lightly criticizing his former boss, who in turn referred to him as “slow and very boring”.Whether Barr is right ultimately depends on how much of a sway Trump still has over voters.DeSantis has posited himself as a potential successor to the Maga throne, bringing the flare of Trumpism without the baggage of investigations and the Capitol insurrection. Though he has not confirmed any presidential ambitions, Republican voters picked him as a second choice, behind Trump, in a theoretical 2024 election.Two of Donald Trump’s former lawyers appeared in federal court today to testify in front of a grand jury investigating the January 6 insurrection.Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone arrived at the courthouse first and was with the grand jury for over two hours, according to Reuters. Former White House deputy counsel Pat Philbin arrived at the courthouse shortly after and was also with the grand jury for over two hours. Cipollone and Philbin are the most high-profile witnesses the grand jury has seen. The grand jury is investigating the “fake electors” plot to send fake slates of electors to Congress to fraudulently inflate the number of electors in Trump’s favor, despite him losing the election.The Department of Veteran Affairs announced Friday that it will provide access to abortions to pregnant veterans and veteran beneficiaries. Abortions will be available for those whose life or health is endangered through their pregnancy or if it is a result of rape or incest. The rule will allow VA employees, “when working within the scope of their federal employment” to “provide authorized services regardless of state restrictions”. “This is a patient safety decision,” VA secretary Denis McDonough said in a statement. “Pregnant veterans and VA beneficiaries deserve to have access to world-class reproductive care when they need it most. That’s what our nation owes them.” New: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs “is taking steps to guarantee Veterans and other VA beneficiaries abortion-related care anywhere in the country. VA employees…may provide authorized services regardless of state restrictions.” https://t.co/ysv96U4FZT— Gabriella Borter (@gabriellaborter) September 2, 2022
      Donald Trump will continue to flirt with a third White House run in 2024 in order to raise money but will ultimately choose not to mount a campaign, a Trump White House official predicts.In communications reviewed by the Guardian on Friday, the official said Trump would look to “Bring in the $$$ then bow out gracefully before announcing”.The 45th president, in office from 2017 to 2021, dominates polling of possible Republican nominees in 2024. He has amassed a significant campaign war chest and is generally held to have maintained his grip on his party despite being impeached twice, the second time for inciting the deadly January 6 attack on the US Capitol.On Thursday, senior Republicans sprang to Trump’s defense – and eagerly expressed their own sense of offense – when Joe Biden used a primetime address to outline the threat to American democracy posed by Trump and his supporters.Trump himself floated pardons – and official apologies – for January 6 rioters should he return to the White House. Lest anyone forget, nine deaths have been connected to the Capitol attack, including suicides among law enforcement officers.Regarding the former White House official’s prediction that Trump will not run, the Guardian recently reported the contrary view of a senior source close to Trump, who said Trump “has to” announce a 2024 campaign soon, to head off being indicted under the Espionage Act after the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago in August.That source indicated Trump needed to announce because politically it would be harder for the Department of Justice to indict a candidate for office than a former president out of the electoral running.Developments since then have in most eyes increased the likelihood of an indictment over Trump’s handling of classified records. But most observers believe an indictment is not likely until after the midterm elections on 8 November, given DoJ policy regarding avoiding politically insensitive moves close to polling day.Hugo Lowell has more:FBI materials seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home included 90 empty foldersRead moreThe White House has announced that John Podesta will become senior advisor to US president Joe Biden for clean energy innovation and implementation, among other developments following the news earlier today that top climate advisor Gina McCarthy plans to step down.Podesta was White House chief of staff to Bill Clinton when he was president, a climate adviser to Barack Obama and – infamously as it became, chairman of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid.Current deputy White House national climate advisor, Ali Zaidi will be promoted to assistant to the president and national climate advisor.The White House statement noted that: “In his new role, Podesta will oversee implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act’s expansive clean energy and climate provisions and will chair the president’s national climate task force in support of this effort.”Meanwhile, Zaidi will also be vice-chair of the national climate task force. Gina McCarthy will leave her current role on September 16.Biden expressed gratitude to McCarthy and said of his new appointees: “Under Gina McCarthy and Ali Zaidi’s leadership, my administration has taken the most aggressive action ever, from historic legislation to bold executive actions, to confront the climate crisis head-on. The Inflation Reduction Act is the biggest step forward on clean energy and climate in history, and it paves the way for additional steps we will take to meet our clean energy and climate goals. “We are fortunate that John Podesta will lead our continued innovation and implementation. His deep roots in climate and clean energy policy and his experience at senior levels of government mean we can truly hit the ground running to take advantage of the massive clean energy opportunity in front of us.”Podesta, 73, is a veteran Washington establishment insider and Democratic party stalwart. But he achieved infamy in the 2016 presidential election campaign when, as a result of a chain of mishaps, his email was breached.As the Guardian reported in late 2016, the blunder gave Kremlin hackers access to about 60,000 emails in Podesta’s private Gmail account. According to US intelligence officials, Moscow then gave the email cache to WikiLeaks. The website released them in October, and the email scandal dominated the news cycle and was exploited by Donald Trump, who went on to a shock victory over Hillary Clinton in the November election.The revelation gave further credence to a CIA finding that the Moscow deliberately intervened to help Trump.Here’s a summary of everything that’s happened so far today:
      Off the heels of his eviscerating speech last night, Joe Biden is continuing to attack Donald Trump, saying today that anyone who fails to condemn violence “is a threat to democracy and everything we stand for”.
      Biden touted the jobs figures that were released today that showed the US added 315,000 jobs in August, saying that “American workers are back to work”.
      Gina McCarthy, Biden’s top climate adviser, is planning to step down in less than two weeks, according to the New York Times. McCarthy had privately expressed frustration with the pace of climate policy.
      Stay tuned for more live updates.At the White House press briefing just now, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre spoke on Joe Biden’s speech last night where he warned that Donald Trump and “MAGA Republicans” are a threat to democracy. “The president was trying to give the American people a choice: how do we move forward in this inflection point?” Jean-Pierre said. “When it comes to the soul of the nation, that is something the president has talked about for years… He has been concerned about where our democracy is going.” Responding to criticism that Biden’s speech was politically charged despite it being an official White House event, Jean-Pierre said that “standing up for democracy is not political”. “Denouncing political violence is not political. Standing up for freedom and rights is not political,” she said. “We don’t call any of that political. We see that as leadership and as presidential.” Jean-Pierre on Biden speech: “Standing up for democracy is not political. Denouncing political violence is not political. Standing up for freedom and rights is not political… We see that as leadership and as presidential.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) September 2, 2022
      Joe Biden delivered a brief and impromptu speech seemingly targeting Donald Trump as “a threat to Democracy”. Responding to a question from a reporter on whether “all Trump supporters are a threat to this country”, Biden said he does not consider any Trump supporter to be a threat. “I do think that anyone who calls for the use of violence, fails to condemn violence when it’s used, refuses to acknowledge when an election has been won, insists upon changing the way in which you count votes, that is a threat to democracy and everything we stand for,” Biden said. “Everything we stand for rests on the platform of democracy.” Biden continued by saying that those who voted for Trump in 2020 “weren’t voting to attack the Capitol, they weren’t voting for overruling the election. They were voting for a philosophy he put forward.”The comments came after Biden shifted his tone in a primetime address last night, directly calling out Trump and his allies, saying “democracy is under assault”. Gina McCarthy, Joe Biden’s top climate adviser, is stepping down on 16 September, the New York Times is reporting, citing people familiar with her plans.Rumors have swirled around her departure for months as McCarthy privately expressed frustrated with the “slow pace of climate progress” in the administration.McCarthy was an Environmental Protection Agency administrator during the Obama administration.In a press conference on the American Rescue Plan – the $1.9tn coronavirus stimulus package passed in March 2021 – Joe Biden celebrated today’s jobs report that said the US added 315,000 jobs in August. “We received more good news. American workers are back to work, earning more, manufacturing more, building an economy from the bottom up and the middle out,” Biden said. “We have created nearly 10m jobs since I took office. The fastest growth in all of American history.” Biden noted that the labor participation rate, or the number of people working or looking to work, is up and that more working-age women have come back to work. He also noted that gas prices have been going down over the last few weeks. “America has some really good news going into Labor Day weekend,” he said. Biden has been trying to emphasize the positive benefits to his stimulus package, particularly in light of claims from conservatives that it contributed to inflation. In his press conference, Biden emphasized that the stimulus created jobs, especially in manufacturing.A new Pew Research poll shows that opinions of the supreme court are more polarized than ever. Just 28% of Democrats and liberal independents have a favorable view of the court, versus 73% of Republicans and conservative independents.The gap is the largest since Pew started polling Americans on their opinion of the court. The court is also facing their lowest approval rating, with 48% of American having an unfavorable view of the court versus 49% with a favorable view.Today, 49% of Americans have a favorable view of the Supreme Court. Among partisans, just 28% of Democrats say they have a favorable view, while 73% of Republicans say the same. https://t.co/iLKP70pW4n pic.twitter.com/hqnVm0degr— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) September 1, 2022
      More Americans also believe the court is Republican/Conservative-leaning, with 49% of Americans saying they view they court as conservative versus 30% in August 2020.This Labor Day weekend kicks off the midterm election season which will put both the lasting sway of Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s presidency to the test with American voters.The primary election showed that the myth that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump is potent with voters: Many candidates who publicly questioned the election results won their primaries over the last few months.Now that these Trump-backed Republican candidates are in place heading into the general election, the test now shifts to how strong “Maga Republicans” – as Joe Biden put it Thursday night – are among the broader electorate.Pennsylvania is being seen as a key state to watch this midterm season. Trump is traveling to northeastern Pennsylvania this weekend to rally for two Republican candidates, Mehmet Oz and Doug Mastriano, who are running for US Senate and governor, respectively.Both candidates have vied themselves for Trump’s endorsement, but they are also trailing in the polls behind their Democratic opponents. Oz is eight points behind Democratic candidate John Fetterman, while Mastriano is seven points behind that state’s attorney general, Josh Shapiro.Oz, a one-time heart surgeon and celebrity television doctor, has had a particularly hard time convincing conservative voters that he is no longer attached to his liberal Hollywood persona. Oz “looks forward to President Trump talking to Pennsylvanians about the importance of fighting the radical, liberal agenda,” a spokesperson told Politico.New York City mayor Eric Adams released a joint statement with family and friends of 9/11 victims criticizing a Saudi-funded women’s golf tournament that is to be hosted at a Trump golf course in the city. “It is outrageous that the Trump Organization agreed to host a tournament with this organization while knowing how much pain it would cause New Yorkers,” Adams said. Last September, the FBI declassified documents related to 9/11 that revealed that the Saudi government provided logistical report to the attackers and helped fund the attacks.The tournament is scheduled to be held at Trump Golf Links, a Trump golf course in the Bronx, in October. Mayor Eric Adams quietly releases a statement online after meeting with the families of 9/11 victims about their opposition to a Saudi-backed golf tournament at the city-owned Trump Ferry Point course, h/t @maggieNYT: https://t.co/tOXL0OT1ep pic.twitter.com/ZghLXpd9Iv— Emma G. Fitzsimmons (@emmagf) September 2, 2022
      Donald Trump is “obviously thinking about” running for president in 2024, Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner told Sky News in an interview Friday. “He hates seeing what’s happening in the country,” Kushner said. Though Trump has not officially announced a run in 2024, he and his allies have dropped plenty of hints that he is wanting to. On Thursday, Trump said that he would pardon the January 6 rioters if he were elected president again. Trump is, of course, facing multiple investigations into his business dealings as well as unauthorized retention of sensitive government documents.The US added another 315,000 jobs in August as the jobs market remained strong amid signs of a worsening economy.The US jobs market lost 22m jobs in early 2020 at the start of the pandemic but roared back after the Covid lockdowns ended. It has remained strong despite four-decade high rates of inflation and slowing economic growth. In July, the US unexpectedly added 528,000 new jobs, restoring employment to pre-pandemic levels.The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.7% in August from 3.5% in July but is still close to a 50-year low.The remarkable strength of the jobs market has spurred the Federal Reserve to sharply increase interest rates in the hopes of cooling the economy and bringing down prices.Last week the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, made clear the Fed intends to keep raising rates sharply as the central bank struggles to tamp down inflation. His speech triggered a meltdown on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones index losing 1,000 points. The latest jobs report is the last to be released before the Fed meets again in September.US added 315,000 jobs in August as strong market defies signs of worsening economyRead moreGood morning, and welcome to the Guardian’s US politics live blog. It’s 10 weeks before the midterms, and it’s starting to feel like it’s 2020 again. Both Donald Trump and Joe Biden are in Pennsylvania this weekend to rally for candidates in their respective parties.Donald Trump will go to Wilkes-Barre in northern Pennsylvania on Saturday support two Pennsylvania Republican candidates: Mehmet Oz (known as “Dr Oz”), who is running for US Senate, and Doug Mastriano, who is running for governor. Trump, despite intensifying investigation into alleged unauthorized retention of sensitive government documents, has also geared up his talk about the 2024 election, saying on Thursday that he would seriously consider full pardons for participants of the January 6 US Capital insurrection.Joe Biden, on the other hand, in turn delivered a speech last night from Philadelphia attacking Trump and “Maga Republicans”.“There’s no question that the Republican party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the Maga Republicans, and that is a threat to this country,” Biden said. “Maga Republicans are destroying American democracy.”Biden will travel further into Pennsylvania this weekend with a planned stop in Pittsburgh to continue pushing for Democratic candidates running in the state.Here’s what else we’re watching today:
      The US added 315,000 jobs in August, a sign of continuing growth in the labor market despite high rates of inflation and slowing economic growth.
      Biden is scheduled to discuss the American Rescue Plan on the heels of today’s jobs report release.
      Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and former deputy Patrick Philbin are appearing before a grand jury that is investigating the January 6 insurrection.
      Stay tuned for more live updates. More

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      Leon Panetta on the Afghanistan withdrawal, a year on: Politics Weekly America podcast

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      A year ago, American troops withdrew from Afghanistan after a 20-year war. The Taliban quickly returned to power and the country has since experienced famine, economic collapse and a widespread erosion of women’s rights.
      This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the former US defense secretary Leon Panetta, who was at the heart of the Obama administration’s Afghanistan policy, about what he thinks of the Afghan withdrawal and what the future holds for Joe Biden and the Democrats

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      Five key takeaways from Biden’s speech on the threat to democracy

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      AnalysisFive key takeaways from Biden’s speech on the threat to democracyMaanvi SinghIn a rare primetime address, Biden pitched the midterms as a battle for the nation’s soul and directly called out Trump A more aggressive tone on Trump and “Maga” RepublicansJoe Biden – who usually makes couched references to “the former guy” and his “predecessor” – explicitly named and called out Donald Trump during his speech. The president warned that Trump and the “Maga (Make America great again)” Republicans “represent an extremism that threatens the very foundation of our republic”.With the stipulation that “not every Republican” is an extremist, he went on to directly address the grip his predecessor still holds over the party, saying: “There’s no question that the Republican party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump.” He even made reference to the commotion surrounding the Justice Department’s discovery that Trump was holding on to classified documents at Mar-a-Lago – something he’s largely avoided discussing. Biden’s directness tonight was a culmination of a new, aggressive approach he’s taken recently in aiming to marginalize and Trump’s agenda.An appeal to America’s better natureBiden planned to evoke a battle for “the soul of the nation”, and throughout his address he aligned himself with the founding ideals of the country – casting Trump and extremist Republicans as an existential threat to the nation.Speaking in front of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall – where the Declaration of Independence and the US constitution were signed – Biden began his speech with the words: “I speak to you tonight from sacred ground.” Backlit in red, white and blue, and welcomed on and off stage by a Marine band playing anthems from the 1800s, it was a night that leaned heavily on patriotism. “America is an idea,” he said at one point, flanked by Marines at parade rest. “The most powerful idea in the history of the world.”“I know your hearts. And I know our history,” he said, addressing the “American people”. “This is a nation that honors our constitution,” he said.02:58A campaign pitch to the American peopleThe speech tonight was billed as an official address, but it also had the feel of a campaign appeal. Biden touted his and Democrats’ policy goals – urging Americans to “vote, vote, vote”.During a rare optimistic segment in what an otherwise dark speech, Biden touted his administration’s progress on healthcare, combatting climate change and addressing the Covid-19 pandemic. “I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future,” he said. “We’re going to end cancer as we know it. We’re going to create millions of new jobs in the clean energy economy. We’re going to think big, we’re going to make 21st century another American century.”Threat of election deniers looms largeThe president issued stern warnings that the integrity of American elections was vulnerable. Condemning Trump and other Republicans who have denied the legitimacy of the 2020 elections – and have threatened to do so in the midterms – Biden asked Americans to join him in resisting election misinformation and the rollback of voting rights.“We can’t let the integrity of our elections be undermined,” he said. “We can’t allow violence to be normalized in this country,” he added, referencing the January 6 insurrection.A missed opportunity?Biden may have missed a chance to highlight the public’s outrage over the supreme court’s decision to revoke the constitutional right to abortion. The issue energized Democrats ahead of the midterm, and abortion rights advocates have expressed frustration at Biden and other Democrats for not speaking more directly and forcefully about it.Biden did mention that “Maga Republicans” want to take the country “backwards to an America where there is no right to choose. No right to privacy. No right to contraception.” But he lost a chance to directly play the issue up as an urgent example of rights at stake.TopicsJoe BidenUS politicsDemocratsRepublicansBiden administrationnewsReuse this content More

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      Biden’s stern warning on extremism shows the rose-colored glasses are off

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      AnalysisBiden’s stern warning on extremism shows the rose-colored glasses are offDavid Smith in WashingtonThe president’s primetime speech named Trump and ‘Maga Republicans’ as a threat facing American democracy Joe Biden’s journey from idealist to realist continues. But it is not quite complete.After 36 years in the Senate, he stepped into the US presidency in 2021 as an apostle of bipartisanship, convinced that his authoritarian-minded predecessor Donald Trump would fade away and the Republican party would rediscover its bearings.By the start of this year he had come to understand that Trump’s malign influence still runs deep. “We must be absolutely clear about what is true and what is a lie,” Biden said on 6 January, the first anniversary of the attack on the US Capitol, stopping short of using Trump’s name.Biden warns US democracy imperiled by Trump and Maga extremistsRead moreThen, a month ago, a group of historians reportedly gathered in the White House map room for two hours to give the president a dire warning about the threats facing American democracy. They included Jon Meacham, author of The Soul of America.Polls show a country still unravelling. More than two-fifths of Americans believe civil war is at least somewhat likely in the next decade, a share that increases to more than half among self-identified “strong Republicans”, according to research by YouGov and the Economist.Given that context, Biden used a primetime “soul of the nation” speech on Thursday night to deliver the starkest warning of his long career about the danger of Trump – whom he did name this time, – extremist “Maga” (Make America great again) Republicans and political violence.“This is a nation that rejects violence as a political tool,” he said. “We are still, at our core, a democracy. Yet history tells us that blind loyalty to a single leader and the willingness to engage in political violence is fatal in a democracy.”It was pugnacious talk that many progressives, worried that Biden is trapped in a rose-tinted past, have been urging for a long time. It was also sure to enrage Trump and his allies although Biden, who recently called the Maga philosophy “semi-fascism”, did not repeat that f-word.But the speech also, perhaps understandably, tried to err on the side of optimism by drawing a distinction between Maga Republicans and mainstream Republicans. Biden cast the former as a weird rebel sect that opposes the rule of law, seeks to overturn elections and revels in violence. Maga has, he implied, imposed minority rule on a party of otherwise reasonable people.“Donald Trump and the Maga Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic. Now, I want to be very clear up front: not every Republican, not even a majority of Republicans, are Maga Republicans. Not every Republican embraces their extreme ideology. I know, because I’ve been able to work with these mainstream Republicans.”He continued: “But there’s no question that the Republican party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the Maga Republicans and that is a threat to this country.”Perhaps. The point is at least debatable after the past seven years. Numerous mainstream Republicans have retired or been purged, most recently congresswoman Liz Cheney. Polls show a majority of Republicans believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Trump and Florida governor Ron DeSantis, both extremists, are the two leading contenders for the party nomination in 2024. There is no moderate alternative with any reasonable chance.In what may be a triumph of hope over experience, Biden still wants to believe that Maga is being enforced from the top down. But there is a case to be made that it comes from the bottom up, with millions of grassroots Republicans willing to buy into false conspiracy theories and vote for extremist midterm candidates. As Trump may discover to his cost, the base has taken on a life of its own.If Biden, with elaborate stagecraft at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the nation’s founding documents were written, was striving to isolate Maga and bring Democrats and democrats together to reject it, he may have more work to do. The right was bound to compare his critique to Hillary Clinton’s infamous 2016 “basket of deplorables” comment anyway.Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News network did not show the full speech and, when it did, questioned why Biden spoke against a dramatically lit “blood red” backdrop. Far-right host Tucker Carlson, the most watched prime time figure on cable news, sneered and deployed chyrons such as: “This is by far Biden’s most shameful moment.”The network’s 9pm bulletin added, “Biden vilifies millions of Americans”, “Biden uses primetime address to fuel more division” and “Clueless Biden spews hate in dark, dismal speech”.Biden has evolved a long way from the man who suggested that he could turn back the clock to a golden age of Democrats and Republicans debating together, dining together and respectfully agreeing to disagree. But in November’s midterm elections, or in 2024’s presidential poll, his harshest lesson may yet be to come.TopicsJoe BidenBiden administrationDemocratsRepublicansUS politicsanalysisReuse this content More