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Republican national convention 2020
Despite promises of an optimistic vision of the future, speakers tried to scare voters into backing Trump by pushing baseless claims More
Republican national convention 2020
The president promised ‘uplifting and positive’, but what viewers got was a dystopian vision under Biden – with racist overtones More
Republican national convention 2020
Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who were filmed pointing guns at peaceful protesters in June, claim Democrats want to ‘abolish suburbs’
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St Louis couple filmed threatening Black Lives Matter protesters speak at RNC – video
A white St Louis couple facing charges for brandishing guns at peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters have baselessly accused Democrats of “protecting criminals from honest citizens” and trying to “abolish the suburbs”.
In a pre-recorded speech to the Republican national convention on Monday night, Mark and Patricia McCloskey said the Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, would invite unchecked lawlessness into American suburbs if he wins the November election.
“It seems as if the Democrats no longer view the government’s job as protecting honest citizens from criminals, but rather protecting criminals from honest citizens,” Mark McCloskey said, in one of many of the evening’s speeches that broke with the optimistic vision Republican organizers had promised.
“Not a single person in the out-of-control mob you saw at our house was charged with a crime. But you know who was? We were.”
There is no evidence to support the claim the marchers were an “out-of-control mob”. Protesters filmed passing the couple were peaceful.
The couple came into the national spotlight in June after they were captured on camera pointing weapons at demonstrators who marched past their mansion to protest against racism and police brutality. Donald Trump retweeted video footage of the incident.
They appeared to be echoing Trump’s attempts to stoke racist fears among affluent, white suburban voters who have been abandoning the Republican party under his leadership.
“They want to abolish the suburbs altogether by ending single-family home zoning,” Patricia McCloskey said of the Democrats, adding that the actions “would bring crime, lawlessness and low-quality apartments into thriving suburban neighborhoods”.
“Make no mistake: no matter where you live, your family will not be safe in the radical Democrats’ America.”
Trump and his supporters have zeroed in on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, an Obama-era program implemented in 2015 that was designed to reduce racial segregation in American suburbs. The president has claimed it would increase crime and lower house prices, claims that have been denounced as racist.
Trump’s support among suburban voters has cratered amid his administration’s failure to contain the coronavirus pandemic, the ensuing economic crisis, as well as the president’s aggressive response to the nationwide protests against systemic racism, which polls suggest most Americans, including those in the country’s increasingly diverse suburbs, support.
Monday was the first of the four-night Republican convention, in which a dizzying array of misleading and fear-mongering claims were made about a range of issues from the administration’s coronavirus response to the notion that Biden would defund police departments, which Biden has denied.
Lauren Gambino contributed to this report
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Republican national convention 2020
Republican speakers and Trump family argue that the president has kept promises he made in 2016
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In an unscheduled appearance on the first day of the Republican national convention, Donald Trump falsely claimed Democrats were attempting to steal the election by expanding absentee voting during the coronavirus pandemic. ‘The only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election,’ he told delegates in Charlotte, North Carolina
Republicans nominate Trump for re-election on first day of convention
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Republican national convention 2020
President accused Democrats of trying to ‘steal’ the election by expanding absentee voting during unscheduled appearance
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Donald Trump accuses Democrats of plot to ‘steal’ election at Republican convention – video
The Republican party nominated Donald Trump for re-election on Monday, on the first day of a national convention meant to strike a contrast with Democrats and, in the president’s own words, deliver a “very uplifting and positive” message.
But any such message was upstaged by the president himself, in an unscheduled appearance in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Basking in chants of “Four more years! Four more years!”, Trump accused Democrats of trying to “steal” the election by expanding absentee voting during the coronavirus pandemic. He went so far as to say it was impossible for him to lose a fair contest in November.
“The only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election,” Trump said, to the boisterous approval of the 336 delegates in the hall, who had traveled to the convention from the 50 states and US territories. “They’re trying to steal the election.”
With false and outrageous claims, Trump has attacked the integrity of US elections since before he won the presidency in 2016, and he has stepped up those attacks in the run-up to a contest in which most polls have him trailing badly. Critics warn that even if Trump is beaten, his use of the White House to elevate conspiracy theories and lies could do lasting damage to US democracy.
But the cheering Republicans who convened in Charlotte evinced only enthusiasm about the trajectory of the country – and their party – under Trump.
“Our party is unified, our supporters are energized, and now we will go forward confident in our case of re-electing President Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence in 70 days from now,” Ronna McDaniel, party chair, told the crowd.
Trump planned to officially accept the nomination at the White House on Thursday, a week after his rival, Joe Biden, accepted the Democratic nomination in a widely praised speech from his home state of Delaware.
The Republican convention made for a striking contrast with the almost totally online Democratic event.
While Democrats nominated Biden with a video taking viewers from the sands of California to the calamari of Rhode Island, the Republican nomination proceeded in the traditional manner, delegates rising to say something special about their states and cast votes for Trump.
“No president has done more for Americans in his first four years,” said Michael Whatley, chairman of the North Carolina party. “Promise made, promise kept.”
After months of worsening news on the coronavirus front and discouraging polling data, Republicans are looking for an electrifying week, culminating with fireworks on the National Mall. To that end, some big names were to speak on the convention’s first night, including Donald Trump Jr and the former UN ambassador Nikki Haley.
But the schedule was slight compared with previous years – owing in part to the decision not to follow the Democrats online – and some prominent names, including Governors Greg Abbott of Texas, Doug Ducey of Arizona and Ron DeSantis of Florida, were missing.
Instead, speaking spots were padded with figures from the culture wars. These included Mark and Patricia McCloskey, a St Louis, Missouri couple who won infamy for brandishing guns at anti-racism protesters in June, and Nicholas Sandmann, a teen who successfully sued media organizations after an interaction with a Native American activist.
“Men and women of the Republican national convention,” said Pence, in a surprise appearance that was prelude to Trump’s. “It’s on.”
“We’re going to make America great again … again.”
It was left to the president to make the case the election was rigged. Voting by mail, which Trump uses himself, is universal practice in many states and the administration last week failed in court to offer evidence it is conducive to fraud.
Yet Trump said Democrats were “stealing millions of votes” by supporting vote-by-mail. “This is the greatest scam in the history of politics I think, and I’m talking about beyond our nation,” Trump said.
Democrats tried to highlight what they are calling Trump’s “chaos presidency”, focusing on the impact the coronavirus is having on families, highlighting Trump’s false claim children are “almost immune” and his insistence schools should reopen.
“While nearly half of the speakers you will hear from are members of the Trump family, you aren’t going to hear much about the plight of American families,” Kate Bedingfield, a deputy Biden campaign manager, told reporters.
She said Trump’s efforts to cast himself as the last line of defense against radicalism and lawlessness are contradicted by a reality of his own making – and the public’s familiarity with Biden’s time as vice-president.
“He likes to make this argument about what life will look like in Joe Biden’s America while quite literally using footage from Donald Trump’s America,” Bedingfield said. “People have seen Joe Biden in the White House. He never resorted to the kinds of tactics that Donald Trump is using, like sending federal law enforcement into cities to inflame tensions.”
The physical layout of the Republicans’ Charlotte event reflected months of negotiations with state health officials, who insisted on coronavirus mitigation measures. Delegates were arranged in rows of spaced tables facing an understated stage with flags against a blue curtain.
But not every picture broadcast concern about the pandemic. Although attendees were required to undergo testing and masks were required, many delegates wore theirs on one ear or under their chins – or wore no mask at all.
Proceedings were live-streamed online, with a portion of the evening scheduled to be broadcast by major networks.
“I know I am not alone when I say that the Democratic convention of last week was hard to watch,” McDaniel said. “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are running on the most radical socialist extreme and far-left ticket in American history.”
McDaniel ran down what she said were Trump’s accomplishments. He has built hundreds of miles of border wall, she said; appointed conservative judges including two supreme court justices; fought for energy independence; killed terrorist leaders; and scored a peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
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While the Republican National Convention holds a series of events today in Washington DC and Charlotte, North Carolina, let’s not forget about Jacksonville, Florida.
When Covid-19 caused officials in Charlotte, North Carolina to institute social distancing requirements Trump balked, and began an effort to move the convention to Florida.
But soon cases of Covid-19 began to balloon in Florida. The state has been one of the worst hit in the country. Eventually, Trump gave up his push to have a full-scale convention in the state, conceding it was “not the right time”.
Well, now we have some evidence of how history repeats itself. Almost 100 years ago, Florida officials expressed “concern” and “regret” about lack of public health funding. A similar story has taken place over the last decade, as Florida slashed local public health funding under Republican leadership.
Today, Florida has had more than 600,000 cases, more than 10,000 deaths, and testing is falling off even as positivity rates remain high at more than 13%, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Hannah Recht
(@hannah_recht)
Almost 100 years ago, after the last pandemic, the Florida Department of Health wrote it needed more local public health workers. “It is a source of regret and a matter of grave concern to public health workers that the funds available are not sufficient.” https://t.co/62DLI2jGi0 pic.twitter.com/l9CSP0hVHC
August 24, 2020
10.56am EDT10:56
DeJoy has taken today’s hearing as an opportunity to distance himself from recent controveries at the postal service. Here’s reporting from The Guardian’s voting rights reporter Sam Levine, who is following the hearings closely:
Sam Levine
(@srl)
“While we have had temporary service declines, which should not have happened, we are fixing this,” DeJoy says
August 24, 2020
And as a short recap, here is some of Sam’s reporting from last week, when DeJoy appeared at a Senate hearing:
America’s postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, conceded on Friday he had implemented recent changes that led to mail delays at the United States Postal Service (USPS) but said he would not reverse the decision to remove mail equipment ahead of the election.
DeJoy, a major Republican donor without prior USPS experience, made his first appearance before Congress amid widespread scrutiny over the mail delays and his management of the agency since taking over in June.
10.41am EDT10:41
The House Oversight and Reform committee hearing on mail delays is now underway. Postmaster general Louis DeJoy is warning in prepared remarks that Americans should request a mail-in ballot at least 15 days in advance of election day, Nov. 3, and return it at least a week before the election.
DeJoy said his remarks, “should in no way be misconstrued to imply that we lack confidence in our ability to deliver those ballots,” DeJoy told the House panel in prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press. “We can, and will, handle the volume of Election Mail we receive.”
The pre-election warning “has nothing to do with recent operational initiatives or concerns about delayed mail,” DeJoy said, and is merely intended to help ensure that ballots will be delivered on time and counted.
“While we will do whatever we can to deliver ballots even when they are mailed at the last second, it should also be obvious to fair-minded election officials that urging voters to mail back their ballot at least a week before the deadline is a simple and straightforward step to ensure that ballots are delivered on time and, most importantly, counted under state law,” he said. More
