US elections 2020

Subterms

    More stories

    • 125 Shares109 Views

      in US Politics

      Can Kamala Harris help Joe Biden win the US presidency?

      by

      Kamala Harris is the first Indian American and the first black woman to run for US vice-president on a major party ticket. Lauren Gambino discusses why, as Joe Biden’s running mate, Harris is in prime position to go one step further

      How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know

      This episode first aired on Today in Focus, the Guardian’s global daily news podcast. Usually the Democratic party’s convention is a big event in the election cycle, as representatives across the country meet to officially endorse their presidential nominations. This year it is all happening online, but Joe Biden’s announcement that his running mate would be Kamala Harris has energised activists – and brought swift attacks from Donald Trump. Harris is the first Indian American and the first black woman to run for US vice-president on a major party ticket. Lauren Gambino tells Mythili Rao that Harris has a fascinating backstory and that her political ideology is not easy to pigeonhole. More

    • 150 Shares169 Views

      in Elections

      Michelle Obama’s speech draws few Republican responses – but Trump can’t resist

      by

      Michelle Obama

      Obama delivered the climactic speech on the first night of the Democratic convention, and Trump responded with snark
      Obama’s rebuke and anti-Trump Republicans: key takeaways

      Play Video

      18:00

      Michelle Obama: the former first lady’s DNC speech in full – video

      In her keynote speech to the Democratic national convention on Monday night, Michelle Obama reprised a message from the 2016 campaign in which she urged Democrats not to take Donald Trump up on his insults and mockery.
      “When they go low,” she said, “we go high.”
      On Tuesday morning, Trump duly went low, attacking Obama after she said he “is clearly in over his head” as president.
      “Somebody please explain to Michelle Obama that Donald J Trump would not be here, in the beautiful White House, if it weren’t for the job done by your husband, Barack Obama,” Trump tweeted. “Biden was merely an afterthought.”
      Trump went on to accuse Barack Obama and Joe Biden, the former vice-president whom Democrats will officially nominate for president this week, of “treason”, then attacked Michelle again during a White House ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote.
      “She was over her head,” the president said, “and frankly, she should’ve made the speech live, which she didn’t do, she taped it. And it was not only taped, it was taped a long time ago, because she had the wrong [coronavirus] deaths and she didn’t even mention the vice-presidential candidate” – Kamala Harris, named by Joe Biden last week.
      Trump also complained about the former first lady receiving “fawning reviews” and said he thought her speech was “extremely divisive”.
      Obama delivered the climactic address on the first night of a four-day convention produced in Milwaukee, Wisconsin but playing out almost exclusively online, with speakers and entertainers filling two hours of live-streamed content each night.
      Trump was one of few Republicans to respond to the former first lady, whose reappearance on the national stage was greeted enthusiastically by Democrats. Obama’s husband is scheduled to address the convention on Wednesday.
      “Michelle Obama as anchor can make any relay team a gold-medal winner, but the [Democratic National Committee] did a lot of work for Joe Biden tonight,” tweeted David Axelrod, a former top adviser to Barack Obama.
      “Not everything worked, which figures, given the magnitude of the virtual format they’re trying. But much of it did. Solid first night.”
      In an unprecedented election season mostly devoid of campaign rallies, handshakes and selfies with the candidate, the Democrats were preparing for a second night of what might be the biggest experiment of all: moving an event meant to display the density of the party’s enthusiasm into the diffuse online world.
      Following Eva Longoria on Monday night, the actor Tracee Ellis Ross, star of Girlfriends and Black-ish, was slated to emcee proceedings on Tuesday. The official schedule included a unique “keynote address” by 16 rising stars of the party, including the former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.
      The political star power was to grow through Tuesday evening, with speeches by the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, and 2004 presidential nominee John Kerry to be followed by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, former president Bill Clinton and Dr Jill Biden, the nominee’s wife.
      Biden planned to speak from a classroom at a high school in Delaware where she formerly taught English. Officials said she would highlight her husband’s commitment to education and community, as well as his decency.
      Michelle Obama, wearing a necklace spelling out V-O-T-E, touched on those themes in her speech while making the case against Trump.
      “Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country,” she said. “He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is.”
      The last line was an echo of a recent Trump statement about the confirmed death toll in the US from coronavirus-related disease, which has surpassed 170,000.
      “We’ve got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it,” Obama said.

      Topics

      Michelle Obama

      Donald Trump

      Democratic national convention 2020

      US elections 2020

      US politics

      Joe Biden

      news

      Share on Facebook

      Share on Twitter

      Share via Email

      Share on LinkedIn

      Share on Pinterest

      Share on WhatsApp

      Share on Messenger

      Reuse this content More