Politics Election category, Page 268
Amy Coney Barrett was trustee at private school with anti-gay policies
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett served for nearly three years on the board of private Christian schools that effectively barred admission to children of same-sex parents and made it plain that openly gay and lesbian teachers weren’t welcome in the classroom. The policies that discriminated against LGBTQ people and...
Trump tweets clip of ’60 Minutes’ host Lesley Stahl without mask at White House, threatens to air interview early
NEW YORK — He’s tick, tick ticked. President Donald Trump posted video of “60 Minutes” anchor Lesley Stahl appearing maskless after interviewing him Tuesday — then threatened to scoop CBS by airing their recent interview ahead of schedule. “Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes not wearing a mask in the White...
How Trump plowed through $1 billion, losing cash advantage
President Donald Trump’s sprawling political operation has raised well over $1 billion since he took the White House in 2017 — and set a lot of it on fire. Trump bought a $10 million Super Bowl ad when he didn’t yet have a challenger. He tapped his political organization to...
Melania Trump nixes campaign trip due to cough from covid
WASHINGTON — Melania Trump’s return to the campaign trail will have to wait. The first lady has decided against accompanying President Donald Trump to a campaign rally Tuesday in Erie because of a lingering cough after her bout with covid-19, said Stephanie Grisham, her chief of staff. It was to...
Presidential debate commission adopts new rules to mute micsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden will have their microphones turned off during parts of the final presidential debate on Thursday, the Commission on Presidential Debates said Monday night. Each candidate will have an uninterrupted two minutes to speak at the beginning of each of the...
Supreme Court allows 3-day extension for Pennsylvania ballots
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will allow Pennsylvania to count mailed-in ballots received up to three days after the Nov. 3 election, rejecting a Republican plea in the presidential battleground state. The justices divided 4-4 on Monday, an outcome that upholds a state Supreme Court ruling that required county election...
Democrat Tony DeLoreto challenges incumbent Republican Joe Pittman in 41st Senate District
State Sen. Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, is facing his first reelection challenge just 16 months after being sworn in to represent the 41st Senate District. Democrat Tony DeLoreto, a restaurateur from Indiana, is looking to knock off Pittman. Pittman has been representing the district since June 2019 after winning a special...
Audit faults Iowa’s move to spend coronavirus aid on $21M softwareVideo
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa’s auditor warned Monday that the governor’s decision to spend $21 million in federal pandemic relief funds on a new executive branch software system would not be allowed and should be abandoned. State Auditor Rob Sand said that using the federal money to pay for Workday,...
At Oakmont Bakery, the presidential ‘cookie poll’ tradition continues (just for fun)
In what might be the most appetizing part of the 2020 presidential election, Oakmont Bakery is producing patriotic cookies emblazoned with portraits of candidates Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. A dozen runs $24. The sugar cookies are iced with an image of either Biden surrounded by blue stars or...
Jeffrey Toobin suspended by the New Yorker, steps away from CNN
NEW YORK — Author-commentator Jeffrey Toobin has been suspended by the New Yorker and is stepping away from his job as CNN’s senior legal analyst pending what the cable network is calling a “personal matter.” Vice reported earlier Monday that Toobin had exposed himself during a Zoom meeting with staffers...
North Carolina resumes processing deficient absentee ballots
North Carolina issued new guidance Monday to allow counties to deal with more than 10,000 deficient absentee ballots that have been in limbo due to court battles over the witness requirement for voting by mail. The State Board of Elections issued a directive telling counties to immediately resume notifying voters...
Pa. could become ‘ground zero’ for court battles on — and after — Election Day
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — In the weeks leading up to November’s historic election, there has been one constant: lawsuits and court decisions that...
Trump goes after Dr. Fauci, tries to buck up his campaign teamVideo
PRESCOTT, Ariz. — President Donald Trump came out swinging Monday against Dr. Anthony Fauci and polls that show Trump trailing Democrat Joe Biden in key battleground states, as he tried to buck up his campaign team two weeks out from Election Day. Back on the trail after his covid-19 infection,...
Trump changes course, approves California relief for 6 fires
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — President Donald Trump’s administration abruptly reversed course and approved California’s application for disaster relief funds to clean up damage from six recent deadly and destructive blazes that have scorched the state, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday. “Just got off the phone with President Trump who has approved...
Route 22 battle royale: Murrysville area serves as ground zero for Biden, Trump supportersVideo
The battle for the crucial suburban vote in the Nov. 3 presidential election is playing out along an unlikely 7-mile stretch of Route 22 through Murrysville and neighboring communities through competing campaign offices and billboards. The affluent Westmoreland County community of about 20,000 grew up in the post-World War II...
GOP, Dems hope Supreme Court fight bolsters Senate prospects
WASHINGTON — For Republicans, the nomination fight over Amy Coney Barrett is a chance to seal conservative control of the Supreme Court for decades. For some GOP senators, it’s also a lifeline they hope will preserve their political careers and their party’s control of the chamber in November’s elections. The...
FBI probing if Russia involved in Hunter Biden email story
WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating whether emails that were published by the New York Post related to Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, are connected to a possible Russian influence operation to spread disinformation, according to a person familiar with the matter. The newspaper said in its story Wednesday that it...
First lady Melania Trump lashes out at reports about friend who tell-all
DORAL, Fla. — Melania Trump lashed out Friday at “self-serving adults” for focusing on her falling out with a friend and adviser, writing that the attention paid to “salacious claims” about the broken relationship comes at the expense of her work on behalf of children. Mrs. Trump also sharply criticized...
5 takeaways from the dueling presidential town hallsVideo
Voters got to see a presidential debate after all Thursday night. But it wasn’t between President Trump and his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden. It was between Trump and NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie, who moderated one of the dueling town hall meetings held simultaneously in place of a...
Avalanche of early votes transforming 2020 election
More than 17 million Americans have already cast ballots in the 2020 election, a record-shattering avalanche of early votes driven both by Democratic enthusiasm and a pandemic that has transformed the way the nation votes. The total represents 12% of all the votes cast in the 2016 presidential election, even...
Trump, Biden go at it — from a distance — in town halls
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden squared off, in a way, Thursday night, their scuttled second debate replaced by dueling televised town halls that showcased striking differences in temperament, views on racial justice and approaches to the pandemic that has reshaped the nation. Trump was defensive about...
Giuliani targeted by Russian intelligence in his dubious probes over Bidens’ Ukraine links, report says
WASHINGTON — Intelligence officials warned President Donald Trump that Rudy Giuliani — hero of 9/11 and once New York’s and America’s mayor — was likely a Russian dupe, a bombshell Washington Post story reported Thursday. The report came as Giuliani came under fire over the authenticity of an “October surprise”...
Chris Christie says he was wrong not to wear mask in White House
WASHINGTON — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday that he was wrong not to wear a mask at the White House, after he and President Donald Trump both came down with the coronavirus. Christie, in a statement, said he has recovered from covid-19 after a week-long stay in...
C-SPAN suspends Steve Scully after he admits to lie about hack
NEW YORK — C-SPAN suspended its political editor Steve Scully indefinitely Thursday after he admitted to lying about his Twitter feed being hacked when he was confronted about a questionable exchange with former Trump aide Anthony Scaramucci. The news came on the day of what was supposed to be a...
Report: Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch predicts landslide election win for Joe Biden
News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch said recently the American public is ready to elect Joe Biden and that the Democratic presidential nominee could win in a “landslide,” according to a report Thursday from The Daily Beast. The Australian-born media mogul, who owns Fox News and the New York Post as...
