Election 2020 Archives - Page 7 of 14

Ex Ethics Watchdog Warns Barr Will Interfere in 2020 Election

December 12, 2019 Buck Banks

“It’s important not to make the same mistake twice. Some people underestimated Barr’s ruthless partisanship before. No one should do that again. Like Trump, Barr is capable of doing anything he can get away with— and that includes interfering in the 2020 election, if we let him.”

— Walter Shaub, former head of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, called Attorney General William Barr a “threat to democracy” and warned he may try to interfere in the 2020 presidential election to benefit President Trump, the HuffPost reports.

Trump’s Sordid History of Accepting, Requesting, and Encouraging Foreign Interference in US Elections

December 6, 2019 Buck Banks

Here’s a good one from David Corn at Mother Jones

One of the key lines in the House Democrats’ impeachment report distills the Trump-Ukraine scandal to a simple idea: “[T]he impeachment inquiry has found that President Trump, personally and acting through agents within and outside of the U.S. government, solicited the interference of a foreign government, Ukraine, to benefit his reelection.”

And in the report’s preface, the Democrats place Trump’s Ukrainian caper within the larger context of foreign intervention in US elections, namely Russia’s covert attack on the 2016 contest, which was mounted in part to help Trump win the White House: “we were struck by the fact that the President’s misconduct was not an isolated occurrence, nor was it the product of a naïve president. Instead, the efforts to involve Ukraine in our 2020 presidential election were undertaken by a President who himself was elected in 2016 with the benefit of an unprecedented and sweeping campaign of election interference undertaken by Russia in his favor, and which the President welcomed and utilized.”

The point was clear. Trump muscling Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to produce political dirt that could influence the 2020 election for Trump’s personal advantage was a continuation of Trump’s behavior in 2016. This contextualization brings back into the spotlight Vladimir Putin’s clandestine assault on American democracy—and how Trump encouraged and exploited that attack. So now, as Trump is under scrutiny for pressing Ukraine to influence the 2020 race, it’s a good time to review all the ways that Trump aided and abetted a foreign adversary’s scheme to subvert a US election the last time the nation was choosing a president.

Read the whole sordid history here.

Biden Would Consider Harris for Veep

December 5, 2019 Buck Banks

“Of course I would. Look, Sen. Harris has the capacity to be anything she wants to be. I mean it sincerely. I talked to her yesterday. She’s solid, she can be president someday herself, she can be vice president, she could go on to be a Supreme Court justice, she could be attorney general. I mean she has enormous capability.”

— Joe Biden told CNN he would consider Sen. Kamala Harris as a potential running mate, a day after she dropped out of the presidential race.

Obama Tells Dems to ‘Chill Out’

November 25, 2019 Buck Banks

“Everybody needs to chill out about the candidates but gin up about the prospect of rallying behind whoever emerges from this process.”

— Former President Barack Obama, quoted by the Washington Post, on the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.

In America Sociopaths Beat Socialists

November 21, 2019 Buck Banks

“In America, a sociopath will beat a socialist seven days a week and twice on Sunday. Nobody should underestimate Donald Trump’s ability to frame an argument, to demagogue an opponent.”

— GOP strategist Steve Schmidt, quoted by The Hill.

Bloomberg Funding Voter Registration Drive in Battleground States

November 21, 2019 Buck Banks

$15 million to $20 million

“As he moves toward a presidential announcement, New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg is rolling out plans to spend an estimated $15 million to $20 million on a voter registration drive designed to weaken President Trump’s reelection chances in five battleground states,” the AP reports.

Steyer to Spend $45 Million to Get Out the Youth Vote

November 19, 2019 Buck Banks

$45 million

A progressive nonprofit funded mainly by Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer is investing $45 million as part of a youth voter turnout campaign ahead of the 2020 election, The Hill reports.

Trump Has Become a ‘Human Repellent Spray’ for Suburban Voters

November 18, 2019 Buck Banks

“If you had any doubt that Trump was a human repellent spray for suburban voters who have a conservative disposition, Republicans getting wiped out in the suburbs of New Orleans, Louisville and Lexington should remove it.”

— GOP strategist Tim Miller, quoted by the New York Times.

Young Voters Want Trump Gone

November 18, 2019 Buck Banks

58%

A new Harvard Institute of Politics poll finds 52% of young Americans and 58% of likely general election voters under 30 want President Trump impeached and removed from office. Only 28% of likely voters feel differently.

Majority of Pennsylvanians Believe Trump Should Not Be Re-Elected

November 14, 2019November 14, 2019 Buck Banks

57%

A new Morning Call/Muhlenberg College poll in Pennsylvania shows nearly six in 10 don’t believe President Trump should be re-elected. Asked the first word that enters their mind when they hear Trump’s name, the top response was “arrogant/pompous/jerk,” followed by “idiot/moron.” The third most-common response was a tie between “effective/accomplished,” “corrupt/criminal,” and “great/awesome/good.”

“It’s important not to make the same mistake twice. Some people underestimated Barr’s ruthless partisanship before. No one should do that again. Like Trump, Barr is capable of doing anything he can get away with— and that includes interfering in the 2020 election, if we let him.”

— Walter Shaub, former head of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, called Attorney General William Barr a “threat to democracy” and warned he may try to interfere in the 2020 presidential election to benefit President Trump, the HuffPost reports.

— Joe Biden told CNN he would consider Sen. Kamala Harris as a potential running mate, a day after she dropped out of the presidential race.

“Everybody needs to chill out about the candidates but gin up about the prospect of rallying behind whoever emerges from this process.”

— Former President Barack Obama, quoted by the Washington Post, on the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.

“In America, a sociopath will beat a socialist seven days a week and twice on Sunday. Nobody should underestimate Donald Trump’s ability to frame an argument, to demagogue an opponent.”

— GOP strategist Steve Schmidt, quoted by The Hill.

$15 million to $20 million

“As he moves toward a presidential announcement, New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg is rolling out plans to spend an estimated $15 million to $20 million on a voter registration drive designed to weaken President Trump’s reelection chances in five battleground states,” the AP reports.

$45 million

A progressive nonprofit funded mainly by Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer is investing $45 million as part of a youth voter turnout campaign ahead of the 2020 election, The Hill reports.

“If you had any doubt that Trump was a human repellent spray for suburban voters who have a conservative disposition, Republicans getting wiped out in the suburbs of New Orleans, Louisville and Lexington should remove it.”

— GOP strategist Tim Miller, quoted by the New York Times.

58%

A new Harvard Institute of Politics poll finds 52% of young Americans and 58% of likely general election voters under 30 want President Trump impeached and removed from office. Only 28% of likely voters feel differently.

57%

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

— Rick Wilson

— Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) on the “resign or be fired” ultimatum from the GOP’s Freedom Caucus just 174 days into his tenure as sp[eaker, reported by Punchbowl News.

“Trump’s head slowly dropped, his eyes closed. It jerked back upward. He adjusts himself. Then, his head droops again. He straightens up, leaning back. His head droops for a third time, he shakes his shoulders. Eyes closed still. His head drops. Finally, he pops his eyes open.”

— Law360 reports from the second day of Donald Trump’s “hush money” criminal trial.

— Jonathan Last

“He’s f**king crazy! The press often will ask me if I think Donald Trump is crazy. And I’ll say it this way: I don’t think he’s so crazy that you could put him in a mental institution. But I think if he were in one, he ain’t getting out!”

— New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R), quoted by the Associated Press two years ago. Sununu is now backing Trump for president.

Numerati

$71.1 million to $45.2 million

56% to 37%

270,000

50 of 96

New York Times: “Of the 96 possible jurors brought into the room, more than 50 raised their hands to say they couldn’t be fair. They were immediately excused.”

20%