Trump news: President calls out ‘Barack Hussain Obama’ as supporter at Florida rally appears to make ‘white power’ symbol
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Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail on Friday with a rally targeting senior voters at The Villages retirement community in Florida.
Trump made eyebrow-raising claims like Biden taking away seniors' air conditioning and remembering Barack Hussain Obama, as a member of the crowd appeared to make the so-called "white power" dog whistle in the background.
Biden, meanwhile, returned to his home state of Delaware to outline his coronavirus pandemic plan a day after the US hit a record for the number of new Covid-19 cases, announcing a mask mandate on all interstate transportation and in all federal buildings.
The candidates were coming off their final in-person debate, which turned out to be a remarkably civil affair with lower ratings than their previous encounter.
Trump was also back to work in the White House to announce an historic peace deal between Israel and Sudan, with five more - including Saudi Arabia - expected to be announced after the dam broke with United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in recent weeks.
Trump tried to get Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to attack Biden on a phone call in front of reporters. Bibi did not take the bait, with commentators noting that he is probably keeping a keen eye on the current polling numbers.
Veteran GOP pollster Frank Luntz said that Trump may have won the battle of the last debate, but Biden has won the war. He says it's "impossible" for the president turning around voter sentiment this late in the election cycle.
Trump is also up against a campaign that has broken all records for its spend on television and digital advertising in a presidential election, with still more than a week to go before polls close.
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NPR says it will not cover Joe Biden corruption claims
News and analysis organization, National Public Radio, says it will not report news or analysis of Joe and Hunter Biden corruption claims.
“We don’t want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don’t want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions,” NPR Managing Editor for News, Terence Samuels, said.
NPR Public Editor, Kelly McBride, on Thursday published a response to a listener that asked why NPR had not reported on the Joe and Hunter Biden story in the last week.
“There are many, many red flags in that New York Post investigation,” she began, pointing to a story by NPR correspondent David Folkenflik detailing those red flags.
“But the biggest reason you haven’t heard much on NPR about the Post story is that the assertions don’t amount to much.’We don't want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don't want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions,’ NPR Managing Editor for News Terence Samuel told me. And quite frankly, that's where we ended up, this was … a politically driven event and we decided to treat it that way.”
BREAKING: Remdesivir becomes first coronavirus drug to get FDA approval
Remdesivir is the first antiviral medicine to receive approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
US regulators signed off on Thursday on the drug, which is given to hospitalised patients through an IV.
The drug has been authorized to be used in case of emergency since early in the pandemic but is the first treatment to win full approval from the FDA.
The Independent’s Louise Boyle is covering the developing story.
Remdesivir becomes first coronavirus drug to get FDA approval
US regulators signed off on the drug, which is given to hospitalised patients through an IV, on Thursday
Trump repeats false claim that he was one of Oprah's final 'most important' guests
Donald Trump has been busted repeating the false claim that he was one of Oprah Winfrey’s final and “most important” guests.
The president yet again made the false claim that he was one of the broadcaster’s final five guests in an interview with sports journalist Jason Whitlock.
Mr Trump has reportedly been saying this since 2013 despite last appearing on Ms Winfrey’s show three months before it wrapped in 2011.
Graeme Massie has the report.
Trump repeats false claim that he was one of Oprah's final 'most important' guests
It is at least fourth time in presidency Mr Trump has made the claim
Kristen Welker: Who is the moderator of tonight’s presidential debate?
NBC’s Kristen Welker is slated to moderate the final presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden next Thursday.
Ms Welker, who will moderate the final debate, is a White House Correspondent for NBC News. On Friday, she announced the topics for the debate: fighting Covid-19, American families, race in America, climate change, national security, and leadership.
Last week, Ms Welker raised a few eyebrows for deactivating her Twitter account after C-SPAN’s political editor Steve Scully admitting to lying about having his Twitter feed hacked. Mr Scully, who was scheduled to moderate the now-cancelled second debate, was criticised for an exchange he had with former Trump aide Anthony Scaramucci.
Find out more about the moderator of tonight’s debate.
Who is Kristen Welker, moderator of the last presidential debate?
Everything you need to know about the NBC journalist
When does the Trump-Biden showdown start and how can you watch it?
The third and final debate of the 2020 election will go forward, in person, on 22 October at Nashville, Tennessee's Belmont University. It will air for 90 minutes without commercial interruption from 21:00EST - 22:30EST on NBC.
The Commission on Presidential Debates has announced the topics for the third presidential debate. The debate topics will be: fighting COVID-19, American families, race in America, climate change, national security and leadership.
On 19 October the Commission on Presidential Debates also announced a new rule allowing the candidates’ microphones to be muted while the competing candidate answers the moderator’s question. Each will have two uninterrupted minutes.
When is the next US presidential debate?
Everything you need to know about the election debate between Trump and Biden tonight
Former Hunter Biden associate Tony Bobulinski speaks out before debate to claim Joe Biden involved in business with China
Just hours before the debate, a former business partner of Hunter Biden has gone public to claim Joe Biden of lying about his role in the Biden family’s international business dealings.
Tony Bobulinski, who is expected to be Donald Trump’s guest at the debate, held a press conference in Nashville after he was named in the New York Post’s reporting of data purported to have bene found on Hunter Biden’s laptop.
“I have heard Joe Biden say he has never discussed his dealings with Hunter. That is false. I have firsthand knowledge about this because I directly dealt with the Biden family, including Joe Biden,” Mr Bobulinski said.
He added: “In that email there’s no question that ‘H’ stands for Hunter, ‘big guy’ for his father Joe Biden, and ‘Jim’ for Jim Biden. In fact, Hunter often referred to his father as the ‘big guy’ or ‘my chairman’. On numerous occasions it was made clear to me that Joe Biden’s involvement was not to be mentioned in writing, but only fact to face,."
He showed three photos as evidence and said he would be meeting with the FBI to hand over electronics and data to verify his claims.
He has also released text messages and emails from when he was CEO of the company SinoHawk Holdings, reported to be a venture between the Biden family and Chinese energy company CEFC.
“I was introduced to Joe Biden by Jim Biden and Hunter Biden, at my approximately hour-long meeting with Joe That night, we discussed the Biden’s history, the Biden family’s plans with the Chinese, with which he was plainly familiar, at least at a high level,” Mr Bobulinski said.
“I have no wish to bury anyone. I’ve never been political. The few contributions I have made have been to Democrats. But what I am is a patriot, and a veteran, to protect my family name, and my business reputation. I need to ensure that the true facts are out there,”
The Trump campaign is pushing heavily on Mr Bobulinski’s remarks heading into the debate.
Biden is ready
Joe Biden isn’t being distracted by Hunter Biden’s former business partner Tony Bobulinski holding a press conference shortly before the debate.
His one word message: “Ready”.
Why Trump can’t win tonight against Biden, according to experts
The Independent’s Griffin Connolly spoke to debate and rhetoric experts on Donald Trump and Joe Biden should do and say during the debate.
Dr Tammy Vigil, associate professor of communication at Boston University who has authored books on presidential debates and rhetoric, said that if she were advising the candidates, before they even got on stage, she'd advise them to watch Saturday Night Live.
"It sounds silly, but you can see your flaws and foibles exaggerated, and you get insight into what people are talking about," Dr Vigil said.
Read the full story.
Why Trump can’t win tonight, according to experts
How will the president do in the last 2020 election debate?
Debate to begin shortly
Moderator Kristen Welker has taken her seat and the candidates are expected at any moment.
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