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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President Trump claims that Democratic nominee Joe Biden wants to pack the Supreme Court with the ‘radical left’
On Thursday, Mr Trump claimed that Mr Biden wants to “pack” the Supreme Court if he becomes president following 3 November’s election
Court packing would involve increasing the amount of justices on the Supreme Court from 9 to 15. When asked about the practice last week, Mr Biden said that he is “not a fan”.
President Trump tweeted: “Biden wants to Pack the Court with Radical Left crazies. He doesn’t even want to make a list to explain who they are. Can’t let this happen!”
CBS News has responded to President Donald Trump releasing the ‘uneditied’ version of his 60 Minutes interview
Donald Trump uploaded his 30-minute interview with CBS correspondent Lesley Stahl to Facebook on Thursday, after walking out of the meeting and accusing the network of a “fake” and “biased” line of questioning.
In a response on Thursday afternoon, CBS wrote: “The White House’s unprecedented decision to disregard their agreement with CBS News and release their footage, will not deter 60 Minutes from providing its full, fair and contextual reporting which presidents have participated in for decades.”
President defended maskless rallies and denied encouraging ‘lock them up’ chants in 60 Minutes interview
Donald Trump uploaded his 30-minute interview with CBS correspondent Lesley Stahl to Facebook on Thursday, after walking out of the meeting and accusing the network of a “fake” and “biased” line of questioning on Tuesday.
In a segment discussing his rhetoric and influence, he refused to admit he had taken aim at Michigan’s Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who had recently been targeted an alleged right-wing plot to kidnap her.
“When did I say lock her up?” he said. “I would never say that.”
During “lock her up” chants at his rallies in the state, he responded with “lock them all up.”
Alex Woodward has more here.
Trump posts video of him ending 60 Minutes interview
Lesley Stahl presses a frustrated Trump on false claims on healthcare and coronavirus before he abruptly ends interview in his full video preempting CBS broadcast
President Trump tweets that Barack Obama is campaigning for him
On Thursday, Mr Trump tweeted that former president Barack Obama is “campaigning for us.”
He tweeted: “Obama is campaigning for us. Every time he speaks, people come over to our side. He didn’t even want to endorse Sleepy Joe. Did so long after primaries were over!”
Mr Obama likened the president to a “crazy uncle” at a campaign rally in Philadelphia, on Wednesday, as Mr Trump claimed in Georgia that “the only one more unhappy than crooked Hillary that night was Barack Hussein Obama,” in reference to 2016’s election.
The battle to win over retired Florida voters is tearing apart The Villages
President Donald Trump is planning on visiting The Villages, a planned community for people aged over 55, on Friday, but he might not be greeted with fans.
The retirement community in Florida, which has more than 150,000 people, has become bitterly divided over politics ahead of 3 November’s election.
Debates have got so heated that that one Trump supporter poured acid onto a Biden supporter’s lawn, while a convoy of Donald Trump supporters in golf carts were booed and yelled out by supporters of Joe Biden, one of whom yelled: “F*** Trump.”
Read Andrew Buncombe’s report here.
The fight to win retired Florida voters is tearing apart The Villages
Donald Trump is planning to visit the retirement community on Friday. He may not only be greeted by fans
Schumer and Wyden ask FBI director to resist Trump pressure for political investigation before November’s election
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and senator Ron Wyden have written to FBI Director Christopher Wray, to ask him to not launch any political investigation that could influence 3 November’s election, according to NBC News.
In their letter they referenced “a widely questioned article in the New York Post, that alleged to have obtained stolen Hunter Biden emails from the president’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani,” and noted that President Trump had asked for the Department of Justice to investigate.
Questions were raised about the veracity of the Post’s claims when it emerged that Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trump’s personal lawyer, and Steve Bannon, the president’s former adviser, were involved in giving it to the paper. Mr Giuliani spent months in Ukraine trying to dig up dirt on Hunter Biden.
The senator’s added: “We are deeply concerned about the possibility that in response to these reports the Trump Administration will take actions before Election Day that would seek to damage the Democratic presidential candidate and undermine the rule of law.”
Half of all Americans want President Trump investigated after he leaves office, a new poll from The Independent finds
Forty-nine per cent of respondents to a new JL Partners-Independent poll said they believe Mr Trump should be criminally investigated once he leaves office for crimes he might have committed while in office.
While, nearly half of voters have concerns about the $400m in debts a recent report, citing tax documents, alleges the president owes, according to the poll.
John T Bennett has more here.
Half of Americans want Trump criminally investigated after presidency, poll finds
Forty-nine percent of respondents said they believe Mr Trump should be criminally investigated once he leaves office for crimes he might have committed while in office, according to a JL Partners-Independent poll
Melania Trump is back on the campaign trail after recovering from Covid-19
The US first lady was pictured accompanying President Donald Trump to the final presidential debate on Thursday, in Nashville, Tennessee.
Ms Trump, 50, tested positive for Covid-19 shortly after the president in early October, and has not been seen outside of the White House since.
She cancelled an event in Pesnnsylvania on Tuesday, and cited a lingering cough stemming from her Covid-19 diagnosis.
The 50-year-old has also not been on the campaign trail since her speech on the second night of the Republican National Convention in August.
President Trump has left the White House to travel to Tennessee for the final presidential debate
Donald Trump left the White House on Thursday afternoon to travel to Nashville, Tennessee for the final presidential debate against Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
He was accompanied by the US first lady Melania Trump, for her first campaign visit since the Republican National Convention in August.
Joe Biden has a 10 point lead over Donald Trump in new Quinnipiac University poll
The new poll released by Quinnipiac University on Thursday shows that the Democratic nominee is leading President Trump by 51 to 41 per cent nationally.
Mr Biden’s lead is similar to two Quinnipiac polls from September, which showed the former vice president leading by 52 to 42 per cent over Mr Trump.
The figure is similar to other surveys, as the website FiveThirtyEight, which collates average polls nationally, shows Mr Biden leading the president nationally by 9.8 points as of 21 October.
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