Trump news: President to name Amy Coney Barrett for Supreme Court, reports say
President to make third SCOTUS appointment on Saturday as Joe Biden dismisses election threats as ‘distraction’ from administration failures
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
Donald Trump has been accused with “flirting with treason” by Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren over his refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power should he lose November’s election to Joe Biden.
The president has claimed he was the victim of a “political hit” on the issue, accusing the US Food and Drug Administration of deliberately making approval standards more stringent for drug companies in order to delay the release of a Covid-19 vaccine until after Election Day.
Speaking to supporters at a “black economic empowerment” event on Friday, the president accused Black Lives Matter supporters of “hurting the black community” and touted his claims to improve the lives of black Americans during his term.
The president is expected to announce his nominee to the high court on Saturday. The White House has signalled that he will nominate Amy Coney Barrett for the role, what will be his third appointment since taking office.
Mr Biden and Jill Biden visited Washington DC on Friday to attend memorials for late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is lying in state at the US Capitol. The president and top Republicans in Congress did not attend the service.
In an interview with MSNBC on Friday, Mr Biden refused to speculate on the doomsday scenarios that legal scholars and election analysts have considered following the president’s threats to the election, insisting that the president is using fear as a distraction from his administration’s failures.
The Democratic candidate instead suggested that the rule of law will prevail and American voters will have their voice heard at the polls.
“It’s always about distraction with him,” he said.
He called the president’s attempts to undermine the results of the election “irresponsible and outrageous" and he suggested that a massive voter turnout will overwhelm the president’s claims that the results will be disputed.
Follow live coverage as it happened
Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load
Hello and welcome to The Independent’s rolling coverage of the Donald Trump administration.
Trump says election result will determine ‘whether pandemic ends’, claiming FDA delaying coronavirus vaccine in ‘political hit’
Donald Trump has claimed that November’s presidential election will decide "whether we end the pandemic", with the US coronavirus death toll surpassing 2000,000 on his watch, as he claimed his DC rivals are holding up progress on a vaccine.
Speaking at a rally in Jacksonville, Florida, on Thursday evening, Trump claimed he was the victim of a “political hit” on the issue, accusing the US Food and Drug Administration of deliberately making approval standards more stringent for drug companies in order to delay the release of a Covid-19 vaccine until after Election Day.
Here’s more from Alex Woodward.
Trump claims officials plotting 'political hit' to delay Covid-19 vaccine and says election will decide 'whether we end pandemic'
President has said he ‘may or may not’ approve FDA guidelines for vaccine development to rush production
President alleges Joe Biden will ‘take big shot of something’ before their first debate
Trump also alleged that Joe Biden, his Democratic rival, would be given “a big shot of something” before next week’s first televised election debate in Cleveland, Ohio, also mocking his low-key campaigning style after the 77-year-old took a day off the campaign trail on Thursday to prepare.
“Biden’s plan will crush Florida, my plan will crush the virus,” Trump blustered.
Yesterday, this man claimed the debate moderator, Fox’s Chris Wallace, was “controlled by the radical left”, an absurd lie that, taken with this Biden allegation, reveals how far he is prepared to go to make excuses should he humiliate himself at the podium by claiming the Q&A was rigged.
Trump defends Supreme Court nomination in rambling address
"If it was them instead of us, do you think they would do it? I think so," the president asked the Florida crowd yesterday, referring to the Republican rush to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg with a conservative substitute before Election Day in defiance of the Notorious RBG’s dying wish and all precedent.
Trump’s insistence that the 3 November ballot will be corrupted by mail fraud is his current rationale for pushing ahead with the move, insisting a complete bench of nine justices is needed to rule on the outcome.
He went on to again glory in the police assault on MSNBC reporter Ali Velshi in Minneapolis earlier this summer and again lie about winning the non-existent Michigan Man of the Year award.
He also bragged darkly about the unprecedented power of the arsenal at his fingertips...
...and to again push his plans for a “patriotic education” programme for schools, likened by some to the indoctrination of the Hitler Youth under the Third Reich.
Trump losing to Biden in Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania, says new Fox poll
The president won’t like this and will no doubt complain his primary media alley is “not what it was” later today.
Their latest survey puts Biden ahead of Trump in the key states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Nevada, where the president trails his rival by 11 points.
Voters are backing the challenger over the incumbent on such defining issues of the 2020 hellscape as response to the coronavirus pandemic, succession at the Supreme Court and police reform.
FBI director says no evidence of mail-in voter fraud, countering Trump’s repeated false claims
Despite this president banging the drum about mail ballots being vulnerable to exploitation at every possible opportunity, Christopher Wray is not backing him up.
Appearing before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Thursday, Wray said the agency had "not seen, historically, any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it's by mail or otherwise."
“We have seen voter fraud at the local level from time to time,” he said, adding that “to change a federal election outcome by mounting that kind of fraud at scale would be a major challenge for an adversary, but people should make no mistake that we’re vigilant as to the threat and watching it carefully.”
Here’s Richard Hall’s report.
FBI director says no evidence of mail-in voter fraud, despite Trump’s repeated claims
FBI director contradicts an often-repeated claim by president
Bernie Sanders details Trump's efforts to steal election in urgent call to action
The popular Vermont senators has warned against the president’s attempts to undermine the results of the 2020 election and urged Americans to “listen to and take seriously” his threats, including his recent refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power.
“This is not just an election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” Sanders said in remarks on Thursday. “This is an election between Donald Trump and democracy – and democracy must win. ”
The senator said it is “absolutely essential” for Republicans, Democrats and others to combat the president’s threats “to keep faith with the American ideals we hold so dear and with the sacrifices that so many made in order to protect our democracy.”
Alex Woodward has more on this.
Bernie Sanders details Trump's efforts to steal election in urgent call to action
Vermont senator condemns president’s threats to democracy: ‘No matter how rich and powerful you may be, no matter how arrogant and narcissistic you may be … You are not going to destroy it’
Hillary on Trump’s transition threat: ‘We should take this seriously’
Also sounding the alarm is the beaten 2016 candidate.
Louise Hall has this report on what she had to say.
Hillary Clinton calls Donald Trump a 'would-be dictator' clinging to office
Comments follow presidents refusal to peacefully transfer power if he loses election
White House, Mitch McConnell downplay fears Trump will refuse to relinquish power
Realising the president’s “We’ll have to wait and see what happens…” answer on whether he would accept the election result was deeply disturbing, his team made efforts yesterday to calm the raging uproar.
Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany insisted: "The president will accept the results of a free and fair election. He will accept the will of the American people."
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell likewise insisted there was nothing to worry about and that the great wheels of democracy would continue to turn as usual.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
McEnany says boos for Trump at Supreme Court were ‘appalling’ but he claims not to have heard them
The president’s embattled spokeswoman yesterday also took an opportunity to denounce the “disrespectful” chants of “Vote him out!” that rang out in DC after Trump visit the memorial to Ruth Bader Ginbsurg, an American icon he himself greatly disrespected by scorning her dying wish.
Trump though didn’t hear anything though, he claims…
…which is utterly impossible, as you can see for yourself.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies