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
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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.
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Elizabeth Warren: 'Trump is flirting with treason’
The popular Masschusetts senator appeared on MSNBC’s All in with Chris Hayes last night and added her voice to the condemnation of the president over his refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power should he lose in November.
“When Donald Trump says that he is not necessarily going to accept the will of the voters, he’s flirting with treason,” Warren said.
“He’s saying, peaceful transition of power doesn’t matter to him. All that matters to him, once again, is Donald Trump and whatever Donald Trump wants.”
Trump rages at Fox over poll showing him losing to Biden in key states
As predicted earlier, the president starts his day by attacking the right-wing broadcaster for daring to report that he’s losing.
He’s now angrily bashing out NRA retweets.
Fight for Trump’s tax returns based on ‘innuendo’, president’s lawyers argue
A New York prosecutor engaged in a long-running battle to obtain Trump’s tax returns is resorting to “speculation and innuendo” to justify his demands, the president's lawyers argued in court papers filed on Thursday - on the eve of their appeals court showdown.
The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments today after a district court judge last month rejected Trump's renewed efforts to invalidate a subpoena that the office of Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr issued to the president's accounting firm Mazars.
Trump's lawyers maintain that the subpoena was issued in bad faith and is overly broad. In Thursday's filing, they argued that aside from acknowledging an inquiry into money paid to two women who alleged affairs with Trump, Vance's office hasn't specified why it needs eight years of the president's corporate and personal tax returns.
Trump lawyers: DA's fight for tax returns built on innuendo
President Donald Trump’s lawyers say a New York prosecutor is resorting to “speculation and innuendo” to justify a subpoena for his tax returns
Mary Trump files lawsuit saying family cheated her of millions
The president’s rebel niece filed a lawsuit on Thursday claiming he cheated her out of tens of millions of dollars while pushing her out of the family’s real estate business.
Seeking unspecified damages, Mary Trump alleged in a New York City state court that President Trump, along with his brother and sister, secretly took her share of the family’s real estate holdings while claiming to be her protectors.
“Fraud was not just the family business - it was a way of life,” the lawsuit said.
Ouch.
Trump’s niece files lawsuit saying family cheated her of millions
‘Fraud was not just the family business — it was a way of life’
Lindsey Graham: ‘I’m getting killed financially’
Listen out for the smallest violin in the world as the South Carolina senator complains on Fox he’s being beaten in the fundraising stakes by his election challenger, Democrat Jamie Harrison, who is picking up big dollars from people who, according to Graham, “hate my guts”.
Harrison reportedly raised some $9m in the 72 hours after the death late last week of Ruth Bader Ginsburg as Democrats flocked to unseat the Republican and Senate Judiciary Committee chairman when it became clear he would support Trump’s bid to rush in a conservative replacement for RBG before Election Day.
“I’m being killed financially. This money is because they hate my guts,” he moaned.
Predicting Harrison would ultimately end up with $100m in contributions, Graham said, “The most money ever spent in the history of the state on a Senate race in this state was by me in 2014, when I spent $13m.”
The prospect of the Never Trumper turned presidential lap dog’s downfall was, naturally, met with glee online.
‘Trump claiming he’ll “get rid of ballots” may have just lost him the Latin American votes he desperately needed’
For Indy Voices, here’s Andrew Feinberg on the president potentially alienating a crucial demographic he needs to win.
Trump may have just destroyed his own campaign
Republican insiders say this could be fatally damaging to the President’s campaign
‘Trump still has an “October surprise” up his sleeve’
Also for Voices, here’s John T Bennett on what to exptect from the last month of campaigning.
An ‘October surprise’ is coming. Trump is making sure of that
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death was not the only electoral upset we’ll see in the coming weeks. And one particular surprise might be delivered by the very people Trump made sure got seats in the Supreme Court
Mexican firefighters arrive in California to help tackle blazes
If Donald Trump is capable of feeling shame, this gesture should leave him absolutely crimson with remorse and self-loathing.
Or at least more intensely orange.
Mexican firefighters arrive in California to help tackle blazes
Blaze is the largest in California’s history, spanning nearly 300,000 acres
These signs will tell you who is winning the presidential debate
Here’s Graig Graziosi with a look at what to watch out for in terms of the candidates’ respective body language during next Tuesday’s face-off in Cleveland.
This is how you’ll know who is winning the presidential debate
Debate experts weigh in on how to tell who is winning a debate
Pelosi doubles down on saying Biden should not debate Trump ahead of 2020 election: 'He doesn’t tell the truth'
The House speaker says the Democratic candidate has nothing to gain from facing off against the president.
Chris Riotta has the latest.
Pelosi doubles down on saying Biden should not debate Trump
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