Week after debate, Biden and Harris campaigns engage in nasty Twitter feud over school busing

Democrats Eat their Own.

High-level campaign staffers for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris engaged in a fiery exchange on Twitter on Wednesday over the candidates' positions on school busing.
The war of words followed the candidates' fiery exchange during last Thursday night's Democratic primary debate in Miami, when Harris challenged Biden over the issue. The face-off produced Harris' "That little girl was me" remark that got wide media attention.
However, Harris' stance on busing isn't rock-solid, at least according to what she told reporters on Wednesday at a Democratic picnic in West Des Moines, Iowa.
"I think of busing as being in the toolbox of what is available and what can be used for the goal of desegregating America’s schools,” Harris said, but when pressed on whether she believes in federally mandated busing, she responded, "I believe that any tool that is in the toolbox should be considered by a school district.”
That received a sharp response from Kate Bedingfield, Biden's deputy campaign manager and communications director.
"It's disappointing that Senator Harris chose to distort Vice President Biden's position on busing," Bedingfield tweeted, "particularly now that she is tying herself in knots trying not to answer the very question she posed to him!"
That drew a reaction from Harris press secretary Ian Sams, who shot back by quoting Biden when he previously denounced busing.
"VP Biden said: 'Who the hell do we think we are that the only way a black man or woman can learn is if they rub shoulders with my white child?' He called busing an 'asinine concept.' C’mon. Y’all are better than this."
Then Bedingfield answered back: "If we’re cherry-picking quotes on Twitter, what about this one from this January? Sen. Harris: 'I think there are many people who would make a good president... I'm very fond of Joe Biden, so you're not gonna hear me criticize Joe Biden. I think he's a great guy.'"
"She does think he’s a good guy. So do I," Sams responded. "That’s why a simple 'working with segregationists to stop busing 40 years ago was wrong, and I shouldn’t have done it' would be welcome."
Harris has seen a major surge in the polls since her widely praised performance at last week's Democratic debate. The U.S. senator from California has jumped into third place among the two-dozen candidates seeking the Democratic Party nod in the average of polls, according to Real Clear Politics. Several polls now put her close to Biden.

California desert town aims to be ‘sanctuary city’ for gun owners

An Old West desert town in California has declared itself a “sanctuary city” for law-abiding gun owners.
Needles is a town of about 5,000 that borders Arizona and is a few miles from the southern tip of Nevada. Last month, the City Council voted unanimously to declare itself a “2nd Amendment Sanctuary City,” for people who feel California’s strict gun laws tread on their constitutional right to bear arms.
Needles’ city attorney has been directed to draft a resolution asking the state’s Legislature to allow gun owners from other states to carry firearms in town. But Councilman Tim Terral, who sponsored the measure, admitted the request is a longshot in California’s Democrat-controlled governing body.
“They want to pick and choose what they follow,” Terral said of California’s sanctuary status for illegal immigrants. “It’s ‘We’re going to shield this person, but we’re going to go after that person.’ And in our opinion, they have violated the Second Amendment of the Constitution in many ways.”

“They want to pick and choose what they follow. It’s ‘We’re going to shield this person, but we’re going to go after that person.’ And in our opinion, they have violated the Second Amendment of the Constitution in many ways.”
— Tim Terral, Needles council member

Terral and other city officials said the measure has less to do with making the city a Wild West town and more to do with ensuring out-of-state visitors with legally registered guns from outside California don’t face a felony arrest.
“We have had that happen,” City Manager Rick Daniels said. “Now not a lot. Not a lot. But occasionally that occurs.”
Needles’ proposal comes amid heightened restrictions for gun owners and would-be gun owners alike in California. A state law that took effect Monday mandates that gun owners undergo a background check to purchase ammunition and outlaws people from bringing ammunition into California from other states.
Most Needles residents buy their ammunition in neighboring Arizona because the nearest California stores are more than 100 miles away.  City leaders want residents to be able to continue purchasing in neighboring states.
That and a request that California recognize concealed carry permits from other states will be spelled out in another resolution the City Council plans to consider July 9.

Violent clashes in Portland, Ore., prompt call for anti-mask laws

Blls Bailey: "Single out anyone of these punks and send him to Texas for a one on one fight against a conservative, he will get his ass handed back to him on a silver platter. They're a bunch of cowards that will only fight you when they outnumber you."

Authorities in Portland, Ore., are calling for a series of laws to curb violent clashes at demonstrations that include prohibiting masks worn by protesters, allowing police to videotape demonstrations and giving the city greater control over events organized by groups with violent histories.
“We cannot allow people to continue to use the guise of free speech to commit a crime,’’ police Chief Danielle Outlaw said in a Wednesday news conference addressing last week's violence that occurred when three competing demonstrations converged downtown.

“We cannot allow people to continue to use the guise of free speech to commit a crime.’’
— Chief Danielle Outlaw, Portland, Ore., police

Several people were injured in connection with demonstrations as marchers with an anti-fascist group clashed with conservative protesters with the Proud Boys and supporters of the #HimToo movement. Conservative writer Andy Ngo was assaulted by Antifa members and spent the night in an emergency room.

A man checks his phone while surrounded by police and medics after being injured during a civil disturbance in Portland, Ore., on Saturday, June 29, 2019. (Associated Press)

About 15 states and some countries have anti-mask laws, the Oregonian reported. Opponents argue such laws would deprive people anonymity to express their views and would violate their First Amendment rights.
“We looked into it previously and the constitutional free speech issues are difficult to overcome, at least in Oregon, said Tim Crail, chief of staff for Portland Commissioner Amanda Fritz.
Outlaw said the issue was a matter of public safety. Portland has been the site of several violent demonstrations between Antifa supporters and conservative demonstrators in recent months.
Ngo, who covered Antifa for the website Quillette, was kicked in the head and had objects thrown at him.
“A lot of people are emboldened because they know they can’t be identified,’’ Outlaw said.

“A lot of people are emboldened because they know they can’t be identified.’’
— Chief Danielle Outlaw, Portland, Ore., police

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon said it doubts a policy prohibiting masks could be enforced in a constitutional manner.
"A policy that prohibits wearing a mask to a protest will have police focusing on the wrong issue," Sarah Armstrong, a spokeswoman for the group, told the paper. "Behavior is the issue, not the mask,'' she said. "It could be argued that the mask is an important symbolic part of a protester’s message. ...  There are many legitimate reasons people wear ‘masks,’ including political and religious reasons.''

Nike Sweatshop Cartoons

Kamala Harris ‘got it wrong’ in ‘sad’ attack on Biden, former US senator says

The first African-American woman to serve in the U.S. Senate says Kamala Harris “got it wrong” when she criticized Joe Biden over racial issues during a Democratic debate last week.
Carol Moseley Braun, who represented Illinois in the Senate for one term, from 1993 to 1999, said it was “sad” that Harris, a U.S. senator from California, chose to attack Biden, the former vice president and U.S. senator from Delaware.
“We can be proud of her nonetheless, but her ambition got it wrong about Joe,” Moseley Braun said, according to Politico. “He is about the best there is. For her to take that tack is sad.”

“We can be proud of her nonetheless, but her ambition got it wrong about Joe. He is about the best there is. For her to take that tack is sad.”
— Carol Moseley Braun, former U.S. senator

During last Thursday’s debate in Miami, Harris blasted Biden’s decades-ago work with segregationist senators, making the point personal by explaining she was a member of only the second class of black children in California to be bused to school in an effort to force desegregation.

Former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun. (Associated Press)

“That little girl was me,” Harris told the former vice president.
The confrontation was viewed as a key moment for Harris, whom some claimed had “won” the debate among 10 candidates. Harris’s campaign said it raised more than $2 million in the 24 hours immediately after the debate.
Some of the money came from sales of $30 T-shirts with a photo of Harris as a child and the quote from the debate.
Biden, meanwhile, got involved in another race-related controversy the next day, when he made a remark in Chicago.
“That kid wearing a hoodie may very well be the next poet laureate and not a gangbanger," Biden said during a speech at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a group of nonprofits organized by the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
The comment drew backlash from Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and others, who took issue with Biden’s choice of words.
Moseley Braun, meanwhile, continues to stand by Biden, Politico reported. The 71-year-old Chicago native had previously endorsed Biden for president, the report said.
Fox News’ Brie Stimson and Danielle Wallace contributed to this story.

Raymond Arroyo: American pride should never diminish

Fox News' Raymond Arroyo guest hosted "The Ingraham Angle" Tuesday and gave a concise explanation on why pride in America has decreased in recent years and what America's past will teach citizens as they approach the future.
"Obviously partisanship is accelerating this dwindling pride in the country and frankly it shouldn't. No matter who's elected president, no matter who's calling the shots in Congress that should in no way disturb our love of country," Arroyo said referencing a Gallup poll showing pride the country at an all time low.
"The freedoms we enjoy, the prosperity all around us, the liberty that we too often take for granted. Part of our problem is there's so little that unites us today."
Arroyo criticized those that have disparaged the founders and history of America, claiming that these actions have eroded the one thing that united this diverse nation.
"This was a republic founded on an ideal not blood or race but an ideal of freedom and self governance. It was predicated on morality and common purpose. But over the last few decades we have run down the reputation of the founders, disparaged even the founding itself and strafed our own history. Today we're fighting over Betsy Ross' flag," Arroyo said, referencing a Wall Street Journal report that former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick asked Nike to shelve a shoe featuring the Betsy Ross version of the American flag because it was racist.
The Fox Nation personality argued that scrutinizing history would only further divide the country.
"This self-loathing to this destructive cultural crusade to strike the memory of any individual that fails to measure up to the shifting mores of the day will only further divide us and hasten our forgetting of self," Arroyo said.
"History is made by human beings who are by their nature flawed and broken and admit their failings are great lessons that cannot and should not be forgotten."
Arroyo said that what makes us proud to be American is overcoming our shortcomings.
"We owe it to our children to offer them the whole American story the good, the bad, the sins and the glory. How else will they learn how to avoid in the future or to emulate. And what to be proud of as Americans," Arroyo said.

CNN’s Fareed Zakaria says Trump was right about asylum system, ‘pains me to say’

Fareed Zakaria, the CNN anchor, on Sunday said it “pains” him to admit it, but President Trump was correct that the U.S. finds itself in a crisis with asylum system and the number of new arrivals.
The host of “Fareed Zakaria GPS,” was also critical of asylum rules that he called “vague, laxed and being gamed.” Zakaria said asylum was initially intended for a small number of people in the most extreme circumstances, not as a process of immigration in itself. He said the rules need to be “substantially tightened."
He pointed out that “many” current asylum-seekers often have “suspiciously similar stories” and employ “identical phrases.”
“Democrats have spent most of their efforts on this topic, assailing the Trump administration for its heartlessness,” he said. “Fine. But that does not address the roots of this genuine crisis. If things continue to spiral downward and America's southern border seems out of control, Trump's tough rhetoric and hard-line stance will become increasingly attractive to the public.”
A  federal judge in Seattle on Tuesday blocked a Trump administration policy that would keep thousands of asylum-seekers locked up while they pursue their cases, saying the Constitution demands that such migrants have a chance to be released from custody.
The Justice Department did not immediately return an email seeking comment from the AP, but the government was expected to quickly appeal the decision.
The Associated Press contributed to this report

Trump 2020 campaign manager: President is 'set' for four more years, can 'beat anybody'

Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale isn't worried about whoever emerges as the Democratic challenger next year and is confident the president will win four more years in the White House.
"I think the president could beat anybody. The momentum we're seeing right now. I mean look... one hundred five million raised, a hundred million cash on hand. What we're seeing overall the president success is overseas, the momentum behind this president right now is like nothing that history has ever seen," Parscale said Tuesday on "The Story with Martha MacCallum" dismissing Democratic presidential contenders Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg's rise in the polls and campaign fundraising.
The Trump campaign announced Tuesday that its re-election operation raised a whopping $105 million in the second quarter, significantly more than Democrats have been pulling in.
A Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday showed Joe Biden at 22 percent, down 8 points from a prior poll in June. Harris, meanwhile, soared from just 7 percent to 20 percent in the latest survey, putting her in a statistical tie with the Democratic powerhouse. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren held steady at 14 percent.
Parscale touted Trump's success in his presidency so far, saying that will fuel his re-election.
"We're not even in the main portion of the campaign yet where we're already raising large numbers, this president in the voice he has, the message he can control, in the way he can control what's happening on the media. No one can touch this," Parscale said.
"And I think the president is set for four more years."
MacCallum asked the campaign manager how the president would respond to the promises being made by Democrats including free college and health care. Parscale gave Trump red for correcting the Affordable Care Act and said the administration would have to talk about the "rising college prices.
Parscale also said Republican and Latino voters looked "strong" for 2020.
"I think the Republican Party is in a strong position with Latino voters and other demographics. I think the Republic Party is on a straight course to more victories win back the House lead the Senate and have four more years of President Trump so I'm not worried about it one bit," Parscale said.
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.