Donald Trump Jr. warns of ‘silenced majority’ as RNC speakers say freedom, safety on the line in November

President Trump’s oldest son praised his father as “the man who represents a bright and beautiful future for all” and tore into Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as the “Loch Ness Monster of the Swamp” during the opening night of the Republican National Convention.
Giving one of the major concluding addresses on Monday night, Donald Trump Jr. also charged that "the other party is attacking the very principles on which our nation was founded.”
“Joe Biden and the radical left are also now coming for our freedom of speech and want to bully us into submission.  If they get their way, it will no longer be the ‘silent majority, it will be the ‘silenced majority,’” he warned.
Coming off a week during which Democrats used their quadrennial confab to hammer the president’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and warn that another four years of Trump in the White House would threaten the nation’s democratic foundations, the president's son and other speakers returned fire, railing against socialism, cancel culture, and warning of chaos if Biden is elected.
And Trump used part of his speech to praise his father’s record combating the coronavirus, pushing back against repeated charges from Biden and other Democrats that the president had initially downplayed the severity of the crisis and then botched the federal response to the pandemic.
“As the virus began to spread, the president acted quickly and ensured ventilators got to hospitals that needed them most. He delivered PPE to our brave frontline workers. And he rallied the mighty American private sector, to tackle this new challenge,” the younger Trump emphasized. “There is more work to do, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.”
And pointing to an economy that was nearly flattened by the coronavirus, Trump – who has become a top Republican fundraiser and his father’s most-requested campaign surrogate as he excites the party’s populist base -- spotlighted that “job gains are outpacing what the so-called experts expected.”
Taking aim at the former vice president – who continues to lead the president in national polling and in many of the key general election battleground states – Trump charged that “Biden’s radical leftwing policies would stop our economic recovery cold. He’s already talking about shutting the country down -- again. It’s madness.”
Referencing the national unrest this spring and summer sparked by the death of George Floyd, a Black man in Minnesota who died while in police custody, the younger Trump stressed that “we must put an end to racism, and we must ensure that any police officer who abuses their power is held accountable. What happened to George Floyd is a disgrace. And if you know a police officer, you know they agree with that, too.”
But pushing back by calls by some activists to defund police departments, Trump argued that “we cannot lose sight of the fact that our police are American heroes. They deserve our deepest appreciation. Because no matter what the Democrats say, you and I both know when we dial 911, we don’t want it going to voicemail. So “defunding” the police is not an option.”
“Anarchists have been flooding our streets and Democrat mayors are ordering the police to stand down,” Trump argued. “Small businesses across America—many of them minority owned—are being torched by mobs. The Democrat mayors pretend it’s not happening. They actually called it ‘a summer of love.’”
Following Monday night's speakers, Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield fired back.
“If you tuned into the Republican convention tonight looking for some indication from President Trump that he has a strategy to contain the coronavirus, you’re still waiting," she emphasized. "What you heard tonight was a parade of dark and divisive fear-mongering designed to distract from the fact that Donald Trump does not have an affirmative case to make to the American people about why he should be re-elected."
Trump’s warning about personal freedoms being on the line in November’s general election were echoed throughout the evening by other speakers, including some everyday Americans who were featured on the first night of the convention.
Patricia and Mark McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who made headlines this summer as they aimed their firearms at a group of protesters advocating police reforms who were walking along their neighborhood’s private streets, warned that “no matter where you live, your family will not be safe in the radical Democrats’ America.”
Mark McCloskey has maintained that he was scared for his life and brandished a weapon to protect his home and wife, and the White House has defended the couple's actions on multiple occasions, as they face felony charges. He charged that “the radicals are not content just marching in the streets. They want to walk the halls of Congress. They want power. This is Joe Biden’s party. These are the people who will be in charge of your future and future of your children.”
Republican National Committee (RNC) chairwoman Ronna McDaniel also warned about a Democratic Party that’s pushing polices that were “unthinkable a decade ago.” And she claimed that Biden cares “more about countries like China and Iran than the United States of America."
The president made two brief recorded appearances in the prime time programming – hosting at the White House six Americans held hostage in Iran, Syria, and Venezuela who were freed during his presidency, and a discussion with frontline workers in the battle against the coronavirus.
Trump – who’s not expected to stray far from the spotlight during the 4-day confab -- didn’t wait until the Republican convention’s kick off prime time session to stoke the flames.
Earlier Monday, the president – speaking to Republican Party officials and delegates gathered in Charlotte, North Carolina to formally re-nominate Trump and Vice President Mike Pence – used his nearly hour long speech to raise doubts about the integrity of November’s general election. And he peppered his defiant and incendiary comments with blasts against efforts to increase voting my mail during the coronavirus pandemic and accusations that the Democrats are “using COVID to steal our election.”
The president, who took to the stage amid chants of “four more years” from his supporters, immediately began stirring the pot by saying “if you want to really drive them crazy, you say 12 more years.”
While the first evening of the convention spotlighted the president’s oldest son, it shift to first lady Melania Trump on Tuesday. She’s scheduled to give the crowning address. Earlier in the evening, two of the president’s children, Eric and Tiffany, have speaking slots.
Also speaking during the second day of the confab – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky – both of whom may have national aspirations in 2024. Pompeo’s expected to deliver his address from an “undisclosed location” in Israel, as American’s top diplomat is on a Mideast peace swing. Despite assurances from the State Department that Pompeo will be speaking in his personal capacity, he and Republican Party officials are facing a chorus of criticism that the secretary of state’s breaking decades of precedence in not using the office for partisan purposes.
Nicholas Sandmann, the Trump supporter and MAGA cap wearing teen from Covington, Kentucky will also be in the convention spotlight. Sandmann made national headlines last year after being falsely accused of harassing a Native American demonstrator as he and fellow classmates protested against abortion rights at the Lincoln Memorial in the nation’s capital.
And the governor and lt. governor of two general election battleground states crucial to a Trump victory in November also get speaking slots on Tuesday. They are Gov. Kim Keynolds of Iowa and Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez.

Michael Goodwin: At upbeat Republican Convention, speakers make strong pitch for Black votes

Black power has arrived. For the first time in modern memory, both of America’s major political parties are making an all-out push for the votes of African Americans.
Good for them, and good for our country.
The hunt for Black votes is a given with Democrats, but the first night of the Republican Convention showed that two teams are chasing the same prize this year. Count me as surprised at the GOP’s bold effort to woo members of a group that has long represented the Dems’ most loyal constituency.
The effort showcased an impressive list of Black speakers in prominent roles vouching for President Trump and slamming Joe Biden and the Dems.
Kim Klacik, a dynamic young Republican woman running for the late Elijah Cummings’ congressional seat in Baltimore, set the tone by declaring: “The Democrats have controlled my city, Charm City, for over 50 years and they have run this beautiful place into the ground. Abandoned buildings, liquor stores on every corner, drug addicts and guns on the street — that is now the norm in many neighborhoods.”
Herschel Walker, the football great, added his personal experience after what he called a 37-year-friendship with Trump. “I take it as a personal insult that people would think I would have a 37-year friendship with a racist,” Walker said. “Growing up in the Deep South, I have seen racism up close. I know what it is. And it isn’t Donald Trump.”
Two later speakers were especially effective. Vernon Jones, a lifelong Democrat in the Georgia General Assembly, showed a wicked sense of humor, saying that when Trump “sought to earn the Black vote, the Democratic Party leaders went crazy! Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer literally started wearing Kente cloth scarves around the Capitol!”
And Jones, in a riff about Dems’ attacks on police, said this: “Isn’t it ironic that the Democrat politicians never leave home without security to protect them at all times? Why don’t they forgo their security and replace them with social workers, since that’s what they want for us?”
Sen. Tim Scott, from South Carolina, provided a powerful finish by telling his life story. His grandfather had been forced to leave school in the third grade to pick cotton, but lived long enough to see Scott become the first Black American elected to both the House and the Senate. “Our family went from cotton to Congress in one lifetime,” he said.

Trump only got 8 percent four years ago and it would be something of an earthquake if he could double that, which could be enough to turn the election.

Of course, the GOP is not aiming for anything close to a majority of the Black vote. That’s impossible for now because, election after election, Dem presidential candidates, no matter their names, get 90 percent or more of it.
Trump only got 8 percent four years ago and it would be something of an earthquake if he could double that, which could be enough to turn the election. It’s also possible that by merely competing for the vote he could cut into some of the anti-Trump fervor and make moderate Whites more comfortable voting for Trump.
But Dems are especially vulnerable this year because they have put so much effort into turning out urban voters. The party, seized by identity politics, is supporting Black Lives Matter and Biden’s pick of Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate as part of an effort to bolster the turnout among both women and non-Whites.
One result is that Biden has refused to condemn the violence sweeping through the nation’s urban areas, at least in part because that would be tantamount to calling for the police to crack down. And that, in turn, would infuriate the Black Lives Matter movement, which is Marxist and anti-police.
That’s not a problem on the GOP side. Speaker after speaker, including Black ones, applauded the police and condemned the violence.
Trump’s decision to try to compete is actually in keeping with his inaugural address. Then he talked of the “carnage” in much of America, including its cities, and focused on boosting the economy and creating jobs for the underclass.
He succeeded wildly. For much of last year, unemployment rates for Black and Latino Americans hit record lows, and wage increases were often higher, percentage-wise, at the bottom and middle than at the top of the economic ladder.
In short, Trump has a record of creating jobs for nonwhite Americans that any Democrat would die for. And now he’s looking for their votes, a hunt complicated by the pandemic that has taken so many jobs.
The first night of the convention also focused on defending the president’s record combatting COVID-19. Clearly stung by polls that shifted in Biden’s favor as the deaths mounted, the president has adopted a more serious, sympathetic tone while still pushing for the economy to open as quickly as possible.
Part of that effort involved a video showing Democratic governors — Gavin Newsom of California, Andrew Cuomo of New York, and Phil Murphy of New Jersey — complimenting the president for helping them during the worst days of the pandemic.
We won’t know for some time how well the message is received, and much will depend on the remainder of the convention, especially how effective the president is with his Thursday acceptance speech.
Still, the first night was fast-paced, upbeat and rah-rah-rah. Sort of like the man in the Oval Office himself.

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Trump announces plasma treatment authorized for COVID-19

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday announced emergency authorization to treat COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma — a move he called “a breakthrough,” one of his top health officials called “promising” and other health experts said needs more study before it’s celebrated.

The announcement came after White House officials complained there were politically motivated delays by the Food and Drug Administration in approving a vaccine and therapeutics for the disease that has upended Trump’s reelection chances.

On the eve of the Republican National Convention, Trump put himself at the center of the FDA’s announcement of the authorization at a news conference Sunday evening. The authorization makes it easier for some patients to obtain the treatment but is not the same as full FDA approval.

The blood plasma, taken from patients who have recovered from the coronavirus and rich in antibodies, may provide benefits to those battling the disease. But the evidence so far has not been conclusive about whether it works, when to administer it and what dose is needed.

In a letter describing the emergency authorization, the chief scientist for the FDA, Denise Hinton, said: “COVID-19 convalescent plasma should not be considered a new standard of care for the treatment of patients with COVID-19. Additional data will be forthcoming from other analyses and ongoing, well-controlled clinical trials in the coming months.”

But Trump had made clear to aides that he was eager to showcase good news in the battle against the virus, and the timing allowed him to head into his convention with momentum. He and aides billed it as a “major” development and used the White House briefing room to make the announcement.

Trump also displayed some rare discipline in the evening news conference, sticking to his talking points, deferring to the head of the FDA, Stephen Hahn, and only taking three questions from reporters.

The White House had grown agitated with the pace of the plasma approval. The accusations of an FDA slowdown, which were presented without evidence, were just the latest assault from Trump’s team on what he refers to as the “deep state” bureaucracy. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows did not deal in specifics, but said that “we’ve looked at a number of people that are not being as diligent as they should be in terms of getting to the bottom of it.”

“This president is about cutting red tape,” Meadows said in an interview Sunday on “This Week” on ABC. “He had to make sure that they felt the heat. If they don’t see the light, they need to feel the heat because the American people are suffering.”

During Sunday’s 18-minute press conference, Trump said he thought there had been a “logjam” at the FDA over granting the emergency authorization. He alleged there are people at the FDA “that can see things being held up ... and that’s for political reasons.”

Dr. Joshua Sharfstein said the statement, and Hahn’s silence while Trump said it, “was disgraceful.”

“The FDA commissioner basically allowed the president to mischaracterize the decision and attack the integrity of FDA employees. I was horrified,” said Sharfstein, a vice dean at John Hopkins University’s school of public health who was a top FDA official during the Obama administration.

“This is a promising therapy that has not been fully established,” he said

The push on Sunday came a day after Trump tweeted sharp criticism on the process to treat the virus, which has killed more than 175,000 Americans and imperiled his reelection chances. The White House has sunk vast resources into an expedited process to develop a vaccine, and Trump aides have been banking on it being an “October surprise” that could help the president make up ground in the polls.

“The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics,” Trump tweeted. “Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!”

Earlier this month, Mayo Clinic researchers reported a strong hint that blood plasma from COVID-19 survivors helps other infected patients recover. But it wasn’t considered proof.

More than 70,000 patients in the U.S. have been given convalescent plasma, a century-old approach to fend off flu and measles before vaccines. It’s a go-to tactic when new diseases come along, and history suggests it works against some, but not all, infections.

The Mayo Clinic reported preliminary data from 35,000 coronavirus patients treated with plasma, and said there were fewer deaths among people given plasma within three days of diagnosis, and also among those given plasma containing the highest levels of virus-fighting antibodies.

But it wasn’t a formal study. The patients were treated in different ways in hospitals around the country as part of an FDA program designed to speed access to the experimental therapy. That “expanded access” program tracks what happens to the recipients, but it cannot prove the plasma — and not other care they received — was the real reason for improvement.

Administration officials, in a call with reporters Sunday, discussed a benefit for patients who were within three days of admission to a hospital and were not on a respirator, and were given ‘high-titer’ convalescent plasma containing higher concentrations of antibodies. They were then compared to similar patients who were given lower-titer plasma. The findings suggest deaths were 35% lower in the high-titer group.

There’s been little data on how effective it is or whether it must be administered fairly early in an illness to make a significant difference, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University.

Aiming to ward off a possible a run on convalescent plasma after the announcement, government officials have been working to obtain plasma and to team with corporate partners and nonprofit organizations to generate interest among previously infected patients to donate.

Hahn, who called the development “promising,” said Trump did not speak to him about the timing of the announcement. He said “this has been in the works for several weeks.”

But some health experts were skeptical. Benjamin Corb, of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, called it “conspicuous timing.”

“President Trump is once again putting his political goals ahead of the health and well-being of the American public,” Corb said.

Rigorous studies are under way around the country, comparing similar patients randomly assigned to get plasma or a dummy infusion in addition to regular care. But those studies have been difficult to finish as the virus waxes and wanes in different cities. Also, some patients have requested plasma rather than agreeing to a study that might give them a placebo instead.

Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb dismissed the suggestion of a slowdown.

“I firmly reject the idea they would slow-walk anything or accelerate anything based on any political consideration or any consideration other than what is best for the public health and a real sense of mission to patients,” Gottlieb told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Trump, in news conferences, “has made all kinds of therapeutic suggestions” that have not proven to be supported by science — and are even dangerous, Schaffner said. That includes statements about the possible value of treating COVID-19 patients with ultraviolet light and disinfectant. Trump reportedly also recently became enthusiastic about oleandrin, a plant extract derived from a toxic shrub that scientists immediately warned against.

But the president is perhaps best known for his early and ardent embrace of the malaria drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine.

Earlier this month, Hahn emphasized that routine evaluation procedures will remain in place to evaluate COVID vaccine candidates.

“I think this administration has put more pressure on the Food and Drug Administration than I can remember” ever happening in the past, Schaffner said.

“Everybody is just a little bit nervous,” he said.

___

Stobbe reported from New York.

Kellyanne Conway to leave post in the White House to focus on her family

Kellyanne Conway, the counselor to the president and one of the longest fixtures in the Trump White House, will leave her position at the end of the month to focus on her family, she tweeted late Sunday.
She posted on Twitter late Sunday that her husband, George Conway, a fierce critic of President Trump, will also make unspecified changes.
“We disagree about plenty but we are united on what matters most: the kids,” she said in a statement. “Our four children are teens and ‘tweens starting a new academic year, in middle school and high school, remotely from home for at least a few months.”
She said the decision to exit the White House—months before the election—was “completely” her choice and once again pointed out her devotion to her children and said there will be less “drama, more mama.”
Conway has been one of the most effective envoys for Trump and has seldom backed down from questions from the press and the target of criticism from Democrats. She helped him win election in 2016 as his campaign manager.
George Conway has told The Washington Post that he has had a number of conversations with Trump over the past decade. He described Trump’s presidency as “maddening to watch” and said he himself tweets so he doesn’t “end up screaming” at his wife about the president.
Trump once called him a "stone cold LOSER & husband from hell."
The couple's daughter, Claudia Conway, 15, has also been critical of Trump on social media.
Kellyanne Conway defended Trump on Fox News on Friday and accused Joe Biden, the Democrat nominee for president,  of "arrogance and ignorance" when he spoke about the coronavirus pandemic during his nomination acceptance speech.
"It’s a confounding display of the intersection of arrogance and ignorance because he doesn’t know what we’ve done on COVID-19," Conway told "The Daily Briefing".
Conway attempted to put politics aside in the statement and talked about the future of the country and struck an optimistic tone.
“For all of its political differences and cultural cleavages, this is a beautiful country filled with amazing people,” she said. “The promise of America belongs to us all.
Fox News' Sam Dorman and The Associated Press contributed to this report

Kansas Democrat, 19, dropping out of state House race after link to ‘revenge porn’

Is this the best the Democrats can come up with ?

A 19-year-old Kansas Democrat who recently defeated a seven-term incumbent by 14 votes in a state House primary election has now withdrawn from the general election, citing “recent developments in the race.”
Those developments included Aaron Coleman’s admission that, while a middle school student, he shared a nude photo of a girl online because she wouldn’t meet his demand that she provide more nude photos to him, according to reports.
Coleman followed through on the alleged threat and also admitted using online posts to harass other girls, Law & Crime reported.
Last week, the girl connected to the photo incident – who is now 20 years old – told The New York Times she didn’t know Coleman when the incident occurred. She claimed he found her photo on Snapchat and then contacted her.
“I just don’t think he needs to be in a powerful position considering what he’s done to girls,” Kati Hampton told the Times.

“I just don’t think he needs to be in a powerful position considering what he’s done to girls.”
— Kati Hampton

On Aug. 13, the Kansas City Star published an editorial that included several women’s accounts of Coleman’s alleged harassment while they were students. One woman claimed the taunts nearly caused her to kill herself.
Last Friday, The Intercept published a profile of Coleman that appeared to blame his "impoverished background" for his alleged behavior.
“After talking it over with my family and my supporters I have made the difficult decision to withdraw my name from the ballot as a Democratic nominee for House District 37,” Coleman wrote in an email Sunday, according to The Wyandotte Daily.
“My father was recently hospitalized and in combination with the recent developments in the race it has put a significant strain on my family. Their wellbeing is too important to me to continue as the nominee.”
Coleman said he planned to make his withdrawal official by submitting a letter to the Kansas secretary of state by Sept. 1, the newspaper reported.
“For me and my family, I have no choice but to use medical hardship to take my name off the ballot and allow the Democratic precinct people to choose the next nominee,” Coleman’s statement continued.
The revenge porn allegation – referring to a matter that occurred more than five years ago -- surfaced during Coleman’s primary race against state Rep. Stan Frownfelter. At the time, Coleman apologized and told reporters that the story was true -- and claimed he had changed his behavior since then, the Daily reported.
But the story gained media traction and even some officials in his own party claimed Coleman wasn’t fit to serve in public office, according to the newspaper.
Frownfelter has since disclosed his intention to run as a write-in candidate, as did Republican Kristina Smith, the Daily reported.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is among state Democrats saying they support Frownfelter’s bid to retain his state House seat, The New York Times reported.
Since the revenge story became public, Coleman said he has received death threats and has had conversations with party leaders, who suggested he withdraw from the race, the newspaper reported.
“This is too much for a 19-year-old,” the Democrat said.
Coleman also drew negative reactions by saying he would “giggle” if state Rep. John Whitmer, a Republican, died of the coronavirus, Law & Crime reported.

Kim Jong Un in coma, sister set to take control, South Korean ex-diplomat alleges

A South Korean diplomat is speculating that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has fallen into a coma and that his sister, Kim Yo Jong, is poised to take the rogue nation's reins.
Chang Song-min, a former aide to South Korea’s late president Kim Dae-jung, made the sensational claims to South Korean media, according to the New York Post.
Chang suggested that Kim is in a coma, “but his life has not ended.”
“A complete succession structure has not been formed, so Kim Yo-jong is being brought to the fore as the vacuum cannot be maintained for a prolonged period.” 

FILE: Kim Yo Jong, right, helps her brother North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sign a joint statement following the summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the Paekhwawon State Guesthouse in Pyongyang, North Korea.  (Pyongyang Press Corps Pool via AP)

Chang’s allegation comes just days after South Korea’s spy agency said the North’s 36-year-old leader had delegated part of his authority to his close aides, including his younger sister, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
In a private meeting with lawmakers last week, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said that “Kim Yo-jong, the first vice department director of the Workers’ Party Central Committee, is steering overall state affairs on the delegation,” though Kim her brother still maintains “absolute authority.”
Still, doubt lingers as to the veracity of the diplomat’s claims. Nor was it the first time that Kim’s prolonged absence from the public spotlight has fueled speculation about his health.
In April, reports circulated that the leader of the Hermit Kingdom had had heart surgery after he was not seen in public for nearly three weeks. The North Korean government never explained Kim’s absence, including why he missed a commemoration that celebrated the 108th birthday of his late grandfather, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung.
After a video was released showing Kim moving around during the completion of a fertilizer factory near Pyongyang, a South Korean government official told Fox News that “our government believes” there was no indication that a medical procedure had occurred.

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