Presidential debate: Insults fly as Trump, Biden tussle at first showdown, moderator works to keep order

 

President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden kicked off their first fiery presidential debate Tuesday night, sparring over everything from the Supreme Court nomination, coronavirus and Biden's sons, with moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News admonishing Trump several times for interrupting.

The first of three showdowns between Trump, 74, and Biden, 77, devolved into attacks on Hunter Biden, smarts and schoolyard name-calling. As Trump went on offense, Biden tried to shut him down by calling the president a "clown" and a "liar."

Wallace scolded Trump repeatedly for not following the debate rules by interrupting and the veteran newsman often played the role of a wrestling referee rather than a moderator.

"Gentlemen, I hate to raise my voice, but why shouldn’t I be different than the two of you?" Wallace said.

Trump came out swinging, but Biden held his own and didn't fall into previous debate pitfalls where he cut his time short or stumbled to get out responses. The two men often talked over each other in a brawl that got unwieldy at times.

The president touted his record in the White House on boosting the economy and how he handled the pandemic, proclaiming: "There has never been an administration or president who has done more than I've done in a period of three and a half years, and that's despite the impeachment hoax."

But Biden said under Trump the country has become weaker, sicker, poorer and more violent.

"You're the worst president America has ever had," Biden said at one point.

Biden sought to define himself as the steady leader of the Democratic Party and distanced himself from Bernie Sanders' health care plan and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal.

"You just lost the left," Trump told Biden.

Trump accused Biden of failing to admonish violent rioters and stand up for law enforcement in Democratic-led cities that have been unraveling with racial unrest.

"The people of this country want and demand law and order and you're afraid to even say it," Trump said.

Wallace asked Biden why he doesn't call the mayor of Portland, Ore., to bring in the National Guard to stop the violence.

"I don't hold public office now," Biden said, adding that "the violence should be prosecuted."

Wallace turned to Trump and asked him: "Are you willing, tonight, to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down?"

Trump said he'd be willing to do it, but then said: "Proud Boys, stand back and stand by. But I'll tell you what, somebody's got to do something about Antifa and the left."

“Antifa is an idea, not an organization," Biden responded, referencing FBI Director Christopher Wray's claim that Antifa was more of a movement or ideology.

Proud Boys, the conservative group, celebrated Trump's comments and started pitching merchandise with Trump's "stand by" words.

The debate in Cleveland kicked off with Trump standing by his Supreme Court pick of Judge Amy Coney Barrett and his push to get her confirmed by the Senate before the Nov. 3 election.

"We won the election. Elections have consequences," Trump said, justifying why he appointed a nominee in an election year.

Biden, who declined to say whether he supports packing the court or ending the Senate filibuster, said the American people should decide who succeeds the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Sept. 18.

"We should wait and see what the outcome of this election is because that's the only way the American people get to express their view," Biden said.

The debate quickly devolved into Trump tussling Wallace and then with Biden over health care and the Obama-era Affordable Care Act.

Trump accused Biden of trying to get rid of private health insurance. "Not true," Biden retorted.

"Your party wants to go socialist," Trump said.

"I am the Democratic Party right now," Biden said. He also hit back at Trump for his handling of the coronavirus and for wanting to repeal ObamaCare's protections for preexisting conditions.

Trump accused Biden of embracing Sen. Bernie Sanders' socialist "manifesto" and when Biden stood his ground, Trump said: "You just lost the left."

Trump lobbed attacks on Biden, including on his smarts and crowd sizes. Biden tried to shut him down by calling him a liar, "clown" and asking, "Will you shut up, man?"

"Folks, do you have any idea what this clown is doing?" Biden said at another point.

Trump hit Biden for his 47-year record in Washington and accused Biden of wanting to keep the country shut down like a prison during the pandemic.

"There's nothing smart about you, Joe," Trump said.

Trump went after Biden for his son Hunter's dealings at Burmisa in Ukraine, which served as the origin for Trump's impeachment.

Biden defended Hunter as doing nothing wrong and said he's proud of his son for overcoming drug addiction.

Biden went on to talk passionately about his late son, Beau, and his service to the country before his death from cancer in 2015.

Biden mentioned the disparaging comments Trump reportedly made about veterans, as reported by The Atlantic.

"My son was in Iraq. He spent a year there. ... He was not a loser. He was a patriot. And the people left behind there were heroes," Biden said.

Trump took the conversation back to Biden's other son: "Oh, really? Are you talking about Hunter?"

"I'm talking about my son Beau Biden," Biden said.

"I don't know Beau. I know Hunter," Trump said.

It was the first presidential debate of the unprecedented 2020 election cycle, marred by a global pandemic and expanded early and mail-in voting opportunities to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Voting is already underway in many states, including the battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Minnesota. Nationwide nearly 1.3 million people have already cast their ballots either by mail or through early in-person voting, according to the U.S. Elections Project.

The Trump campaign, which has tried to keep a robust travel schedule despite the pandemic, had pushed unsuccessfully for a much earlier fourth debate to account for the new voting schedules.

Trump and his allies have for months depicted Biden as hiding from the media in his basement and have relished in an opportunity to face off with Biden, who would be unaided by a teleprompter.

The Biden campaign has benefited from a record-shattering $364.5 million in fundraising in August and a consistent lead in the public polls nationally and in many swing states. Biden has sought to keep the focus on Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has cost more than 200,000 lives in the United States.

The next Biden-Trump debate is slated for Oct. 15 and the final one is Oct. 22. Vice President Mike Pence and Biden's running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., will face off next in the vice presidential debate on Oct. 7.

Fox Business' Hillary Vaughn and Fox News' Jacqui Heinrich contributed to this report. 

The 2020 Democrat Squad Cartoons

And last but not least.

 

Election officials scramble to find enough poll works ahead of November 3rd

 

CONCORD, N.H. – The clock is ticking for election officials to fill a massive need for people to work the polls on Election Day.

Many senior citizens who typically work the polls are staying home this year due to the risks of the pandemic, researchers from MIT's Election Data and Science Lab and the voting rights group Democracy Works said. They estimate the country needs at least 467,000 new poll workers to meet the demand.

Connor Spern, 24, was scrolling on her social media late one night when she saw a plea for help – from her city.

"Seeing that was a real eye-opener," Spern said. "I hadn't considered the fact that most of those poll workers are seniors, and they are the ones that are truly affected by COVID."

She said she signed up right away and spread the word to Concord's Young Professionals Network and enlisted the help of several friends. Election officials in cities across the country are increasingly turning to millennials and other young people to step in and fill the roles, the Concord Monitor reports.

"I emailed the city clerk and she connected me with our ward moderator and he called me two days later," said Erin Schaick, 30, one of Spern's recruits.

More than 70 companies have told low-risk workers they can take paid time off to lend a hand, part of an initiative called 'Power The Polls.'

"If we have less poll workers, as you saw in the primary, it often leads to shutting down a number of polling sites or long lines or both," said Fair Elections Center President Robert Brandon, who helped launch the initiative. "It's to recruit a new generation of poll workers, people that might be younger, less vulnerable to the virus."

So far, the organization said it has helped recruit more than 350,000 poll workers across the country, Brandon said.

Spern said she worked New Hampshire's state primary earlier this month – and now she's gearing up for the big day in a few short weeks.

"It just seems like an easy way for me to step up both to support my ward and my city, but also the seniors in the area who really need to step back at this time," Spern said.

Brandon said people can log onto workelections.com for information on how to get involved at their local polling location.

Trump admin teams with nonprofit to launch 'Safety Pledge' to combat online child exploitation

 The Trump administration on Tuesday is launching a safety pledge with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in an effort to prevent attacks from online predators and sex traffickers, as the nonprofit has seen “a dramatic increase” in reports of child sex exploitation since the coronavirus pandemic began.

A White House official told Fox News that Attorney General Bill Barr, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and White House senior adviser Ivanka Trump, along with the NCMEC nonprofit, will launch the “Safety Pledge Campaign,” an initiative to combat online child exploitation. The official said that exploitation “often leads to the evil of child trafficking.”

The initiative, according to the official, aims to provide free resources to help parents, educators and other caregivers learn more about the risks that children face online and bring awareness to the dangers of child trafficking.

“With an increased use of social media and gaming platforms while at home, there are more opportunities than ever for abusers to exploit children online,” Ivanka Trump said. “This administration is fighting to protect our children from online predators and traffickers at every turn.”

The administration’s renewed focus on online child exploitation comes after NCMEC witnessed “a dramatic increase” in reports of “sexual exploitation with a potential increase in vulnerability of children.”

The nonprofit said that reports of online child exploitation have increased as much as 126% during COVID-19.

Meanwhile, according to a recent NGO study, more than 50% of domestic minor sex trafficking survivors interviewed met their traffickers via a website, app, or text.

“While our understanding of the impact of COVID-19 and social distancing on child safety will continue to develop, we know more time online means more direct access to children, including those who intend to harm them,” the White House and NCMEC said in a statement Tuesday. “With a majority of children being educated remotely this fall and more children online and using devices and unfamiliar platforms for school lessons and social interactions, it is essential that we work together to help them stay safe.”

Acting DHS Secretary Wolf also said that the Department of Homeland Security has employed officials who are working to protect and rescue children from criminals who seek to harm or exploit them, “including cyber criminals.”

“COVID-19 has driven children of all ages online, seeking connection and community,” Wolf said. “Sadly, in too many cases, this has also led to the growth of online sexual exploitation of children of all ages.”

He added: “Never has online safety of our nation’s youth been more important than it is right now.”

Wolf noted that the DHS is leveraging its resources in “the fight” and “equipping parents,” and “training children.”

The Safety Pledge will have a website, which will include a toolkit with safety tips and “fun activities and conversation starters” to help parents, teachers and caregivers “guide children on how to navigate the online world.

The website will also include “the Safety Pledge,” which invites participants to publicly commit to learning more about online safety. Those who participate, according to a White House official, are encouraged to share the pledge with at least two others that they know.

The “Safety Pledge” comes amid a number of efforts and steps taken by the Trump administration to combat human trafficking and online child exploitation.

Last week, the Justice Department awarded more than $101 million investment in grants to combat human trafficking, which the administration has touted as the “largest package in U.S. history.” The funding is set to provide resources to support victim service providers, strengthen human trafficking task forces, and provide victim housing assistance across the nation.

Earlier this year, Ivanka Trump announced that the president would be proposing a $42 million budget increase for 2021 to support victims and efforts to prosecute criminals who take part in human trafficking.

In January, President Trump signed an executive order to create the first-ever White House employee position focused solely on combating human trafficking, and directing the Justice Department and DHS to help propose legislative actions that “would overcome information-sharing challenges” and “improve law enforcement’s capabilities” in detecting real-time sharing of child sexual abuse material on the internet, including material referred to in Federal law as “child pornography.”

Human trafficking is "believed to be" one of the largest-scale crimes in the world, with 24.9 million people trapped by human traffickers who make more than $150 billion in annual profit for the industry, Ivanka Trump said earlier this year, adding that there are no demographic limitations to human trafficking, which exploits society's most vulnerable populations like women and children.

The Associated Press contribued to this report.

Minneapolis police investigating ballot harvesting claims amid allegations surrounding Omar

 

The Minneapolis Police Department is investigating claims by right-wing activist group Project Veritas that individuals tied to Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., engaged in illegal ballot harvesting before the election.

"The Minneapolis Police Department is aware of the allegations of vote harvesting. We are in the process of looking into the validity of those statements," a department statement read on Monday. "No further information is available at this time on this."

Project Veritas' latest video lit up social media as it came just weeks before a presidential election that is expected to see a surge in absentee or mail-in voting. In Minnesota, the issue has come under judicial scrutiny as Republicans and Democrats battled over a measure that would limit the number of ballots a third party could hold for others.

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the state's Supreme Court recently allowed voting to proceed without a three-person limit on the number of ballots any one individual can collect.

President Trump has already called on the Justice Department to investigate the claims, which include allegations of a cash-for-ballot scheme.

"This is totally illegal," Trump said Sunday, linking to an article on the issue. "Hope that the U.S. Attorney in Minnesota has this, and other of her many misdeeds, under serious review??? If not, why not??? We will win Minnesota because of her, and law enforcement. Saved Minneapolis & Iron O Range!"

Omar responded on Monday by mocking Trump over a New York Times report detaiing how, in 2016, he paid $750 in income taxes.

Project Veritas, a controversial group that has produced a number of misleading videos, claims that a local community leader, Omar Jarmal, blew the whistle on the Minnesota congresswoman's alleged corruption.

“It's an open secret,” he reportedly said. “she [Omar] will do anything that she can do to get elected and she has hundreds of people on the streets doing that.”

The investigation purports to show a ballot harvester claiming that he received money to obtain ballots. It also highlights an alleged harvester who boasts about the number of ballots he's collected for a local official.

PV also claims to have spoken with a former campaign worker who indicated that Omar's team paid voters for ballots.

According to Newsweek, Omar's senior communications director, Jeremy Slevin, blasted the investigation as an attempt to delegitimize the election.

"The amount of truth to this story is equal to the amount Donald Trump paid in taxes of ten out of the last fifteen years: zero. And amplifying a coordinated right-wing campaign to delegitimize a free and fair election this fall undermines our democracy," he said.

Biden aggressively prepares for debate while Trump cautions against excess preparation

 

President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are preparing for Tuesday's debate in starkly different ways, with the latter engaging in mock stand-offs while the former says he's leveraging as practice the contentious environment he already faces as president.

According to multiple reports, President Trump has refrained from traditional debate prep and eschewed practice sessions. Trump indicated on Sunday that former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, helped him prep but it's unclear what exactly that entailed.

After beating former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who prepared extensively in 2016, Trump is suggesting he doesn't want to overdo it.

“Sometimes you can go too much in that stuff,” Trump said during a press briefing on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Biden has been holding mock debate sessions with senior adviser Bob Bauer and participated in huddles with top aides, according to CBS.

Tuesday's debate, hosted by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, will be just one of many that Biden will have participated in as a politician. With decades as a senator, presidential candidate, and vice presidential nominee, Biden has plenty of hands-on experience with high-stakes debates.

Trump has reportedly considered bringing up Hunter Biden, the Democratic nominee's son, as well as former Senate staffer Tara Reade's allegation that Biden sexually assaulted her in the 90s. Biden's team, on the other hand, believes Tuesday's debate topics, which include coronavirus pandemic, racial unrest, and election integrity, will give Biden an opportunity to highlight Trump's failures.

“I’m prepared to go out and make my case as to why I think he’s failed and why I think the answers I have to proceed will help the American people, the American economy and make us safer internationally,” Biden said, arguing that Trump won’t convince voters with broadsides because “the people know the president is a liar.”

But, as both sides acknowledge, Trump is far from the typical debate opponent. His zingers from 2016 have become iconic while he's gained a reputation for his ability to fire off quick comebacks on the fly.

"The president prepares by being president," Trump campaign Communications Director Tim Murtaugh reportedly said. "And by regularly facing hostile news media. That's pretty good practice by any measure."

Trump himself touted the questioning he faced in a recent ABC town hall, which many saw as comparatively harsh in light of questioning Biden faced during a similar event on CNN.

"You know what I call it it? 'Debate prep.' I call it 'free debate prep,'" Trump told supporters in Minnesota.

Besides facing down the press, Trump and his team have been studying footage of Biden's previous debates for ways to attack the former vice president. Trump's advisers, according to CBS, have also been feeding him flash cards and videos between stops on Air Force One.

Both sides are already indicating they'll have to deal with the others' lies, although Biden's advisers have signaled the former vice president won't spend too much time fact-checking Trump, according to The New York Times.

“Arguing over facts, litigating whether what he’s saying is accurate, that is not winning to Biden,” said Jen Psaki, a former Obama aide who is close to Biden’s team. “This is an opportunity to speak directly to the American people."

Trump's team, meanwhile, has taken a two-pronged approach, both raising and lowering expectations based on Biden's previous performances.

“Joe Biden spent a lot of time in his basement to study up. He’s been in this game for 47 years. I assume he’ll do OK,” Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law and campaign adviser said. “Quite frankly, the bar has been lowered so much for Joe Biden that if he stays awake for the whole thing it’s like maybe he won.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Pro-Choice Cartoons

 

Pro-life, pro-choice demonstrators clash in D.C. after President Trump names Barrett as SCOTUS nominee

FILE – In this May 3, 2020 photo, the setting sun shines on the Supreme Court building on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 1:20 PM PT – Sunday, September 27, 2020

The controversial issue of abortion is now at the forefront of the conversation surrounding who will fill the open seat on the Supreme Court.

After President Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy on Saturday, demonstrators took to the streets of Washington, D.C. to voice both support and opposition to the President’s high-profile decision.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett stands as President Donald Trump announces her as his nominee to the Supreme Court, in the Rose Garden at the White House, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Some pro-life advocates appeared optimistic about the President’s pick. They are hoping Barrett will defend Christian values while serving on the high court.

“We are here supporting pro-life, and we are excited to see what she will do,” stated pro-life advocate Emily Harrison. “It’s definitely a change from having a liberal in the Supreme Court to having a more conservative Catholic, who is able to speak out about our beliefs, in the Supreme Court.”

Demonstrators expressed they are specifically interested to see a potential reversal of the landmark abortion decision in the Roe v. Wade case.

“We are having another woman in the Supreme Court to go against Roe v. Wade and to give more options to states,” added Harrison. “I’m excited to see what’s about to happen in the world, a lot is about to change with this new nominee.”

Meanwhile, pro-choice supporters attacked the President’s decision by contrasting Barrett with the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

“As someone of color, as a female, I hope this doesn’t get through,” stated pro-choice advocate Olivia Riesen. “I’d really like to see some real justice and someone to uphold RBG’s legacy.”

With Barrett’s record on abortion decisions now in the spotlight, the decision to fill the open seat on the Supreme Court is set to take its next step in the Senate.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham recently announced the confirmation hearings to consider the President’s nominee will begin on October 12th. They are expected to last about four days.