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Trump lashes out after Obama mocks him for being 'jealous of Covid's media coverage' – live Voter participation could hit historic levels as more than 70m vote early – live
(32 minutes later)
Ex-president says Trump ‘turned the White House into a hot zone’ as Amy Coney Barrett joins supreme court – follow all the latest Election could be on pace to see highest participation rate in more than a century
As for this evening, 70,032,485 Americans have already voted early – either in person or absentee, according to the US Elections Project, Indian Americans are overwhelmingly backing Joe Biden according to a new survey. Of more than Indian American citizens surveyed, 72% planned to vote for Biden and 22% for Trump.
The overwhelming enthusiasm has put this year on pace to see some of the highest voter participation rates in more than a century. Right now, early voters have favored Democrats in most states that provide data on who is voting early, but Republicans have been narrowing the gap. Although Indian Americans make up about .8% of eligible voters in the US, both presidential campaigns have been courting them. The Biden/Harris campaign recently held a South Asian get out the vote rally, a virtual event that featured stars from the Netflix reality TV show Indian Matchmaker as well as Indian actors and public figures.
Kamla Harris, if elected, would become the first Black and Indian American vice president in US history.
Donald Trump, meanwhile – has maintained a friendship with India’s right-wing prime minister Narendra Modi, even hosting a “Howdy, Modi: Shared Dreams, Bright Futures” rally in Houston last year that drew hundreds of thousands.
But “the data show that Indian Americans continue to be strongly attached to the Democratic Party, with little indication of a shift toward the Republican Party,” said researchers from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the University of Pennsylvania.
“In addition, Indian Americans view U.S.-India relations as a low priority issue in this electoral cycle, emphasizing instead nationally salient issues such as healthcare and the economy,” they wrote.
As of this evening, 70,032,485 Americans have already voted early – either in person or absentee, according to the US Elections Project.
The overwhelming enthusiasm has perhaps put this year on pace to see some of the highest voter participation rates in more than a century. Thus far, early voters have favored Democrats in most states that provide data on who is voting early, but Republicans have been narrowing the gap.
The protests in Philadelphia over the police killing of Walter Wallace Jr are still going strong.The protests in Philadelphia over the police killing of Walter Wallace Jr are still going strong.
Wallace Jr, 27, had mental health issues, said Shaka Johnson, a lawyer representing the family. The young man’s brother had called 911 asking for an ambulance to help this brother – the dispatcher was told that Wallace was suffering. But instead of an ambulance, police arrived, Johnson said.Wallace Jr, 27, had mental health issues, said Shaka Johnson, a lawyer representing the family. The young man’s brother had called 911 asking for an ambulance to help this brother – the dispatcher was told that Wallace was suffering. But instead of an ambulance, police arrived, Johnson said.
“To think about calling for assistance and winding up with the people you called for assistance killing you,” he said. Justice means “reform in the Philadelphia Police Department and adequate training” he added.“To think about calling for assistance and winding up with the people you called for assistance killing you,” he said. Justice means “reform in the Philadelphia Police Department and adequate training” he added.
Democratic campaigners are scrambling to convince American voters to deliver absentee ballots by hand rather than rely on the US postal service, after the supreme court sided with Republicans in Wisconsin in refusing to allow a count of votes arriving after election day.Democratic campaigners are scrambling to convince American voters to deliver absentee ballots by hand rather than rely on the US postal service, after the supreme court sided with Republicans in Wisconsin in refusing to allow a count of votes arriving after election day.
Democrats argued that the flood of absentee ballots, and other challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, made it necessary to extend the posting deadline. The court is due to hear similar cases from two pivotal battleground states, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, before 3 November.Democrats argued that the flood of absentee ballots, and other challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, made it necessary to extend the posting deadline. The court is due to hear similar cases from two pivotal battleground states, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, before 3 November.
With the bench now packed with a 6-3 conservative majority after the swearing in on Tuesday of the new Donald Trump-picked justice, Amy Coney Barrett, the supreme court has become the object of intense scrutiny.With the bench now packed with a 6-3 conservative majority after the swearing in on Tuesday of the new Donald Trump-picked justice, Amy Coney Barrett, the supreme court has become the object of intense scrutiny.
Barrett, 48, was formally sworn in by the US chief justice, John Roberts, in a private ceremony on Tuesday, fuelling anxiety among Democrats over what her presence in the court might mean for other election-related cases, including any challenge to the result.Barrett, 48, was formally sworn in by the US chief justice, John Roberts, in a private ceremony on Tuesday, fuelling anxiety among Democrats over what her presence in the court might mean for other election-related cases, including any challenge to the result.
The Wisconsin decision triggered a rush by Democratic party campaign workers to track more than 360,000 so far unreturned mail-in ballots in the state. They urged voters to deliver their ballots by hand by 3 November rather than rely on a postal service that has been hamstrung by delays, some reportedly politically inspired.The Wisconsin decision triggered a rush by Democratic party campaign workers to track more than 360,000 so far unreturned mail-in ballots in the state. They urged voters to deliver their ballots by hand by 3 November rather than rely on a postal service that has been hamstrung by delays, some reportedly politically inspired.
“We’re phone banking. We’re text banking. We’re friend banking. We’re drawing chalk murals, driving sound trucks through neighborhoods & flying banners over Milwaukee. We’re running ads in every conceivable medium,” Ben Wikler, the party’s chairman in Wisconsin, tweeted after the supreme court decision.“We’re phone banking. We’re text banking. We’re friend banking. We’re drawing chalk murals, driving sound trucks through neighborhoods & flying banners over Milwaukee. We’re running ads in every conceivable medium,” Ben Wikler, the party’s chairman in Wisconsin, tweeted after the supreme court decision.
Among the endorsers of dropping off one’s ballot – Lady Gaga:Among the endorsers of dropping off one’s ballot – Lady Gaga:
Read more, from Peter Beaumont, Ed Pilkington in New York me:Read more, from Peter Beaumont, Ed Pilkington in New York me:
The electoral map has shifted in 2020, amid new challenges from misinformation to mail-in ballots. Previously reliable states on both sides are now looking more competitive.The electoral map has shifted in 2020, amid new challenges from misinformation to mail-in ballots. Previously reliable states on both sides are now looking more competitive.
Helena Robertson, Ashley Kirk and Frank Hulley-Jones report:Helena Robertson, Ashley Kirk and Frank Hulley-Jones report:
In the interactive linked below, you decide which way these closer states will vote, and try to pave Joe Biden or Donald Trump’s path to victory.In the interactive linked below, you decide which way these closer states will vote, and try to pave Joe Biden or Donald Trump’s path to victory.
Some states remain very likely to go to Biden or Trump because they were won by large margins in 2016, or they have voted the same way in several recent elections. Such states – ranked either a “solid” or “likely” win for either party, according to the Cook Political Report – have already been colored in for Biden and Trump in the graphic below.Some states remain very likely to go to Biden or Trump because they were won by large margins in 2016, or they have voted the same way in several recent elections. Such states – ranked either a “solid” or “likely” win for either party, according to the Cook Political Report – have already been colored in for Biden and Trump in the graphic below.
A majority of 270 electoral votes out of a total of 538 is needed to win, and the remaining states are up to you.A majority of 270 electoral votes out of a total of 538 is needed to win, and the remaining states are up to you.
It seems the president’s staff has been leaving notes and printouts for journalists in the White House press pool.It seems the president’s staff has been leaving notes and printouts for journalists in the White House press pool.
The printouts include a promo for upcoming Fox News programming, with the handwritten message: “Must-see TV”. Journalists also received a printout of early voting numbers by party affiliation in Michigan.The printouts include a promo for upcoming Fox News programming, with the handwritten message: “Must-see TV”. Journalists also received a printout of early voting numbers by party affiliation in Michigan.
“The president wasn’t aware until somewhat recently that the press corps doesn’t have access to wifi” while aboard Air Force One, said Jennifer Jacobs of Bloomberg. “So he’s been leaving us printouts. It’s essentially a paperwork version of a tweet.”“The president wasn’t aware until somewhat recently that the press corps doesn’t have access to wifi” while aboard Air Force One, said Jennifer Jacobs of Bloomberg. “So he’s been leaving us printouts. It’s essentially a paperwork version of a tweet.”
Donald Trump’s campaign website was briefly down. The campaign said the website was “defaced”.Donald Trump’s campaign website was briefly down. The campaign said the website was “defaced”.
The site’s “About” section was replaced with what appeared to be a scam to collect cryptocurrency, TechCrunch reports. The new text read: “the world has had enough of the fake-news spreaded daily by president donald j trump. it is time to allow the world to know truth.”The site’s “About” section was replaced with what appeared to be a scam to collect cryptocurrency, TechCrunch reports. The new text read: “the world has had enough of the fake-news spreaded daily by president donald j trump. it is time to allow the world to know truth.”
Whoever switched out the website content also claimed to have information about “origin of the corona virus” and provided addresses to collect cryptocurrency.Whoever switched out the website content also claimed to have information about “origin of the corona virus” and provided addresses to collect cryptocurrency.
“There was no exposure to sensitive data because none of it is actually stored on the site. The website has been restored,” said Trump communications director Tim Murtaugh.“There was no exposure to sensitive data because none of it is actually stored on the site. The website has been restored,” said Trump communications director Tim Murtaugh.
Facebook’s moratorium on political ads in the last stretch before election day was full of glitches, according to campaigns.Facebook’s moratorium on political ads in the last stretch before election day was full of glitches, according to campaigns.
Reuters reports:Reuters reports:
BBC Newsnight pressed an aggrieved John Bolton about his refusal to voluntarily testify in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump.BBC Newsnight pressed an aggrieved John Bolton about his refusal to voluntarily testify in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump.
“You refused to tell the American people what you saw and what you knew,” said the BBC’s Emily Maitlis.“You refused to tell the American people what you saw and what you knew,” said the BBC’s Emily Maitlis.
“You are absolutely wrong,” Bolton said.“You are absolutely wrong,” Bolton said.
“You were asked to testify ...” Maitlis pushed.“You were asked to testify ...” Maitlis pushed.
“Let me finish, let me finish,” Bolton retorted.“Let me finish, let me finish,” Bolton retorted.
Watch the clip here:Watch the clip here:
As the future of Obamacare heads to the supreme court, so do trans rights.As the future of Obamacare heads to the supreme court, so do trans rights.
Katelyn Burns reports:Katelyn Burns reports:
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is scheduled to be argued before the supreme court on 4 November. The lawsuit – which has been widely panned by legal experts – was brought by 19 Republican state attorneys general and seeks to have the entire landmark healthcare law tossed out. The future of the ACA was a common theme during hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the high court – now that she has been confirmed, she will soon be hearing California v Texas, a case challenging the landmark healthcare law.The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is scheduled to be argued before the supreme court on 4 November. The lawsuit – which has been widely panned by legal experts – was brought by 19 Republican state attorneys general and seeks to have the entire landmark healthcare law tossed out. The future of the ACA was a common theme during hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the high court – now that she has been confirmed, she will soon be hearing California v Texas, a case challenging the landmark healthcare law.
“Life for trans people in terms of access to healthcare before and after the ACA is like night and day,” said Shannon Minter, an expert in transgender law and an attorney at the National Center for Lesbian Rights. But many Americans don’t have a grasp on the important role the ACA has played for LGBTQ+ people, especially those who are transgender, potentially making this fall’s supreme court arguments the most critical transgender rights case ever heard at the court.“Life for trans people in terms of access to healthcare before and after the ACA is like night and day,” said Shannon Minter, an expert in transgender law and an attorney at the National Center for Lesbian Rights. But many Americans don’t have a grasp on the important role the ACA has played for LGBTQ+ people, especially those who are transgender, potentially making this fall’s supreme court arguments the most critical transgender rights case ever heard at the court.
“If you were just going to point to a major case currently before the court that has the potential to have the greatest impact on transgender people it’s unquestionably the ACA,” said Minter, “I’m amazed that more people don’t understand this, that this hasn’t gotten more attention.”“If you were just going to point to a major case currently before the court that has the potential to have the greatest impact on transgender people it’s unquestionably the ACA,” said Minter, “I’m amazed that more people don’t understand this, that this hasn’t gotten more attention.”
Hi there - it’s Maanvi Singh, reporting from the West Coast.
As part of a new series we launched today, my colleague Lauren Gambino and I looked at Maricopa county’s transformation from conservative bastion to 2020 battleground.
The county, which encompasses Arizona’s capital, Phoenix, and blossoming rings of surrounding suburbs, has nearly 4.5 million residents and dominates the state politically. One third of Maricopa residents identify as Latino, according to US census data.
Over the past decade, demographic change, population growth and a cultural shift seen across America’s suburbs has turned this sprawling desert metropolis – a bastion of western conservatism for decades – into one of the most closely watched and fiercely contested presidential battlegrounds in the nation.
Winning a statewide election in Arizona without Maricopa is nearly impossible. And so it is likely that here, in the sprawl of stucco housing developments and retirement communities, voters will deliver a referendum on Trump – and the Republican party.
“If the president loses Arizona, it’ll be in large part because he lost Maricopa county,” Jeff Flake, the former Arizona senator, told the Guardian.
The Trump administration’s failure to control the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout has hastened the state’s political transformation – driving moderates, independents and even some conservatives away from the Republican party. Flake, a prominent Republican critic of Trump, has endorsed the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, for president along with Cindy McCain, the widow of the late Arizona senator and 2008 Republican presidential nominee, John McCain.
Arizona has voted for the Republican presidential nominee in every election but one since 1952, but polling this year finds Biden with a narrow but steady lead over Trump. While it’s mathematically possible, no Republican has ever won the White House without the state’s 11 electoral votes.
So voters here are poised to decide not only who wins the White House, but which party controls the US Senate, which in turn will shape the national debate around immigration, education, healthcare and the climate crisis.
Read more:
Philadelphia police will be deploying more officers and have asked for the National Guard to assist them as the city braces for another night of protests in response to the police killing of Walter Wallace.
“Several hundred guardsmen” from the National Guard are expected to arrive in the city within the next two days, according to the Philadelphia inquirer.
Police commissioner Danielle Outlaw said the department is anticipating “additional incidents of civil unrest” tonight. Last night, protests started peacefully but later turned violent, with vandalism and looting of businesses and one police officer suffering a broken leg after being struck by a pickup truck.
Wallace was shot by police on Monday. He was holding a knife at the time of the shooting, though his family said that he was struggling with mental health issues and was on medication.
I’m signing off for now, but my Guardian colleague Maanvi Singh will be taking over for the next few hours. Stay tuned for more live updates.
The two presidential candidates are in key election states tonight holding rallies a week before Election Day.
Joe Biden just held a drive-in rally in Atlanta that had 365 cars and 771 people attending, according to a reporter on Twitter, one of the largest rallies Biden has held since the pandemic.
Biden had an optimistic tone when addressing the crowd. “I think we’re going to surprise the living devil out of everybody this year,” he said. “I can’t tell you how important it is that we flip the United States Senate. There’s no state more consequential than Georgia.”
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is in West Salem, Wisconsin, doing a lap in his motorcade around the LaCross Fairgrounds Speedway track.
At his rally, Trump is downplaying the pandemic even as Wisconsin sees its highest number of Covid infections yet. He’s criticizing the “fake news” for focusing on Covid.
A new survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers up some good news: more adults say they are wearing face masks. Reported use of masks increased from 78% in April to 89% in June.
The report also includes some information that’s not so great. Other mitigation behaviors, including social distancing, hand washing and avoiding crowded places, either saw declines or little changes from April to June.
The survey was administered when cases in the Northeast were spiking and then slowly dropped down as the summer began. States in the Sun Belt that ended up with huge surges in the middle of the summer were just starting to reopen nonessential businesses.
Unsurprisingly, young adults ages 18 to 29 were the least likely of any age group to practice mitigation behaviors. Earlier studies from the CDC have revealed that young adults were the most likely to be infected and transmit Covid-19.
More Donald Trump money news: a new New York Times report diving into Trump’s tax returns reveals that Deutsche Bank and other lenders have forgiven about $287m of the president’s debt that he failed to repay.
A large chunk of the money went toward constructing the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago in 2008, a dream project that failed to meet Trump’s vision and has become what the Times describes as “another disappointment in a portfolio filled with them”, particularly because of slow construction and a lack of tenants.
The story gives an exhaustive look into how the story of the Chicago tower is just another part of a pattern often seen in Trump’s business playbook: “a cycle of defaulting on debts and then persuading already-burned lenders to cut him a break”.
A judge in Michigan struck down a directive from Michigan’s secretary of state Jocelyn Benson that banned the open carry of firearms at polling places on election day.
A gun rights group filed a lawsuit against the directive. The judge, Christopher Murray, said that such a ban oversteps existing law and must go through the proper legislation process to go into effect. While open carry is restricted in churches and schools, which are often designated as voting locations, open carry is allowed in the rest of the state. The state’s chief of police told CNN that the directive would be difficult to enforce because there is currently now law against open carry in the state.
Michigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, said that she plans to appeal the judge’s decision “as this issue is of significant public interest and importance to our election process”.
Two stories published this afternoon reveal the kind of president Donald Trump is: one that cares more about his own wallet than those of taxpayers.
The Washington Post released the result of an investigation into how much Trump has personally profited off of taxpayers and his political supporters.
The president’s business has received at least $8.1 million since he took office from hosting meetings and events at his properties, like Mar-a-Lago, which Trump has referred to as “the Southern White House”. The Post says that Trump has made more than 280 visits to his hotels and clubs in his official capacity as president.
Meanwhile, a ProPublica report also published today reveals that the construction of Trump’s border wall has been costly, particularly because the Trump administration has failed to contain costs and encourage competitive pricing in contracts with construction companies.
Trump’s wall has costed about five times more than fencing built by the Bush and Obama administration, even though Trump has touted his skills as a savvy businessman. Additionally, many of the construction firms that have won contracts for the wall have executives who have donated to the campaigns of Trump or other Republicans, ProPublica reports.
This is Lauren Aratani taking over for Joan E Greve. Joe Biden’s campaign just released a statement on the shooting of Walter Wallace, a black man who was killed by police in Philadelphia yesterday.
“Our hearts are broken for the family of Walter Wallace Jr and for all those suffering the emotional weight of learning about another Black life in America lost,” the statement reads. “We cannot accept that in this country a mental health crisis ends in death.”
The statement also alluded to the protests that erupted in Philadelphia in response to the killing. A police officer suffered a broken leg after being struck by a pickup truck in the midst of the protests, and there were multiple reports of vandalism and looting.
“No amount of anger at the very real injustices in our society excuses violence. Attacking police officers and vandalizing small businesses, which are already struggling during a pandemic, does not bend the moral arc of the universe closer to justice,” the statement said.
That’s it from me today. My Guardian colleague, Lauren Aratani, will take over the blog for the next couple of hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
Amy Coney Barrett officially joined the supreme court, after Chief Justice John Roberts delivered her judicial oath in a private ceremony this morning.
Trump lashed out against Barack Obama as the former president unleashed blistering criticism of his successor. Speaking at a drive-in rally in Orlando, Florida, Obama once again lambasted Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, noting the president has complained about the news coverage the pandemic has received as the US death toll continues to climb. “He’s jealous of Covid’s media coverage,” Obama said.
Biden delivered a speech in Warm Springs, Georgia, as polls show a close presidential race in the traditionally conservative state. “The president declared, he’s going to wage war on the virus. Instead he shrugged, swaggered and he surrendered,” Biden said in Warm Springs. “Well, I’m here to tell you we can and will get control of this virus.”
Trump falsely suggested it was illegal to count ballots after election day. “It would be very, very proper and very nice if a winner were declared on November 3, instead of counting ballots for two weeks, which is totally inappropriate, and I don’t believe that’s by our laws,” Trump told reporters before leaving Washington for his three campaign rallies today. In reality, states have until 8 December (known as the “safe harbor” deadline) to tabulate final election results.
A federal judge denied the justice department’s bid to take over Trump’s defense in E Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit. The judge ruled that the president was not acting in his official capacity when he denied Carroll’s rape allegation, as the justice department had argued.
Lauren will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Trump baselessly cast doubt upon the foiled plot to kidnap Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer during his rally in Lansing, Michigan, which has now ended.
“I don’t think she likes me too much,” Trump said of the Michigan governor, as the rally crowd cheered.
“Hey, hey, hey, hey, I’m the one, it was our people that helped her out with her problem,” Trump added. “And we’ll wait to see if it is a problem, right? People are entitled to say, ‘Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t.’”
The FBI charged 14 people, several of whom had ties to a rightwing militia group, in connection to the plot.
“It was our people, my people, our people, that helped her out. And then she blamed me for it,” Trump said.
Whitmer reflected on the threat against her in an Atlantic piece that was published today:
Whitmer writes: