Biden news: Democrat campaign hit by 'Kremlin-backed' hackers as Harris heads to Florida touches down in Florida where race is neck and neck
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Your support makes all the difference.Joe Biden's campaign was reportedly hit by suspected Russian state-backed hackers after they unsuccessfully tried to breach SKDKnickerbocker, a Washington-based strategy and communications firm that has been working with the campaign.
The US Treasury also sanctioned Ukrainian lawmaker Andrii Derkach for election interference against Mr Biden, including promoting “false and unsubstantiated” allegations.
It came as Democratic vice presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, visited Florida in an effort to drum up more support from voters in the battleground state.
Mr Biden has faced struggles when attempting to garner support from Hispanic voters. Ms Harris in Miami could be the campaign’s latest effort to sway voters ahead of November.
She may be hoping Florida voters wear Converse sneakers because the Senator's sartorial choices were all the rage on the campaign trail.
All the rage in the Beltway, meanwhile, was "Rage" itself, Bob Woodward's upcoming book. Biden said Donald Trump had 'no conception' of national security after revelations the president boasted about classified nuclear weapons systems to veteran journalist Bob Woodward.
Biden, meanwhile, will have a chance to face Trump more directly, with his campaign announcing the pair would hold competing events in Minnesota next Friday.
Biden’s problem in Florida
Joe Biden leads Donald Trump by as little as four percentage points among Florida’s Hispanics, according to a new poll conducted by the Democratic Latino research firm Equis.
That lead, which is some 11 points lower than what Hillary Clinton received in 2016 exit polls, has come as Donald Trump increased his popularity in the state among Hispanic voters.
Statewide, the pair are now neck-and-neck, with an NBC News/Marist poll putting both at 48 percent.
As NBC’S Mark Murray put it: “The big story inside this Trump-Biden tie is that Biden is underperforming among Latinos (vs. Hillary Clinton four years ago)."
Germania Rodriguez Poleo reports:
Billionaire defends Biden, amid stock market concerns
Billionaire investor Ray Dalio has argued that a Joe Biden win in November would not hurt the stock market in the long run, despite any initial reaction.
The hedge fund founder, in an interview with Top 1000 Funds, said that whilst the initial market reaction would be "not good", eventually a proposed fiscal stimulus would lead to a positive market response,
On Donald Trump, Mr Dalio said the instant reaction would be positive, but less in long term benefits.
“A Trump win I think would probably produce an initial beneficial reaction, probably longer, a little bit less. Capitalists like capitalists and capitalism,” said the investor. "Either way you're going to get a lot of stimulation, you'll just get more with Biden."
Obama expected to do more Biden campaigning
Former president Barack Obama is expected to make more “regular” campaign appearances supporting Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, as election day nears.
Speaking to The Hill, adviser Eric Schultz said Mr Obama will become more active in campaigning, amid a pandemic that has stopped the Biden campaign from deploying the former president to speak at rallies and events.
“Campaigning in a pandemic has taken on new forms, but as he’s been doing since the spring, president Obama will be regularly making the case that our entire democracy is at stake on Nov. 3,” Mr Schultz said told the outlet.
“Our tactics are driven by a strategy of framing the stakes of the election, growing support for the Biden campaign and moving the needle with targeted constituencies,” he added. “This is an all-hands-on-deck moment.”
Trump distaste for AOC and Harris reported by Woodward
Donald Trump reportedly had a strong reaction to seeing Kamala Harris and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez watch his State of the Union address during conversations with journalist Bob Woodward, outlined in his new book.
According to The Washington Post, Mr Trump allegedly shared a number of reactions to several prominent members of the Democratic party for his upcoming book Rage, including the Democratic vice presidential nominee and House Representative Ms Ocasio-Cortez.
Upon seeing a shot of Ms Harris watching him give his State of the Union address, Mr Trump reportedly said: “Hate! See the hate! See the hate!”
He allegedly used the same phrase after Ms Ocasio-Cortez appeared in the frame, despite her apparently being expressionless.
Louise Hall reports:
'See the hate!': Trump's reaction to watching Kamala Harris and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on television detailed in Bob Woodward's new book
The latest breaking news, comment and features from The Independent.
Trump not delivered on jobs, says Biden
In a visit to suburban Detroit on Wednesday, Joe Biden made a direct appeal to blue-collar workers, some of whom turned towards Donald Trump in 2016, with pledges to reward US firms who invest in domestic manufacturing, whilst penalising those who send jobs oversees.
"I'm not looking to punish American businesses but there's a better way," said Mr Biden. "Make it in Michigan. Make it in America. Invest in our communities and the workers in places like Warren."
Following the closure of a local General Motors last year despite president Donald Trump’s promises to protect jobs, Mr Biden commented: "I bet the workers around here weren't all that comforted by Trump's empty promises."
"Under Donald Trump, Michigan lost auto jobs even before COVID hit,” said the Democrat. "And what about offshoring? Has Trump delivered on stopping companies from shipping American jobs overseas? You already know the answer. Of course not."
Mr Biden later visited a clothing shop in a predominantly Black neighborhood of Detroit, where he was reported to have brought gifts for his grandchildren.
The US president is due in Michigan on Thursday, to make his pitch to voters in the swing state.
Additional reporting by Associated Press.
Kremlin denies hacking Biden campaign
Reports that Russian state hackers targeted a campaign advisory firm used by the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden "look like nonsense", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.
Three people briefed on the matter had told Reuters that Microsoft Corp alerted the firm in question that it had been targeted by suspected Russian state-backed hackers.
The hacking attempts targeted staff at Washington-based SKDKnickerbocker, a campaign strategy and communications firm working with Mr Biden and other prominent Democrats, over the past two months, the sources said.
Reuters
Biden condemns ‘dereliction of duty’
The Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, pounced on Wednesday’s Bob Woodward revelations, declaring that Trump "lied to the American people. He knowingly and willingly lied about the threat it posed to the country for months."
"While a deadly disease ripped through our nation, he failed to do his job — on purpose. It was a life or death betrayal of the American people," added Mr Biden, who later told CNN that Mr Trump’s rhetoric on masks had “caused people to die”, after the president avoided wearing one in public, and shunned social distancing.
In a series of Twitter posts, the Democrat hit-out at Mr Trump, whose inaction at the start of the pandemic in February and March was attributed to causing 54,000 extra deaths.
By Wednesday evening, the president's own words, captured on the Woodward tapes, had appeared in a Biden campaign ad.
The ad includes audio of Mr Trump privately acknowledging to Mr Woodward the severity of Covid-19, and ends with a narrator pronouncing: "Trump knew it all along."
It follows a taped call with Mr Woodward on 7 February, when Mr Trump said the virus, "was more deadly than even your strenuous flus," and “deadly stuff”.
Just three days later, the president told Fox Business that "I think the virus is going to be — it's going to be fine."
Additional reporting by Associated Press
Biden says Trump ‘lied’ over coronavirus
Whilst at a campaign event in Michigan on Wednesday, Joe Biden instantly attacked Donald Trump over revelations that he admitted as early as February that he knew the virus was, as the former vice president paraphrased the recorded comment, “much more deadly than the flu.”
“He lied to the American people,” Mr Biden said.
“For months, he knew how dangerous it was. He failed to do his job on purpose,” he said, calling what the president said privately and his different public description of Covid-19 “a life-and-death betrayal of the American people.”
John T Bennett reports:
Biden slams Trump over 'despicable' coronavirus lies and says he cost thousands of lives
‘He failed to do his job on purpose,’ former VP says after Trump spokeswoman said president aimed for ‘calm’
Biden says Trump ‘caused people to die’
The Democratic presidential nominee has described revelations that Donald Trump knew about the dangerous of the coronavirus pandemic in March, but downplayed the threat to the American public, as “almost criminal”.
In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Mr Biden said the recorded interviews from a book by Bob Woodward showed that the US president had “caused people to die”.
"This caused people to die. And what did he do the whole time?" Mr Biden said. “He acknowledged this - you breathe it, it's in the air - and he won't put on a mask.”
“It’s disgusting. We learned this on a day when 190,000 Americans [were] dead, and he knew this”, said the Democratic about Mr Trump’s comments in private.
Trump told Woodward: ‘I always wanted to play it down’
Ahead of the publication of Bob Woodward’s book next week, audio-tapes of the journalist’s interviews with Donald Trump were released on Wednesday, containing shocking revelations about how much the US president knew about the threat of the coronavirus.
The taped conversations revealed that Mr Trump didn't want to create panic amongst the American public, despite learning about “startling facts” as the virus spread in March.
The president, who admitted that he “wanted to always play it down”, had spent months arguing in public that the virus would “disappear”.
His comments raised fresh questions about his administration’s handling of the crisis, as the death toll passed 190,000.
The president, speaking to White House reporters, said he did not want to cause “alarm” amongst the public, as he defended his actions.
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