Trump news: Push to ram through Supreme Court pick by election day, as Democrats say RBG ‘turning in grave’
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump mocked a protestor while speaking at a rally in ‘battleground’ Pennsylvania on Saturday night.
The president trails Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in the Keystone State by 4.3 per cent, according to an average of polls tabulated by RealClearPolitics. But Mr Trump and his campaign aides say their polling, like in 2016, shows a far closer race there.
The incident comes after a progressive activist group of Democrat supporters announced they had purchased the internet domain name www.amyconeybarrett.com in an attempt to fight Ms Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court - a move which they say confirms Mr Trump's efforts to take over the US judicial system.
Mr Trump urged Republicans, who hold a 53-47 Senate majority, to confirm judge Barrett, a federal appeals court judge and a favorite of religious conservatives, by the 3 November election.
He has said he expects the justices to have to resolve the election in which he faces Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
Trump, Biden battle over quick confirmation of court pick 
White House staff discussed what may happen if Trump loses election and refuses to leave, ex-aide says
Why this former ‘reluctant’ Trump voter now ‘proudly’ supports the president in 2020
How Trump, Biden are preparing for first presidential debate
The Supreme Court has only once in U.S. history had to resolve a presidential election, in 2000. Mr Trump also has declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election.
"I look forward to meeting with the nominee next week and will carefully study her record and credentials," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has made confirming Mr Trump's judicial appointments a paramount priority. "As I have stated, this nomination will receive a vote on the Senate floor in the weeks ahead."
Judge Barrett is expected to begin meetings with individual senators on Tuesday. Mr Trump said the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by his ally Senator Lindsey Graham, would begin confirmation hearings on 12 October.
Like Mr Trump's two other appointees, Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, judge Barrett is young enough that she could serve for decades in the lifetime job, leaving a lasting conservative imprint. Mr Trump's two previous appointments were surrounded by controversy.
The president was able to appoint Justice Gorsuch to fill the vacancy left by Scalia's 2016 death only because Mr McConnell refused to let the Senate consider Obama's nominee Merrick Garland because it was an election year, an action with little precedent in US history. Democrats now accuse him of hypocrisy.
Justice Kavanaugh was confirmed after a tumultuous confirmation process during which a California university professor accused him of sexually assaulting her in 1983 when both were high school students in Maryland. The justice denied the allegation and portrayed himself as the victim of an "orchestrated political hit" by Democrats.
Reuters contributed to this report. Check out The Independent’s live coverage below:
RBG must be ‘turning in grave’, says Schumer
Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the US Senate, gave a speech last night opposing the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court – warning that “just about every American will be hurt” by her conservative views.
However, despite his vow he will “strongly, strongly, strongly” oppose her nomination, Mr Schumer and his party currently have little hope of stopping her nomination, with only two Republicans saying they will oppose voting on a nominee before the 3 November election.
In his speech, Mr Schumer ran through a list of areas where he said Ms Barrett would roll back protections that guaranteed basic rights, safety, and a better standard of living. “
Judge Barrett herself strongly criticised the ruling to uphold the Affordable Care Act,” he said. “She stated that if justices read the law the way she does, they would have to invalidate the healthcare law that protects Americans.
Chris Riotta has the full story:
RBG ‘must be turning over in her grave’ at nomination of Amy Coney Barrett, says Chuck Schumer
Democratic leader has few tools at his disposal as he fights to stop Trump’s conservative nominee
Biden ahead in North Carolina, says poll
Joe Biden is leading Donald Trump by just two points amongst likely voters in North Carolina, with the Democratic nominee on 48 per cent, compared to the president’s 46 per cent.
Mr Trump won the crucial swing state in 2016, with a 3.6 per cent margin over then candidate Hillary Clinton.
The CBS/YouGov poll, published on Sunday, however showed Mr Biden trailing in Georgia and South Carolina.
New York sees three-month high in virus cases
For the first time since 5 June, more than 1,000 New Yorkers tested positive for Covid-19 in a single day on Friday.
Positive cases in the state have been rising steadily over the last few weeks, according to ABC7. The rise may be attributed to the reopening of businesses and schools.
The state was seeing an average of approximately 660 people test positive each day. The state reported it had averaged 817 positive tests per day in the seven-day period that ended Friday.
"It's vital that New Yorkers continue to practice the basic behaviors that drive our ability to fight COVID-19 as we move into the fall and flu season," said governor Andrew Cuomo on Saturday. “Wearing masks, socially distancing and washing hands make a critical difference,”
Graig Graziosi reports:
More than 1,000 New Yorkers test positive in a day for coronavirus - the first time since June
Neighbourhoods in Brooklyn, Queens see an alarming rise in Covid-19 cases
Biden “ready” for debate with Trump, says wife
Asked whether or not her husband was ready to debate Donald Trump on Tuesday night, Jill Biden told CNN: “Oh my gosh, yes, he’s ready,”
Speaking from Norfolk, Virginia, Ms Biden said she was excited for "the American people [to] see Joe Biden up there on that stage. They're going to see what a President looks like"
“It’s like night and day between the two candidates,” she added, before denying claims the Democratic presidential nominee was prone to verbal slip-ups on stage - a critique used by the US president.
“After Donald Trump you cannot even say the world gaffe”.
Senate hearings on Supreme Court nomination to start 22 October
Lindsay Graham has confirmed that the process to confirm Donald Trump’s nomination to the Supreme Court will begin on 22 October, setting up a full Senate vote before the end of the month.
"So, we'll start on October 12, and more than half of the Supreme Court justices who have had hearings were done within 16 days or less," Mr Graham, the chairman of the Senate’s judiciary committee, told Fox News on Sunday.
"We'll have a day of introduction. We'll have two days of questioning, Tuesday and Wednesday, and on the 15th we'll begin to markup, we'll hold it over for a week, and we'll report her nomination out of the committee on October 22."
"Then it will be up to (Senate Majority Leader Mitch) McConnell as to what to do with the nomination once it comes out of committee," added the Repbublican.
White House staff discussed Trump disputing election outcome, says ex-aide
White House staff discussed the issue of president Donald Trump refusing to accept the results of the upcoming election were he to lose power in November, according to a former aide of vice president Mike Pence.
Olivia Troye, former counterterrorism and homeland security adviser to the vice president and an ex-member of the White House coronavirus response task force, warned Americans to take the president at his word when he did not commit to a peaceful transition of power during a press briefing last week.
“You know, the president, when he's joking – if he says that he's joking, he's telling you a half-truth and in there is something fairly frightening and scary,” Ms Troye told CNN’s Wolfe Blitzer in an interview on Friday. “What you see is what you get … you should trust that. He doesn’t hide it.”
Chris Riotta has the full story:
White House staff discussed what may happen if Trump loses election and refuses to leave, ex-aide says
'The president, when he's joking … he's telling you a half-truth and in there is something fairly frightening and scary’
…and another former Republican governor endorses Biden
Tom Ridge, the former Republican governor of Pennsylvania, has announced his endorsement of the Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, for president.
Writing in an op-ed for the Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday, the ex-homeland security secretary who served under George W. Bush, said he would be voting Democrat for the first time on 3 November.
Mr Ridge is one of three former Republican governors from swing states that have endorsed Mr Biden over the US president, Donald Trump, joining former Ohio governor John Kasich and Michigan’s Rick Snyder.
“Donald Trump has proven over these last four years he is incapable of such leadership. It is not within him,” explains Mr Ridge in the op-ed. “He sows division along political, racial and religious lines. And he routinely dismisses the opinions of experts who know far more about the subject at hand than he does — intelligence, military, and public health.”
The Republican adds: "Our country has paid dearly in lives lost, social unrest, economic hardship and our standing in the world."
Dwayne Johnson endorses Biden-Harris, says senator a “certified badass”
In his first ever presidential endorsement, the American actor Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson has endorsed the Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his vice-presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, for president.
In a video shared online on Sunday, the 48-year-old appeared in a video call with the 2020 Democratic ticket, who he said was “ready to lead”.
Whilst praising’s Mr Biden’s long political career, Mr Johnson said of the California senator that her background as a state attorney, district attorney and lawmaker proved she was a “certified badass”.
Here’s the clip:
Trump and Biden prepare for the first debate
…and it probably isn’t by taking a drug test.
Instead, the two candidates are promising a stark contrast in policy personality and preparation on Tuesday, in the first live televised debate of the 2020 election.
The 90-minute event moderated by Fox News host Chris Wallace is the first of three scheduled presidential debates, with vice president Mike Pence and California senator Kamala Harris, Joe Biden's running mate, also set to debate in October.
“I’m sure the president will throw everything he can at [Biden]. My guess is that they’re preparing for that - bombarding him with insults and weird digressions,” said Jay Carney, a former aide to Mr Biden and President Barack Obama.
“I think it's an important moment — I think it’s really important for President Trump, because the direction of this election has been pretty stable for a long time now, and he needs to shake it up as any candidate would who’s behind," Mr Carney added. “The question is, can that work?"
How Trump and Biden are preparing for the first debate
Ahead of the first debate-stage matchup between President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden, each campaign is promising a stark contrast in policy, personality and preparation
Trump demands Biden take drug test before Tuesday’s debate
With two days to go until the first televised debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the president has demanded - once again - that the Democratic presidential nominee take a drug test, saying he’ll take one too.
He said almost a month ago that Mr Biden “on some kind of an enhancement,” in an interview with Fox News. "He’s on some kind of an enhancement in my opinion," claimed the president, without any basis.
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