Page 6 - Us President

'America, hope is making a comeback': Michelle Obama bats for Harris at DNC

Hope is making a comeback in America, former first lady Michelle Obama has said as she made an impassioned case for Kamala Harris and described her as the most qualified person ever to seek the office of the US president. Michelle, in her speech to the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night, described Vice President Harris as a candidate who worked her way up from a middle-class background, drawing on lessons from the two women's late mothers. "America, Hope is making a comeback," Michelle, the wife of former president Barack Obama, said as she was given a rousing welcome by thousands of Democratic party leaders and workers from across the country for the national convention. Harris, 59, is scheduled to formally accept the Democratic Party's presidential nomination on Thursday to take on Republican rival Donald Trump, 78, in the November 5 election. Recollecting the death of her mother recently, Michelle, 60, said she was an inspiration for her and so was the mother of ...

Democrats eye disqualifying Kennedy, others from Georgia presidential polls

Challengers seeking to throw Robert F. Kennedy Jr. off Georgia's November ballot told a judge on Monday that the independent presidential candidate must be disqualified because the New York address he used on Georgia ballot access petitions is a "sham". It shows how a decision by a New York court last week finding Kennedy doesn't live at the address in the New York City suburbs is being used to attack Kennedy's ballot access in other states. The judge ruled Kennedy shouldn't appear on New York ballots, but Kennedy plans an appeal. In Georgia, challengers argue that because Kennedy used the New York address on petitions needed for an independent to qualify, his petitions should be voided. The court found, by clear and convincing evidence that petitioners had shown that his New York residence was a sham used for political purposes, lawyer Adam Sparks said after a Monday hearing in Atlanta. He doesn't live there. He claimed to on each and every sheet of his petition here in Georgia. ..

Democrats will honour Biden, pivot to Harris on convention's first day

A refreshed Democratic Party gathered Monday night for a valedictory speech from President Joe Biden, whose decision to end his reelection bid released newfound energy with Vice President Kamala Harris ' rise to the top of the ticket. The Democratic National Convention that began Monday in Chicago holds particularly high stakes for the party one month after an unprecedented mid-campaign switch from Biden to Harris. The opening night was designed as a handoff from the incumbent to his hand-picked successor albeit four years before he intended for her to follow him. Democrats are looking to the weeklong event to slingshot Harris toward an faceoff with Republican Donald Trump, whose comeback bid for the White House is viewed by Democrats as an existential threat. Having taken over the ticket just one month ago, Harris must now win over a divided country that is viewing her more positively but still making up its mind about the election. Beyond the convention's celebrations, the event

Republicans release initial impeachment inquiry report on President Biden

House Republicans have released their initial impeachment inquiry report into President Joe Biden, alleging an abuse of power and obstruction of justice in the financial dealings of his son Hunter Biden and family associates. The nearly yearlong inquiry by Republicans stops short of alleging any criminal wrongdoing by the president. Instead, the almost 300-page report out Monday ahead of the Democratic National Convention covers familiar ground, asserting the Biden family traded on its brand in business ventures in corrupt ways that rise to the Constitution's high bar for impeachment. With Biden no longer running for reelection, next steps are highly uncertain. House Republicans have not had support from their own ranks to actually impeach the president, and removal by the Senate is even further afield. Many Republicans prefer to focus attention on the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, with some probes getting underway. The White Hous

Harris, Trump offer worlds-apart views on top issues in presidential race

Vice President Kamala Harris has replaced President Joe Biden atop the presidential ticket, but his finish the job campaign mantra can still largely apply to her top policy goals. She's promising to continue a lot of what Biden was doing during the past four years if she's elected to four of her own. Former President Donald Trump, for his part, is itching to get back to the White House and accomplish what he didn't during his first term. Since Biden stepped down last month, the vice president has announced few major policy proposals beyond a new push to prevent price gouging by food producers and grocers and plans to cut taxes for families, attempt to bring down homebuying and rental prices and reduce medical debt. Harris also used a recent rally in Las Vegas, where the economy runs on the hospitality industry, to call for ending taxes on tips paid to restaurant, hotel and other service employees. That came more than a month after Trump used his own Las Vegas rally to promise the sam

Trump refuses to tone down his attacks on Harris, says entitled to do so

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said he is "entitled" to personally attack his Democratic rival Kamala Harris because he doesn't "have a lot of respect for her", as he dismissed calls from allies to refocus his campaign on policy issues in his bid to reclaim the White House. Trump, 78, said he is "angry" at Vice President Harris, 59, over the Biden administration's handling of issues ranging from inflation to immigration. "I don't have a lot of respect for her. I don't have a lot of respect for her intelligence. I think she'll be a terrible president. I think it's very important that we win. And whether the personal attacks are good or bad she certainly attacks me personally," the former president told reporters at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey on Thursday. Trump was responding to questions from his party members urging him not to make personal attacks on Harris, who is the first woman of colour running for the presidency. "As far as the personal attac

Harris aims to blunt Trump's economic attacks by proposing new tax breaks

Vice President Kamala Harris is promoting a broad set of economic proposals that would offer new tax breaks and lower the cost of living for Americans, aiming to address the financial concerns that are at the top of the mind for voters and that Republican Donald Trump is trying to lay at her doorstep. Harris will be in the battleground state of North Carolina on Friday to lay out her plans, including a proposal for a federal ban on price gouging on groceries. She also is proposing $25,000 in down payment help for certain first-time homebuyers and tax incentives for builders of starter homes, among other things. Harris is calling for tax breaks aimed at families, as well as middle- and lower-income people. She would expand the child tax credit to up to $3,600 - and $6,000 for children in their first year of life. Harris would expand the earned income tax credit to cover people in lower-income jobs without children, which the campaign estimates would cut their effective tax rate by ...

Harris would be favourite to win if polls were held today: Washington Post

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris would be the favourite to win the White House if polls were held today, The Washington Post has said, basing its conclusion on the results of its polling model. "Relative to the day that Biden dropped out, Harris has gained two percentage points nationally and, as of Sunday, leads in our national polling average. In swing states, she has gained an average of 2.1 points since June 21 and leads in 2 of 7 of them," the American daily said on Thursday. "It is no exaggeration to state that Harris would be the favorite to win the White House, according to our polling model, if the presidential contest were held today, it reported. According to the daily, Harris has taken the lead in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and has substantially closed the gap in Michigan, where Trump now leads by less than one percentage point. "According to our polling model, Harris still trails Trump in the electoral college tally if the election were h

Biden, Harris make first joint appearance since his exit from prez race

Harris secured her party's nomination for president, earning the support of 99 per cent of the 4,567 delegates who cast ballots at the Democratic National Convention recently

Dropped out of Presidential race to avoid becoming a distraction: Biden

US President Joe Biden on Sunday said that he decided to withdraw from the presidential election because he did not want to create "a real distraction" for the Democrats and let them fully concentrate on preventing former president Donald Trump from regaining the White House. In his first interview since ending his re-election campaign on July 21, Biden said that he had "no serious problem" with his health, but added that the highest priority had to be defeating former President Trump. "We must, we must, we must defeat Trump," Biden told CBS Sunday Morning in an interview. "The polls we had showed that it was a neck-and-neck race, would have been down to the wire. But what happened was, a number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was gonna hurt them in the races," he said. "I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic. You'd be interviewing me about 'Why did Nancy Pelosi say' 'Why did so-and-so' And I thought it'd be a real ...

Trump proposes three debates in September, Harris' campaign yet to confirm

Donald Trump said on Thursday he is proposing three presidential debates with three television networks, saying he agreed on certain dates in September while acknowledging that Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign had not yet accepted those terms. The former president suggested there were agreements with Fox News, ABC News and NBC News as he held a news conference at his Florida beachside compound. It was his first public appearance since Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee and selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. I think it's very important to have debates, Trump said. I look forward to the debates because I think we have to set the record straight. The Harris campaign had no immediate comment. Trump had teased an announcement about the presidential debate earlier this week after pulling out of an ABC News debate scheduled for September 10 after President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign. Trump had said he would prefer that Fox News sponsor t

Kamala Harris selects Minnesota Governor Tim Walz for vice president

Vice President Kamala Harris picked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate on Tuesday, according to three people who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. In choosing Walz, she is turning to a Midwestern governor, military veteran and union supporter who helped enact an ambitious Democratic agenda for his state, including sweeping protections for abortion rights and generous aid to families. Harris hopes to shore up her campaign's standing across the upper Midwest, a critical region in presidential politics that often serves as a buffer for Democrats seeking the White House. The party remains haunted by Republican Donald Trump's wins in Michigan and Wisconsin in 2016. Trump lost those states in 2020 but has zeroed in on them as he aims to return to the presidency this year and is expanding his focus to Minnesota. Walz, 60, is joining Harris during one of the most turbulent periods in modern American politics, promising an unpredictable campaign ahead. ...

US prez election: Harris rejects Trump's offer to shift presidential debate

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has rejected her Republican rival Donald Trump's offer to shift the presidential debate to the Fox News channel, media reports said on Sunday. Trump, 78, and President Joe Biden -- who was then in the race to the White House -- agreed in May to participate in two presidential debates. The first was in June, hosted by CNN, and the second - to be hosted by ABC News - was scheduled for September 10. Biden withdrew from the race last month, following which Vice-President Harris, who is of Indian and African heritage, was declared the 2024 presidential nominee of the ruling Democratic Party after she won enough votes from Democratic delegates in a virtual roll call. On Saturday, Trump said that he has agreed to an offer from Fox News to hold a debate with Vice President Harris on September 4, shifting from the original plan, CBS News reported. "I have agreed with FoxNews to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, September 4th. The debate was ...

Trump proposes to debate VP Harris on Fox, her campaign calls him 'scared'

Donald Trump's statement came right after the Democratic National Committee launched an advertising campaign on Friday

Trump undecided on debate with Kamala Harris as presidential race heats up

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday said that he has not yet decided on whether to participate in a debate with his potential Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. Well, I want to. And we're leading in the polls it seems by quite a bit still...She's (Harris) better than he (Joe Biden) is, but I think ultimately she'll be worse than him, Trump told Fox News in an interview. If I didn't do the debate, they'd say, Oh Trump's not doing the debate.' It's the same thing they'll say now. I mean right now I say, why should I do a debate? I'm leading in the polls. And everybody knows her, everybody knows me, said the former president. The Harris Campaign slammed Trump for not agreeing to a debate so far. Yet again, he dodged, squirmed, and made excuses for why he's too scared to face Kamala Harris on the debate stage, the rival campaign said. The Harris Campaign has alleged that Trump, who once said he would debate any time, any place,

Local South Asian American elected leaders endorse Harris for US president

More than 60 South Asian American state and local elected officials from across the US have endorsed Kamala Harris for the presidency, saying that as the daughter of an Indian immigrant mother, she will create a "fairer and more inclusive" immigration system. They also said that the US Vice President's victory in the November 5 presidential election would send a powerful signal to all Asian Americans, communities of colour, and women. The officials joined the Indian American Impact in endorsing Harris, who is the 2024 Democratic candidate for President of the United States. "As South Asian elected officials, we proudly support Kamala Harris in her historic bid to become the first South Asian American woman President of the United States, the officials said in a statement issued by The Indian American Impact Fund, which is dedicated to promoting and elevating voices of Indian and South Asian Americans in the political and civic life of the United States. "As the daughter of an India

Trump ramps up his defense of Vance after one of the rockiest VP rollouts

Donald Trump is used to defending himself. But this week, the Republican presidential nominee has been put in the rare position of having to defend someone else his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. When Vance was first introduced at the Republican National Convention last month, many GOP officials said they didn't know much about him. Since then, the void has been filled with multiple reports of controversial statements especially Vance's previous suggestion that Vice President Kamala Harris and other so-called childless cat ladies want to make the country miserable that have made his rollout among the most turbulent in recent history. I'm just speaking for myself. And I think I'm speaking for him, too, Trump said during a contentious interview Wednesday at the National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago. My interpretation is he's strongly family-oriented. But that doesn't mean that if you don't have a family, there's something wrong with that. Conservative .

Harris calls Trump's false claims about race divisive, disrespectful

Vice President Kamala Harris said former President Donald Trump's false assertions about her race were the same old show" as she emphasised the need for Black women to organise for his defeat this November. Addressing the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. one of "Divine Nine" historically Black fraternities and sororities in Houston, Harris told the crowd, "When I look out at everyone here, I see family. She drew knowing chuckles from the audience as she mentioned Trump's comments earlier in the day at the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists. Trump said Harris, the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president, had in the past promoted only her Indian heritage. I didn't know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black. So, I don't know, is she Indian or is she Black? Trump said while addressing the NABJ in Chicago. Harris responded briefly during her address to the ...

US elections: Harris calibrates her policy pitch for battle against Trump

Vice President Kamala Harris is facing the delicate task of calibrating her policy pitch to American voters, a standard task for any White House hopeful but one that comes with additional challenges this year. First, Harris is running for president while serving under President Joe Biden, meaning she's linked to anything that happened or will happen on his watch. She inherits accomplishments like limiting the cost of insulin but also the administration's struggle to prevent illegal border crossings. Second, Harris has baggage from her own failed campaign for president before she became Biden's running mate four years ago. During that Democratic primary, she backed an array of progressive proposals that Republicans have highlighted to paint her as dangerously liberal. Harris has already disavowed some of her earlier positions, such as a ban on fracking and support for single-payer healthcare. And she's pledging to keep some of Biden's promises, including no tax increases on anyone

Trump agrees to be interviewed in investigation of his assassination bid

Former President Donald Trump has agreed to be interviewed by the FBI as part of an investigation into his attempted assassination in Pennsylvania earlier this month, a special agent said on Monday in disclosing how the gunman prior to the shooting had researched mass attacks and explosive devices. The expected interview with the 2024 Republican presidential nominee is part of the FBI's standard protocol to speak with victims during the course of their criminal investigations. The FBI said on Friday that Trump was struck by a bullet or a fragment of one during the July 13 assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. "We want to get his perspective on what he observed," said Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Pittsburgh field office. "It is a standard victim interview like we would do for any other victim of crime, under any other circumstances." Through roughly 450 interviews, the FBI has fleshed out a portrait of the gunman, Thomas Matthew .