One crucial function that the governor performs himself is signing the official certificate of the electoral college votes, and it is not clear what recourse there would be if a governor refuses to do so. “It would be chaos,” said Jennifer Morrell, a former election administrator and partner at the Elections Group consulting firm. “We would be in the same precarious situation we were in on January 6. “In Pennsylvania, operational decisions on running elections are made at the local level. The secretary of state can issue guidelines but has limited power to enforce them, which could be a check on the ability of an election denier to manipulate the system, Morrell said.
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WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) — Larry Mitko voted for Donald Trump in 2016. But the Republican from Beaver County in western Pennsylvania says he has no plans to back his party’s nominee for Senate, Dr. Mehmet Oz — “no way, no how.”
Mitko doesn’t feel like he knows the celebrity heart surgeon, who only narrowly won his May primary with Trump’s backing. Instead, Mitko plans to vote for Oz’s Democratic rival, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a name he’s been familiar with since Fetterman’s days as mayor of nearby Braddock.
“Dr. Oz hasn’t showed me one thing to get me to vote for him,” he said. “I won’t vote for someone I don’t know.”
Mitko’s thinking underscores the political challenges facing Trump and the rest of the Republican Party as the former president shifts to general election mode with a rally Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the first of the fall campaign.
Hours before Trump was to speak, the crowd streamed into the 10,000-seat Mohegan Sun Arena. Doug Mastriano, the GOP’s hard-line nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, was already there, as was Trump ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga..
While Trump’s endorsed picks won many Republican primaries this summer, many of the candidates he backed were inexperienced and polarizing figures now struggling in their November races. That’s putting Senate control — once assumed to be a lock for Republicans — on the line.
Among those candidates are Oz in Pennsylvania, author JD Vance in Ohio, venture capitalist Blake Masters in Arizona and former football star Herschel Walker in Georgia.
“Republicans have now nominated a number of candidates who’ve never run for office before for very high-profile Senate races,” said veteran Republican pollster Whit Ayres. While he isn’t writing his party’s chances off just yet, he said, “It’s a much more difficult endeavor than a candidate who had won several difficult political races before.”
The stakes are particularly high for Trump as he lays the groundwork for an expected 2024 presidential run amid a series of escalating legal challenges, including the FBI’s recent seizure of classified documents from his Florida home. Investigators also continue to probe his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
This past week, President Joe Biden gave a prime-time speech in Philadelphia warning that Trump and other “MAGA” Republicans — the acronym for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan — posed a threat to U.S. democracy. Biden has tried to frame the upcoming vote, as he did the 2020 election, as a battle for the “soul of the nation.” Biden’s Labor Day visit to Pittsburgh will be his third to the state within a week, a sign of Pennsylvania’s election-year importance.
While Republicans were once seen as having a good chance of gaining control of both chambers of Congress in November, benefitting from soaring inflation, high gas prices and Biden’s slumping approval ratings, Republicans have found themselves on defense since the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision protecting abortion rights.
Some candidates, like Mastriano, are sticking with their primary campaign playbooks, hoping they can win by turning out Trump’s loyal base even if they alienate or ignore more moderate voters.
Mastriano, who wants to outlaw abortion even when pregnancies are the result of rape or incest or endanger the life of the mother, played a leading role in Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election and was seen outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as pro-Trump rioters stormed the building.
But others have been trying to broaden their appeal, scrubbing from their websites references to anti-abortion messaging that is out of step with the political mainstream. Others have played down Trump endorsements that were once featured prominently.
The shifting climate has prompted rounds of finger-pointing in the party, including from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who last month cited “candidate quality” as he lowered expectations that Republicans would recapture control of the Senate.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who leads the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said those who complain about the party’s nominees have “contempt” for the voters who chose them.
Trump, too, fired back, calling McConnell a “disgrace” as he defended the party’s candidate roster.
Democrats have also piled on.
“Senate campaigns are candidate versus candidate battles and Republicans have put forward a roster of deeply flawed recruits,” said David Bergstein, the Senate Democratic campaign committee’s communication director.
He credited Trump with deterring experienced Republicans from running, elevating flawed candidates and forcing them to take positions that are out of step with the general electorate. A Trump spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.
In Pennsylvania, Republicans are hoping Oz’s shortcomings as a candidate will be overshadowed by concerns about Fetterman, who suffered a stroke just days before the primary and has been sidelined for much of the summer. He continues to keep a light public schedule and struggled to speak fluidly at a recent event.
Republicans acknowledge that Oz struggles to come off as authentic and was slow to punch back as Fetterman spent the summer trolling him on social media and portraying him as an out-of-touch carpetbagger from New Jersey.
While Fetterman leads Oz in polls and fundraising, Republicans say they expect the money gap to narrow and are pleased to see Oz within striking distance after getting hammered by $20 million in negative advertising during the primaries.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee is helping finance a new round of Oz’s television ads, and the Senate Leadership Fund, a McConnell-aligned super political action committee, says it added $9.5 million to its TV buy — boosting its overall commitment to $34.1 million by Election Day.
A super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., says it has made $32 million in television ad reservations in the state.
Oz has won over some once-skeptical voters, like Glen Rubendall, who didn’t vote for the TV doctor in his seven-way primary — a victory so narrow it went to a statewide recount — but said he’s come around.
“I’ve been listening to him speak, and I have a pro-Oz view now,” said Rubendall, a retired state corrections officer.
Traci Martin, a registered independent, also plans to vote for Oz because she opposes abortion, despite ads that aired during the primary featuring past Oz statements that seemed supportive of abortion rights.
“I hope he is (anti-abortion),” Martin said, “but the sad part is we live in an age when we see politicians say one thing and do another.”
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Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Brian Slodysko in Washington contributed to this report.
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Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ap_politics
Source Article from https://apnews.com/article/abortion-2022-midterm-elections-donald-trump-presidential-pennsylvania-a4ff7b3916db0f2babf439f5c9e8184b
“President Biden said yesterday that his first year in office has been ‘a year of challenges,’ but he’d rather focus on the positives, like your Covid test.” — SETH MEYERS
“It seems like just yesterday our democracy was being held hostage by a cabal of obstructionists who didn’t want every vote counted. Oh, wait, that was yesterday.” — STEPHEN COLBERT
“A year ago, Biden pledged to address Covid, the economy, climate change and racial injustice. And good news — after 12 months of tireless effort, we’re all getting three free masks.” — JIMMY FALLON
“President Biden yesterday held a 1 hour 51 minute press conference. It was the first thing Americans actually wished Joe Manchin had stopped.” — SETH MEYERS
“A lot of people are disappointed with President Biden. His approval rating just reached a new low after his press conference yesterday. The press conference was a success in that he went nearly two hours without having to pee.” — JIMMY KIMMEL
“He promised no malarkey, but lawyers made him change it to ‘produced in a facility that also processes malarkey.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/21/arts/television/jimmy-fallon-president-biden.html
President Joe Biden said Saturday that he and the first lady were “saddened to hear two NYPD officers were shot last night — one fatally.”
“We’re keeping them and their families in our prayers,” the president tweeted Saturday afternoon
“Officers put on the badge and head into harm’s way every day. We’re grateful to them and their families for their extraordinary sacrifice,” he added.
Rookie NYPD officer Jason Rivera, 22, was killed Friday night and his partner Wilbert Mora, 27, was critically injured when they responded to a dispute in Harlem between a mother and son. Accused gunman Lashawn McNeil was shot by a third cop.
Source Article from https://nypost.com/2022/01/22/biden-offers-prayers-for-slain-injured-nypd-officers-jason-rivera-wilbert-mora/
NEW YORK — An unvaccinated Sarah Palin tested positive for COVID-19 Monday, forcing a postponement of the start of a trial in her libel lawsuit against The New York Times
The former Alaska governor’s positive test was announced in court just as jury selection was set to begin at a federal courthouse in New York City.
Palin claims the Times damaged her reputation with an opinion piece penned by its editorial board that falsely asserted her political rhetoric helped incite the 2011 shooting of then-Arizona U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords. The newspaper has conceded the initial wording of the editorial was flawed, but not in an intentional or reckless way that made it libelous.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff said the trial can begin Feb. 3 if Palin, 57, has recovered by then.
Palin, a one-time Republican vice presidential nominee, has had COVID-19 before. She’s urged people not to get vaccinated, telling an audience in Arizona last month that “it will be over my dead body that I’ll have to get a shot.”
When he first announced that Palin had gotten a positive result from an at-home test, Rakoff said: “She is, of course, unvaccinated.”
Additional tests in the morning also came out positive, Palin’s lawyer told the court.
“Since she has tested positive three times, I’m going to assume she’s positive,” the judge said.
Rakoff said that courthouse rules would permit her to return to court Feb. 3, even if she still tests positive, as long as she has no symptoms. If she does have symptoms, she can be looked at on Feb. 2 by a doctor who provides services to the courts, he said.
Palin’s case survived an initial dismissal that was reversed on appeal in 2019, setting the stage for a rare instance that a major news organization will have to defend itself before a jury in a libel case involving a major public figure.
It’s presumed that Palin will be the star witness in the civil case. She’s seeking unspecified damages, saying the Times hurt her budding career as a political commentator.
Palin sued the Times in 2017, citing the editorial about gun control published after Louisiana U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, also a Republican, was wounded when a man with a history of anti-GOP activity opened fire on a Congressional baseball team practice in Washington.
In the editorial, the Times wrote that, before the 2011 mass shooting that severely wounded Giffords and killed six others, Palin’s political action committee circulated a map of electoral districts that put Giffords and 19 other Democrats under stylized crosshairs.
In a correction two days later, The Times said the editorial had “incorrectly stated that a link existed between political rhetoric and the 2011 shooting” and that it had “incorrectly described” the map.
The disputed wording had been added to the editorial by James Bennet, then the editorial page editor. At trial, a jury would have to decide whether he acted with “actual malice,” meaning that he knew what he wrote was false, or with “reckless disregard” for the truth.
In pretrial testimony, Bennet cited deadline pressures as he explained that he did not personally research the information about Palin’s political action committee before approving the editorial’s publication. He said he believed the editorial was accurate when it was published.
Source Article from https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/sarah-palins-defamation-suit-ny-times-set-trial-82438893
Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51, a former law clerk to Mr Breyer, is believed to be the top contender for the job.
Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60149781
Coleen Haskell, a Predictive Services fire meteorologist in Missoula, Mont., said the pattern will feature “high-based” thunderstorms, with cloud bases 8,000 to 10,000 feet above ground level. This setup usually means any rain produced will evaporate before it reaches the ground, resulting in strong outflow winds.
Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/07/18/western-wildfires-heat-california-lightning/
Families of the victims and supporters walk past a mural featuring the 14 victims holding crosses as they mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday on Sunday in Londonderry, also known as Derry, Northern Ireland.
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Families of the victims and supporters walk past a mural featuring the 14 victims holding crosses as they mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday on Sunday in Londonderry, also known as Derry, Northern Ireland.
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Locals in the city called either Londonderry or Derry, Northern Ireland, are marking 50 years since Bloody Sunday, in which British soldiers fired upon a crowd of protesters in what’s now considered one of the most pivotal events of The Troubles.
On Sunday, family members of those killed on Jan. 30, 1972, held roses as they participated in a walk of remembrance, according to the Derry Journal. Video showed hundreds of people walking through the streets, some holding images of those shot.
St Eugene’s Cathedral in Derry also rang its bells 14 times — once for each victim — at the time the shooting began, the newspaper reported. Thirteen people were killed that day and one man later died of his injuries. Fifteen others were injured.
A republican bandsman beats his drum as he takes part in Bloody Sunday March to Free Derry Corner.
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A republican bandsman beats his drum as he takes part in Bloody Sunday March to Free Derry Corner.
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“Today we remember all those who died or were injured as a result of the atrocity on #BloodySunday50, one of the darkest days for this island,” Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said in a tweet. “We also pay tribute to the families of the victims, whose dignity and persistence in the search for truth and justice has never wavered.”
The violence took place during a march organized by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association. A public investigation later concluded that British soldiers fired on the unarmed protesters even though none of those killed posed a threat to the soldiers.
People take part in a Bloody Sunday March to the Guildhall, as they mark the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday.
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People take part in a Bloody Sunday March to the Guildhall, as they mark the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday.
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The killings occurred during a period of increased tension between the Catholic nationalists who wanted Northern Ireland to become a part of a unified Ireland and the Protestant unionists loyal to the United Kingdom.
Bloody Sunday exacerbated hostilities and fueled support for the Irish Republican Army. Some 3,700 people died over the course of the four-decade conflict.
Prosecutors announced they were pursuing criminal charges against two British soldiers who took part in the Bloody Sunday shootings — known anonymously as Soldier F and Soldier B — but the cases were dropped last year.
“Walking shoulder to shoulder with the Bloody Sunday families. These families are courage and strength personified, they are an inspiration for those struggling for truth and justice in Ireland and across the world,” Michelle O’Neill, deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, said in a statement.
“We will continue to support their campaign for truth and justice,” she added.
Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2022/01/30/1076839081/northern-ireland-50-years-bloody-sunday