Category Archives: Donald Trump

Anti-Trump Activism, Donald Trump, Government Accountability, Governor Kathy Hochul, News & Photo Features

Trump’s 100 Days of Turmoil Impacts New Yorkers-Here’s How

Trump Administration Has Already Cut $1.3 Billion to State Programs, Threatened State Services

From Tariffs to Transportation, Trump’s Agenda is Harmful for Small Businesses, Industries, Tourism and Middle-Class New Yorkers

New York State Encourages Businesses Affected by Tariffs To Contact TariffImpact@esd.ny.gov To Report Impacts

Governor Kathy Hochul today outlined the turmoil created under President Trump’s first 100 days in office, warning that his administration’s retaliatory policies, deep federal cuts and unilateral tariffs are poised to negatively impact New York’s economy, the environment and hard working families. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Governor Kathy Hochul today outlined the turmoil created under President Trump’s first 100 days in office, warning that his administration’s retaliatory policies, deep federal cuts and unilateral tariffs are poised to negatively impact New York’s economy, the environment and hard working families. Last week, New York State joined a multi-state lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of President Trump’s global tariffs. According to independent estimates, Trump’s tariffs will cost the State’s economy more than $7 billion, result in more than 280,000 jobs lost and hit New York families with an average cost increase of $6,400. New York has also led the fight to protect federal funding from cuts and disruptions that are impacting more than $1.3 billion in federal funding for New York and has successfully challenged in court the Trump Administration’s global funding freeze, as well as cuts to the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other critical federal agencies.

“The first 100 days of the Trump Administration have been rife with chaos and uncertainty, from on-again, off-again tariffs to cuts to vital programs, New Yorkers are paying the price,” Governor Hochul said. “President Trump promised relief from inflation and his policies are making life harder, chaotic and more expensive for working class New Yorkers while slashing the very services they rely on.”

Implications for New Yorkers during President Trump’s First 100 Days Include:

  • More than $1.3 billion in cuts to funding for State programs so far with more expected, in addition to the funding cuts to local governments, universities and other organizations delivering critical services to New Yorkers
  • Massive fluctuation in the stock market from ever changing tariff policies has shrunk 401(k)s and 529 college savings plans, and is expected to increase cost of living for New Yorkers by thousands of dollars
  • Manufacturers and small businesses are reeling from severe cost hikes on some products due to tariffs, leading them to leave shipments in customs or cancel orders 
  • Canadian and European travel to New York has dropped and hotel stays and trips in regions such as the North Country and Western New York have been cancelled 
  • The pause of construction of Empire Wind, which will have a profound impact on jobs and energy production
  • Cutting millions in funding that allows school districts and food banks to buy produce from local farmers who rely on their purchases
  • Three Social Security Administration offices closed in New York
  • Eliminated every person in the office that manages a program helping over 1 million New Yorkers pay their heating and cooling bills
  • Cuts to the NIH paused the critical research of a New York Scientist on Alzheimer’s treatments
  • Cut over $300 million in infrastructure funding for New York communities, threatening our public safety
  • Cutting the majority of federal AmeriCorps funding in New York, which supports approximately 1,500 AmeriCorps members working for non-profits and in low-income communities across the State

PUBLIC SAFETY AND IMMIGRATION

The Trump administration has revoked more than $325 million in vital resiliency funding from the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program and put $56 million more at risk, which will impact several critical infrastructure and community resilience projects in New York State.

Additionally, DOGE is planning to cut up to 84 percent of staff from their Office of Community Planning and Development, which helps pay to rebuild homes and other recovery efforts after the country’s worst disasters such as Superstorm Sandy and Tropical Storms Lee and Irene.

The Albany National Weather Service (NWS) Office was forced to suspend weather balloon launches due to staff shortages and budget constraints. This has impacted the ability of the NWS to provide twice-daily balloon launches, impacting the accuracy of weather forecasts. 

After Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained a Sackets Harbor mom and her children, Governor Hochul took action, engaging with the White House, Border Czar Tom Homan and local officials in an effort to bring the family back home. After 11 days in detention, the family was returned to Sackets Harbor. 

ECONOMY AND TOURISM

The stock market has been unstable due to President Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff policy. This has caused retirees’ 401(k)s and students’ 529 savings plans to shrink. Additionally, consumer confidence plunged, to 50.8 percent in April from 71.7 percent in January. The dollar has weakened, falling to a three month low in April.

The Governor has heard from small and mid-sized businesses across the State who are worried about rising costs and their future. A recent survey from the National Small Business Association found that the majority of small businesses are concerned about tariffs and one in three are very concerned. Examples include North Country manufacturer Alcoa, which took an estimated $20 million hit on imports from Canada, and North Country Golf Club which is facing declines in businesses due to the decline in tourism from Canada. In the Southern Tier, the Cortland Standard, which was in business for more than a century, has closed its doors, citing the expected 25 percent tariffs on paper as part of the decision.

The Trump administration is cancelling the successful Manufacturers Extension Partnership (MEP) in several states. In New York, NY MEP centers generated $1.25 billion in economic impact, supported the creation or retention of nearly 6,300 jobs and served over 700 companies during the 2023 calendar year. This decision has raised widespread concern across the entire national network of MEP Centers, prompting fears about whether these initial cancellations are the first step in a broader effort to dismantle the program and eliminate federal funding for all 51 centers.

Due to the tariff trade war with Canada, New York’s number one trade partner, and the rhetoric that Canada could be the “51st state,” impacts are widespread. Visitors from Canada are avoiding the U.S. and New York State. Overall, total bridge crossings between Eastern Ontario and New York State for March are down 23,000 compared to 2024, and at the lowest level since 2022. Additionally, Niagara River bridges traffic for February is down 14 percent and Thousand Islands Bridge crossings are down 19 percent.

A survey of local businesses in the North Country found that 66 percent have already experienced a slight to significant decrease in Canadian bookings for 2025, and that 26 percent have already adjusted staffing levels in response to the decline.

TRANSPORTATION

President Trump’s Department of Transportation vowed to kill congestion pricing from day one of his administration, despite clear evidence that the program is working. The MTA reported that in March, traffic is down 13 percent, travel times have improved in key corridors within the Central Business District and it has increased revenue for the MTA that will result in improvements in the system.  

IMPACTS ON HARD WORKING FAMILIES

President Trump has reduced the federal workforce by more than 120,000 people nationwide according to data compiled from CNN. In New York more than 1,200 federal workers have been forced to file for unemployment. 

The Trump administration has pledged to cancel the successful and free Direct File tax filing program. This program has already begun to make an impact in its first full year, with many New Yorkers saving nearly $300 per household in tax prep fees that could instead go toward groceries, gas, child care or rent.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture slashed hundreds of millions of dollars in funding that helped schools buy food from local farms. The program sought to bring local produce to schools and child care facilities, giving schools the opportunities to purchase fresh foods and use smaller producers rather than rely on large corporations.

The Trump Administration announced that half of all food shipments through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) would be canceled, resulting in a $500 million reduction in funding for food banks across the country. New York State could see a loss of around 16 million pounds of USDA foods in 2025 due to the TEFAP funding cuts, according to Feeding New York State. 

SSA field offices are closing, wait times for deserving seniors are increasing and sensitive and private personal data is in danger of being insecure. 

ENERGY

The Trump Administration stopped construction on Empire Wind, putting thousands of construction jobs at risk and threatening to dismantle a project that when complete, will generate enough electricity to power about 500,000 homes in New York State.

Funding has been suspended for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Funds. The NEVI program — passed as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — provides funding directly to states for installing public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, which, if implemented, will lower fuel costs for families, reduce U.S. dependence on fossil fuels and create construction jobs nationwide. 

President Trump has also threatened to roll back the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and repeal its tax credits. NYSERDA estimates a full repeal of the clean energy incentives could result in more than $20 billion in increased project costs and could cause significant project attrition.

HOUSING

At the direction of President Trump and DOGE, HUD staff has been decimated, imperiling the core functions of the agency that serve our communities, manage federally funded housing programs and assist housing development at a time of national crisis for housing. Funding has also been cut for organizations that fight housing discrimination across the country, while rolling back federal protections to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing. 

HUD has further announced it was ending four years early the Emergency Housing Voucher Program, a successful federal program to combat homelessness for more than 9,500 households across the State. The federal administration imperiling this funding will force these families, at last stably housed, back onto the street.

The $1 billion Green and Resilient Retrofit Program that helps preserve affordable housing is being paused, threatening projects that keep tens of thousands of units livable for low-income Americans.

HEALTH CARE

The actions of the current administration threaten the health and safety of New Yorkers. New York State remains steadfast in its commitment to safeguarding the health and well-being of all New Yorkers and promoting health equity.

President Trump has endorsed the House’s budget resolution which includes over $1 trillion in cuts to critical safety net programs like Medicaid and SNAP. Nearly 7 million qualifying New Yorkers are covered under Medicaid, including 2.5 million children, and 636,000 New Yorkers with disabilities. 2.9 million New Yorkers rely on SNAP for healthy food, including over 800,000 children.

The Trump administration’s National Institute of Health (NIH) has cut grant funding to SUNY used to conduct research to cure diseases, keep our nation safe and grow our economy. The NIH’s sudden budget cuts will cost SUNY research an estimated $79 million on current grants, including more than $21 million over just the next five months that will immediately imperil the work of SUNY’s dedicated researchers by decimating the equipment, staff and services they rely on. 

The Trump Administration picked a top health official who has questioned the safety of vaccines and the use of fluoride in drinking water and claimed that autism was preventable. These views go against proven science and could lead to more diseases by making people doubt public health advice.

The Administration has taken back important public health funding. This includes money for tracking disease, supporting vaccinations and helping vulnerable communities hit hardest by the pandemic. Without this funding, local health services must cut staff and scale back programs, especially in areas that need the most help.

Hundreds of federal health workers have lost jobs, making it harder for both the federal government and states like New York to respond to health threats and deliver services like maternal care and disease control.

New executive orders have removed federal support for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, harming efforts to ensure fair health care for women, LGBTQ+ people and communities of color. These actions affirm that the needs of these communities no longer matter to the federal government.

In addition, with massive arbitrary cuts to federal agencies, the future of federal programs to help combat substance use disorder, heating and cooling assistance for low-income New Yorkers, and early childhood investment programs like Head Start remain in jeopardy. 

New York State remains committed to ensuring all New Yorkers have access to affordable, quality health care. Accordingly, the State rejects thinly veiled attacks on anyone who may not comport with the Trump Administration’s limited views of who is a person. 

EDUCATION

President Trump vowed to eliminate the Department of Education, a crucial part of the federal government that supports kids, teachers and administrators right here in New York State. New York receives $5.5 billion annually from the Department of Education. Approximately $3.2 billion is routed through the State Budget and $2.3 billion is sent directly to local entities, primarily colleges and universities. This crucial funding supports Pell Grants for college students, money for kids with disabilities, programs that are supporting kids’ mental health, crucial research at our public higher education institutions and much more

ENVIRONMENT & AGRICULTURE

The Trump administration has taken aim through Executive Order at dismantling New York State’s strong environmental protections.

Additionally, funding for the Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program has been slashed. While the Biden administration had indicated that $24 million would be available under the LFPA program (New York Food for New York Families), the Trump administration (USDA) has reversed and this next round of funding will no longer be available.

More recently, New York State’s $60 million award for the New York Connects: Climate Smart Farms and Forests Program, which funds climate smart agriculture and forestry practices, was cancelled by USDA.

USDA staff that assist farmers with implementing conservation programs, loans and other resources for their farms, have been laid off. 

Over 80 percent of agrochemical imports and 70 percent of farm machinery imports come from countries facing tariffs of 10 percent or more. Tariffs may slow down or halt on-farm expansion and modernization due to projected increases in equipment costs, with much of the stainless steel coming from abroad.

Trade issues are having a compounding effect for dairy farmers — input costs are going up and the milk price relies on export markets. Tariffs and threats of trade disputes result in lost markets and lower milk prices. For example, the budget for a building project went from $85,000 to $106,000, due to tariffs on steel and aluminum, one farm had a $2,200 fee added to their bill for grain because it came from a Canadian feed mill and another farm is anticipating their bottom line to be 7-10 percent lower this year due to lower milk prices and tariffs on inputs, including feed, energy and building supplies. 

The ability of West Coast apple producers to export their product will play a key role in the price and demand for New York apples. If West Coast producers are not able to expand overseas markets, they will continue to flood East Coast markets and displace New York State fresh apples where they can undercut prices.

Tariffs placed on equipment, largely coming from Canada, would increase producers’ costs of maple syrup production significantly and negatively impact profitability in the maple industry.

Anti-Trump Activism, Donald Trump, Economic Development, Economic Policies, Governor Kathy Hochul, News & Photo Features

NYS Joins Coalition of 12 States Suing Trump Administration for Illegally Imposing Tariffs

New York and 11 States Charge that Tariffs Will Slow Economic Growth, Increase Unemployment, Raise Inflation and Risk Recession

Imposed Tariffs Have Led to Increased Costs of Imported Goods, Agriculture, Energy, Construction Materials and Labor

“President Trump’s reckless tariffs have skyrocketed costs for consumers and unleashed economic chaos across the country. New York is standing up to fight back against the largest federal tax hike in American history,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said. “Attorney General James and I are partnering on this litigation on behalf of New York consumers, because we can’t let President Trump push our country into a recession.” © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Governor Kathy Hochul and New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced that New York State and a coalition of 11 other states are suing the Trump administration for illegally imposing unprecedented tax hikes on Americans in the form of tariffs issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The Trump administration’s IEEPA tariffs raise taxes on imports from nearly every country on Earth, including America’s closest allies and trading partners, and they have already caused severe economic damage. The lawsuit, filed by Attorney General James and a coalition of attorneys general, argues that Congress has not granted the president the authority to impose these tariffs and therefore the administration violated the law by imposing them through executive orders, social media posts, and agency orders. The coalition seeks a court order halting these IEEPA tariffs, including the worldwide tariffs that were paused on April 9, and preventing the Trump administration from enforcing or implementing them.

“President Trump’s reckless tariffs have skyrocketed costs for consumers and unleashed economic chaos across the country. New York is standing up to fight back against the largest federal tax hike in American history,” Governor Hochul said. “Attorney General James and I are partnering on this litigation on behalf of New York consumers, because we can’t let President Trump push our country into a recession.”

New York State Attorney General Letitia James said,“The president does not have the power to raise taxes on a whim, but that’s exactly what President Trump has been doing with these tariffs. Donald Trump promised that he would lower prices and ease the cost of living, but these illegal tariffs will have the exact opposite effect on American families. His tariffs are unlawful and if not stopped, they will lead to more inflation, unemployment, and economic damage.”

Since February, President Trump has been unilaterally imposing sweeping tariffs against America’s closest trading partners. These tariffs expanded in a series of announcements in April to now cover nearly every country worldwide, including places that are not involved in international trade, such as the Heard and McDonald Islands, which have no known human inhabitants.

In addition to the severe economic damage that President Trump’s tariffs have already caused, the coalition warns they could cause even more destruction if allowed to continue. The lawsuit argues the IEEPA tariffs will increase unemployment, raise inflation, and threaten Americans’ wages by slowing economic growth. The president’s tariffs will harm the states and their residents by making important goods ranging from electronics to building materials more expensive and scarce.

These costs will severely impact New Yorkers. Economists estimate the increased tariffs will cost the average family thousands of dollars per year, and a report from the New York City Comptroller estimated that even a mild recession caused by the tariffs would lead to over 35,000 lost jobs in New York City alone. New York state agencies could end up paying over $100 million in extra costs due to tariffs increasing prices. Retaliatory tariffs imposed by Canada on the hundreds of millions of dollars in electricity that New York imports every year would cause New Yorkers’ energy bills to spike. Across the state, small businesses that rely on imports are already reeling from the threat of higher prices and uncertainty caused by the administration’s policies. In Central New York, the Cortland Standard, one of the oldest family-owned newspapers in the country, announced it would cease publication in part due to an expected tariff on newsprint.

The lawsuit, filed in the United States Court of International Trade, asserts that President Trump has no authority to impose tariffs as he has. While the president has declared emergencies and invoked IEEPA to justify these tariffs, not once has any other president used IEEPA to impose tariffs like this in the five decades since it became law. As the coalition argues in the lawsuit, the law was not designed to allow the president to unilaterally impose worldwide tariffs indiscriminately. In addition, the coalition argues that the Trump administration has overstepped its authority and violated the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act by imposing these tariffs.

With this lawsuit, the coalition is seeking a court order declaring the Trump administration’s IEEPA tariff orders to be in violation of the law and ordering the administration to stop implementing or enforcing these tariffs.

Joining Attorney General James in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Vermont. (California filed its own lawsuit against the Trump Administration.)

Governor Hochul has been in contact with federal leaders regarding the devastating effects tariffs will have on New York’s residents, businesses and our economy. The Governor has consulted with federal partners, economists and heard from business owners, trade groups, agribusiness and other stakeholders on the hardships tariffs will have on New York State.

Anti-Trump Activism, Donald Trump, News & Photo Features

Tens of Thousands of Protesters Flood NYC Streets to Tell Trump, Musk, DOGE ‘Hands Off’

Brooklyn Indivisible at Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

By Karen Rubin, editor@news-photos-features.com, news-photos-features.com

It took almost three hours for all the protesters to get to the starting line on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street for the march to Madison Park at 25th Street in midtown Manhattan – I’m guessing some 50,000. There were no speeches, only chants and periodic roars that rang through the cavern of skyscrapers, releasing pent up anger, frustration, hostility to an administration – headlined by Trump, his billionaire hatchet man Elon Musk and the DOGE bros – that has been so contemptuous of human rights, civil rights, voting rights, workers rights, allies and alliances, that has upended people’s lives and inspired such fear, anxiety, insecurity. Hands Off! They chanted. Hands Off….! (fill in the blank) their hand-written signs declared.

It was an anguish that could only be extinguished by being in community with thousands of others.

New York says Hands Off! © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

The New York City march was one of some 1,300 taking place in all 50 states  and even abroad, organized by a coalition of some 150 organizations, headed by Indivisible, Moveon, Public Citizen, women’s groups, veterans groups and others.

It was the biggest day of protest since the 2017 Womens March that greeted Trump’s first term. But after a period of frustration that the biggest single day of protest did not protect women’s reproductive freedom, with the capitulation of Republicans in the Senate, in the House, in the states and localities, with the capitulation of media moguls, universities, law firms, and with Democrats banished from having any impact on governance, as Trump unleashed his assault on constitutional rights, it was decided that the people have to take power, and take it back where they live.

Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

And that was before Trump, with a stroke of a Sharpie, undermined the economic order that has underpinned peace and prosperity for 75 years, and unleashed the worry of a global recession, erasing $4 TRILLION in wealth in two days, the sharpest two-day decline since he was last occupying the office. He is the only individual in history to have caused that kind of damage. On purpose.

Remove. Reverse. Reclaim. New York says Hands Off! © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

There is no constituency – even the MAGAs who fell for Trump’s BS (the Big Lie of Election 2024: “I never saw Project 2025”) – that has not been harmed by Trump and his enforcer, Elon Musk and the DOGE bros: women, seniors, children, students, the disabled, scientists, doctors, teachers, federal workers (he ended rights for 1 million civil servants), veterans (Trump, who had no idea that four American soldiers had been “lost” in Lithuania, went to his golf club rather show respect and receive their bodies), academics, union workers, farmers, immigrants, refugees, migrants WITH LEGAL STATUS (who have I left out?).

Trump has trampled on free speech, free press, free assembly, the right to a trial by jury, the right to due process (except for abusing that privilege for himself, while conveniently tearing up the other part of the 14th amendment: no insurrectionist can hold federal office), equal protection, the right to vote and have that vote counted. He has even teased that he would run for a 3rd term (“I’m not joking.”).

I’ll let the people and their posters speak for themselves:

Cruelty is the point! Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Trump and Musk are Losers. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Stop federal cuts. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Hands off our future. Resist. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
The only immigrant stealing American jobs is a Nazi. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
No one voted for this. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Pro Life. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Hands off libraries. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Hands off public schools. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Due Process. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Why are we abandoning our friends and allies? Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Have you no shame? Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Stop the cuts. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
WTF. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
We the People. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Hands off Social Security. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Who’s pulling the strings? Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
You lazy freeloader. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Save USAID! Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Hands off our Democracy! Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
The devils are here. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Democracy is not for sale! Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Not my presidents. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Not why I became a citizen. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Hands off our families! Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Hands off our democracy! Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Workers unite for reproductive rights. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Congress do your job! Restore Democracy !! Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Main Trumpf. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Waste. Fraud. Abuse. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
No tariffs. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Impeach now! Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Immigrant mother. Pissed voter. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Due process for everyone. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Elect a rapist. Expect to be fucked. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
We Can Do It! Dump Trump. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Proud Higher Ed Diversicrat. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Hands off The Press. Hands Off! NYC protest march © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

______________________________

© 2025 News & Photo Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles,Inc. All rights reserved. For editorial feature and photo information, go to www.news-photos-features.com,email editor@news-photos-features.com.Blogging at www.dailykos.com/blogs/NewsPhotosFeatures

Biden Administration, Democracy, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, News & Photo Features, President Joe Biden

President Biden on Anniversary of Jan. 6 Insurrrection: Is Democracy Still America’s Sacred Cause?

In this, President Joe Biden’s first major speech of 2024, on January 5 marking the third anniversary of the January 6 insurrection which he delivered at Valley Forge, he highlights what is at stake in the upcoming 2024 election: nothing short of whether the United States will be ruled by democracy or a despot. “Is democracy still America’s sacred cause” he asked in what may well be considered Biden’s “Gettysburg Address.” 

In this, President Joe Biden’s first major speech of 2024, which he delivered at Valley Forge on January 5, marking the third anniversary of the January 6th Insurrection, he highlights what is at stake in the upcoming 2024 election: nothing short of whether the United States will be ruled by democracy or a despot. “Is democracy still America’s sacred cause” he asked in what may well be considered Biden’s “Gettysburg Address.” 

In contrast, Donald Trump’s first campaign speech committed himself to “retribution, revenge,” weaponizing the Department of Justice to persecute anyone who looks like they are doing well against him, literally tearing up the Constitution, enacting the Insurrection Act, pardoning the January 6 insurrectionists (he calls “hostages”) and being dictator (for the first day). And by suggesting that his own top military general be executed (for showing loyalty to the Constitution instead of him), he has laid down the gauntlet of weaponizing  and routinizing political intimidation to insure his power.

As President Biden has said so many times, “this is not hyperbole” but a real call out to the existential crisis Americans must confront.

“Whether democracy is still America’s sacred cause is the most urgent question of our time, and it’s what the 2024 election is all about.” “Democracy is on the ballot.  Your freedom is on the ballot.”  

“Without democracy, no progress is possible.  Think about it.  The alternative to democracy is dictatorship — the rule of one, not the rule of ‘We the People.’” 
  
“Democracy means having the freedom to speak your mind, to be who you are, to be who you want to be.  Democracy is about being able to bring about peaceful change.  Democracy — democracy is how we’ve opened the doors of opportunity wider and wider with each successive generation, notwithstanding our mistakes.”
 
“But if democracy falls, we’ll lose that freedom.  We’ll lose the power of “We the People” to shape our destiny.  If you doubt me, look around the world.  Travel with me as I meet with other heads of state throughout the world.”

Here is a slightly edited, highlighted transcript of President Biden’s remarks at Valley Forge, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, on January 5 –Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com   

In this, President Joe Biden’s first major speech of 2024, on January 5 marking the third anniversary of the January 6 insurrection which he delivered at Valley Forge, he highlights what is at stake in the upcoming 2024 election: nothing short of whether the United States will be ruled by democracy or a despot. “Is democracy still America’s sacred cause” he asked in what may well be considered Biden’s “Gettysburg Address.” 

3:23 P.M. EST
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Four more years! (Applause.)
 
THE PRESIDENT:  (Laughs.)  Well, thank you. 
 
AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Please.  Thank you.  Please.  Thank you very, very much.
 
Today — the topic of my speech today is deadly serious, and I think it needs to be made at the outset of this campaign.
 
In the winter of 1777, it was harsh and cold as the Continental Army marched to Valley Forge.  General George Washington knew he faced the most daunting of tasks: to fight and win a war against the most powerful empire that existed in the world at the time. 
 
His mission was clear.  Liberty, not conquest.  Freedom, not domination.  National independence, not individual glory. 
 
America made a vow.  Never again would we bow down to a king. 
 
The months ahead would be incredibly difficult.  But General Washington knew something in his bones, something about the spirit of the troops he was leading, something — something about the soul of the nation he [that] was struggling to be born.
 
In his general order, he predicted, and I quote, “with one heart and one mind,” “with fortitude and with patience,” they would overcome every difficulty — the troops he was leading. 
 
And they did.  They did.
 
This army that lacked blankets and food, clothes and shoes.  This army whose march left bloody, bare footprints in the snow.  This ragtag army made up of ordinary people.  Their mission, George Washington declared, was nothing less than “a sacred cause.”  That was the phrase used: “a sacred cause.” 
 
Freedom, liberty, democracy.  American democracy. 
 
I just visited the grounds of Valley Forge.  I’ve been there a number of times from the time I was a Boy Scout years ago.  You know, it’s the very site that I think every American should visit because it tells the story of the pain and the suffering and the true patriotism it took to make America.
 
Today, we gather in a new year, some 246 years later, just one day before January 6th, a day forever shared in our memory because it was on that day that we nearly lost America — lost it all. 
 
Today, we’re here to answer the most important of questions.  Is democracy still America’s sacred cause?  I mean it.  (Applause.)
 
This is not rhetorical, academic, or hypothetical.  Whether democracy is still America’s sacred cause is the most urgent question of our time, and it’s what the 2024 election is all about.  
 
The choice is clear.  Donald Trump’s campaign is about him, not America, not you.  Donald Trump’s campaign is obsessed with the past, not the future.  He’s willing to sacrifice our democracy, put himself in power. 
 
Our campaign is different.  For me and Kamala, our campaign is about America.  It’s about you.  It’s about every age and background that occupy this country.  It’s about the future we’re going to continue to build together.
 
And our campaign is about preserving and strengthening our American democracy.  Three years ago tomorrow, we saw with our own eyes the violent mob storm the United States Capitol.  It was almost in disbelief as you first turned on the television. 
 
For the first time on our history, insurrectionists had come to stop the peaceful transfer — transfer of power in America — first time — smashing windows, shattering doors, attacking the police. 
 
Outside, gallows were erected as the MAGA crowd chanted, “Hang Mike Pence.” 
 
Inside, they hunted for Speaker Pelosi [of] the House, was chanting, as they marched through and smashed windows, “Where’s Nancy?”
 
Over 140 police officers were injured.  Jill and I attended the funeral of police officers who died as a result of the events of that day. 
 
And because Donald — because of Donald Trump’s lies, they died because these lies brought a mob to Washington. 
 
He promised it would be “wild,” and it was.  He told the crowd to “fight like hell,” and all hell was unleashed. 
 
He promised he would right them — right them.  Everything they did, he would be side by side with them.  Then, as usual, he left the dirty work to others.  He retreated to the White House.
 
As America was attacked from within, Donald Trump watched on TV in the private small dining room off my Oval — off the Oval Office. 
 
The entire nation watched in horror.  The whole world watched in disbelief.  And Trump did nothing. 
 
Members of his staff, members of his family, Republican leaders who were under attack for the — at that very moment pled with him: “Act.  Call off the mob.” 
 
Imagine had he gone out and said, “Stop.” 
 
And still, Trump did nothing.  It was among the worst derelictions of duty by a president in American history: an attempt to overturn a free and fair election by force and violence.
 
A record 81 million people voted for my candidacy and to end his presidency.  Trump lost the popular vote by 7 million. 
 
Trump’s claims about the 2020 election never could stand up in court.  Trump lost 60 court cases — 60.  Trump lost the Republican-controlled states.  Trump lost before a Trump-appointed judge — and then judges.  And Trump lost before the United States Supreme Court.  (Applause.)  All of it, he lost.
 
Trump lost recount after recount after recount in state after state.  But in desperation and weakness, Trump and his MAGA followers went after election officials who ensured your power as a citizen would be heard.  These public servants had their lives forever upended by attacks and death threats for simply doing their jobs.
 
In Atlanta, Georgia, a brave Black mother and her daughter, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, were doing their jobs as elected workers until Donald Trump and his MAGA followers targeted and threatened them, forcing them from their homes and unleashing racist vitriol on them.  Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was just hit with $148 million judgment for cruelty and defamation that he inflicted against them. 
 
Other state and local elected officials across the country faced similar personal attacks.  In addition, Fox News agreed to pay a record $787 million for the lies they told about voter fraud.
 
Let’s be clear about the 2020 election.  Trump exhausted every legal avenue available to him to overturn the election — every one.  But the legal path just took Trump back to the truth that I had won the election and he was a loser.  (Applause.)
 
Well, knowing how his mind works now, he had one — he had one act left — one desperate act available to him: the violence of January the 6th. 
 
And since that day, more than 1,200 people have been charged for their assault on the Capitol.  Nearly 900 of them have been convicted or pled guilty.  Collectively, to date, they have been sentenced to more than 840 years in prison.  (Applause.)
 
And what has Trump done?  Instead of calling them “criminals,” he’s called these insurrectionists “patriots.”  They’re “patriots.”  And he promised to pardon them if he returns to office. 
 
Trump said that there was “a lot of love” on January the 6th.  The rest of the nation, including law enforcement, saw a lot of hate and violence.    One Capitol police officer called it a “medieval battle.”  That same officer called vile — was called vile, racist names. He said he was more afraid in the Capitol of the United States of America, in the chambers, than when he was fighting as a soldier in the war in Iraq.  He said he was more afraid inside the halls of Congress than fighting in the war in Iraq.
 
In trying to rewrite the facts of January 6th, Trump is trying to steal history the same way he tried to steal the election.  But we knew the truth because we saw it with our own eyes.  It wasn’t like something — a story being told.  It was on television repeatedly.  We saw it with our own eyes. 
 
Trump’s mob wasn’t a peaceful protest.  It was a violent assault.  They were insurrectionists, not patriots.  They weren’t there to uphold the Constitution; they were there to destroy the Constitution.
 
Trump won’t do what an American president must do.  He refuses to denounce political violence. 
 
So, hear me clearly.  I’ll say what Donald Trump won’t.  Political violence is never, ever acceptable in the United States political system — never, never, never.  It has no place in a democracy.  None.  (Applause.)
 
You can’t be pro-insurrectionist and pro-American. 
 
You know, Trump and his MAGA supporters not only embrace political violence, but they laugh about it.  At his rally, he jokes about an intruder, whipped up by the Big Trump Lie, taking a hammer to Paul Pelosi’s skull and echoing the very same words used on January 6th: “Where’s Nancy?” 
 
And he thinks that’s funny.  He laughed about it.  What a sick — (laughter and applause).  My God.
 
I think it’s despicable, seriously — not just for a president, for any person to say that.  But to say it to the whole world listening. 

When I was overseas — anyway.  (Laughter.) 
 
Trump’s assault on democracy isn’t just part of his past.  It’s what he’s promising for the future.  He’s being straightforward.  He’s not hiding the ball. 
 
His first rally for the 2024 campaign opened with a choir of January 6th insurrectionists singing from prison on a cell phone while images of the January 6th riot played on a big screen behind him at his rally.

Can you believe that?  This is like something out of a fairy tale — a bad fairy tale.

Trump began his 2024 campaign by glorifying the failed violent insurrectionist — insurrection at our — on our Capitol.

The guy who claims law and order sows lawlessness and disorder.

Trump’s not concerned about your future, I promise you.  Trump is now promising a full-scale campaign of “revenge” and “retribution” — his words — for some years to come.  They were his words, not mine.  He went on to say he would be a dictator on day one.

I mean, if I were writing a book of fiction and I said an American president said that, and not in jest —

He called it, and I quote, the “termination of all the rules, regulation, and articles, even those found in the U.S. Constitution,” should be terminated, if it’s his will.

It’s really kind of hard to believe.  Even found in the Constitution, he could terminate?

He’s threatened the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with the death penalty.  Says he should be put to death because the Chairman put his oath to the Constitution ahead of his personal loyalty to Trump.

This coming from a president who called — when he visited a cemetery, called dead soldiers “suckers” and “losers.”  Remember that?

Sometimes, I’m really happy the Irish in me can’t be seen.  (Laughter.)

It was right around the time I was at Beau’s grave, Tommy.

How dare he?  Who in God’s name does he think he is?

With former aides, Trump plans to invoke the Insurrectionist Act — the Insurrection Act, which would allow him to deploy — which he’s not allowed to do in ordinary circumstances — allow him to deploy U.S. military forces on the streets of America.  He said it.

He calls those who oppose him “vermin.”  He talks about the blood of Americans being poisoned, echoing the same exact language used in Nazi Germany.

He proudly posts on social media the words that best describe his 2024 campaign, quote, “revenge”; quote, “power”; and, quote, “dictatorship.”

There’s no confusion about who Trump is and what he intends to do.

I placed my hand on our family Bible, and I swore an oath on the very same steps of the Capitol just 14 days after the attack on January the 6th.

As I looked out over the capital city, whose streets were lined with National Guard to prevent another attack, I saw an American that had been pushed to the brink — an America that had been pushed to the brink.

But I felt enormous pride — not in winning.  I felt enormous pride in America because American democracy had been tested and American democracy had held together.  And when Trump had seen weakness in our democracy and continues to talk about it, I saw strength — your strength.  It’s not hyperbole.  Your strength.  Your integrity.  American strength and integrity.

Ordinary citizens, state election officials, the American judicial system had put the Constitution first and sometimes at their peril — at their peril.

Because of them, because of you, the will of the people prevailed, not the anger of the mob or the appetites of one man.

When the attack on January 6th happened, there was no doubt about the truth.  At the time, even Republican members of Congress and Fox News commentators publicly and privately condemned the attack.

As one Republican senator said, “Trump’s behavior was embarrassing and humiliating for the country.”  But now, that same senator and those same people have changed their tune.

As time has gone on, politics, fear, money, all have intervened.  And now these MAGA voices who know the truth about Trump on January 6th have abandoned the truth and abandoned democracy.

They made their choice.  Now the rest of us — Democrats, independents, mainstream Republicans — we have to make our choice.

I know mine.  And I believe I know America’s.

We will defend the truth, not give in to the Big Lie.  We’ll embrace the Constitution and the Declaration, not abandon it.  We’ll honor the sacred cause of democracy, not walk away from it.

Today, I make this sacred pledge to you.  The defense, protection, and preservation of American democracy will remain, as it has been, the central cause of my presidency.  (Applause.)
 
America, as we begin this election year, we must be clear: Democracy is on the ballot.  Your freedom is on the ballot.  (Applause.)
 
Yes, we’ll be voting on many issues: on the freedom to vote and have your vote counted, on the freedom of choice, the freedom to have a fair shot, the freedom from fear.  And we’ll debate and disagree. 
 
Without democracy, no progress is possible.  Think about it.  The alternative to democracy is dictatorship — the rule of one, not the rule of “We the People.” 
 
That’s what the soldiers of Valley Forge understood.  And so was me — was what we have to understand it as well.  We’ve been blessed so long with a strong, stable democracy.  It’s easy to forget why so many before us risked their lives and strengthened democracy, what our lives would be without it.
 
Democracy means having the freedom to speak your mind, to be who you are, to be who you want to be.  Democracy is about being able to bring about peaceful change.  Democracy — democracy is how we’ve opened the doors of opportunity wider and wider with each successive generation, notwithstanding our mistakes.
 
But if democracy falls, we’ll lose that freedom.  We’ll lose the power of “We the People” to shape our destiny.  If you doubt me, look around the world.  Travel with me as I meet with other heads of state throughout the world. 
 
Look at the authoritarian leaders and dictators Trump says he admires — he, out loud, says he admires.  I won’t go through them all.  It would take too long.
 
Look, remember when he refers to what he calls the “love letter” exchanges between he and the dictator of North Korea?  Those women and men out there in the audience who ever fought for the American military, would you ever believe you’d hear a president say something like that?
 
His admiration for Putin — I can go on. 
 
And look at what these autocrats are doing to limit freedom in their countries.  They’re limiting freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom to assemble, women’s rights, LGB[T]Q rights, people are going to jail, so much more. 

It’s true: The push and pull of American history is not a fairy tale.  Every stride forward in America is met with a ferocious backlash, many times from those who fear progress and those who exploit that fear for their own personal gain; from those who traffic in lies told for power and profit; from those who are driven by grievance and grift, consumed by conspiracy and victimhood; from those who seek to bury history and ban books.
 
Did you ever think you’d be at a political event talking about book banning for in a presidential election? 
 
The choice and contest between those forces — those competing forces, between solidarity and division — is perennial.  But this time, it’s so different. 
 
You can’t have a contest — you can’t have a contest if you see politics as an all-out war instead of a peaceful way to resolve our differences.  All-out war is what Trump wants. 
 
That’s why he doesn’t understand the most fundamental truth about this country.  Unlike other nations on Earth, America is not built on ethnicity, religion, geography.  We’re the only nation in the history of the world built on an idea — not hyperbole — built on an idea: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal.”
 
It’s an idea declared in the Declaration, created in a way that we viewed everybody as equal and be — should be treated equally throughout their lives.
 
We’ve never fully lived up to that.  We have a long way to go.  But we’ve never walked away from the idea.  We’ve never walked away from it before.  But I promise you, I will not let Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans — (applause) — force us to walk away now.
 
We’re living in an era where a determined minority is doing everything in its power to try to destroy our democracy for their own agenda.  The American people know it, and they’re standing bravely in the breach. 
 
Remember, after 2020, January 6th insurrection to undo the election in which more Americans had voted than any other in American history?  America saw the threat posed to the country, and they voted him out.  In 2022, historic midterm election, in state after state, election after election, the election deniers were defeated. 
 
Now, in 2024, Trump in running as the “denier-in-chief” — the election denier-in-chief.  Once again, he’s saying he won’t honor the results of the election if he loses.
 
Trump says he doesn’t understand.  Well, he still doesn’t understand the basic truth, and that is you can’t love your country only when you win.  (Applause.)  You can’t love your country only when you win.
 
So, I’ll keep my commitment to be president for all of America, whether you voted for me or not.  I’ve done it for the last three years, and I’ll continue to do it. 
 
Together, we can keep proving that America is still a country that believes in decency, dignity, honesty, honor, truth.  We still believe that no one, not even the President, is above the law.  We still believe — (applause) — the vast majority of us still believe that everyone deserves a fair shot at making it.  We’re still a nation that gives hate no safe harbor. 

I tell you from my experience working with leaders around the world — and I mean this sincerely, not a joke — that America is still viewed as the beacon of democracy for the world. 

I can’t tell you how many — how many world leaders — and I know all of them, virtually all of them — grab my arm in private and say, “He can’t win.  Tell me.  No, my country will be at risk.” 

Think of how many countries, Tommy, you know that are on the on the edge.  Imagine. 

We still believe in “We the People,” and that includes all of us, not some of us.

Let me close with this.  On that cold winter of 1777, George Washington and his American troops at Valley Forge waged a battle on behalf of a revolutionary idea that everyday people — like where I come from and the vast majority of you — not a king or a dictator — that everyday people can govern themselves without a king or a dictator. 

In fact, in the rotunda of the Capitol, there’s a giant painting of General George Washington — not President Washington — and he is resigning his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. 

A European king at this — at the time said, after he won the revolution, “Now is the time for him to declare his kingship.”

But instead, the mob that attacked the Capitol, waving Trump flags and Confederate flags, stormed right past that portrait.  That image of George Washington gave them no pause, but it should have.

The artist that painted that portrait memorialized that moment because he said it was, quote, “one of the highest moral lessons ever given to the world.”  End of quote.

George Washington was at the height of his power.  Having just defeated the most powerful empire on Earth, could have held onto the power as long as he wanted.  He could have made himself not a future president but a future monarch, in effect. 

And, by the way, when he got elected president, he could have stayed for two, three, four, five terms, until he died.  But that wasn’t the America he and the American troops at Valley Forge had fought for.

In America, genuine leaders — democratic leaders, with a small “d” — don’t hold on to power relentlessly.  Our leaders return power to the people.  And they do it willingly, because that’s the deal.  You do your duty.  You serve your country. 
 
And ours is a country worthy of service, as many Republican presidents and Democratic presidents have shown over the years. 

We’re not perfect.  But at our best, we face on — we face head on the good, the bad, the truth of who we are.  We look in the mirror and ultimately never pretend we’re something we’re not.  That’s what great nations do.  And we’re a great nation.  We’re the greatest nation on the face of the Earth.  We really are.  (Applause.)
 
That’s the America I see in our future.  We get up.  We carry on.  We never bow.  We never bend.  We speak of possibilities, not carnage.  We’re not weighed down by grievances.  We don’t foster fear.  We don’t walk around as victims. 
 
We take charge of our destiny.  We get our job done with the help of the people we find in America, who find their place in the changing world and dream and build a future that not only they but all people deserve a shot at. 
 
We don’t believe — none of you believe America is failing.  We know America is winning.  That’s American patriotism.  (Applause.)
 
And it’s not winning because of Joe Biden.  It’s winning. 
 
This is the first national election since January 6th insurrection placed a dagger at the throat of American democracy — since that moment.  We all know who Donald Trump is.  The question we have to answer is: Who are we?  That’s what’s at stake.  (Applause.)  Who are we? 
 
In the year ahead, as you talk to your family and friends, cast your ballots, the power is in your hands.  After all we’ve been through in our history, from independence to Civil War to two world wars to a pandemic to insurrection, I refuse to believe that, in 2024, we Americans will choose to walk away from what’s made us the greatest nation in the history of the world: freedom, liberty.  (Applause.)
 
Democracy is still a sacred cause.  And there’s no country in the world better positioned to lead the world than America. 
 
That’s why — (applause) — I’ve said it many times.  That’s why I’ve never been more optimistic about our future.  And I’ve been doing this a hell of a long time.  (Laughter.)
 
Just have to remember who we are — with patience and fortitude, with one heart.  We are the United States of America, for God’s sake.  (Applause.)
 
I mean it.  There is nothing — I believe with every fiber that there is nothing beyond our capacity if we act together and decently with one another.  Nothing, nothing, nothing.  (Applause.)  I mean it.
 
We’re the only nation in the world that’s come out of every crisis stronger than we went into that crisis.  That was true yesterday and it’s true today, and I guarantee you will be true tomorrow. 
 
God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops.  (Applause.)
 
Thank you.  Thank you.
 
(The First Lady joins the President onstage.)  I understand power.  (Laughter.)
 
Thank you all so very much.  (Inaudible.)  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)
 
3:56 P.M. EST  

Anti-Trump Activism, Donald Trump, News & Photo Features

Photo Highlights of Dueling Protests Prior to Trump’s Historic Arraignment in NY Criminal Court

Partisan Divide: Tribal camps face off in dueling protests the morning of Donald Trump’s arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

By Karen Rubin, News-Photos-Features.com

Partisan camps faced off in dueling protests the morning of Donald Trump’s arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court he was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, compounded by tax issues, for the purpose of concealing information that might have swayed the 2016 election. The twice impeached Trump was the first president or ex-president to be indicted for felony crimes.

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, promoted prominently by the New York Young Republicans Club, made a 10-minute appearance, but was drowned out by whistles and jeers. Another disgraced Congressman, George Santos, who apparently has modeled his campaign frauds on Trump’s ability to lie and cheat with impunity, also made an appearance.

For most of the day, the two camps were separated by a “neutral zone” set up by the New York Police Department.

Here are photo highlights:

Tribal camps face off in dueling protests the morning of Donald Trump’s arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Finally Trump Arrested © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Banner which caused a commotion: Trump Lies All the Time © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Can’t resist: Trumpers in prison garb selfie © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Most popular character at the protest © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Literally wrapping themselves in the flag © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Blacks for Trumps, stalwarts of every Trump rally © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Literally wrapping themselves in the flag © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Partisan Divide: Dueling protests against the backdrop of Manhattan Criminal Court building where Trump was due to be arraigned © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Trumpers protest Trump’s indictment © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Trump is the definition of depravity © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Partisan Divide: NYPD keeps the dueling protesters separated © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Trump’s Threats of Violence Speak Loud and Clear © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Don’t Tread on Me © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Dueling protests against the backdrop of Manhattan Criminal Court building where Trump was due to be arraigned © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Black Lives Matter © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Let’s go Brandon © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Literally wrapped in the flag © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
45 is guilty © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Trumpers © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Trump is indicted © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Dueling protests separated by NYPD © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Trumpers © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
DEM conspiracy © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Trumpers © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Trumpers © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Dueling protests © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Protests against the backdrop of the Courthouse where Donald Trump would be arraigned © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

__________________________

© 2023 News & Photo Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. For editorial feature and photo information, go to www.news-photos-features.com, email editor@news-photos-features.com. Blogging at www.dailykos.com/blogs/NewsPhotosFeatures. ‘Like’ us on facebook.com/KarenBRubin, Tweet @KarenBRubin

Biden-Harris 2020, Donald Trump, Election 2020, Joe Biden, National Security, News & Photo Features, Presidential Campaign 2020

Nearly 500 Retired Top Military, National Security Officials Endorse Joe Biden

Memorial Day Commemoration, North Hempstead, Long Island, NY nearly 500 retired top military and national security officials endorsed Joe Biden for President of the United States. The generals, admirals, ambassadors, and other former national security leaders pointed to Joe Biden’s empathy, honesty, experience and leadership as necessary traits required to navigate America through a painful time. The leaders, including Democrats, Republicans and Independents, also cited Donald Trump’s failure to address the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and other monumental crises facing the nation. (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

“Those who have served know empathy is a vital leadership quality – you cannot do what is best for those you lead if you do not know their challenges. Joe Biden has empathy born of his humble roots, family tragedies and personal loss. When Americans are struggling, Joe Biden understands their pain and takes it upon himself to help.”

Today, nearly 500 retired top military and national security officials endorsed Joe Biden for President of the United States. In an open letter, the generals, admirals, ambassadors, and other former national security leaders pointed to Joe Biden’s empathy, honesty, experience and leadership as necessary traits required to navigate America through a painful time. The leaders, including Democrats, Republicans and Independents, also cited Donald Trump’s failure to address the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and other monumental crises facing the nation.
 
Read the full letter below and see the full list of signatures here:

National Security Leaders for Biden: An Open Letter To America

To Our Fellow Citizens:
 
We are former public servants who have devoted our careers, and in many cases risked our lives, for the United States. We are generals, admirals, senior noncommissioned officers, ambassadors, and senior civilian national security leaders. We are Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. We love our country. Unfortunately, we also fear for it. The COVID-19 pandemic has proven America needs principled, wise, and responsible leadership. America needs a President who understands, as President Harry S. Truman said, that “the buck stops here.”
 
We the undersigned endorse Joe Biden to be the next President of the United States. He is the leader our nation needs.
​
We believe that Joe Biden is, above all, a good man with a strong sense of right and wrong. He is guided by the principles that have long made America great: democracy is a hard-won right we must defend and support at home and abroad; America’s power and influence stem as much from her moral authority as it does from her economic and military power; America’s free press is invaluable, not an enemy of the people; those who sacrifice or give their lives in service of our nation deserve our respect and eternal gratitude; and America’s citizens benefit most when the United States engages with the world. Joe Biden will always put the nation’s needs before his own.
 
Those who have served know empathy is a vital leadership quality – you cannot do what is best for those you lead if you do not know their challenges. Joe Biden has empathy born of his humble roots, family tragedies and personal loss. When Americans are struggling, Joe Biden understands their pain and takes it upon himself to help.
 
We believe America’s president must be honest, and we find Joe Biden’s honesty and integrity indisputable. He believes a nation’s word is her bond. He believes we must stand by the allies who have stood by us. He remembers how America’s NATO allies rushed to her side after 9/11; how the Kurds fought by our side to defeat ISIS; and how Japan and South Korea have been steadfast partners in countering North Korean and Chinese provocations. Joe Biden would never sell out our allies to placate despots or because he dislikes an allied leader.
 
While some of us may have different opinions on particular policy matters, we trust Joe Biden’s positions are rooted in sound judgment, thorough understanding, and fundamental values.
 
We know Joe Biden has the experience and wisdom necessary to navigate America through a painful time. He has grappled with America’s most difficult foreign policy challenges for decades, learning what works – and what does not – in a dangerous world. He is knowledgeable, but he also knows that listening to diverse and dissenting views is essential, particularly when making tough decisions concerning our national security. Many of us have briefed Joe Biden on matters of national security, and we know he demands a thorough understanding of any issue before making a decision – as any American president should.
 
Finally, Joe Biden believes in personal responsibility. Over his long career, he has learned hard lessons and grown as a leader who can take positive action to unite and heal our country. It is unthinkable that he would ever utter the phrase “I don’t take responsibility at all.”
 
The next president will inherit a nation – and a world – in turmoil. The current President has demonstrated he is not equal to the enormous responsibilities of his office; he cannot rise to meet challenges large or small. Thanks to his disdainful attitude and his failures, our allies no longer trust or respect us, and our enemies no longer fear us. Climate change continues unabated, as does North Korea’s nuclear program. The president has ceded influence to a Russian adversary who puts bounties on the heads of American military personnel, and his trade war against China has only harmed America’s farmers and manufacturers. The next president will have to address those challenges while struggling with an economy in a deep recession and a pandemic that has already claimed more than 200,000 of our fellow citizens. America, with 4% of the world’s population suffers with 25% of the world’s COVID-19 cases. Only FDR and Abraham Lincoln came into office facing more monumental crises than the next president.
 
Joe Biden has the character, principles, wisdom, and leadership necessary to address a world on fire. That is why Joe Biden must be the next President of the United States; why we vigorously support his election; and why we urge our fellow citizens to do the same.

Coronavirus Pandemic, Donald Trump, News & Photo Features, NYS Acts to Contain Coronavirus

Cuomo, Whitmer Call for Congressional Investigation into Trump Administration’s Politicization of Response to COVID-19 Pandemic

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer are calling for a Congressional oversight investigation into the Trump administration’s politicization of government functions that have impeded the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer are  calling for a Congressional oversight investigation into the Trump administration’s politicization of government functions that have impeded the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, releasing this joint statement:

“It is an inarguable fact that the United States has had the worst response to the COVID-19 virus of any nation in the world. Nearly 7 million Americans have tested positive for the virus, and more than 200,000 Americans have been killed by it — both more than any other country. The unprecedented and unacceptable scale of this tragedy is the direct result of President Trump and the federal government’s deceit, political self-dealing, and incompetence. 

“Rather than turning to the advice and direction of public health experts and career public servants, President Trump instead put the health and security of the American people in the hands of political appointees whose first priority was securing the reelection of their benefactor, with predictably tragic results. 

“Last week’s revelation that the White House blocked a Department of Health and Human Services plan to utilize the U.S. Postal Service to ship five life-saving masks to every household in the country, free of charge, in April was heartbreaking. Imagine the lives that could have been saved if every household were provided masks at such a crucial time. 

“Even more dangerous, the nation learned last week that political appointees at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — over the strong objection of CDC scientists — published the indefensible guidance that said people without symptoms did not need to get tested for COVID. Coupled with the agency’s abrupt reversal earlier this week on guidance related to the airborne transmission of the virus, it’s increasingly clear that the President and his advisers are trying to undermine the credibility of experts whose facts run counter to the administration’s political agenda.

“As a country, we cannot allow this type of politically-motivated decision making to take root. Logic dictates that COVID won’t be the last public health challenge we will face, and we can’t afford to again respond by playing politics, instead of listening to the science and facts. Congress must immediately conduct an oversight investigation into the Trump administration’s response to this pandemic, including the actions at HHS and the USPS the public learned about over the past week. Especially in light of Bob Woodward’s reporting, the question of, “What did they know and when did they know it?” cannot be left to the history books to answer. Our future health and economic security depends on holding the Trump administration accountable today.”

Cuomo commented, “Governor Whitmer and I today called on Congress to immediately conduct an oversight investigation into the Trump administration’s response on this pandemic. How can you not tell the American people what you knew and when you knew it? Just ask Peter Navarro. You had a memo that said millions of Americans would be infected. Did you tell anyone? Who did you send it to? Did anyone send you back the memo with a question mark? You met with the President 180 times since that memo – did you ever mention to the President, ‘By the way, I had a concern here that millions of Americans might be infected.’ It just doesn’t pass the smell test. It can’t be true.”

Donald Trump, Election 2020, Elections, News & Photo Features, Voting-Voting Rights-Elections

Sanders Calling for Largest Voter Turnout in History, Declares ‘Imperative to Counter Trump’s Unique Threats to Democracy’

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt), at a rally in Queens during the 2020 campaign. In remarks at George Washington University regarding the “unprecedented and dangerous moment we are in because of Trump’s unique threats to our democracy” called for unprecedented voter turnout, warning that Trump may well declare victory in Election Night, before the millions of mail-in-ballots are counted, confiscate the ballots to prevent them from being counted, and even instruct Republican legislators to disregard the popular vote and select Trump electors to vote in the Electoral College. If all that, including impeding delivery of mail-in-ballots, calling out thugs to intimidate voters who come to the polls, Trump says he is counting on the Supreme Court, with his third pick already on the court, to hand him the election. Only then, he says, will there be a “peaceful transfer” because there won’t be a transfer at all, but a continuation of power. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt), in remarks at George Washington University regarding the “unprecedented and dangerous moment we are in because of Trump’s unique threats to our democracy” called for unprecedented voter turnout, warning that Trump may well declare victory in Election Night, before the millions of mail-in-ballots are counted, confiscate the ballots to prevent them from being counted, and even instruct Republican legislators to disregard the popular vote and select Trump electors to vote in the Electoral College. If all that, including impeding delivery of mail-in-ballots, calling out thugs to intimidate voters who come to the polls, Trump says he is counting on the Supreme Court, with his third pick already on the court, to hand him the election. Only then, he says, will there be a “peaceful transfer” because there won’t be a transfer at all, but a continuation of power. – Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Here are Senator Sanders’ remarks, highlighted, as prepared for delivery:

Saving American Democracy 

This country faces an unprecedented set of crises. We are struggling with a pandemic that has already cost us over 200,000 lives. 

We have an economy in which we have a grotesque level of income and wealth inequality, where the middle class is being decimated, where millions of workers have lost their jobs and half of our people continue to work paycheck to paycheck — many for starvation wages.  

We are living in the moment when climate change is ravaging this planet, leading to massive fires on the West Coast, drought and unprecedented levels of extreme weather disturbances all across the globe. 

We are the only major country on earth not to guarantee healthcare to all people as a right, over 90 million Americans are uninsured or under-insured, and we pay by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.

All of these issues, and others, are enormously important and should be the issues that are being debated in this campaign. But, today, I’m not going to talk about any of them.

What I am going to talk about is something that, in my wildest dreams, I never thought I would be discussing.  And that is the need to make certain that the President of the United States, if he loses this election, will abide by the will of the voters and leave office peacefully.

What I will be discussing today is the danger that this country faces from a president who is a pathological liar, who has strong authoritarian tendencies, who neither understands nor respects our constitution and who is prepared to undermine American democracy in order to stay in power. 

With less than 6 weeks left to go in this campaign it is my fervent hope that all Americans — Democrats, Republicans, independents, progressives, moderates, conservatives — come together to defend American democracy, our constitution and the rule of law. We must ensure, in this unprecedented moment in American history that this is an election that is free and fair, an election in which voters are not intimidated, an election in which all votes are counted and an election in which the loser accepts the results.

This is not just an election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.  This is an election between Donald Trump and democracy – and democracy must win. 

The United States is the oldest continuous democracy in the modern world. We held elections in the middle of a Civil War in 1864. We held free and fair elections during World War I, during the Great Depression, and during World War II. After all of those elections, held in extremely difficult circumstances, the loser acknowledged defeat and the winner was inaugurated and took office.  That is what America is all about.  That’s what democracy is all about.

But today, under Donald Trump, we have a president who has little respect for our constitution or the rule of law. Today, that peaceful transition of power, the bedrock of American democracy, is being threatened like never before.

I am not in the habit of quoting former President Ronald Reagan, but I think something that he said in his first inaugural address makes the point about how important — how precious — is this part of our heritage. I quote: “The orderly transfer of authority as called for in the Constitution routinely takes place as it has for almost two centuries and few of us stop to think how unique we really are. In the eyes of many in the world, this every 4-year ceremony we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle.” Unquote. 

Protecting this “orderly transfer of authority” as President Reagan characterized it, this miracle, is absolutely essential if we together — all of us, Republicans, Democrats, Independents — want to keep faith with the American ideals we hold so dear and with the sacrifices that so many made in order to protect our democracy.

And in that regard I think it is terribly important that we actually listen to, and take seriously, what Donald Trump is saying.  

Several weeks ago, speaking at the Republican National Convention, Trump said, and I quote, “The only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election.” What is remarkable about that statement is that he made it at a time when almost every national poll had him behind and when he was trailing in polls in most battleground states.

Think about what that statement means. What he is saying is that if he wins the election, that’s great. But if he loses, it’s rigged, because the only way, the only way, he can lose is if it’s rigged. And if it’s rigged, then he is not leaving office.  Heads I win. Tails you lose. In other words, in Trump’s mind, there is no conceivable way that he should leave office.

And just last night Donald Trump went even further down the path of authoritarianism by being the first president in the history of this country to refuse to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses the election. 

When asked by a reporter in the White House briefing room: “Win, lose or draw in this election, will you commit here today for a peaceful transferal of power after the election?” Trump responded:

“We’re going to have to see what happens.  You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.  We want to get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation.”

That’s not his choice.  That’s for the American people to determine.  Let us be very clear.  There is nothing in our constitution or in our laws that give Donald Trump the privilege of deciding whether or not he will step aside if he loses.  In the United States the president does not determine who can or cannot vote and what ballots will be counted.  That may be what his friend Putin does in Russia.  It may be what is done in other authoritarian countries.  But it is not and will not be done in America.  This is a democracy.

I do understand that Donald Trump is a billionaire, or so he says.  I do understand that he was born to a very wealthy family and, from his earliest days, was able to get anything he wanted because his family was rich and his family was powerful.  I do understand that when you’re rich and you’re powerful you don’t  have to pay taxes like ordinary people and that it’s easy for you to avoid the military draft.  I do understand that when you’re rich and you’re powerful you can buy politicians and get hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate welfare for your real estate empire.  

But this I also understand.  No matter how rich and powerful you may be, no matter how arrogant and narcissistic you may be, no matter how much you think you can get anything you want, let me make this clear to Donald Trump: Too many people have fought and died to defend American democracy.  You are not going to destroy it.  The American people will not allow that to happen.

Despite all of the evidence, Trump continues to be obsessed with the belief that there is massive voter fraud in this country. 

In 2017, after he won the presidency, Trump insisted that he would have won the popular vote, which he lost by 3 million votes, if, quote “millions of illegal votes had not been cast.” There is absolutely no evidence of that being true. In fact, it is totally preposterous to believe that millions of votes, or any significant number of votes at all, were cast illegally. This is an assertion supported by no one. Not Democratic officials.  Not Republican officials. No one.  And yet that is what Trump said after he won. 

There have been numerous studies done on the issue of voter fraud in our country. They have all concluded essentially the same thing.  Voter fraud in the United States of America is extremely rare. 

A study by Dartmouth University found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 election.  

An article in the New York Times from December 18, 2016 stated: “In an election in which more than 137.7 million Americans cast ballots, election and law enforcement officials in 26 states and the District of Columbia — Democratic-leaning, Republican-leaning and in-between — said that so far they knew of no credible allegations of fraudulent voting. Officials in another eight states said they knew of only one allegation … In Georgia, where more than 4.1 million ballots were cast, officials said they had opened 25 inquiries into “suspicious voting or election-related activity.”  But inquiries to all 50 states (every one but Kansas responded) found no states that reported indications of widespread fraud.”

A report by the Brennan Center for Justice reviewed elections that had been meticulously studied for voter fraud, and found incident rates between 0.0003 percent and 0.0025 percent. The report concluded that it is more likely that an American, quote, “will be struck by lightning than that he will impersonate another voter at the polls,” unquote.

Even the conservative Heritage Foundation, which maintains a database on election fraud, could only find 143 criminal convictions of mail in voter fraud out of 250 million mail-in votes cast over the past 20 years, a rate of 0.00006%.

But you don’t have to trust me on this issue.  Benjamin Ginsburg, one of the leading Republican experts on elections, a man who served as national counsel to the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign, a man who played a major role for the Republican Party in the 2000 Florida recount, and who co-chaired the bipartisan 2013 Presidential Commission on Election Administration, recently wrote in the Washington Post, and I quote, “The truth is that after decades of looking for illegal voting, there’s no proof of widespread fraud. At most, there are isolated incidents — by both Democrats and Republicans. Elections are not rigged,” unquote. 

Let me repeat from one of the Republican Party’s leading experts on elections: “The truth is that after decades of looking for illegal voting, there’s no proof of widespread fraud. At most, there are isolated incidents — by both Democrats and Republicans. Elections are not rigged.”

And if even the statement of Mr. Ginsburg is not good enough for you, here is what the Trump administration’s own voting integrity commission reported.  According to an analysis of administration documents by the Associated Press, Trump’s commission uncovered, quote “no evidence to support claims of widespread voter fraud,” unquote, and disbanded in 2018. 

Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tamped down concerns about mail-in ballots last month, saying, and I quote, “Many parts of our country vote by mail. Oregon, Washington and Colorado have voted by mail for years.”

And yet we have a president who calls mail in ballots “a hoax” and “a scam.”

Trump’s strategy to delegitimize this election and to stay in office if he loses is not complicated. Finding himself behind in many polls, he is attempting massive voter suppression. He and his Republican colleagues are doing everything they can to make it harder and harder for people to vote. In addition, he is sowing the seeds of chaos, confusion and conspiracy theories by casting doubt on the integrity of this election and, if he loses, justifying why he should remain in office. 

In an interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News, Trump refused to say that he would leave office if he lost. Asked to give a direct answer on whether he would accept the election results, Trump refused. He said, quote, “I have to see. No, I’m not going to just say yes. I’m not going to say no, and I didn’t last time either.” Pretty much what he said yesterday.

In the middle of a pandemic Trump made clear that he wants to defund the Postal Service in order to limit the use of mail in ballots. In an interview on August 13, discussing a possible deal for a relief package that would have funded the post office, Trump let the cat out of the bag by admitting that, quote “If we don’t make a deal, that means they don’t get the money. That means they can’t have universal mail-in voting; they just can’t have it.”  

In other words, what Trump is saying to tens of millions of Americans is that at a time when over 200,000 people have already died from the coronavirus, you have a choice: You can either risk your health or even your life by walking into a voting booth or you can’t vote.  How disgusting is that?

Amazingly, at the very same time Trump is making completely baseless allegations about voter fraud, last month he urged his supporters in North Carolina to try voting twice, which is a felony. 

In order to advance his plan for mass voter suppression, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit in Nevada, which fortunately was dismissed, challenging the state’s mail-in voting laws. 

In July, Trump used false claims of voter fraud to propose delaying this year’s election, which he does not have the power to do. This was so outrageous that Steven Calabresi, the co-founder of the conservative Federalist Society, wrote that it was, quote “grounds for the president’s immediate impeachment again by the House of Representatives and his removal from office by the Senate,” unquote.

Last week, Trump told his supporters at a rally in Nevada that he, quote, “was entitled” to serve a third term, which is obviously a violation of the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment. 

On Saturday, Trump suggested to his supporters in North Carolina that he might sign an executive order to prevent Joe Biden from becoming president. 

Trump has also urged his supporters to become, quote, “poll watchers,” but what he is really saying is he wants his supporters, some of whom are members of armed militias, to intimidate voters. We’re already seeing this in Virginia, where early voters were confronted by Trump supporters, and election officials in Fairfax County said that some voters and polling staff felt intimidated.

On and on it goes.  Every day, over and over again, Trump is making it harder for the American people to participate in the political process and is attempting to delegitimize the outcome of this election so that if he loses he can remain in office.

The concerns that I am raising today are not just mine alone, and are not just concerns shared by progressives and Democrats.

Miles Taylor, a lifelong Republican who previously served as chief of staff inside the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security, warned that there is nothing that Trump will not do or say to defeat Biden. 

“Put nothing past Donald Trump,” Taylor told The Associated Press. “He will do anything to win. If that means climbing over other people, climbing over his own people, or climbing over U.S. law, he will do it. People are right to be concerned.” 

Well, I agree with Mr. Taylor. I am concerned. I am very concerned.

Last week, my former Senate colleague Dan Coats, Trump’s own former Director of National Intelligence, published a piece in the New York Times calling for a high-level bipartisan and nonpartisan commission to oversee the election to reassure all Americans that it has been carried out fairly. Coats wrote, quote, “The most urgent task American leaders face is to ensure that the election’s results are accepted as legitimate. Electoral legitimacy is the essential linchpin of our entire political culture. We should see the challenge clearly in advance and take immediate action to respond.”

I couldn’t agree more. I strongly second Director Coats’ call for this election commission.

Last week as well, Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and I sent a letter to Senator McConnell urging him to hold hearings on the issue of election and post-election security. Senator Schumer and I stated, “We would like to hear from the most knowledgeable people in the country as to how we can do everything possible to make sure that the election and the period afterward is secure and peaceful.”

Majority Leader McConnell: Please respond to that letter.  Please establish that bi-partisan committee.  

And today I call on every elected official in America whether they be Republican, Democrat or Independent to vigorously oppose voter suppression and voter intimidation, to make sure that every vote is counted, and that no one is declared the winner until those votes are counted.  

And to my Republican colleagues in the Congress please do not continue to tell the American people how much you love America if, at this critical moment, you are not prepared to stand up to defend American democracy and our way of life.  Stop the hypocrisy.

With or without Donald Trump this election is unique in American history because it’s taking place during a pandemic and a public health crisis.   

As a result, states all over America are taking the appropriate steps to ensure more Americans can safely vote by mail in their own homes instead of risking their health or their lives to vote in person.  

The result is that this election will see, by far, the largest number of mail in ballots ever. 

And let’s be clear.  Despite what Donald Trump says, voting by mail is not a new or dangerous idea.  Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah conduct their elections almost entirely by mail.  California, Nevada, New Jersey, the District of Columbia and my state of Vermont have pledged to mail ballots to all registered voters for the upcoming election.  And many other states are making it easier to vote by mail. Trump himself, as well as members of his administration, have repeatedly voted by mail.  Members of the U.S. military have regularly voted by mail since the 1800s.

Given the significant increase in mail in ballots why, you might ask, are Trump and his allies trying to attack the integrity of our vote by mail system? 

The answer is simple.  A number of studies have shown that for, whatever reasons, Republicans are more likely to vote in person while Democrats are more likely to use mail in ballots.  

In fact, one poll found that only about a quarter of Biden supporters would vote in person on Election Day while some two thirds of Trump voters planned to vote in person.

In other words, if Trump can undermine people’s confidence in the validity of votes cast by mail, he will be calling into question the validity of votes that may overwhelmingly support Joe Biden.  

Let us consider the following scenario:  

On election night, Trump is ahead in many battleground states based on the votes of those who voted in person on election day.  All across the television screens people see Trump ahead before they turn in for the night.  But as more and more mail in ballots are counted, Trump’s lead falls.  Trump then announces, with no proof, that there has been massive mail in ballot fraud and that these votes should not be counted – and that he has won the election.

In other words, Trump may well announce that he has won the election before all of the votes are counted and that large numbers of mail in ballots should be discarded.

Furthermore, in states where Republicans control the legislature, it is possible that the election results will be ignored because of false accusations of voter fraud and that the legislature itself will use its power to appoint electors pledged to vote for Trump, overriding the will of the people. 

And, in the midst of all of this, with the death of Justice Ginsburg, Trump is attempting to push through a Supreme Court Justice who may very well cast a vote in a case that will determine the outcome of this election.  He is doing that at a time when early voting has already begun and millions of ballots will have already been cast.

In this unprecedented moment what can we as a people do in the struggle to preserve American democracy?  

First, it is absolutely imperative that we have, by far, the largest voter turnout in American history and that people vote as early as possible. 

As someone who is strongly supporting Joe Biden, let’s be clear: A landslide victory for Biden will make it virtually impossible for Trump to deny the results and is our best means for defending democracy.  

Second, with the pandemic and a massive increase in mail in voting, state legislatures must take immediate action now to allow mail in votes to be counted before Election Day – as they come in.  

In fact, 32 states allow for the counting or processing of absentee ballots – verifying signatures for example – before Election Day.  All states should do the same.  The faster all ballots are counted, the less window there is for chaos and conspiracy theories.  

Third, the news media needs to prepare the American people to understand there is no longer a single election day and that it is very possible that we may not know the results on November 3rd.  

Fourth, social media companies must finally get their act together and stop people from using their tools to spread disinformation and to threaten and harass election officials.

Fifth, in the Congress and in state legislatures hearings must be held as soon as possible to explain to the public how the election day process and the days that follow will be handled.  As we count every vote, and prevent voter intimidation everything possible must be done to prevent chaos, disinformation, and even violence.

Lastly, and most importantly, the American people, no matter what their political persuasion, must make it clear that  American democracy will not be destroyed.  Our country from its inception and through the sacrifices of millions has been a model to the world with regard to representative government.  In 1863, in the midst of the terrible Civil War, Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg stated that this government “of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

That was true then. That is true today.  Regardless of what Donald Trump wants the American people will preserve democracy in our country.

Biden-Harris 2020, Civil Rights, Constitution, Donald Trump, Election 2020, Gender Equity, Health Care, Joe Biden, Justice Agenda, Justice system, News & Photo Features, Obamacare, Presidential Campaign 2020, Presidential Politics, Republicans, Social Justice

Biden Pays Homage to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Warns Republicans of Lasting Damage to Ram SCOTUS Replacement Through

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the subject of the “Notorious RBG” exhibit at the Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia. In a speech in Philadelphia, Vice President Joe Biden paid homage to Justice Ginsburg, “She was a trailblazer, a role model, a source of hope, and a powerful voice for justice. She was proof that courage and conviction and moral clarity can change not just the law, but also the world” and warned Republicans, ”This appointment isn’t about the past. It’s about the future. And the people of this nation are choosing the future right now. To jam this nomination through the Senate is just an exercise in raw political power.” © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

The hypocrisy and shamelessness of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans to now move forward to fill the seat vacated by Ruth Bader Ginsburg with someone who would completely undo all the progress she made toward equality and social justice in the midst of actual voting to replace the president and Congress is only matched by the hypocrisy and shamelessness of the self-professed conservative “originalist” Supreme Court justices who have the audacity to suggest they can fathom what the Founding Fathers meant and disregard all the changes since then, to actually make law. Five justices contradicting the 435 elected members of the House and 100 elected members of the Senate and the president, going further, reaching back into settled law and precedent to overturn women’s rights, civil rights, voting rights, workers rights, environmental protection, to re-form this nation as a Catholic theocracy, not much different than Islamic theocracy.

Just a reminder: McConnell invented this “rule” of not confirming – not even giving President Obama’s nominee a hearing – even though the election was 10 months away (and Scalia’s seat was vacant for 400 days) because it was an election year, and that Obama purposely looked for a moderate, not a progressive, and not someone who could conceivably serve for 50 years on the bench, in choosing Merrick Garland to replace Antonin Scalia. It really was a further demonstration of the disrespect he had for Obama, America’s first Black president, and, when Obama took office in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression,  McConnell said his first priority was not to help Americans seeing their lives come apart but to make Obama a “one-term president.” He stalled hundreds of judicial appointments so that he could fill them all – and hand Trump his only  achievement Trump can crow about. B

McConnell’s does not necessarily see the swift filling of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat as energizing Republican turnout but because he expects to lose the White House and very possibly the Senate. Also, he wants a Supreme Court in Trump’s pocket to decide the dozens of outrageous court suits designed to suppress voting (the only way Trump can eke out a win in the Electoral College).

Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate for president, spoke out in Philadelphia, paying homage to Justice Ginsburg’s life and legacy and outrage over yet another theft of a Supreme Court seat that, despite the conservative minority in the country and majority’s rejection of their positions, will control the lives of every American for generations. Presidents may come and go, but these justices serve for life.

”This appointment isn’t about the past. It’s about the future. And the people of this nation are choosing the future right now,” Biden declared. “To jam this nomination through the Senate is just an exercise in raw political power.”

Here are Vice President’s remarks, highlighted, as prepared for delivery on September 20, 2020 in Philadelphia:

 –Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Good afternoon.
 
I attended mass earlier today and prayed for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her family.
 
The nation lost an icon, but they lost a mother, a grandmother, and a matriarch.
 
We know how hard that is to watch a piece of your soul absorb the cruelty and pain of that dreadful disease of cancer.
 
But as I spoke with her daughter and granddaughter last night, they made clear that until the very end she displayed the character and courage we would expect of her. She held their hand and gave them strength and purpose to carry on.
 
It’s been noted that she passed away on Rosh Hashanah.
 
By tradition, a person who dies during the Jewish New Year is considered a soul of great righteousness.
 
That was Ruth Bader Ginsgburg. A righteous soul.
 
It was my honor to preside over her confirmation hearings, and to strongly support her accession to the Supreme Court.
 
Justice Ginsburg achieved a standing few justices do. She became a presence in the lives of so many Americans, a part of the culture.
 
Yes there was humor in the mentions of the “Notorious RBG” and her impressive exercise routines. But it was so much more.
She was a trailblazer, a role model, a source of hope, and a powerful voice for justice.
 
She was proof that courage and conviction and moral clarity can change not just the law, but also the world.
 
And I believe in the days and months and years to follow, she will continue to inspire millions of Americans all across this country. And together, we can — and we will — continue to be voices for justice in her name.
 
Her granddaughter said her dying words were “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
 
As a nation, we should heed her final call to us — not as a personal service to her, but as a service to the country at a crossroads.
 
There is so much at stake — the right to health care, clean air and water, and equal pay for equal work. The rights of voters, immigrants, women, and workers.
 
And right now, our country faces a choice. A choice about whether we can come back from the brink.
 
That’s what I’d like to talk about today.
 
Within an hour of news of her passing, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said President Trump’s nominee to replace Justice Ginsburg will receive a vote in the Senate.
 
The exact opposite of what he said when President Obama nominated Merrick Garland to replace Justice Scalia in 2016.
 
At that time, Majority Leader McConnell made up a rule based on the fiction that I somehow believed that there should be no nomination to the Court in an election year.
 
It’s ridiculous.
The only rule I ever followed related to Supreme Court nominations was the Constitution’s obligation for Senators to provide advice and consent to the president on judicial nominees.
 
But he created a new one — the McConnell Rule: absolutely no hearing and no vote for a nominee in an election year.
 
Period. No caveats.
 
And many Republican Senators agreed. Including then-Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley of Iowa. Including the current Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Lindsay Graham of South Carolina. Who at the time said, and I quote verbatim:
 
“I want you to use my words against me. If there’s a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsay Graham said let’s let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination. And you could use my words against me and you’d be absolutely right.”
 
That is what Republicans said when Justice Scalia passed away — about nine months before Election Day that year. Now, having lost Justice Ginsburg less than seven weeks before Election Day this year — after Americans have already begun to cast their votes — they cannot unring the bell.
 
Having made this their standard when it served their interest, they cannot, just four years later, change course when it doesn’t serve their ends. And I’m not being naive.
 
I’m not speaking to President Trump, who will do whatever he wants.
 
I’m not speaking to Mitch McConnell, who will do what he does.
 
I’m speaking to those Senate Republicans out there who know deep down what is right for the country — not just for their party.
 
I’m speaking for the millions of Americans out there, who are already voting in this election. Millions of Americans who are voting because they know their health care hangs in the balance.
 
In the middle of the worst global health crisis in living memory, Donald Trump is at the Supreme Court trying to strip health coverage away from tens of millions of families and to strip away the peace of mind from more than 100 million people with pre-existing conditions.
 
If he succeeds, insurers could once again discriminate or drop coverage completely for people
living with preexisting conditions like asthma, diabetes, and cancer.
 
And perhaps, most cruelly of all, if Donald Trump has his way, complications from COVID-19, like lung scarring and heart damage, could become the next deniable pre-existing condition.
 
Millions of Americans who are also voting because they don’t want nearly a half century of legal precedent to be overturned and lose their right to choose.
 
Millions of Americans who are at risk of losing their right to vote.
 
Millions of Dreamers who are at risk of being expelled from the only country they have ever known.
 
Millions of workers who are at risk of losing their collective bargaining rights.

Millions of Americans who are demanding that their voices be heard and that equal justice be guaranteed for all.
 
They know — we all know — what should happen now.
 
The voters of this country should be heard. Voting has already begun in some states.
 
And in just a few weeks, all the voters of this nation will be heard. They are the ones who should decide who has the power to make this appointment.
 
This appointment isn’t about the past. It’s about the future. And the people of this nation are choosing the future right now.
 
To jam this nomination through the Senate is just an exercise in raw political power.
 
I don’t believe the people of this nation will stand for it.
 
President Trump has already made it clear this is about power. Pure and simple.
 
Well, the voters should make it clear on this issue and so many others: the power in this nation resides with them — the people.
 
And even if President Trump wants to put forward a name now, the Senate should not act on it until after the American people select their next president and the next Congress.
 
If Donald Trump wins the election — then the Senate should move on his selection — and weigh that nominee fairly.
 
But if I win the election, President Trump’s nomination should be withdrawn.
 
As the new President, I should be the one who nominates Justice Ginsburg’s successor, a nominee who should get a fair hearing in the Senate before a confirmation vote.
 
We’re in the middle of a pandemic. We’re passing 200,000 American deaths lost to this virus. Tens of millions of Americans are on unemployment.
 
Health care in this country hangs in the balance before the Court.
 
And now, in a raw political move – this president and the Republican leader have decided to jam a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court through the United States Senate.
 
It’s the last thing we need in this moment.
 
Voters have already begun casting ballots in this country.
 
In just a few weeks, we are going to know who the voters of this nation have chosen to be their next president.
 
The United States Constitution was designed to give the voters one chance – to have their voice heard on who serves on the Court.
 
That moment is now — and their voice should be heard. And I believe voters are going to make it clear – they will not stand for this abuse of power.
 
There’s also discussion about what happens if the Senate confirms — on election eve – or in a lame duck after Donald Trump loses — a successor to Justice Ginsburg.
 
But that discussion assumes that we lose this effort to prevent the grave wrong that Trump and McConnell are pursuing here.
 
And I’m not going to assume failure at this point. I believe the voices of the American people should be heard.
 
This fight won’t be over until the Senate votes, if it does vote.
 
Winning that vote — if it happens — is everything.
 
Action and reaction. Anger and more anger. Sorrow and frustration at the way things are.
 
That’s the cycle that Republican Senators will continue to perpetuate if they go down this dangerous path they have put us on.
 
We need to de-escalate — not escalate.
 
So I appeal to those few Senate Republicans — the handful who will really decide what happens.
 
Don’t vote to confirm anyone nominated under the circumstances President Trump and Senator McConnell have created.
 
Don’t go there.
 
Uphold your Constitutional duty — your conscience.
 
Cool the flames that have been engulfing our country.
 
We can’t keep rewriting history, scrambling norms, and ignoring our cherished system of checks and balances.
 
That includes this whole business of releasing a list of potential nominees that I would put forward.
 
It’s no wonder the Trump campaign asked that I release a list only hours after Justice Ginsburg passed away.
 
It’s a game to them, a play to gin up emotions and anger.
 
There’s a reason why no Presidential candidate other than Donald Trump has ever done such a thing.
 
First, putting a judge’s name on a list like that -could influence that person’s decision-making as a judge — and that’s wrong.
 
Second, anyone put on a list like that under these circumstances – will be the subject of unrelenting political attacks.
 
And because any nominee I would select would not get a hearing until 2021 at the earliest – she would endure those attacks for months on end without being able to defend herself.
 
Third, and finally, and perhaps most importantly, if I win, I will make my choice for the Supreme Court — not as part of a partisan election campaign — but as prior Presidents did.
 
Only after consulting Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Senate – and seeking their advice before I ask for their consent.
 
As everyone knows – I have made it clear that my first choice for the Supreme Court will make history as the first African American woman Justice.
 
I will consult with Senators in both parties about that pick, as well as with legal and civic leaders. In the end, the choice will be mine and mine alone.
 
But it will be the product of a process that restores our finest traditions – not the extension of one that has torn this country apart.
 
I’ll conclude with this.
 
As I’ve said in this campaign, we are in the battle for the soul of this country.
 
We face four historic crises. A once-in-a-generation pandemic. A devastating economic recession. The rise of white supremacy unseen since the 1960’s, and a reckoning on race long overdue. And a changing climate that is ravaging our nation as we speak.
 
Supreme Court decisions touch every part of these crises — every part of our lives and our future.
 
The last thing we need is to add a constitutional crisis that plunges us deeper into the abyss – deeper into the darkness.
 
If we go down this path, it would cause irreversible damage.
 
The infection this president has unleashed on our democracy can be fatal.
Enough.
 
We must come together as a nation. Democrat, Republican, Independent, liberal, conservative. Everybody.
 
I’m not saying that we have to agree on everything. But we have to reason our way through to what ails us – as citizens, voters, and public servants. We have to act in good faith and mutual good will. In a spirit of conciliation, not confrontation.
 
This nation will continue to be inspired by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but we should be guided by her as well.
 
By her willingness to listen, to hear those she disagreed with, to respect other points of view.
 
Famously, Justice Ginsburg got along well with some of the most conservative justices on the Court.
 
And she did it without compromising her principles – or clouding her moral clarity – or losing her core principles.
 
If she could do this, so can we.
 
How we talk to one another matters. How we treat one another matters. Respecting others matters.
 
Justice Ginsburg proved it’s important to have a spine of steel, but it’s also important to offer an open hand — and not a closed fist — to those you disagree with.
 
This nation needs to come together.
 
I have said it many times in this election. We are the United States of America.
 
There’s nothing we cannot do if we do it together. Maybe Donald Trump wants to divide this nation between Red States and Blue States.
 
Between representing those states that vote for him and ignoring those that don’t.
 
I do not.
 
I cannot — and I will not — be that president.
 
I will be a president for the whole country.
 
For those who vote for me and those who don’t.
 
We need to rise to this moment, for the sake of our country we love.
 
Indeed, for its very soul.
 
May God bless the United States of America.
 
May God protect our troops.
 
May God bless Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Biden-Harris 2020, Coronavirus Pandemic, Democrats 2020, Donald Trump, Election 2020, Joe Biden, News & Photo Features, Presidential Campaign 2020

Biden Presents Plan to Combat COVID19: ‘I trust vaccines. I trust the scientists. But I don’t trust Donald Trump and the American people can’t either’

Vice President Joe Biden, Democratic candidate for president, presents his detailed plan to combat COVID-19 and save lives, that includes nationwide protocols for testing, tracing, wearing masks and social distancing, and the logistics for vaccinating everyone, free, when a vaccine becomes available: ‘I trust vaccines. I trust the scientists. But I don’t trust Donald Trump and the American people can’t either’© Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

It’s ridiculous, almost humorous – if not so tragic – to hear Trump complaining that Biden hasn’t been able to issue a nationwide mandate to wear masks, when he is ostensibly the president (he says so, “I’m president. Can you believe it?” and “I can do anything I want. I’m president.”) but has failed to serve in the function while abusing the power. Trump could have used his power to require Domestic Production of protective equipment like masks, gowns, gloves, and the all-important ventilators, rather than give out massive no-bid contracts to companies like Kodak that had no experience, or have his son-in-law Jared Kushner use political operatives to take calls from grifters who claimed to be able to procure PPE, while dismissing the need to set up testing or send out equipment to Blue States, because, well, they vote Democratic and have Democratic leadership. Trump (an anti-vaxxer) has contradicted his own medical advisers, politicized the once vaunted CDC, FDA, NIH, thrown out nearly $1 trillion in Operation War Speed, all the while sowing such doubt in the efficacy or safety of any vaccine that would be rushed through testing. And yet, Trump, who disbanded the Obama-era pandemic office, pulled out of the World Health Organization and international efforts to produce a vaccine, has actually blamed Biden for failing to have stockpiled testing and vaccines against a virus that didn’t exist until more than three years into his reign. The Trump Campaign is now chiding and misrepresenting and frankly lying about Biden’s proposals and position on coronavirus and vaccines.

Trump, who is now listening only to those health “experts” like radiologist Scott Atlas who confirm his own conveniences, now is embracing the “herd immunity” (he called it “herd mentality in the ABC Town Hall) approach – essentially doing nothing, telling people not to wear masks or socially distance, so that as many as possible will become infected until so many are infected or dead, the virus has no place to go. Problem with that is you would need 225 million out of the 330 million population to get the infection, out of which as many as 6 million would die. But there is actually no proof that there is immunity from COVID-19, or that immunity after infection does not last more than a few months, or whether the virus mutates (like flu viruses) so that it becomes a new disease all over again.

Actual medical experts, including CDC Director Dr. Robert R. Redfield:  “We are not defenseless against COVID-19,” he said. “Cloth face coverings are one of the most powerful weapons we have to slow and stop the spread of the virus – particularly when used universally within a community setting. All Americans have a responsibility to protect themselves, their families, and their communities.” Dr. Redfield said as recently as this week, after Trump chided the use of masks, “I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against COVID than when I take a COVID vaccine.” Trump’s reaction? He rebuked Redfield, saying he had “made a mistake,” “misunderstood the question,” and had taken back his statement.

Estimates put the number of lives that could be saved between now and December- now forecast to be as high as 215,000 MORE deaths- at 100,000 and it is likely that had a nationwide mask order been imposed, 100,000 of the 200,000 who have already died could have been saved. About 1,000 Americans are dying each day.

And let’s be clear, New York State and the surrounding states became a hotspot because Trump’s intelligence network did not want to mention that the coronavirus was coming in from Europe. While everyone watched for the spread to come from the West Coast from China, 3 million people who came from infected areas of Europe had already come through New York’s airports. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo was left to figure out on his own how to contain the virus before it completely overwhelmed the health care system. Now, Trump wants to dismiss the numbers of COVID-19 dead in Blue States – apparently, dead people in Blue States don’t matter – to make the absurd argument that the rates of death in the United States are somehow on par with the rest of the world (not).

Here are Vice President Joe Biden’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, after a vaccine briefing in Wilmington, Delaware, in which he outlined his own plan to get control of the coronavirus, save lives and restore the economy: testing and tracing, national protocols for mask-wearing and social distancing, an actual plan to distribute the vaccine free.

“So let me be clear, I trust vaccines. I trust the scientists. But I don’t trust Donald Trump — and the American people can’t either,” Biden said. 

“If I am elected president, I will begin implementing an effective distribution plan from the minute I take office. That is what I discussed with the experts in the briefing today.
 
“It will include: a detailed timeline for when people will get the vaccine, a clear delineation of priority populations, the specific means and mechanisms of shipping and storage at appropriate temperatures, the division of responsibility at every level of government.
 
“And I will provide the leadership necessary to carry this plan out. I will level with the American people. I will take responsibility. I will support rather than tear down the experts responsible for day-to-day execution. I will follow the science.”

 – Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com.

I just concluded an hour and a half long briefing with seven of our nation’s top public health experts on the state of the pandemic, the steps needed to curb the spread of the virus, and the challenge of distributing a safe and effective vaccine once we have identified one.
 
Before I turn to those issues, let me say a few words about the president’s comments last night.
 
Even after acknowledging to Bob Woodward on tape that he was fully informed on the gravity of the danger related to COVID-19. He refused to warn the American people. And again, last night, in a televised town hall, the President revealed in no uncertain terms the lack of seriousness with which he continues to take this pandemic.
 
Nearly eight months after this crisis on the doorstep of 200,000 American deaths, President Trump refused once again to take responsibility or to take action. 

By his own admission he continued to lie about COVID-19. He doubled down on his catastrophic mistakes.
 
And, perhaps worst of all — he made clear that he still doesn’t have a plan to bring us out of this crisis.
 
He even said that quote — “a lot of people think that masks are not good” — undercutting the easiest and most effective means we have for reducing the spread of this disease. [Asked “who thought that?” Trump said “waiters.”]
 
This virus is still taking nearly a thousand lives each day.
 
And forecasts show that the numbers are likely to climb this winter.
 
But, incredibly, President Trump insists that he wouldn’t have done anything differently.
 
Not one thing.
 
Last Friday, we learned that another one thousand Americans died due to this virus.
 
On the very same day, Canada reported that not one person died of COVID-19.
 
And Trump wouldn’t have done anything differently?
 
If you’re a parent in America, preparing for another day that you can’t send your child to school, if you’re grieving the loss of a loved one, if your small business can’t open or you can’t go back to work because the virus is still spreading in your community, how does it make you feel to hear the President say he wouldn’t have done anything differently?
 
And if he gets four more years, why should we expect anything to change?
 
All President Trump had to offer last night was the same weak and feckless inaction — the same lies and empty promises — that we’ve seen from the very beginning.
 
He still won’t accept responsibility. He still won’t offer a plan.
 
Last night, he repeated what he has said so many times before: That even if he continues to offer only failing indifference some day, the virus will go away like a miracle.
 
It won’t go away like a miracle. The fact is, even if we get a vaccine, it will not be available to most of the population until well into next year. 
 
And we are heading into a dangerous autumn.
 
In fact, the University of Washington model — which the White House has previously touted — projects that cases and deaths are going to spike in November – and an additional 215,000 Americans will die by the end of the year. 
 
That’s more than have already died.
 
We need leadership right now to prevent that from happening. That same University of Washington model shows that if there is universal masking, we could cut those deaths by more than half. We could save more than 100,000 lives.
 
Even Donald Trump’s own director of the CDC told us that wearing a mask is the single most important step we can take to curb this virus. He said “I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against COVID than when I take a COVID vaccine.”


I spoke with the experts today about additional steps we can take to prevent needless deaths and suffering.
 
Uniform national guidance – and standards on social distancing – that can be applied to the particular circumstances of states and communities.
 
More effective approaches on testing and tracing.
 
If we do these things between now and January – we could save even more lives.
 
Last night, Donald Trump indicated he has no interest in doing these things. 
 
A president’s first responsibility is to protect the American people. 
 
And he won’t.
 
That is utterly disqualifying.
 
I also spoke with the experts about the paramount importance of preparing now for the swift, organized, and free distribution of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.
 
I am profoundly grateful to the scientists and researchers working tirelessly to ensure that
a safe and effective vaccine becomes a reality as soon as possible.
 
They carry the hopes of our entire nation and the entire world.
 
And when their work comes to fruition – and it will — they will no doubt save countless lives.
 
But scientific breakthroughs don’t care about calendars any more than the virus does.
 
They certainly don’t adhere to election cycles.
 
And their timing, their approval, and their distribution should never, ever be distorted by political considerations. They should be determined by science and safety alone.
 
A vaccine would offer a way back to normalcy and a path forward to better days for all of us.
 
It won’t happen overnight. It will take months to distribute it to the entire population.
 
But I’m more hopeful than ever in the power of science to get us there.
 
One thing is certain, we cannot allow politics to interfere with a vaccine in any way.
 
Americans have had to endure President Trump’s incompetence and dishonesty when it came to testing and personal protective equipment.
 
We cannot afford a repeat of those fiascos when it comes to a vaccine. The stakes are too high American families have already suffered and sacrificed far too much.
 
So let me be clear, I trust vaccines. I trust the scientists. But I don’t trust Donald Trump — and the American people can’t either.
 
Last week, Senator Harris and I laid out three questions this Administration must answer —  to assure the American people that politics will play no role whatsoever in the vaccine process.
 
If Donald Trump can give honest answers to these questions — the American people should have the confidence and transparency they need to trust a vaccine and adopt it in numbers that make a difference.
 
First, what criteria will be used to ensure that a vaccine meets the scientific standard of safety and effectiveness?
 
Second, if the Administration greenlights a vaccine — who will validate that the decision was driven by science rather than politics?
 
Third, how can we be sure that the distribution of the vaccine will take place — safely, cost-free, and without a hint of favoritism?
 
The fact of the matter is developing a vaccine is only part of the battle.
 
Distributing a vaccine to the entire population is as complex and challenging as the most sensitive military operation.
 
I’ve been calling for an effective distribution plan for months.
 
If I am elected president, I will begin implementing an effective distribution plan from the minute I take office. That is what I discussed with the experts in the briefing today.
 
It will include: a detailed timeline for when people will get the vaccine, a clear delineation of priority populations, the specific means and mechanisms of shipping and storage at appropriate temperatures, the division of responsibility at every level of government.
 
And I will provide the leadership necessary to carry this plan out. I will level with the American people. I will take responsibility. I will support rather than tear down the experts responsible for day-to-day execution. I will follow the science.
 
With satisfactory answers to the three questions I laid out — every American— including me and my family — can have confidence in a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.
 
This isn’t about politics. It’s about saving lives.
 
It’s about getting back to our loved ones and our friends.
 
It’s about getting our economy back on its feet.
 
Getting back to the movie theater, to the restaurant, to the ballpark.
 
It’s about getting back to our lives — and getting America up off the mat.
 
We can, and we must, be united in that pursuit.
 
No matter when that breakthrough emerges — no matter when that hope bears fruit.
 
That’s America at our best.
 
Thank you.
 
God bless our scientists and researchers — and frontline workers.
 
And God protect our troops.
 
I’ll stop and take your questions.