Trump suggests delaying presidential election
Donald Trump questioned if the presidential election should be delayed in a tweet on Thursday morning. He wrote, “With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”
During a White House briefing Thursday afternoon, Trump reiterated his concerns: “You’re sending out hundreds of millions of universal mail-in ballots. Hundreds of millions. Where are they going? Who are they being sent to?”
He added, “Do I want to see a day change? No. But I don’t want to see a crooked election,”
University of Notre Dame withdraws from hosting first presidential debate
The University of Notre Dame withdrew from hosting the first presidential debate scheduled for September 29.
Rev. John Jenkins, the university’s president, said “the necessary health precautions would have greatly diminished the educational value of hosting the debate on our campus.”
The Commission on Presidential Debates announced that Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic would instead co-host the first debate on the same date.
Biden launches ads in battleground states, Trump campaign pauses ad spending
Joe Biden launched a $14.5 million ad campaign in seven battleground states—Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—targeting voters older than 65. The TV component features a woman whose grandmother died from COVID-19. The digital ad focuses on dignity for seniors.
He also began airing his first general election ads in Ohio in a seven-figure ad buy. The ad, which focuses on Biden’s upbringing in a working-class neighborhood, will run in the Youngstown and Toledo markets until late August.
The Donald Trump campaign is pausing its ad spending to review its campaign messaging under the leadership of new campaign manager Bill Stepien. The campaign spent no money on Wednesday or Thursday and had minimal bookings in August.
Democrats releases preliminary convention schedule
Democrats released a preliminary schedule for the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday. Joe Biden is set to deliver his acceptance speech from Milwaukee on August 20. His running mate will be nominated and give an address on August 19 from an unknown location.
The Democratic National Committee also released safety measures, which include self-isolation before the event, daily coronavirus testing, and masks.
Since delegates have been discouraged from attending the event due to the coronavirus pandemic, voting on the platform and other issues will take place remotely from August 3-15. More than 700 Democratic delegates—roughly 15% all delegates—have signed a pledge to vote against the party platform if it does not include a plank supporting Medicare for All. The coalition is led by Bernie Sanders delegates from Nevada.
Biden set to announce veep pick next week
Joe Biden is expected to announce his vice presidential pick next week, possibly as early as August 1.
Politico mistakenly published an article this week that said Biden selected Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate. Politico said in a statement, “Our standard practice is to use 'lorem ipsum' as placeholder text. In this instance, that did not happen. We regret the error and any confusion that it caused.”
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