Elections 2024 live: ‘Combative’ Biden refuses to debate Trump again before DNC as Pelosi ‘plots to oust him’
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Joe Biden delivered an energetic and passionate speech to the NAACP meeting in swing-state Nevada on Tuesday afternoon, firing up the crowd by mocking Donald Trump’s references to “Black jobs” by citing the roles of Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson at the highest levels of government
The president has sat for interviews in the wake of the assassination attempt on his Republican rival, including taking a combative tone with NBC on Monday, but the speech in Las Vegas marked his return to the campaign trail.
Biden was especially strident about how the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 manifesto would negatively impact people of color.
Nevertheless, following his woeful performance in the first debate against Trump, senior Democrats including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep Adam Schiff are reportedly convinced he will lose and want him off the party’s ticket to stave off electoral disaster in November.
Meanwhile, Trump has also returned to the campaign after he was clipped in the right ear by gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, whose motives remain unknown. At the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, the newly confirmed GOP nominee announced his running mate is Senator JD Vance of Ohio.
In pictures: Biden speaks at NAACP meeting in Nevada
Oliver O’Connell16 July 2024 23:25
Secret Service head breaks silence after Trump shooting as questions swirl over how it unfolded
In her first public comments since Saturday’s shooting, agency director Kimberly Cheatle said the gunman should never have been allowed to get in a position to take his shot and that “the buck stops with [her]”.
Oliver O’Connell16 July 2024 23:15
Watch: Biden makes energetic pitch to Black voters at NAACP meeting
Oliver O’Connell16 July 2024 23:09
Weeks before rally shooting Secret Service boosted Trump’s security after Iranian assassination plot
The Secret Service had increased security around Donald Trump after learning of an Iranian plot to assassinate him, just weeks before he was shot at his campaign rally.
A spokesperson for the National Security Council told CNN they have found no link so far between Crooks “and any accomplice or co-conspirator, foreign or domestic.”
Gustaf Kilander has the full story.
Oliver O’Connell16 July 2024 23:06
Progressives fear Trump’s assassination attempt will win him the presidency
Hasan Piker, a popular progressive streamer with millions of followers, was broadcasting live on Twitch on Saturday when his viewers alerted him to the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
As he repeatedly watched clips of the former president being led away by Secret Service agents, he declared the election was as good as done.
“He’s still throwing up fists as they’re putting him in the f****ing car bro,” he said through a grimace. “Stop! Every fist is another 10,000 in a f***ing red state.”
“It’s over!” he said of the upcoming election.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, many progressives experienced the same feeling.
The Independent’s Richard Hall reports from New York.
Oliver O’Connell16 July 2024 23:00
Passionate Biden attacks Project 2025 and how it targets Black Americans
Going through the Project 2025 playbook and how it targets Black Americans, Joe Biden notes:
- Targeting the “freedom to vote and have your vote counted,” cutting Social Security and Medicare, and “eliminating the Department of Education — you outta read it — saying it’s a state issue. Give me a break.”
- Eliminate Head Start for low-income children and “allow employers — catch this one — from paying overtime.”
- “They’ve already eviscerated affirmative action. They’ll also decimate diversity, equity, inclusion, across all America.” They’re “trying to erase Black history. Black history is American history.”
- “I’m not being dramatic. We cannot let that happen. That’s why it was so important to me to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. We can’t erase it. People want to know what happened on Juneteenth.”
Oliver O’Connell16 July 2024 22:49
Trump appears emotional as he enters Republican convention with bandaged ear
Donald Trump appeared to be emotional as he entered the Republican National Convention’s opening night with a bandage over his right ear on Monday, 15 July, two days after surviving an attempted assassination at a rally in Pennsylvania. The former president was shot in the ear as he spoke on stage in Butler, with blood seen on the side of his head. Mr Trump did not address the hall on Monday, but smiled and occasionally waved as musician Lee Greenwood sang “God Bless the USA.” He eventually joined his newly-announced running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, to listen to speeches.
Oliver O’Connell16 July 2024 22:45
Biden on political violence and guns:
“We have to say with one voice that violence is not the answer. That’s what we should rally around as a nation. That’s the unity I’m talking about. Few organizations know that better than the NAACP.”
“If we’re gonna speak about violence, we’re gonna speak about guns. More children in America died of gunshot wounds than any other reason. That is sick. And it’s sheer cowardice if we do nothing about it. So, you wanna stand against violence in America, then join me in getting these weapons of war off the streets of America. An AR-15 was used in the shooting of Donald Trump, just as other assault weapons used to kill so many others, including children. It’s time to outlaw them. I did it once and I will do it again.”
Oliver O’Connell16 July 2024 22:30
In another energized moment, Biden corrected the record on Trump’s claims about Black unemployment:
Oliver O’Connell16 July 2024 22:29
Biden delivers fired up speech to NAACP in Las Vegas
President Joe Biden is delivering a fired-up speech to the NAACP meeting in Las Vegas.
He began by acknowledging the rough time he’s been having in Washington: “The story goes, Truman said, ‘You want a friend in Washington? Get a dog.’ But guess what, last couple weeks, after the last couple weeks, I know what he means.”
Speaking about Donald Trump’s approach to Black America, Biden said to raucous applause: “Black jobs.’ I love this phrase. ‘Black jobs.’ Tells us a lot about the man and his character. Folks, I know what a Black job is. It’s the vice president of the United States. I know what a Black job is. The first Black president in the history of the United States Barack Obama. … I nominated the first Black justice to the Supreme Court.”
He added about Vice President Kamala Harris: “She’s not only a great vice president, she could be president of the United States.”
Oliver O’Connell16 July 2024 22:28
