Politico

Sanders’ endorsement is a big step toward avoiding the rancor that marked the end of the 2016 Democratic primary.

By MARC CAPUTO and HOLLY OTTERBEIN

04/13/2020 02:20 PM EDT

Updated: 04/13/2020 06:37 PM EDT

Joe Biden became the Democratic Party’s indisputable presidential nominee Monday when Bernie Sanders paid a surprise visit to the former vice president’s livecast and issued an unexpected and full-throated endorsement.

Sanders, who formally suspended his campaign last week, said he needed everyone — not just his supporters — to back Biden and make sure that President Trump becomes a one-term president.

“Today, I am asking all Americans — I'm asking every Democrat; I’m asking every independent; I’m asking a lot of Republicans — to come together in this campaign to support your candidacy, which I endorse, to make certain that we defeat somebody who I believe is the most dangerous president in the modern history of this country,” Sanders told Biden.

“I will do all that I can to see that that happens, Joe,” Sanders pledged, after calling Trump a racist, a sexist, a xenophobe and a religious bigot who botched the nation’s initial response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I want to thank you for that. It’s a big deal,” Biden said. “Your endorsement means a great deal, a great deal to me.”

snip

Politico

Many of Sanders’ aides and top allies are convinced they should have gone for Biden’s jugular.

By HOLLY OTTERBEIN

04/10/2020 07:28 PM EDT

It was late February, and Bernie Sanders was days away from the most important debate of his political career.

The Vermont senator had finally clawed his way to the top of the presidential primary after winning New Hampshire and crushing the field in Nevada. His closest rival, Joe Biden, was reeling. Moderate Democrats were terrified Sanders could win the nomination, and the target on his back was bigger than ever before.

Two of Sanders’ top advisers — pollster Ben Tulchin and speechwriter David Sirota — told Sanders that he should pointedly take on Biden at the Feb. 25 debate in South Carolina, which the former vice president saw as his firewall state. They also said Sanders should use billionaire Mike Bloomberg as a foil, and attack him over his record of supporting stop-and-frisk, in order to deflect from the onslaught he would no doubt face as the newly anointed frontrunner.

The stakes were high: In an email to senior staff, Tulchin said that moderate voters were beginning to unify behind Biden and that the consolidation would intensify if he won South Carolina, according to people familiar with the message.

snip

Politico

The speaker also signals the House may not come back in session this month.

By HEATHER CAYGLE and JOHN BRESNAHAN

04/09/2020 10:11 PM EDT

Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled Thursday that the House is unlikely to return to session later this month, her clearest indication yet that Congress — like the rest of the country — could remain shuttered for weeks or even longer as the coronavirus crisis continues.

In a half-hour interview, Pelosi issued a stark warning to President Donald Trump, urging him not to prematurely rush to reopen major segments of the country before the coronavirus is under control, which she said could further send the U.S. economy into a tailspin.

“Nobody can really tell you that and I would never venture a guess. I certainly don’t think we should do it sooner than we should,” Pelosi said when asked if she still planned to bring the House back on April 20, which is the current target date.

“This has taken an acceleration from when we started this…Little did we know then that at this point, we’d be further confined.”

snip

Daily Beast

John McEntee is the ultimate Trump loyalist. And now he’s been tasked with making the administration as committed to the president as he is.

Asawin Suebsaeng
White House Reporter
Erin Banco
National Security Reporter
Updated Apr. 09, 2020 10:40PM ET / Published Apr. 09, 2020 10:29PM ET

Even in the midst of a global pandemic and economic collapse, President Donald Trump is charging ahead on his mission to purge his administration of watchdogs who are tasked with exposing waste, fraud, and abuse. And as he goes about this mission, he’s leaning on a 29-year-old loyalist once exiled from the Trump administration for a reported gambling problem, as well as a cadre of conservative firebrands who have fed his paranoia that government careerists are trying to destroy him.

Early this month, Trump fired Michael Atkinson, inspector general of the intelligence community, who had been asked to handle the anonymous whistleblower complaint last year that triggered the president’s impeachment at the hands of House Democrats. On Monday, the president used his daily coronavirus press briefing at the White House to take swipes at Christi Grimm, a Department of Health and Human Services inspector general, after being asked about her report documenting the “severe shortages of testing supplies” in certain U.S. hospitals during the coronavirus crisis. On Tuesday, the news broke that Trump had replaced Glenn Fine, an acting Pentagon inspector general who had been assigned to oversee $2 trillion in coronavirus relief money.

snip

Mediaite

By Reed RichardsonApr 9th, 2020, 8:01 pm

Former Facebook exec Chamath Palihapitiya dumbfounded a CNBC anchor on Thursday when he argued that billionaires, hedge funds, and mismanaged corporations, like airline companies, don’t deserve any federal bailout or stimulus money.

Speaking with Scott Wapner, host of the Fast Money Halftime Report, the Social Capital CEO unapologetically brushed off concerns for Wall Street’s financial giants, comparing their relative discomfort to the real economic pain being suffered by unemployed workers.

“Lastly, let me ask you one last question,” Wapner said. “I think we all agree that more money for Main Street is needed. Maybe not in spite of the money to all of these companies or whatever that make up the economy as well, hat more money is needed everywhere, perhaps. Are you, you keep saying ‘propping up zombie companies.’ Are you arguing to let airlines fail?”

“Yes,” was Palihapitiya’s curt answer.

snip

Politico

Released from his self-imposed neutrality, the former president will soon make the case for Biden that Biden has had trouble making himself.

By RYAN LIZZA

04/09/2020 08:07 PM EDT

In the end, the most influential politician of 2020 may be the one who has been the most silent.

With Bernie Sanders exiting the race and Joe Biden taking on the mantle of presumptive nominee, the man who hovered quietly over the race for more than a year, Barack Obama, will soon return to the political fray.

Obama wanted Sanders to have the day to himself and so he refrained from speaking (or tweeting) publicly on Wednesday. But Obama had always said his role in the primaries would be to unite the party when it’s over, and he’s been in close contact with both campaigns as the pandemic both froze the race without a clear victor and also made it more obvious that Biden would eventually prevail.

“Over the last few weeks, he’s had multiple conversations with candidates, including Sen. Sanders, about how to best position the Democratic Party to win in November,” said a source familiar with those calls. “While the content of those conversations remain private, there was always agreement that winning in the fall was paramount.”

snip

Politico

In a bid to assuage skeptical Sanders voters, Biden proposes expanding Medicare and forgiving some student debt. But they're still wary.

By MARC CAPUTO

04/09/2020 05:55 PM EDT

The day after his last opponent dropped out of the presidential race, Joe Biden took the rarest of turns for a Democratic nominee: to the left.

Biden shed any pretense about his need to win over Bernie Sanders voters when he announced a pair of proposals Thursday aimed at assuaging wary progressives: lowering the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 60 years old, and forgiving all student debt for low- and middle-income people who attended public colleges and universities, as well as those who attended private Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other institutions that serve minority students.

While unorthodox for a general election nominee, Biden’s decision not to move to the center was both a tacit admission that he has a problem with young and progressive voters, as well as a gamble that he can remain the real centrist in the race against President Donald Trump.

snip

Law and Crime

by Colin Kalmbacher | 8:17 pm, February 17th, 2020

A surrogate for Joe Biden‘s presidential campaign was, in her words in a group chat, “forced to resign” on Monday from Pennsylvania Young Democrats after promoting a doctored video of fellow 2020 contender Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) and for allegedly sharing anti-Semitic tweets about him and his online supporters.

Lindy Li previously served as the treasurer for the Pennsylvania Young Democrats, a position she has since admittedly resigned.

“Biden Surrogate [Lindy Li] as forced to resign as Treasurer of the PA Young Democrats after spreading doctored video of Bernie Sanders and making antisemitic comments about him,” tweeted immigration paralegal Jamie Agustin, who broke the story on Twitter.

Li later confirmed that she resigned in a Twitter post–but disputed the circumstances surrounding her departure.

snip