- US veterans and soldiers divided over Trump calling war dead ‘suckers’
- John Kerry on Biden: ‘He’d never lavish praise on dictators’
- Protests over the death of Daniel Prude continue
- Senate to reconvene at 3pm after summer break
- 261 coronavirus deaths and 25,167 new cases recorded yesterday
- Sign up for our First Thing newsletter
12.31pm BST
CNN’s Kevin Liptak has an analysis piece this morning to remind us that it is just 56 days to go until the election. He has run the rule over how the two campaigns are shaping up for the final stretch, saying that Labor Day has assumed an outsized starting-gun quality as both candidates begin fervent in-person attempts to mobilize their voters.
Trump, brazenly breaking ethical norms by using the White House as his campaign stage, hopes his outsized attacks will either draw in or drown out his rival – and to some extent he’s been successful in forcing Biden to defend himself against accusations he’s fomenting riots or declining mentally. Biden hopes to turn the election into a referendum on Trump’s character – in part by allowing the President’s words and actions to speak for themselves.
Trump has made championing nascent culture wars a central aspect of his political persona and has scaled up his efforts in recent days. He instructed the White House budget chief to withdraw funding from federal agencies for racial sensitivity training that he deemed “divisive, anti-American propaganda.” He also threatened to pull funding from public schools that teach an interpretation of US history that uses the arrival of the first slave ships on American shores to reframe traditional narratives. The actions seem to codify Trump’s dismissive views of systemic racism, which he says isn’t a worthy area of focus, while violence persists on American streets. “We grew up with a certain history and now they’re trying to change our history,” Trump said.
12.15pm BST
Both the Trump and the Biden campaigns have new ad spots launching this week in the battleground states.
In his ad, the Trump team are hailing the “Great American Comeback”.
This is our chance to put the darkness of the last four years behind us and start fresh in America. We’ve had four years of a president who brings out the worst in America. Isn’t it time we had a president who brought out the best?
Continue reading…US veterans and soldiers divided over Trump calling war dead ‘suckers’John Kerry on Biden: ‘He’d never lavish praise on dictators’Protests over the death of Daniel Prude continueSenate to reconvene at 3pm after summer break261 coronavirus deaths and 25,167 new cases recorded yesterdaySign up for our First Thing newsletter 12.31pm BSTCNN’s Kevin Liptak has an analysis piece this morning to remind us that it is just 56 days to go until the election. He has run the rule over how the two campaigns are shaping up for the final stretch, saying that Labor Day has assumed an outsized starting-gun quality as both candidates begin fervent in-person attempts to mobilize their voters.Trump, brazenly breaking ethical norms by using the White House as his campaign stage, hopes his outsized attacks will either draw in or drown out his rival – and to some extent he’s been successful in forcing Biden to defend himself against accusations he’s fomenting riots or declining mentally. Biden hopes to turn the election into a referendum on Trump’s character – in part by allowing the President’s words and actions to speak for themselves.Trump has made championing nascent culture wars a central aspect of his political persona and has scaled up his efforts in recent days. He instructed the White House budget chief to withdraw funding from federal agencies for racial sensitivity training that he deemed “divisive, anti-American propaganda.” He also threatened to pull funding from public schools that teach an interpretation of US history that uses the arrival of the first slave ships on American shores to reframe traditional narratives. The actions seem to codify Trump’s dismissive views of systemic racism, which he says isn’t a worthy area of focus, while violence persists on American streets. “We grew up with a certain history and now they’re trying to change our history,” Trump said. 12.15pm BSTBoth the Trump and the Biden campaigns have new ad spots launching this week in the battleground states.In his ad, the Trump team are hailing the “Great American Comeback”.This is our chance to put the darkness of the last four years behind us and start fresh in America. We’ve had four years of a president who brings out the worst in America. Isn’t it time we had a president who brought out the best? Continue reading…