Biden news: Democratic sweep would be biggest boost for economy, analysts say
Democratic candidate says Trump’s election threats are ‘distraction’ from administration failures as polls show lead for former VP in swing states
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
“The economic outlook is strongest under the scenario in which Joe Biden and the Democrats sweep Congress and fully adopt their economic agenda," analysts said.
The Democratic nominee has meanwhile ridiculed Donald Trump for his ignorance of American history and highly questionable advice on using household bleach to combat the coronavirus, turning the tables on a president known for his insults.
“I’m not the guy who by the way said the problem with the Revolutionary War is we didn’t have enough airports," the candidate joked with a reporter in North Carolina. "I’m not the guy who said the attack that took down the trade towers was on 7-Eleven.”
The president again mocked his challenger at a rally in Jacksonville, Florida, on Thursday night as the former vice president’s latet polling from Fox puts him ahead in the key states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Nevada, where the president trails by 11 points.
In an interview with MSNBC on Friday, Mr Biden refused to speculate on the doomsday scenarios that legal scholars and election analysts have considered following the president’s threats to the election, insisting that the president is using fear as a distraction from his administration’s failures.“The last thing we need is the equivalent of a coup,” he said. “No one’s going to back him if that were to occur."
He added that “the whole notion of him talking about this … is to take our eye off the ball, not to talk about what’s happening about people dying of [Covid-19], not talking all the unemployment, not talking him being unwilling to bring Congress together and get off his golf course and out of the sand trap and have meeting in the White House.”
“It’s always about distraction with him,” he said.
He called the president’s attempts to undermine the results of the election “irresponsible and outrageous" and he suggested that a massive voter turnout will overwhelm the president’s claims that the results will be disputed.
“The people in this country are going to be heard on 3 November,” he said.
The candidate and his wife Jill Biden appeared in Washington DC on Friday to attend services for late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, lying in state at the US Capitol.
Mr Trump is expected to announce his third appointment to the high court on Saturday.
Vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris will deliver remarks on Monday in response.
Follow live coverage as it happened
Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load
Report: Trump will choose Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Supreme Court
Amy Coney Barrett will be Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsberg, according to reports.
Follow for updates
Trump will choose Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg, report says
The latest breaking news, comment and features from The Independent.
Biden and Democratic victories provide strongest economic outlook: economic analysts
The US economy would benefit from a Joe Biden presidential victory with Democratic majorities in the Senate and the House, according to a recent analysis rom Moody’s Analytics.
A Democratic sweep in November would have the best odds of boosting employment and rebounding the economy, Moody’s found in its analysis of election scenarios.
“The economic outlook is strongest under the scenario in which Biden and the Democrats sweep Congress and fully adopt their economic agenda,” according to Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi.
One scenario, with a 40 per cent probability, has the former vice president winning with a Republican-controlled Senate, as it stands now, while a Democratic sweep has a 20 percent chance – far greater than a Republican sweep, with a 5 per cent chance.
The Democratic candidates’ infrastructure spending plan and trade and immigration expansion would stand to boost the economy, while chances of high taxes would perserve those efforts more than damage Americans’ economic prospects.
“Greater government spending adds directly to [gross domestic product] and jobs, while the higher tax burden has an indirect impact through business investment and the spending and saving behavior of high-income households,” analysts wrote. “Longer-term growth under Biden’s policies is also stronger because on net they expand the supply side of the economy—the quantity and quality of labor and capital needed to produce goods and services."
More than 18 million jobs would be added in his first term with a Democratic Congress, with a forecast of 4 per cent unemployment.
‘They’re not going to be denied’: Biden says strong voter turnout will overwhelm Trump threats to undermine results
Joe Biden condemned Donald Trump’s attempts to undermine the results of the presidential election “irresponsible and outrageous" as he suggested that a massive voter turnout will overwhelm the president’s claims that the results will be disputed.
In an appearance on MSNBC on Friday, the candidate said the president’s remarks and refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power as “a typical Trump distraction.”
“The people in this country are going to be heard on 3 November,” he said. “Every vote in this country is going to be heard … All the outrageous and irresponsible attacks on voting, we’ll have an election in this country like we’ve always had, and he’ll leave.”
Biden on Trump’s election threats: ‘It’s always about a distraction with him’
Joe Biden has refused to speculate on the doomsday scenarios that legal scholars and election analysts have considered following Donald Trump’s threats to the election, insisting that the president is using fear as a distraction from his administration’s failures.
The Democratic candidate instead suggested that the rule of law will prevail and American voters will have their voice heard at the polls.
“The last thing we need is the equivalent of a coup,” he said. “No one’s going to back him if that were to occur. The whole notion of him talking about this … is to take our eye off the ball, not to talk about what’s happening about people dying of [Covid-19], not talking all the unemployment, not talking him being unwilling to bring Congress together and get off his golf course and out of the sand trap and have meeting in the White House. It’s always about distraction with him.”
Who is Amy Coney Barrett? Inside the most controversial decisions from Trump’s likely nominee to the US Supreme Court
The White House has confirmed that Donald Trump will name Amy Coney Barrett as his third Supreme Court nominee, with Republican senators likely to quickly confirm her – or the eventual pick if she is passed over for a third time – this year, possibly before the 3 November election. Her opinions as a federal jurist show she shares Mr Trump’s views on gun rights and his hardline immigration stance. Ms Coney Barrett’s opinions on abortion rights align with the president’s promises to his conservative base.
Washington bureau chief John T Bennett has a snapshot of some of her most telling opinions:
Supreme Court frontrunner Amy Coney Barrett’s most controversial decisions you need to know about
Federal judge seen as SCOTUS frontrunner shares Mr Tump’s hardline immigration views
We’re closing today’s live coverage of the Joe Biden campaign.
Stay tuned with The Independent.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies