Trump news: Fears of new White House super-spreader debacle as president invites guests to public event
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After likely contracting Covid-19 from a "super-spreader" event at the White House, Donald Trump will mark his first public engagement on Saturday by holding… another event at the White House.
It comes after the president returned to the virtual campaign trail on Friday with a two-hour online rally with radio host Rush Limbaugh, ahead of a planned "televised evaluation" on Tucker Carlson's evening Fox News broadcast.
The two-hour love-fest with Limbaugh saw the president drop the F-bomb, call his experimental Covid treatment a "cure", and claim Nancy Pelosi was trying to oust Joe Biden with a 25th amendment play.
Trump's theory on Pelosi ousting Biden came after the House speaker announced a bill to create a new oversight commission, which would use the 25th amendment to remove the commander in chief form office if determined to be lacking the physical or mental capacity.
While it wouldn't apply to Trump before the election, it would apply to whoever wins the next term.
Trump believes he is at full capacity after his doctors gave the all-clear to return from Covid treatment from Saturday - giving him 24 days on the campaign trail until the election.
The president was set to give an in-person interview and undergo a “televised medical evaluation” on Tucker Carlson's Fox News show on Friday night, with a larger in-person rally to be held in Florida on Monday.
The second presidential debate, meanwhile, was officially cancelled after the format was changed to a virtual townhall. In a late radio interview, Trump said the debate commission was a "crooked" deal and that the moderator was a "never Trumper".
He was referencing C-SPAN's Steve Scully, who had faced allegations of bias for interning with Joe Biden decades ago and posing with him in friendly photos while socializing in 2016, when he also tweeted "No, not Trump, not ever" when sharing a news article.
CSPAN said on Friday that Scully’s Twitter was hacked when a tweet was sent from his account to anti-Trump activist and former White House staffer, Anthony "The Mooch" Scaramucci.
‘A new frontier in crazy’: Trump's baffling Fox News interview mocked on Twitter
Social media users have been left bewildered by Donald Trump’s bizarre interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity and have taken to Twitter to voice their reactions to the exchange.
During the interview on Thursday, Mr Trump dodged questions about testing, was heard coughing, and launched strange rants against his Democratic opposition.
The Independent’s Louise Hall covers looks at the reaction, a mixture of confusion, frustration, and disbelief at the president’s remarks.
‘A new frontier in crazy’: Trump's baffling Fox News interview mocked on Twitter
'High as a giraffe's ass and evasive is no way to do an interview’
As Trump plans White House event, Joe Biden returns to Pennsylvania on Saturday
Joe Biden is heading back to Pennsylvania on Saturday, continuing his focus on his native state that President Donald Trump won narrowly in 2016.
Biden’s campaign announced Friday that he will travel to Erie, which is in one of the most populous counties nationally that flipped to Republican Donald Trump in 2016.
Trump won the county by about 1.5 percentage points. Democratic President Barack Obama won Erie County by 20 points and 16 points in his two national victories.
Erie will be especially critical for Biden as he focuses on winning more white voters beyond the state’s Democratic core in Philadelphia and its suburbs. It’s Biden’s seventh trip to the state since the start of September. - AP
$10m bail set for militia members accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer
Two of the men arrested in connection with the alleged plot to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer have been set a bail of $10m (£7.6m).
Pete Musico, 42, and Joseph Morrison, 26, were arraigned at the Jackson County District Court in Michigan on Thursday afternoon on multiple felony charges related to the alleged plans.
James Crump has the latest on the plot.
$10m bail set for militia members accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan governor
Pete Musico, and Joseph Morrison have been charged with threat of terrorism and providing material support for terrorist acts
Twitter sets new election rules to prevent lies and curb political violence
Twitter has put in place new election rules to prevent misinformation and curb political violence. The social media giant announced a string of new rules on Friday to crack down on hoaxes and lies designed to mislead voters.
As part of its new rules Twitter will hide tweets with false claims from politicians behind warning screens and place more prominent warning labels on misleading posts.
Graeme Massie breaks it down in more than 240 characters.
Twitter sets new election rules to prevent lies and curb political violence
Social media giant joins Facebook and others in adding restrictions
BREAKING: Trump to hold in-person event at White House despite possibly still being contagious
Donald Trump is planning to host his first in-person event on Saturday since testing positive for Covid-19 just a week ago, and possibly still being contagious.
ABC News reports that the president will give a speech from one of the balconies of the White House at an event billed as: “Remarks to peaceful protesters for law and order."
Oliver O'Connell is following the story as it unfolds.
Trump to hold in-person event at White House despite possibly still being contagious, reports say
The latest breaking news, comment and features from The Independent.
C-SPAN’s Steve Scully might want to get two-factor authentication
Third time might be the charm for the moderator of the cancelled second debate to look into extra security for his perpetually hacked Twitter account, which now seems to be deleted and was hacked previously in 2013 and 2012
Steve Scully said he was hacked after a tweet was sent from his account to staunch anti-Trump activist and former White House staffer, Anthony “The Mooch” Scaramucci.
In the now-deleted tweet, the moderator of the cancelled second debate asked The Mooch if he should “respond to Trump”. It came after Trump pulled out of the second debate once the format was changed to virtual.
Here is Scully in 2013 and 2012 with more people hacking into his account to tweet seemingly random missives, via Politico as his account now seems to have been deleted entirely.
"I apologize for some earlier TWEETS...account was hacked...those tweets did not come from me. Thanks all for alerting me," he wrote in March 2013.
"I apologize for Saturday's tweets regarding weight loss, etc. I still have my day job at C-SPAN...darn those hackers. Have a great Sunday" Scully wrote in May 2012.
The Mooch, for his part, said he believed Scully at his word that the account was hacked.
Trump’s first stop on the campaign rally tour will be in Florida
He announced this on Twitter just now.
Say what you will about the campaign videos from Never Trumpers at the Lincoln Project…
… but who wouldn’t be feeling the retro 1980s vibes of their latest effort “REGENERON!”.
It worked for “Stranger Things”. They’re hoping it works for stranger times.
Trump in talks to do competing town hall with Biden on night of cancelled debate
To be held on NBC, in direct competition with Biden’s town hall on ABC.
So the ultimate interrupting of each other for the full amount of time, essentially
This via White House reporter Kaitlan Collins.
Biden is set to begin campaign rally remarks in Las Vegas
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