2020 Daily Trail Markers: Trump and Biden respond to Supreme Court's DACA decision
President Trump and Joe Biden are teeing up to use the Supreme Court DACA decision as a rallying cry heading into the November election. Democrats are celebrating a Supreme Court decision blocking the Trump administration from ending the Obama era DACA program, but they warn the fight is not over, while the president decried the move Thursday, reports CBS News associate producer Sarah Ewall-Wice.
The 2012 program protects undocumented immigrants brought into the United States illegally as children. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 with the majority opinion calling the effort to unwind DACA "arbitrary and capricious" under the Administrative Procedure Act. This comes as the latest CBS News polling found 85% support allowing immigrants brought into the country as children to stay, including 95% of Democrats, 73% of Republicans and 84% of independents.
President Trump responded with a Twitter tirade, calling recent decisions by the highest court "horrible & politically charged" that are "blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives."
He went on to state the Supreme Court needs new justices, and tweeted that he will be releasing a new list of conservative justice nominees by September 1, and if "given the opportunity, I will only choose from this list, as in the past, a Conservative Supreme Court Justice..." He finished with "VOTE 2020" signaling this will be a rallying cry heading into November.
In a statement, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden praised DACA recipients, but noted the "joy of today's victory does not erase the difficult road ahead. We know that much work remains to be done. But I will continue to stand with DACA recipients, their parents, and their families at every step, and in November, joined by millions across this country, we will reject the President who tried to rip so many of our family members, friends, and coworkers out of our lives."
In his own tweet reacting to the Supreme Court decision, former President Obama said he was happy for Dreamers, but said they needed to move forward and elect Biden and a Democratic Congress that "does its job, protects dreamers and finally creates a system that's truly worthy of this nation of immigrants once and for all."
FROM THE CANDIDATES
JOE BIDEN
Joe Biden's presidential campaign announced Thursday it is launching a five-week, $15 million advertising blitz in six battleground states, its first major advertising effort for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee of the general election, reports CBS News associate producer Sarah Ewall-Wice. According to the campaign, the television and digital ads will run in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, and Arizona — all states won by President Trump in 2016. There will also be a national cable component.
On Thursday, the Biden campaign released three ads that are at the center of its paid media effort. In one spot, "Unite Us," Biden's voice from a recent address in Philadelphia can be heard saying Americans are suffering. "The country is crying out for leadership, leadership that can unite us, leadership that brings us together. That's what the presidency is, the duty to care," he says. In another one-minute ad titled "My Commitment," Biden says that "this moment has come to deal with the denial of the promise of this nation made to so many because if it weren't clear before, it's clear now: This country wasn't built by Wall Street bankers and CEOs — it was built by the great American middle class."
He goes on to list essential workers, saying, "We need to do more than praise them — we need to pay them." As part of its investment, the Biden campaign will also be placing both English and Spanish-language content across Florida and in Arizona as part of its outreach to the Latino community. Starting Friday, the campaign will also be making a six-figure investment in African-American print, radio, and targeted digital programming in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona and North Carolina, an effort that coincides with the celebration of Juneteenth. The new Biden ad spending was first reported by the New York Times.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP
President Trump's rally Saturday will boast a "festival flare" with 52 surrogates, musical performers and the president himself slated to address throngs of "tens of thousands" of supporters on stages both outside and inside the BOK Center, according to campaign sources. Cameras tracking the day's affairs will produce documentary-style videos of the President's first campaign rally in over 3 months.
The mega-rally comes as city officials battle a spike in new coronavirus cases, reports CBS News campaign reporter Nicole Sganga. Tulsa County, which includes the city of Tulsa, tracked 96 new infections on Tuesday—its biggest one-day uptick since COVID-19's initial outbreak. As of Thursday, Tulsa County reported 1,825 total cases with 595 active and 64 deaths.
President Trump's reelection campaign enlisted former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani this week to lobby for more presidential debates against Joe Biden this fall, beginning earlier than scheduled. The president's team would also like a say in who is to be moderating this year's debates. The move comes as the Trump campaign looks to present voters with a "choice" between him and Joe Biden ahead of the November election.
The campaign has worked for months to level side-by-side comparisons of the two candidates in hopes it will raise questions about the stamina of the presumptive Democratic nominee, according to multiple campaign aides. Giuliani will convene a Thursday afternoon conference with Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale and Frank Fahrenkopf, co-chairman of the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, to push for more debates.
Yet in 2016, the president threatened to boycott the presidential debates before appearing at a podium opposite of Secretary Hillary Clinton. The commission on presidential debates has already scheduled three match-ups to date: September 29 at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, October 15 at the University of Michigan, and October 22 at Belmont University in Nashville. Vice presidential contenders will square off on October 7 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Politico was the first to report this.
CBS News campaign reporter Musadiq Bidar reports that in an interview with a local television station in Detroit, Vice President Mike Pence said voters will give President Trump four more years because of the Supreme Court's Decision on DACA today.
"We're disappointed to see the Supreme Court of the United States once again engage in the kind of legislating from the bench that liberal courts have had done over many decades," Pence said during the interview with WDIV-NBC. The vice president spent the day in Michigan where he had lunch with Senate candidate John James at Engine House Restaurant.
Later in the day, Pence joked that he couldn't decide between the cheeseburger and pasta so he had both and also ordered a pizza to go for the flight back to D.C. Pence toured Chardam Gear Company and delivered remarks to employees at Casadei Steel. As he has said in recent weeks, Pence told the crowd that a centerpiece of the "comeback" and "transition to greatness" will be "law and order" in America. And similarly, the vice president repeated lines he has used in the last few weeks about George Floyd, calling his death a "tragedy" and that "there is no excuse" for what happened to him.
"But there is also no excuse for the rioting and looting and violence that ensued in cities across this country." Vice President Pence also reiterated a promise he's been sharing with voters in the wake of demonstrations across the country: "We're not going to defund the police." Pence said Chardam Gear stayed open throughout the pandemic and did not let go of any of their employees. The vice president thanked the company for the commitment to its workers. He also highlighted Casadei Steel's role in helping General Motors build ventilators.
"Every single day we're one day closer to putting the coronavirus in the past because of the sacrifices of millions of Americans," Pence said.
CBS NEWS COVID CHRONICLES
CBS News is chronicling what has changed for the lives of residents of some of the biggest battleground states in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. This week CBS News campaign reporter Adam Brewster highlights the casinos closed in Detroit.
Detroit's three casinos collectively employ thousands of workers and provide hundreds of millions of tax dollars to Michigan and Detroit. But the dice, cards and chips have been locked away since March 16. Some workers have struggled with unemployment, and there are concerns that the drop in wagering taxes, Detroit's third-largest revenue source, could create a major budget problem.
"When you're talking about a loss of a half a million dollars a day, it's very, very challenging to plug that gap and to fill that hole," said Alex Calderone, managing director of Calderone Advisory Group and a turnaround specialist with expertise in the casino industry. Temporarily laid-off casino workers are among the 2.2 million Michiganders who have filed new jobless claims since mid-March. Most of those who have filed claims have been receiving unemployment benefits, but others have had theirs frozen as part of a fraud investigation affecting hundreds of thousands of people.
Robin Ryan has worked as a poker dealer for more than 20 years. She received a letter last month from Michigan's Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) asking her to verify her identity. On Wednesday she received benefits for the first time in weeks, when she said she received two weeks' worth of checks of the eight she is owed. Ryan says she's fallen behind on her bills and had to decide between buying food and medicine. She also had cut back on food for her dog and cat at times, saying last week, "I have to eat, too." "That was downright bad," Ryan said Wednesday. "I had barely any food. I mean there were three days I ate like a tomato and an apple the whole day because I didn't have nothing. I had no money whatsoever. That was terrible."
ISSUES THAT MATTER
SOCIAL ETIQUETE
CBS News associate producer Sarah Ewall-Wice and CBS News campaign reporter Nicole Sganga report that Facebook pulled down Trump campaign ads depicting images of an inverted red triangle – a symbol used by Nazis to designate political prisoners in concentration camps.
"Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups are running through our streets and causing absolute mayhem. They are DESTROYING our cities and rioting - it's absolute madness," the ad read above the red triangle image. It went on to call on Americans to "stand with President Trump against ANTIFA."
According to the Facebook ad library that specific ad was posted on Wednesday with the potential to reach more than one million people. "We removed these posts and ads for violating our policy against organized hate," said Facebook. "Our policy prohibits using a banned hate group's symbol to identify political prisoners without the context that condemns or discusses the symbol."
However, the Trump campaign is pushing back on the use of the symbol. "The inverted red triangle is a symbol used by Antifa, so it was included in an ad about Antifa. We would note that Facebook still has an inverted red triangle emoji in use, which looks exactly the same, so it's curious that they would target only this ad," said Communications Director Tim Murtaugh in a statement to CBS News. "Whether aware of the history or meaning, for the Trump campaign to use a symbol – one which is practically identical to that used by the Nazi regime to classify political prisoners in concentration camps — to attack his opponents is offensive and deeply troubling," said Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt in a statement. "It is not difficult for one to criticize their political opponent without using Nazi-era imagery. We implore the Trump campaign to take greater caution and familiarize themselves with the historical context before doing so. Ignorance is not an excuse for appropriating hateful symbols."
UNEMPLOYMENT
Another 1.5 million Americans applied for jobless benefits last week, a slight drop from the previous week, and another 760,000 people filed for federal assistance for self-employed and gig workers, the Labor Department reported on Thursday.
While the number of claims steadily dropped, there are still millions of Americans receiving unemployment benefits, according to CBS News campaign reporter Adam Brewster. As of the week ending May 30, more than 29.1 million workers were receiving benefits in all programs. This week marked the thirteenth consecutive week where the number of initial claims was more than double the peak during the Great Recession.
"In today's gradually reopening coronavirus economy, hires (or rehires) are now outpacing job losses, but we are still seeing a huge number of people losing jobs," Heidi Shierholz, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, wrote in a blog post. Shierholz added that the recession is going to "exacerbate existing racial inequalities by causing greater job loss in Black and Hispanic households than in white households."
CONVENTIONAL WISDOM
DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
Wisconsin Congressman Mark Pocan says he believes Democrats will "make the right decision" when it comes to deciding how to conduct their national convention, but believes it will look different than usual, according to CBS News campaign reporter Adam Brewster.
"My guess is it's going to be a shortened convention," Pocan told reporters on Thursday. "My guess is it's going to be a partial virtual, partial in-person convention. But I am really concerned about any in-person events, especially that are inside facilities."
Pocan said Democrats need to listen to doctors and medical professionals and will have to monitor the COVID-19 situation in Wisconsin as the convention draws closer. "Fortunately, Democrats believe in science," Pocan said. "I think we'll make the right decision."
While details remain unsettled about how Democrats will conduct their convention, we know Vice President Biden plans to be in Milwaukee to accept the party's nomination during the August convention. "Democrats are going to have a convention this August where Joe Biden will accept the party's nomination and we will begin the final stretch to ending the Trump Administration," Biden campaign spokesman Bill Russo told CBS News in a statement on June 12.
STATE-BY-STATE
CALIFORNIA
Governor Gavin Newsom issued a new guidance on Thursday afternoon requiring all Californians to wear face masks when outside of the house, reports CBS News campaign reporter Musadiq Bidar.
"Simply put, we're seeing too many people with faces uncovered, putting at risk the real progress we have made in fighting the disease," Newsom said. The new guidance requires residents of the country's most populous state to wear face coverings inside of, or in line to enter any indoor public space, at hospitals and healthcare facilities, waiting for or using public transport, including ride-shares, and in most other situations outside the home. Children under the age of two and those with health conditions will be exempt.
"Science shows that face coverings and masks work," said Newsom. "They are critical to keeping those who are around you safe, keeping businesses open and restarting our economy."
California lawmakers also passed a bill Thursday to send every active registered voter in the state a mail-in ballot for the November election. It passed with support from several Republicans, despite criticism from GOP leaders, including President Trump. Newsom has already signed an executive order requiring county officials to automatically send mail-in ballots to registered voters but that order was met with legal challenges from the Republican Party. The lawsuit from Republicans argued that Newsom cannot write election laws and it's up to the legislature to determine when and how elections can be administered. The legislature's passage of the mail-in ballot bill arms Newsom in his fight against Republicans. The bill does not end in-person voting, which by state law must still be available. Ballots will not be mailed to inactive voters who have not participated in recent elections.
CONGRESSIONAL COVERAGE
IN THE SENATE
CBS News associate producers Eleanor Watson and Sarah Ewall-Wice report that while vulnerable Senate Republicans up for reelection this year have avoided criticizing President Trump, most are not mentioning their relationship with him in campaign ads, choosing instead to highlight their legislative efforts to help Americans during the coronavirus pandemic.
Since the end of March, Senator Susan Collins' campaign has reserved almost $6 million in television ad buys, according to Kantar/CMAG Data. Nine of the ads focus on her bipartisan work to draft the P.P.P. and pass the C.A.R.E.S Act, the economic relief bill that established the PPP. At the same time, her digital presence on Facebook has touted P.P.P. and what she "delivers" for Maine. None of the campaign material brings up Mr. Trump.
Senators Cory Gardner, of Colorado, and Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, are also taking this approach. Gardner released an ad with praise from Colorado's Democratic governor, Jared Polis, and Tillis released a digital ad urging a united front in dealing with the pandemic. Republican pollster David Winston told CBS News on the strategy that "in a crisis like this, most voters are focused on getting things done and want to see the parties working together."
IN THE HOUSE
A number of Georgia and House Republicans have now come out to disavow racist comments made by Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican runoff candidate in the state's 14th District. Old videos posted on Facebook by Greene show her equating the 2018 freshman class of Democrat minority women like Ilhan Omar, to an "Islamic invasion." Another clip shows her saying that black and brown people are held back by gangs. "It's not white people," she says in the video.
Politico reports that the top three House Republicans have disavowed the comments. Chris Pack, communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, told CBS News political unit broadcast associate Aaron Navarro while they don't get involved in primaries, "Chairman Emmer is personally disgusted by this rhetoric and condemns it in the strongest possible terms."
Congressman Jody Hice, who serves Georgia's 10th District, posted on Facebook that he found Greene's statements "appalling and deeply troubling, and I can no longer support her candidacy in Georgia's 14th Congressional District."
Karen Handel, the Republican nominee in the competitive Georgia's 6th District (a district Greene previously ran in), endorsed Greene's opponent Dr. John Cowan on Wednesday.
Greene has since then responded publicly, tweeting that "MARJORIE GREENE AND NORTHWEST GEORGIA WON'T BE INTIMIDATED BY THE DC SWAMP" and then criticizing Cowan. "I'm sick-and-tired of watching establishment Republicans play defense while the Fake News Media cheers on Antifa terrorists, BLM rioters, and the woke cancel culture, as they burn our cities, loot our businesses, vandalize our memorials, and divide our nation," she added. The Georgia runoff is August 11.
