Biden says it was a ‘mistake’ to say he wanted to put a ‘bull’s-eye’ on Trump

Biden says it was a ‘mistake’ to say he wanted to put a ‘bull’s-eye’ on Trump
Those remarks from Biden came during a private call with donors last week as the Democrat had been scrambling to shore up his imperiled candidacy with key party constituencies. (Reuters)
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Updated 16 July 2024
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Biden says it was a ‘mistake’ to say he wanted to put a ‘bull’s-eye’ on Trump

Biden says it was a ‘mistake’ to say he wanted to put a ‘bull’s-eye’ on Trump
  • “Look, how do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says?” Biden said

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden told NBC News in an interview airing Monday that it was a “mistake” to say he wanted to put a “bull’s-eye” on Republican nominee Donald Trump, but argued that the rhetoric coming from his opponent was more incendiary while warning that Trump remained a threat to democratic institutions.
Those remarks from Biden came during a private call with donors last week as the Democrat had been scrambling to shore up his imperiled candidacy with key party constituencies. During that conversation, Biden declared that he was “done” talking about his poor debate performance and that it was “time to put Trump in the bull’s-eye,” saying Trump has gotten far too little scrutiny on his stances, rhetoric and lack of campaigning.
Insisting “there was very little focus on Trump’s agenda,” Biden told NBC anchor Lester Holt that while he acknowledged his “mistake,” he nonetheless is “not the guy who said I wanted to be a dictator on day one” and that he wanted the focus to be on what Trump was saying. It’s Trump, not Biden, who engages in that kind of rhetoric, Biden said, referring to Trump’s past comments about a “bloodbath” if the Republican loses to Biden in November.
“Look, how do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says?” Biden said. “Do you just not say anything because it may incite somebody?”
The interview was occurring the same day that his reelection team was preparing to resume full-throttle campaigning after the assassination attempt on Trump, particularly after the GOP nominee announced Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate — which unleashed a flurry of criticism from the Biden campaign and other Democrats about the young freshman senator’s policy positions.
“He’s a clone of Trump on the issues,” Biden told reporters at Andrews Air Force Base shortly before departing for Nevada for a series of speeches and campaign events. “I don’t see any difference.”
The NBC interview, scheduled before the attempt on Trump’s life at a rally in Pennsylvania, had been part of Biden’s broader strategy to prove his fitness for office after angst grew among Democrats because of his disastrous June 27 debate performance.
The Biden campaign recalibrated some of its political plans in the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on Saturday, pulling advertising off the air and hitting pause on messaging. The White House also scrapped Biden’s planned Monday visit to the Lyndon B. Johnson library, where he had been slated to deliver remarks on civil rights.
It’s still not finalized when Biden’s campaign ads will resume airing. But Biden is pressing on with the Nevada portion of his previously scheduled western swing, which will include remarks to the NAACP and UnidosUS, a Latino civil rights and advocacy group. He’ll also headline what’s been billed as a “campaign community event” on Wednesday in Las Vegas.
Hours ahead of the NBC interview, his campaign issued a blistering statement on Trump’s selection of Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate, saying he picked the freshman senator because he would “bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda.”
“Over the next three and a half months, we will spend every single day making the case between the two starkly contrasting visions Americans will choose between at the ballot box this November,” said Biden campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon. “The Biden-Harris ticket who’s focused on uniting the country, creating opportunity for everyone, and lowering costs; or Trump-Vance – whose harmful agenda will take away Americans’ rights, hurt the middle class, and make life more expensive – all while benefiting the ultra-rich and greedy corporations.”
Biden has acknowledged that his candidacy and agenda will be under attack at the Republican National Convention this week, and aides feel no need to put their campaign on complete pause while Biden comes under scrutiny in Milwaukee. But they’ll tread carefully in the aftermath of the shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“I’ll be traveling this week, making the case for our record and the vision — my vision of the country — our vision,” Biden said during his Oval Office remarks on Sunday night, just the third such address of his presidency. “I’ll continue to speak out strongly for our democracy, stand up for our Constitution and the rule of law, to call for action at the ballot box, no violence on our streets. That’s how democracy should work.”
Biden’s renewed campaigning this week comes as Democrats have been at an impasse over whether the incumbent president should continue in the race even as he was defiant that he would stay in. Biden has made it clear in no uncertain terms that he remains in the race, and aides have been operating as such.
It was unclear if the attempt on Trump’s life would blunt Democratic efforts to urge Biden to step aside, but it appears to have stalled some of the momentum, for now. No Democrats have called for him to exit the race since the shooting Saturday night.
In the hours before the shooting, Biden was still being confronted by frustration and skepticism from Democratic lawmakers. Rep. Jared Huffman of California said he asked the president during his meeting with the Congressional Progressive Caucus about objectively assessing the trajectory of the race, and if the Lord almighty doesn’t intervene would Biden consider “the best earthly alternative”: meeting with former presidents Obama and Clinton, and the Democratic leadership including Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi “to seek their advice.”
Huffman said on a social media post that Biden “disagreed with the notion that we are on a losing trajectory.”
And while Biden expressed a “willingness to listen” to other voices, Huffman said he doubted any would be persuasive. “I continue to believe a major course correction is needed, and that the President and his team have yet to fully acknowledge the problem, much less correct it,” he said.
But now, several Democrats who requested anonymity were skeptical that there would be enough drive among lawmakers to successfully try and pressure Biden not to run, especially because they are scattered and away from Washington until next week and because Biden has said he won’t step aside and seized the opportunity to quickly respond to the shooting over the weekend. The people requested anonymity to characterize private conversations.
Many in the Democratic Party had been looking to congressional leaders Jeffries and Schumer to voice concerns directly to the president. Jeffries met with Biden at the White House on Thursday night, while Schumer went to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on Saturday for his visit with Biden, which occurred just before the assassination attempt on Trump.
There were still deep concerns that Biden is not up to the job and a sense that pressure to try and find another candidate could ramp up again when lawmakers return to Washington. Congressional Democrats were watching the Republican National Convention and Biden’s appearances this week with awareness that the dynamics could change — again.


Thousands flee as fourth typhoon in a month hits Philippines

Thousands flee as fourth typhoon in a month hits Philippines
Updated 24 sec ago
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Thousands flee as fourth typhoon in a month hits Philippines

Thousands flee as fourth typhoon in a month hits Philippines
  • Typhoon Toraji hit near Dilasag town, about 220 kilometers northeast of the capital, Manila
  • After Toraji, a tropical depression could also potentially strike the region as early as Thursday night

MANILA: Thousands of people sought shelter and ports shut down in the Philippines on Monday, officials said, as the disaster-weary nation was struck by another typhoon — the fourth in less than a month.

Typhoon Toraji hit near Dilasag town, about 220 kilometers (140 miles) northeast of the capital, Manila, the national weather agency said.

“We’re getting hit with strong winds and heavy rain. Some trees are being toppled and power has been cut since yesterday,” Merwina Pableo, civil defense chief of Dinalungan town near Dilasag, said.

Rescuers said around 7,000 people were moved from coastal areas as well as flood-prone and landslide-prone areas in Aurora and Isabela, the first two provinces to be struck before Toraji plowed inland to the mountainous interior of the main island of Luzon.

In all, the government ordered 2,500 villages to be evacuated on Sunday, though the national disaster office does not have the total number of evacuees as of Monday.

In the landfall area of Dilasag, school teacher Glenn Balanag, 31, filmed the onslaught of the howling 130 kilometers an hour winds, which violently shook coconut trees around his rural home.

Tropical cyclone bulletin released by the Philippine weather bureau PAGASA on Sunday.

“Big trees are falling and we heard the roofs of some houses were damaged. The rain is continuing and a river nearby is rising,” he said.

The national weather agency warned of severe winds and “intense to torrential” rainfall exceeding 200 millimeters (eight inches) across the north of the country, along with a “moderate to high risk of a storm surge” — giant waves up to three meters (10 feet) high on the north coast.

Schools and government offices were shut in areas expected to be hit hardest by the latest typhoon.

Nearly 700 passengers were stranded at ports on or near the typhoon’s path, according to a coast guard tally on Monday, with the weather service warning that “sea travel is risky for all types or tonnage of vessels.”

“All mariners must remain in port or, if underway, seek shelter or safe harbor as soon as possible until winds and waves subside,” it added.

Aurora and Isabela officials said the main impact appeared to be downed trees and power pylons that blocked major roads.

“I don’t want to send people out yet to investigate. I do not want them to be caught out by powerful gusts,” said Constante Foronda, Isabela’s disaster response chief.

The typhoon was forecast to blow out to the South China Sea late Monday, the weather service said.

Aurora provincial disaster response chief Elson Egargue said he pushed out crews to clear roads after Toraji left the province in early afternoon.

After Toraji, a tropical depression could also potentially strike the region as early as Thursday night, weather forecaster Veronica Torres said.

Tropical Storm Man-yi, currently east of Guam, may also threaten the Philippines next week, she added.

Toraji came on the heels of three cyclones in less than a month that killed 159 people.

On Thursday, Typhoon Yinxing slammed into the country’s north coast, damaging houses and buildings.

A 12-year-old girl was crushed to death in one incident.

Before that, Severe Tropical Storm Trami and Super Typhoon Kong-rey together left 158 people dead, the national disaster agency said, with most of that tally attributed to Trami.

About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the archipelago nation or its surrounding waters each year.

A recent study showed that storms in the Asia-Pacific region are increasingly forming closer to coastlines, intensifying more rapidly and lasting longer over land due to climate change.


Japan PM Ishiba set to form minority government

Japan PM Ishiba set to form minority government
Updated 20 min 20 sec ago
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Japan PM Ishiba set to form minority government

Japan PM Ishiba set to form minority government
  • Shigeru Ishiba is expected to keep his job, but with a fragile grip on power
  • His ruling coalition lost its majority in a snap election last month

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was on Monday pitted against the main opposition chief as parliament votes to appoint the nation’s leader.
Ishiba, 67, is expected to keep his job, but with a fragile grip on power after his ruling coalition lost its majority in a snap election last month.
The former defense minister, who took office six weeks ago, had hoped to shore up his mandate as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the October 27 polls.
Instead, voters unhappy with inflation and a slush fund scandal that helped sink his predecessor Fumio Kishida delivered the party its worst result since 2009, which could cause political gridlock in a hung parliament.
Ishiba is reportedly trying to arrange a meeting with US president-elect Donald Trump later this month, around the time he travels to Peru for an economic summit.
Lawmakers in the powerful lower house convened on Monday afternoon for a special four-day session to nominate the prime minister, a necessary step after a general election.
The conservative LDP and its junior coalition party remain the largest bloc in the 465-seat lower house, where the opposition parties are deeply divided on key issues.
So, Ishiba is expected to lead a minority government after a run-off — the first since 1994 — with Yoshihiko Noda of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP).
“In order to stay in power, Ishiba needs to pass the government budget this winter. It will mean the LDP will have to concede some of its policies to seek cooperation from others,” Tomoaki Iwai, professor emeritus at Nihon University, said.
To have enough sway to pass legislation going forward, the ruling bloc has asked for help from the Democratic Party for the People (DPP), a small centrist group.
The DPP has agreed to cooperate on a vote-by-vote basis while staying out of the coalition. In talks with the LDP, it has demanded tax cuts and energy subsidies that economists say would slash the government’s revenues.
In a twist, DPP head Yuichiro Tamaki on Monday admitted to an extra-marital affair reported by a tabloid.
“I apologize for causing such a disturbance,” he said. His party later reportedly decided to keep him on as leader.
Along with these negotiations, Ishiba must also contend with discontent within his party, which lost dozens of seats — including ministers — in the election.
“Unless he improves his public support, those inside the LDP may start saying they cannot fight the upper house election under Ishiba” and look for another leader, Iwai added.
The public votes in the upper house election in July, and Noda vowed last week that the CDP would “work hard so we will make significant gains in the upper house election.”
Approval ratings for Ishiba’s government are just above 30 percent, but polls show a majority of the public say he should remain prime minister.
Ishiba faces a tough road ahead with Washington and domestic lawmakers likely to press him for higher public spending and tax cuts at the same time, analysts said.
Experts have voiced worries that Trump, without consulting Asian allies, may make deals with China.
Possible fresh US tariffs on Chinese and Japanese goods may fuel inflation, while the Trump administration may demand Japan to hike its defense spending or push Japanese firms to expand their factories in the United States.
“It must be Mr. Ishiba who is feeling the toughest headache of Mr. Trump’s victory,” Hideo Kumano, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, wrote in a note.
If Ishiba is nominated prime minister, he will announce a new cabinet on Monday afternoon, who will be officially appointed by the emperor the same day.


Trump to appoint former ICE director Tom Homan as US ‘border czar’

Trump to appoint former ICE director Tom Homan as US ‘border czar’
Updated 11 November 2024
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Trump to appoint former ICE director Tom Homan as US ‘border czar’

Trump to appoint former ICE director Tom Homan as US ‘border czar’
  • Tom Homan is also a contender for secretary of homeland security
  • Former ICE chief will be in charge of the deportation of illegal immigrants

US President-elect Donald Trump said on Sunday that Tom Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), will be in charge of the country’s borders in his new administration.
Homan will be “in charge of our nation’s borders (“The Border Czar”), including, but not limited to, the Southern Border, the Northern Border, all Maritime, and Aviation Security,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Homan, who served in Trump administration for a year and a half during his first term, is also a contender for secretary of homeland security.
Trump made cracking down on illegal immigration the central element of his campaign, promising mass deportations. He frequently praised Homan during the campaign, and Homan often hit the trail to rally supporters.
Trump added in his Truth Social post that Homan will be in charge of the deportation of illegal immigrants.
The president-elect is meeting with potential candidates to serve in his administration before his Jan. 20 inauguration as president.
CNN reported on Sunday that Trump had offered Republican Representative Elize Stefanik the job as US ambassador to the United Nations.


Rivals of ousted Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina foil her party’s attempt to hold a rally

Rivals of ousted Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina foil her party’s attempt to hold a rally
Updated 11 November 2024
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Rivals of ousted Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina foil her party’s attempt to hold a rally

Rivals of ousted Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina foil her party’s attempt to hold a rally
  • The rally in Dhaka by Hasina’s party was to commemorate the death of a party activist on Nov. 10, 1987
  • On Sunday, rival party activists filled up much of the area where the rally was scheduled to take place

DHAKA: Rivals of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday thwarted a plan by her Awami League party to hold a rally in Bangladesh’s capital, seen as a potential first effort to make a comeback on the streets since she fled the country in August amid a mass uprising.
The rally in Dhaka by Hasina’s party was to commemorate the death of a party activist on Nov. 10, 1987, which had sparked a mass protest against former military dictator H.M. Ershad. He was eventually ousted from office, ending his nine-year rule in 1990.
The day is commemorated as “democracy day.” In 1991, Bangladesh switched to a parliamentary democracy from a presidential form of government, and since then Hasina and her rival, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, became the most powerful political figures in the country.
On Sunday, activists of the party headed by Zia, Hasina’s main rival, and also members of the conservative Jamaat-e-Islami party took to the streets of Dhaka, filling up much of the area where the rally was scheduled to take place.
Others, including hundreds of student protesters, also announced that they wouldn’t allow Hasina’s supporters to stand on the streets and hold the rally. The protesters said that they think Hasina’s party was trying to make a comeback by holding a rally on the streets on Sunday. The protesters from the Anti-discrimination Student Movement, a group that led the mass uprising in July-August, aggressively hunted for supporters of Hasina.
Groups of people surrounded the Awami League party’s headquarters near the Noor Hossain Square in Dhaka where Hasina’s supporters were supposed to gather to hold the rally.
Security was tight in the area, but witnesses and local media said that the protesters attacked several supporters of Hasina when they attempted to reach there and chanted slogans in favor of the fallen leader.
The Awami League party said that many of their activists were detained by police as they came under attacks.
Tensions ran high throughout Sunday with the anti-Hasina protesters saying that they wouldn’t allow the party to hold any public rally under any circumstances. The Awami League party questioned the notion, saying it is against the spirit of democracy and the constitutional right to assembly.
The Awami League party posted a number of videos on Facebook on Sunday showing its supporters being manhandled. Its party headquarters had earlier been vandalized following Hasina’s fall on Aug. 5, and on Sunday it was empty and there were signs of destruction. Outside, control was in the hands of Hasina’s opponents.
The political chaos in the South Asian nation went on as Zia’s party was seeking quick reforms and a new election from an interim government headed by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus. The party believes it will be able to form the new government in the absence of Hasina’s party, while its other allies are also struggling.
As the interim government ends its three months in office, people remain concerned over high commodity prices, law and order, mob justice and the rise of Islamist forces once suppressed by Hasina’s regime. The international community also remains wary about alleged attacks on minority groups, especially Hindus that make up about 8 percent of the country’s 170 million people.
The Yunus-led government said it would seek extradition of Hasina and her close associates as they face charges of crimes against humanity involving deaths of hundreds of protesters during the uprising.
On Sunday, Bangladesh’s Law Adviser Asif Nazrul said the interim government would ask Interpol to issue red notices seeking the arrest and repatriation of fugitives allegedly responsible for the deaths of people during the mass uprising.
“We will … prioritize bringing them back from wherever they are hiding,” he told reporters in Dhaka.


Mauritius awaits results of close-fought vote

Mauritius awaits results of close-fought vote
Updated 11 November 2024
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Mauritius awaits results of close-fought vote

Mauritius awaits results of close-fought vote

PORT LUIS, Mauritius: Mauritians are set to find out Monday who will govern their Indian Ocean island nation for the next five years after a hotly disputed election race.
Both the incumbent Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth and his main rival Navin Ramgoolam claimed their political blocs had triumphed in Sunday’s legislative poll.
Voters had voiced concern about the continued political and economic durability of one of the richest and most stable democracies in Africa, with the election overshadowed by an explosive phone-tapping scandal.
The poll came on the heels of a historic agreement last month that saw Britain cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius following a long-running dispute.
But Jugnauth’s hopes he would handily win a new term on the back of the deal were dented when secretly recorded phone calls of politicians, diplomats and journalists began to be leaked online last month.
Seeking to keep a lid on the scandal, the authorities announced a social media ban until after the election, before making an embarrassing climbdown in the face of opposition and media outrage.
The move added to concerns that Mauritius’s much-vaunted democracy and civil liberties were being gradually eroded.
Jugnauth’s Militant Socialist Movement and its allies are seeking to hold on to their 42-seat majority in the 70-member National Assembly but face a stiff challenge from former prime minister Ramgoolam’s Alliance of Change.
During a lively and sometimes heated campaign, both camps promised voters they would take measures to improve the lot of ordinary Mauritians who face cost of living difficulties despite strong economic growth.
“We are confident of winning because the people appreciate our record,” 62-year-old Jugnauth said after polls closed, accusing the opposition of trying to hinder the smooth running of the vote.
Ramgoolam, 77, issued a similar declaration.
“We are heading toward a big victory tomorrow. The people are waiting for this liberation,” he told reporters.
Both men are members of the dynasties that have dominated politics in Mauritius since it became independent from Britain in 1968.
A new bloc, the Linion Reform alliance, campaigned against the establishment politicians with the slogan “Neither Navin, Nor Pravind,” and criticized corruption and nepotism.
Police had been stationed in polling stations across the country to ensure the security of the vote, while a number of international observers monitored the process.
Ramgoolam had warned early on polling day about the risk of fraud, while later saying that voting went off largely without incident.
Ballot counting begins on Monday morning with results expected later in the day.
Turnout among the one million registered voters was expected to be around 80 percent, media commentators said, based on figures from a number of polling stations.
Sixty-two seats were up for grabs under a first-past-the-post system, with the remaining eight allocated under what is dubbed the “best loser” system.
The majority-Hindu nation has seen remarkable stability and growth since independence, building an economy based on tourism as well as financial services and textile manufacturing.
GDP growth was seven percent in 2023, but analysts say Mauritius needs to diversify its economy, and concerns about governance and corruption are growing.
The island is renowned for its spectacular palm-fringed white beaches and turquoise waters, attracting 1.3 million visitors last year.
The Chagos deal was a major success for the government, though Britain will retain a lease for a joint US military base on the island of Diego Garcia for an “initial” 99 years.
Jugnauth hailed it as the completion of the nation’s “decolonization.”
But some have voiced concerns that president-elect Donald Trump’s approach to the US military presence in the Indian Ocean might have repercussions for the agreement.