Amazon Removes Merchandise Linked to Proud Boys: Campaign Update
Trump Keeps Working the Debate Referees: Campaign Update
(Bloomberg) -- Amazon has removed listings for T-shirts and other merchandise linked to the Proud Boys. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said counties must limit themselves to only one drop-off site for mail-in ballots. And Russia-based social media accounts and a website are posting material denigrating Democratic nominee Joe Biden and supporting President Donald Trump.
There are 33 days until the election and 74 days until the Electoral College meets.
Other Developments:
Amazon Removes Merchandise Linked to Proud Boys
Amazon.com Inc. has pulled listings for merchandise that featured the phrases “stand back” and “stand by,” the words Trump used in this week’s debate when asked if he would disavow White supremacists and the far-right group Proud Boys.
“All sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who do not will be subject to action including potential removal of their account,” an Amazon spokesperson said in an emailed statement on Thursday. “These products have been removed.”
The world’s largest online retailer offers products from millions of independent sellers, some of whom are quick to capitalize on events in the news with T-shirts or other merchandise printed on demand. The “stand back” products were taken off Amazon’s site this week after people flagged them on social media, though at least one shirt featuring the phrase was still on sale as of Thursday afternoon. Other social media users pointed out that merchandise with the slogan had popped up on other online marketplaces.
At the debate on Tuesday, moderator Chris Wallace asked the president whether he was willing to condemn White supremacists and other far-right groups. When Trump asked for an example, his debate opponent Biden suggested the Proud Boys.
“Proud Boys?” replied Trump. “Stand back and stand by.” Members of the group celebrated the remark as a sign of support from the president and a call to stand ready to take action. Trump said Thursday that he was unfamiliar with the Proud Boys, and called on them to step aside to let police regulate protests. -- Matt Day
Texas Governor Limits Drop-Off Sites for Ballots
Abbott said Thursday that each county in the state should be limited to one drop-off site for mail-in ballots. He cited election security for the change.
Sprawling metropolitan areas such as Austin and Houston, at nearly 2,000 square miles, have provided several satellite sites to make it easier for eligible voters using mail-in ballots to deliver their votes in person. The new rule means Houston will have to close 11 drop-off locations, and Austin will close three. That could mean hours of driving to drop off a ballot
Democrats immediately decried the move as voter suppression. “Republicans are on the verge of losing, so Governor Abbott is trying to adjust the rules last minute,” Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said in a statement.
The proclamation came as a revision to Abbott’s July 27 decision to extend the state’s early voting period by nine days because of the coronavirus epidemic. Texas early voting begins Oct. 13. -- Susan Warren
Russia-Based Social Media Targets Far-Right Americans (2:49 p.m.)
Russia-based social media accounts and a website have targeted far-right Americans with messages supporting Trump and denigrating Biden, according to new disinformation research.
Graphika Inc. and Reuters investigated the right-wing “Newsroom for American and European Based Citizens” website -- which focused on race, particularly in the U.S. -- as well as Parler and Gab accounts and concluded that they were similar to a documented Russian effort to infiltrate the American left. That operation was disclosed last month and similarly relied on a news site and social media accounts to spread messaging.
“The two assets showed such a strong family resemblance that they appear to be two halves of the same operation,” the report said. “Both ran fake editorial personas whose profile pictures were generated by artificial intelligence; both claimed to be young news outlets based in Europe; both made language errors consistent with Russian speakers; both tried to hire freelance writers to provide their content; and, oddly enough, both had names that translate to obscenities in Russian.”
The newly disclosed part of the operation began in June and represents the first-known Russian activity on the fringe sites Parler and Gab, where the Russian accounts attracted 3,000 and 14,000 followers respectively -- meaning that its reach has been limited, according to Graphika.
Parler and Gab, where the accounts “posted strongly pro-Trump and anti-Biden messaging and engaged with content from leading voices on the American far right,” have yet to take any action, according to Graphika. -- Alyza Sebenius
Pelosi Thinks One Debate Was Enough (1:58 p.m.)
Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Biden should not debate Trump again, calling Tuesday’s face-off “a sad occasion for our country.”
“Whatever it is, I think one and done,” said Pelosi in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “One and done.”
Pelosi added that she had been skeptical that Biden should debate with Trump in the first place, arguing in late August that the Democratic nominee shouldn’t “legitimize a conversation” with the president.
“I myself did not think that Joe Biden should dignify a debate with the president who has no commitment to fact evidence, evidence data, demeans the office he holds,” Pelosi said.
“And you saw on that stage authenticity on both sides,” she added. ”The president, authentically a bully. Joe Biden, authentically decent.” -- Billy House
Biden, Harris to Campaign Together in Arizona (1:15 p.m.)
Biden will make his first trip to Arizona as the Democratic nominee next week, joined by his running mate, Kamala Harris.
The Arizona swing will be the farthest Biden has traveled from his Delaware home since March, and it will also mark the first time Biden and Harris will have campaigned together since the Democratic National Convention. The trip will follow Harris’s debate on Wednesday night with Vice President Mike Pence in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the trip.
Arizona has emerged as one of the top battleground states this cycle, as Democrats look to capture the state’s 11 Electoral College votes and flip a Republican-held Senate seat. The RealClearPolitics polling average of the state shows Biden with a narrow 2.8 percentage-point lead over Trump. But a New York Times/Siena College poll in mid-September showed Biden leading Trump by as much as 9 percentage points in the state. Trump won Arizona in 2016 by 3.5 percentage points. Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, captured the state by more than 9 percentage points.
Biden president recently picked up the coveted endorsement of Cindy McCain, the window of longtime Arizona Senator John McCain, who was close with Biden. But since resuming travel, Biden has only held campaign events on the East Coast and in the Midwest. Biden will travel to Miami early next week before he heads out West. -- Tyler Pager
Democrats, Food Banks Cry Foul on Trump Letter (12:50 p.m.)
Democrats are again complaining that Trump is violating a law designed to keep governing and campaigning separate, this time through boxes of food given to the needy.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Representative Marcia Fudge of Ohio and other Democrats argued that the requirement that surplus food boxes include a letter from Trump claiming credit was improper, as reported by ProPublica and Politico.
They say the letters violate the Hatch Act, which bars officials from using federal resources for electioneering. Democrats have criticized Trump for using the White House as a backdrop for his convention speech and have also found fault with remarks and tweets from his staff.
“It’s attempting to politicize something that doesn’t need to be politicized,” said Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Food Banks. “I’ve been doing this work for 30 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this.”
But a USDA spokesman said in a statement that “politics has played zero role” in the program and Trump’s letter “contains health information that is critical,” including advice to practice social distancing and stay home when sick. -- Mike Dorning
Biden Appears Fixated On Rocky Mount, North Carolina (11:48 a.m.)
The Biden campaign appears to believe that Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and its 54,000 residents, is the key to winning the closely divided state.
An ad released Wednesday is the fourth from the Biden campaign centered around a resident of the eastern North Carolina city, as Biden tries to win a state that went for Obama in 2008 and where he is tied with President Donald Trump in the Real Clear Politics average of polls.
The ad features Kevin McLaughlin, owner of Larema Coffee House, with a brief shot of the Rocky Mount Telegram. Previous ads highlighted local pastor and state representative James Gaillard; Kimberly Thigpen, owner of The Bath Place in Rocky Mount; and microbrewery owner Celeste Beatty.
Rocky Mount, which has a majority Black population, is key to the former vice president’s strategy in the state, which currently has the tightest margin in the country. It’s one of the parts of the state where Democratic turnout sagged in 2016 and also the hometown of popular Democratic Governor Roy Cooper, who will also be on the ballot.
General Who Once Mocked Biden Endorses Him (10:33 a.m.)
A general who was fired after mocking Biden during a dispute over the Afghanistan war strategy has endorsed him, arguing that he would handle internal disagreements well.
In an interview on MSNBC, retired General Stanley McChrystal said he thinks Biden would “set a tone” that would bring out the best in his administration.
“Not everyone will agree with every policy, and that’s healthy in a democracy,” he said. “But we have to believe in our values, we have to believe that your commander-in-chief is someone you can trust. I trust Joe Biden.”
McChrystal and Biden were on opposing sides of a major debate in the Obama administration. Then head of the war effort, McChrystal called for a surge in troops, which Biden opposed.
Obama ultimately sent more troops, but McChrystal lost his job after mocking Biden and other administration officials in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. In the article, McChrystal pretends not to know who Biden is, while a top aide says, “Did you say: Bite me?”
In an interview after Obama fired McChrystal, Biden said he had no hard feelings toward him. “I didn’t take it personally at all,” he told ABC’s “This Week” in July 2010. “I really, honest to God, didn’t. Compared to what happens in politics, this is -- that was a piece of cake.”
Electoral College Predictions Favor Biden (9:06 a.m.)
A little more than a month from Election Day, all but one of the major Electoral College models predicts a Biden win.
At the low end, the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia puts Biden at 269 electors, one less than needed to win, but puts Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Maine’s Second Congressional District, worth a single elector, as toss-ups. Biden is favored to win some of those states.
ABC News’ Political Unit has Biden at 290, putting Arizona and Wisconsin as likely Biden states, and adding Georgia as a tossup. The Cook Political Report has a similar map but adds Iowa and Ohio as tossups, while Decision Desk HQ throws in Nebraska’s Second Congressional District as a tossup too.
Rachel Bitecofer’s model for the Niskanen Center puts Florida as leaning toward Biden and Maine’s Second leaning to Trump, bringing Biden to 318 electors, and adding the reliably red states of Alaska and Texas as tossups.
At the high end, Inside Elections has Biden at 319 electors, with only Georgia and North Carolina as tossups.
Skeptics will note that Electoral College predictions were off in 2016, but with so many Republican states now considered toss-ups, it’s just as possible that they are currently underestimating Biden’s chances.
Trump Unhappy With Debate Moderator Chris Wallace (7:10 a.m.)
Trump continued to work the refs, complaining that the moderator of his first debate against Joe Biden -- Fox News host Chris Wallace -- unfairly cut him off.
Speaking to supporters at a rally in Duluth, Minnesota, on Wednesday, Trump argued that he was effectively debating Biden as well as Wallace.
“I said, ‘Sleepy Joe, name one law enforcement group that supports you,’” Trump said. “And then Chris Wallace says, ‘Don’t do that.’ Can you believe this guy? I was debating two people last night.”
During that portion of the debate, Trump interjected four times as Biden tried to answer a question about policing until Wallace said he was “going to take back the bottom line” and move on to another subject.
Trump also falsely claimed that Biden wants to cancel the two remaining debates because he “lost badly.” The Biden campaign said Wednesday he was committed to attending the next two debates. -- Jordan Fabian
Biden’s Snapchat Filter Seeks to Make Vote-by-Mail Cool
Hillary Clinton urged young people to “Pokemon Go to the polls” in 2016. The Biden campaign would rather they Snapchat their way to the post office.
As first reported by The Verge, Biden’s team has unveiled a new Snapchat lens that enables users who aim their phone camera at a U.S. Postal Service logo to see digitally superimposed fireworks that spell out “Vote Early for Biden-Harris.”
Users can also turn the camera to selfie mode to digitally add a Biden hat and aviator sunglasses.
Snapchat is a rich target for campaigns seeking young voters. The app has more than 200 million active daily users, many of whom are 18-to-24 years old.
Earlier this month, it unveiled a voter registration tool that has already helped more than 750,000 users register.
Democrats See Voter Registration Volunteer Surge After Debate
Biden won something better than a CNN poll after Tuesday’s debate: 100,000 new volunteers.
After he name-checked IWillVote.com, the Democratic-backed voter registration website saw a spike in sign-ups to volunteer to help register voters, with most coming from Florida, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, according to CBS News.
Biden, his top surrogates and other Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have repeatedly promoted the website in public appearances, on social media and in speeches at the Democratic convention.
Asked about election security at the debate, Biden mentioned it right at the start, saying Americans should “go to Iwillvote.com, decide how they’re going to vote, when they’re going to vote, and what means by which they’re going to vote.”
Trump did not encourage people to register to vote or mention any websites during the debate.
Coming Up:
Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence will debate in Salt Lake City on Oct. 7.
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