Joe Biden - The African Mirror

Aug

2020

Obama slams Trump as unfit, says U.S. democracy is at risk

JOSEPH AX FORMER U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday assailed his successor, Donald Trump, as deeply unfit for the office he occupies and argued that voting for his former No. 2, Joe Biden, was necessary to ensure the survival of American democracy. "He's shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves," Obama said…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Five takeaways from Day Two of the Democratic National Convention

WORLD

JAMES OLIPHANT THE Democratic National Convention has showcased the party's elder statesmen, up-and-coming political stars and delegates from colourful locations across the country all pressing to make Joe Biden the next U.S. president. Here are five takeaways from the second night of the convention: A TENTATIVE TRUCE The Democratic Party's moderates and progressives have declared a truce to establish a unified front against President Donald Trump. But it may last only as long as Biden's presidential campaign, win or lose. That was made apparent in a short address by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive force within the party. In a…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Michelle Obama presses fight for Biden with scathing attack on Trump

WORLD

JOHN WHITESIDES and JAMES OLIPHANT FORMER first lady Michelle Obama has launched a blistering attack on President Donald Trump and urged Americans to elect Democrat Joe Biden in November to end the chaos she said had been created during the four years of Trump's presidency. In an impassioned speech capping the first night of the Democratic National Convention, Obama said the Republican Trump "has had enough time to prove that he can do the job" but had failed to meet the moment in a country reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, economic turmoil and racial injustice. "Whenever we look to this…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

How Kamala Harris found the political identity that had eluded her

WORLD

JAMES OLIPHANT MONTHS after her presidential campaign collapsed amid questions over her political identity, Kamala Harris suddenly and forcefully found her voice – and at a fortuitous time. Harris, a 55-year-old U.S. senator from California, was chosen by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden as his running mate on Tuesday, making history as the first Black woman and Asian-American on a major presidential ticket. Her selection came as little surprise. With the United States in the midst of a reckoning over its history of racial injustice, Biden had increasingly been pressed to select a woman of color. Harris, who became the…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Black activists praise Biden’s pick of Harris, but warn challenges remain

BUSINESS

MICHAEL MARTINA and TREVOR HUNNICUTT DEMOCRATIC presidential candidate Joe Biden's pick of Kamala Harris as his running mate showed his commitment to Black voters, African-American activists said, but they warned it would not guarantee him the support he needs to win. In choosing Harris to be the first Black woman on a major party presidential ticket in U.S. history, Biden signalled to activists he was heeding the lessons of 2016 when the first decline of Black voter turnout in 20 years helped Republican President Donald Trump win the White House. Some prominent Black political operatives had urged Biden to choose…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

As Biden VP pick nears, Susan Rice slams Trump for being soft on Russia’s Putin

WORLD

JASON LANGE FORMER U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice, who is on Joe Biden's shortlist to be his running mate, has criticized President Donald Trump for failing to question Russian leader Vladimir Putin about reports Moscow paid bounties for the killing of U.S. troops. "He is absolutely a failure as our commander in chief," Rice told the ABC network in an interview. "He has got some very bizarre, very inexplicable reason for always giving Putin the benefit of the doubt." Trump said in an interview on Tuesday with "Axios on HBO" that he never questioned Putin about U.S. intelligence reports…