Trump faces new character tests as campaign enters final stretch

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/07/politics/donald-trump-election-2020-character-test/index.html

 Maybe the biggest surprise about allegations President Donald Trump uttered rude dismissals of American war dead was how unsurprising it really was.

The remarks, reported first in The Atlantic magazine and corroborated by several outlets, including CNN, seemed so in character with Trump's public persona that even an onslaught of denials from current and former officials did little to negate the impression that Trump is a man who sometimes says terrible things.

When excerpts soon followed of his former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen's book portraying Trump as a cheat, liar, fraud, bully, racist, predator and con man, the surprise again failed to materialize -- even though Cohen had worked intimately with Trump for years.

 Now, as the presidential campaign begins its post-Labor Day finale, the question has become less about what Americans know of Trump's character but whether they care.

Trump appears to be betting they don't. He's continued his attacks on war heroes and generals, even as he tries to claim utmost respect for the military. And he's dismissing efforts to reckon with the country's racist past, even as he works to convince suburban White voters he's not racist himself.

In Final Stretch, Biden Defends Lead Against Trump’s Onslaught

 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/06/us/politics/trump-biden-2020.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

Private polls conducted for both parties during and after their August conventions found the race largely stable but tightening slightly in some states, with Mr. Trump recovering some support from conservative-leaning rural voters who had drifted away over the summer amid the worsening pandemic. Yet Mr. Biden continues to enjoy advantages with nearly every other group, especially in populous areas where the virus remains at the forefront for voters, according to people briefed on the data.

Facing Haredi rebellion, ministers approve local curfews instead of lockdowns

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/under-heavy-haredi-pressure-netanyahu-proposes-curfews-instead-of-lockdowns/

 Ministers on Sunday evening approved nightly curfews in some 40 cities with high infection numbers, instead of the previously planned full lockdown on a smaller number of towns — a plan that had sparked a threat of rebellion from some ultra-Orthodox mayors and a major political crisis with the ultra-Orthodox parties.

The curfews will be in effect every day between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. Non-essential businesses will be closed during the curfew. Schools will be closed at all times.

The Latest Polls, the Great Non-Tightening: This Week in the 2020 Race

 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/05/us/politics/trump-biden-polls-election.html

 A wave of data this week suggested that the race was largely holding steady after the parties’ conventions. Will the uproar over President Trump’s reported remarks on the military shake things up?

 A batch of national polls released in the wake of the Democratic and Republican conventions showed Joe Biden leading President Trump by anywhere from seven to 10 percentage points.

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Biden leads Trump by 10 points in new national poll

 https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/515308-biden-leads-trump-by-10-points-in-new-national-poll

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is leading President Trump by 10 points nationally, according to a new poll. 

More than half of likely voters, 52 percent, said they would cast their ballots for Biden, and 42 percent said they would support Trump, according to a CBS News-YouGov poll released Sunday. The poll found 3 percent said they are “not sure” who they would vote for, and 3 percent said they would vote for someone else.

 

Jeffrey Goldberg: I Think Trump Is Genuinely Confused By Service | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Biden, allied military vets slam Trump over Atlantic report, call comments 'disgusting'

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/military-vets-slam-trump-over-atlantic-report-call-him-a-coward

 The president, the White House and Trump’s reelection campaign have all vigorously denied the allegations. These cover claims from four unnamed sources that the president disparaged fallen soldiers buried at the Aisne-Marne American cemetery near Paris as "suckers" and said the land was "filled with losers" back in 2018, in addition to trashing Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, following the death of the war hero and 2008 GOP presidential nominee.

But the president, speaking with reporters on Thursday night, called the report “a total lie. It's fake news.” And taking aim at the anonymous sources, he argued that "if they really exist, if people really exist that would have said that, they’re low lifes and they’re liars.”

On Friday morning he once again charged the report was "a fake story." Other sources have backed up the White House account of the 2018 trip, challenging the report in question.

 But Rep. Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania, who served as an officer in the U.S. Marines, said on the Biden campaign call that despite the denials, “the facts reported in this article have not only been confirmed by multiple news outlets but they are consistent with what we have all heard the president say publicly multiple times, and with the actions he has taken and not taken on behalf of our veterans.”

Trump calls on Fox News to fire reporter who confirmed some parts of Atlantic story

 https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7309929059139673041/7478768499517845676

 For years, Fox News has worked to undermine and discredit the work of other news organizations that have reported damning details about President Trump and his administration. But on Friday, something unusual happened: The network turned a skeptical eye toward reporting from its own correspondent.

After spending much of the day bashing The Atlantic for Jeffrey Goldberg's jarring report which said Trump had disparaged military members who died in service to the country, Fox News itself confirmed key aspects of it. In a lengthy Twitter thread, correspondent Jennifer Griffin said she had confirmed Trump disparaged veterans; didn't want to honor the dead at the Aisne-Marne Cemetery; and did not want to lower flags after the death of John McCain.

 An actual news organization would aggressively tout that it had matched much of the reporting at the center of the biggest news story of the day — especially given that Fox rarely delivers on original reporting of its own. And it would have mattered because Fox viewers are so often shielded from the truth. But Fox didn't proudly hold up Griffin's reporting. Instead, it acted as if it were ashamed and inconvenienced by it.

Former Defense Secretary Hagel on Trump's comments: It's degrading and despicable

Former US Army captain: Troops knew about Trump before article

Will POTUS Supporters Criticize His Latest Remarks? | Morning Joe | MSNBC

VoteVets Director of Govt. Relations, Will Goodwin, Discusses Atlantic Article - MSNBC

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Fox News Denies Own Reporter Confirmed Trump Used ‘Suckers and Losers’ After Airing Interview of Her Confirming It

 https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/fox-news-denies-own-reporter-confirmed-trump-used-suckers-and-losers-1055782/

 On Saturday morning, following a late Friday night tweet from the president calling on Fox News to fire her, the network’s national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin told host Neil Cavuto that Trump did indeed use the sort of language The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg said the president had.

After being asked about The Atlantic’s framing of Trump’s comments, Griffin told Cavuto that she double-checked with her sources this morning and they reconfirmed both Goldberg’s reporting and her own.

 On Friday during Fox News’ The Five, the hosts, with a total disregard for their own network’s reporting, called the story a “hoax” and a “scam.” And later, Fox News’ chief political news anchor Bret Baier reported on the story with a chyron that read: “Fake News.”

Trump’s propaganda network seems to be fighting with itself on this one, and the viewers, as the president might say, are the big losers.

GOP lawmaker defends Fox reporter after Trump calls for her firing

 https://thehill.com/homenews/house/515267-gop-lawmaker-defends-fox-reporter-after-trump-calls-for-her-firing

 GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) on Saturday defended Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin after President Trump targeted the journalist on Twitter and called for her to be fired.

Trump went after Griffin, a national security correspondent, after she reported that former officials had backed up some details of an explosive report about Trump published this week by The Atlantic.

“She’s one of my favorite reporters. Fair and unafraid,” Kinzinger wrote in response to Trump calling for Griffin to be fired.