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US: Campaigning in key swing states; Trump faces new lawsuit

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Kamala Harris toured Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin with Republican, Trump-critic Liz Cheney in tow. Donald Trump was in hurricane-hit North Carolina, as news emerged in New York of a fresh defamation lawsuit.

 

Presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump both campaigned in battleground states on Monday, with barely two weeks remaining until elections in the US.

Harris toured a trio of crucial swing states with Liz Cheney, the eldest daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, two of the highest-profile Republicans to publicly endorse her, seeking support from moderate Republican-leaning voters.

Trump was able to win Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin in his 2016 election victory against Hillary Clinton, but he lost all three states to Joe Biden in 2020.

Holding them again on November 5 would all but seal victory for Democratic candidate Harris.

What did Harris and Cheney say?

During one of her three “town hall” events with Cheney, moderated by a conservative radio host, in Malvern, Pennsylvania, Harris returned to her recent attack line of questioning Trump’s mental stability and suitability for office.

“In many, many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man, but the consequences of him being president of the United States are brutally serious,” Harris told the audience.

Harris and Cheney held a trio of ‘town halls’ in battleground states in the Midwest known as the ‘blue wall’
© Jacquelyn Martin/AP/picture alliance

 

She also said that Trump “has been manipulated and is so clearly able to be manipulated by favor and flattery, including by dictators and autocrats.”

Harris said if Trump were to win next month, Ukraine would likely fall to Russia. Foreign policy is one area where Cheney often criticizes Trump.

Cheney, meanwhile, said during the event in Royal Oak, Michigan that she had spoken to several Republicans with concerns about Trump who had also said “I can’t be public” in those opinions. But she voiced confidence that “they’ll do the right thing.”

“And I would just remind people, if you’re at all concerned, you can vote your conscience and not ever have to say a word to anybody,” Cheney said.

Trump dismisses ‘war hawk’ Cheney, criticizes hurricane response again

Trump downplayed Cheney’s appearances in comments online on Monday, calling her a “war hawk.”

He accused Cheney, best known for her father’s role in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq during the George W. Bush administration, of wanting to go to war with “every Muslim country known to mankind” like her father, who he described as “the man that ridiculously pushed Bush to go to war in the Middle East.”

Trump made three stops in North Carolina — usually a fairly safe state for Republicans, but an increasingly competitive one which Barack Obama was able to claim in his 2008 landslide — as it continues to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

Trump returned to North Carolina on Monday, one of the states hit hard by Hurricane Helene and one that is no longer as safe for Republican candidates as once it was
© Evan Vucci/AP/dpa/picture alliance

 

He again criticized the federal government’s response to the storms, even after his earlier criticisms prompted rebukes from North Carolina Republicans like Chuck Edwards, who was sharing the stage with Trump as he made the renewed claims on Monday.

Asked if his criticisms were helpful, after Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employees complained of harassment by local militias impeding their work, Trump said he believed “you have to let people know how they’re doing.”

“If they were doing a great job, I think we should say that, too, because I think they should be rewarded,” he said. “If they’re doing a poor job, we’re supposed to not say it?”

Trump’s children Eric and Tiffany were among those in the audience in Concord, North Carolina, on Monday
© Win McNamee/AFP/Getty Images

 

‘Central Park Five’ announce defamation lawsuit over Trump debate comments

Meanwhile, in Trump’s New York base, the five Black and Hispanic teenagers wrongfully convicted of a 1989 rape and murder of a jogger in Central Park said they were suing Trump over statements he made at last month’s presidential debate.

Known broadly as the “Central Park Five,” the men spent between five and 13 years in prison before they were cleared in 2002 based on new DNA evidence and the confession of another person.

Trump falsely said during the debate that the men had killed a person and pleaded guilty.

The young men confessed early in the investigation. They soon said they had done so under duress and pleaded not guilty at trial, though they were convicted.

A spokesman for the Trump campaign dismissed the defamation lawsuit as “just another frivolous, election interference lawsuit, filed by desperate left-wing activists.”

One of the plaintiff’s lawyers denied a political motivation and said the men were seeking compensation for renewed damage to their reputations and for Trump intentionally inflicting emotional distress.

Trump had been vocal on the killing at the time, taking out a full-page newspaper advert calling for the death penalty’s reintroduction in New York.

In 2019, when challenged on the issue, he refused to apologize or revise comments made about the group prior to their exoneration.

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OP-ED: OBJ: DEMOCRACY OR DEMOCRAZY IN DANGER? By Tahir Ibrahim Tahir Talban Bauchi.

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OP-ED: OBJ: DEMOCRACY OR DEMOCRAZY IN DANGER?

By Tahir Ibrahim Tahir Talban Bauchi.

Our collective selective amnesia makes it possible for characters from yesteryears of leadership to pontificate and assume dispositions of nobility and morality; appearing to distance themselves from the uncharitable, undemocratic, and immoral acts they committed while in positions of leadership. Had they, the moral standing or uprightness, they would have behaved or acted differently. Today they are gesticulating hard, trying to rewrite history, change their wolf clothes to sheep clothings, in a bold and shameless claim for leadership values, eanting to become moral compasses for the masses. Embarrssingly, once out of power, our leaders are unable to remain on the sidelines like the rest of us, and continue to angle for power or some sort of relevance, making commentary and issuing positions to satisfy their conceited minds, while hoping to curry public favor and relevance.

Not too long ago, Ghana must go was a harmless bag for travel when one was not traveling light. In OBJ’s tenure, it became a veritable tool for ferrying illicit money, meant for illicit or sinister activities. Don’t you remember how bags of Ghana must go were on display in the Assembly which was used for bribery? Don’t you recall that it was during OBJ’s tenure that constituency projects were initiated in the Assembly? For what purpose then, other than to pocket the legislative to do his bidding? Today we are stuck with tonnes of uncompleted constituency projects across the country, with Tracka and other transparency agencies, burdened with tracking and assessing the completion of these projects. It’s one whistle blow after the other, as more and more uncompleted constituency projects are fished out. Would you have also forgotten so quickly how OBJ installed and removed different Senate Presidents at will, registering atleast four during his Presidency. Enwerem, Nnamani, Wabara, Anyim and co. were all Senate Presidents, courtesy OBJ’s gimmicks and antics, all to ensure that he doesn’t work with an independent legislature.

How many state of emergency declarations were made by OBJ, and in each, appointing military administrators? How many state of Assemblies impeached their governors, while having as few as 3 or 5 legislators to perpetrate the hugely undemocratic act? Infact, didn’t we have a sitting governor, former Governor Chris Ngige of Anambra, confess that he was abducted or kidnapped, in an attempt to remove him from office, and install an OBJ ally/ stooge as governor? Wasn’t Governor Fayose of Ekiti sacked by OBJ? What business did a president have, with the running of a state government, or with the legislature at both the federal and state levels? OBJ ruled under a democratic dispensation but he moved like a despot. He never really threw away his military uniform and mien, and he was a man of force, and brute force only. His party structure was also not safe from his dictatorial tendencies, and party chairmen were followed to their dinner tables at home to sign their resignations. Followed by who? The President himself! This is not discounting other more brutal events like the leveling of Odi! Don’t forget a sitting President, OBJ, launched his library and governors were made to contribute. Then ofcourse the almighty 3rd term agenda, to pave way for OBJ, who was president as a military man, served again as president under a democratic govt for good 8 years; to continue to remain in power for only God knows how long. Clearly, whoever thought it was going to be just an additional one term alone, was not putting on his thinking cap! OBJ would do a Seseseko of Congo, or a Mugabe of Zimbabwe, or a Paul Biya of Cameroon on us. And God has given him good health, so we may just have been battling or enduring his despotic rule from 1999 to date all along. He would pull all the strings, pull all the rabbits from all the hats available to him, and force his way however he damn pleases. We dodged a bullet there! Phew! Democracy was actually and truly in danger!

I’ve not forgotten how 16 members of the governors forum defeated 19 members, to make a governor’s forum chairman, who was ofcourse sympathetic to former President Goodluck Jonathan. President Jonathan harbored this arithmetic. Goodluck also tried to perpetuate himself in power, after serving out Yar’adua’s tenure, serving another tenure of his own, and seeking another re-election, which would have guaranteed him a total of 11 years on the seat of the Presidency! Goodluck also declared state of emergency in a few states during his tenure. He was also obstructive to the smooth running of the legislature, as we can’t simply forget how senators and house of reps members scaled the very high National Assembly fence gate, to gain access to the chambers, as they were under siege by security forces. If I were a legislator, I wouldn’t have made it across that whoppinv fence! Are we turning a blind eye to the destruction of the state assembly complex in Edo by former Governor Obaseki, and the denial of the legislative rights of 14 members of the assembly, along with their emoluments, and the opportunity to perform their duties as representatives of the people. So when opposition parties, especially the PDP of OBJ and Goodluck, speak of undemocratic act and events, you wonder where they were when all the events enumerated above took place, or whether they didn’t find them undemocratic?

OBJ says democracy is in danger in Africa, even though he was referring to Nigeria, and was just being clever. The Rivers state of emergency declaration is their main headache for now. But they cannot be taking Flagyl for headache — another man’s headache at that. The uniqueness of the Rivers debacle is that the governor himself, and the state assembly members, were directly responsible for the growing insecurity in the state. Pipelines were being blown. The gains Nigeria recorded in terms of oil production and oil revenue were at stake and stood the risk of being eroded overnight, because of the tussle for power in Rivers. The communities were safe, the capital was safe, but miscreants were already directing their games at the oil infrastructure of the country in Rivers. It is a terrible time to play games and Nigeria cannot afford such expensive games, at a time of austerity. We are just trying to bounce back, and some agberos were ready to plunge us into even more darker dungeons. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR; was well within his powers, and backed by the National Assembly. Rivers is too vital economically for a responsible govt to watch militants play karaoke with it once again. It would end up in tears. So when OBJ declares democracy to be in danger, perhaps he means democrazy, the type he and his proteges and party affiliates used to shove down our throats during those PDP years.

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Contesting against Soludo will not be easy but defeating him is doable— Dr. George Moghalu(Labour party Governorship Aspirant) ‎

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‎Former National Auditor of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Managing Director of National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Dr. George Moghalu, earlier today emerged the candidate of Labour Party (LP) for the November 8 Anambra State governorship election.

‎The LP brand candidate, polled a total of 573 delegate votes to defeat his only contestant, Chuma Nwosu, who got 19 votes in the primary election

‎Speaking after the free, fair, transparent primary, Moghalu, admitted that though contesting against the incumbent, Chukwuma Charles Soludo, will not be a tea party, defeating him is however doable.

‎“ Running an election against an incumbent is not a tea party but it is doable and for us to do it, we must put the first foot forward. This is what I am pleading with you to put your confidence in me and I will not betray your confidence if you check my track records,”

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Violence, Police Collusion As Alleged Ukachukwu’s Thugs Block APC Accreditation In Awka.

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‎The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary in Anambra State descended into chaos on Saturday morning, as thugs allegedly loyal to aspirant Nicholas Ukachukwu, in concert with police officers, violently disrupted the delegate accreditation process at the Beautiful Gate Hotel, Awka.

‎hotel gate had reportedly been taken over by suspected Ukachukwu’s private security operatives and suspected thugs, who, with apparent support from police personnel on the ground, began preventing accredited delegates without Ukachukwu’s campaign identification from accessing the venue.

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