A temporary wall has been erected around the White House perimeter as law enforcement agencies prepare in advance for potential unrest and violence on Election Day.

Media reported a non-scalable “anti-climb” fence, made from a welded wire mesh that is  impossible to climb and very difficult to cut, installed around the White House on Monday.

Additional fencing already had been erected around Lafayette Square, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, the location of protests over racial equality in June following the police-killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died on May 25 when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on the neck of the handcuffed former bouncer for nearly nine minutes during an arrest.

The new fencing was among other measures being taken in Washington, DC, and other cities ahead of expected protests.

Meanwhile, fears of possible unrest on Election Night and beyond prompted many businesses and shops to board up doors and windows.

In anticipation of violence, in New York City, the Empire State Building, the Macy’s department store, and the skyscraper that houses the Trump-favored Fox News channel were all boarded up.

On Rodeo Drive, one of the most expensive shopping streets in California’s Beverley Hills, staff stripped the display windows at Tiffany & Co. and Van Cleef & Arpels of their jewels.

“Hopefully this is all for nothing,” Kathy Gohari, vice president of the Rodeo Drive Committee, the merchants association, said on Monday as she watched workers nail plywood over luxury storefronts.

However, in New York City’s Times Square in recent days ardent Republican Trump supporters and Democrats, as well as adherents of the anti-fascism movement known as ANTIFA, have been clashing with one another.

US President Donald Trump has warned that he expected an unprecedented level of cheating and violence in the course of the 2020 presidential election. 

“[C]heating can happen like you have never seen,” Trump told a rally in Scranton, Pennsylvania on Monday. US Supreme Court ruling will ‘induce violence,’ Trump warns ahead of Election Day

In a Monday night tweet, Trump criticized the US Supreme Court’s decision to allow officials in Pennsylvania and North Carolina to continue accepting and counting mail-in ballots for a few days after Election Day, saying the court ruling will “induce violence in the streets.”

Trump’s prediction or threat of violence has increased anxieties about the potential for violence in a polarized nation engaged in a bitter and divisive race to send their favored presidential candidate to the White House.

Trump reportedly plans to declare a premature victory if he is “ahead” on Tuesday night, despite uncounted ballots.

The incumbent has highlighted massive voter fraud in this year’s election, downplaying the chances of a peaceful transition to his probable successor.

Thousands of US troops have been put on stand-by for rapid deployment in case of violence.

Source: Presstv

American voters in Dixville Notch, a village of 12 residents in the US state of New Hampshire, kicked off Election Day at midnight on Tuesday by voting unanimously for Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

The tiny northeastern town in the middle of the forest, near the Canadian border, has traditionally voted “first in the nation” since 1960.

Neighboring village Millsfield also begins voting at midnight but a third village in the area, which typically follows the same tradition, canceled overnight voting due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Most polling stations on the East Coast will open at 6:00 or 7:00 am (1100 or 1200 GMT) on Tuesday.

While many early votes are believed to have been cast by Democrats — encouraged by Biden to take advantage of the opportunity — Trump’s campaign is hoping for a massive wave of Republican supporters voting in person on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday predicted a “beautiful victory” hours before polls open in Nov. 3 presidential race.

“We’re going to have another beautiful victory tomorrow,” he said at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan late Monday.

“We’re going to make history once again,” he said.

Trump earlier rallied in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which was at the center of anti-racism protests this summer after African-American Jacob Blake was shot in the back by the police.

The US president was in a final hour bid to prove the polls wrong, while his Democratic challenger Joe Biden predicted victory and told America to “take back” democracy.

“We brought law and order to Kenosha,” Trump said to cheers, as soon as he took the stage. “They’re waging war on our police.”

The US president is trailing Biden in almost every poll amid his poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic that has taken some 231,000 American lives and badly damaged the economy that had been his biggest selling point.

‘We’re done with chaos’

Biden, 77, made his own closing argument on Monday with events in Cleveland, Ohio, and then Pittsburgh in the ultimate swing state of Pennsylvania.

“I have a feeling we’re coming together for a big win tomorrow,” he said. “It’s time to stand up and take back our democracy.”

“It’s time for Donald Trump to pack his bags and go home,” Biden told supporters in Cleveland.

“We’re done with the chaos! We’re done with the tweets, the anger, the hate, the failure, the irresponsibility.”

“I’m hoping for a straightforward, peaceful election, a lot of people showing up,” Biden told reporters in Pittsburgh.

Nearly 100 million Americans have already cast ballots in early voting, highlighting the tensest race in recent memory.

Trump warns of ‘cheating’

For weeks, Trump has made unprecedented claims that his Democratic opponent will bring anarchy and that attempts are being made to rig the result against him.

He focused especially on battleground Pennsylvania’s rule allowing absentee ballots received within three days after Tuesday to be counted.

In a tweet flagged with a warning label by Twitter on Monday, he said this would “allow rampant and unchecked cheating and will undermine our entire systems of laws.”

“It will also induce violence in the streets. Something must be done!” Trump tweeted.

“It’s going to be cheating,” he said during the Wisconsin rally.

Source: Presstv

The USA presidential elections are less than 24 hours away. Unfortunately, I don’t have a vote. Otherwise, Trump could count on my vote 100%.

As an African, you might be wondering why I am pro-Trump. That is exactly the stereotype that drives me towards Trump. Yes, I am Black, but I would rather be voting for Trump.

I strongly believe that Africa would be a much better place today, if it had such leaders as Trump. Why is that?

1. Trump is not a career politician. I am more interested in results than political correctness. In any case, political ideologies and practices in Africa today are still essentially “copy and paste” from the colonial masters; and that is one of the major problems facing Africa today.

2. Trump is already a successful businessman. He does not need the presidency for daily subsistence. Most African leaders get into politics, not to serve, but primarily as a means to make a living. Consequently, they easily succumb to financial improprieties.

3. Trump puts America first. I really wished that the African leaders put Africa first. They appear to put their pockets and the interest of their colonial masters and mentors first.

4. Trump stands for small government. I am sick and tired of Africans looking up to the government for everything, and the leaders continuing to give the impression that citizens livelihoods are at their mercy. Most of the developed world was built by the private sector, with the governments only providing the enabling environment. For example, most of the UK’s vital public services (water, electricity, telecoms, railways) only became state corporations through a process of nationalization from private ownership after the 2nd world war. These companies have since been privatized, a sign that the government is not such a good manager.

5. Trump has strong self-belief and stays the course. The leaders closest to Trump that Africa has had, irrespective of ideology include Kwame Krumah of Ghana, Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, Patrice Lumumba of Congo DRC, Nelson Mandela of South Africa, and now Paul Kagame of Rwanda. Most of today’s leaders have no ideology, and are only interested in gaining and keeping power, at all cost.

6. Trump has a great family. Success is contagious. No unsuccessful leader can raise such very successful children. This competency inevitably translates into success for business, careers and country.

7. Trump embodies the “Power of One”, a phrase I borrowed from Cameroonian writer Patrice Nganang. History, innovation, and significant milestones are often initiated and led by ONE person, be it sports, entertainment, innovation etc. Trump is a true leader and we need such leaders in Africa.

8. Trump brings contradiction and innovation. Some may call it division, but I am tired of the African talk of unity as a pre-requisite for all human progress. No, No. Unity in Africa means that people should FOLLOW whoever is in a position of leadership without question. The physically strong quickly fight themselves into positions of power and preach unity as a tool to keep power. If anything, Africa needs more division (diversity) than unity (conformity) within a level playing field.

Win or lose on November 3rd, 2020, Trump is my hero. I wished we had a few TRUMPs in Africa today. But I have no doubt that the African Trumps will emerge.

I would appreciate your constructive comments. And if you think this article makes interesting reading, please share.

Gene Worifah

Nov 2, 2020

Donald Trump vowed to again disprove the polls as he sprinted through five swing states Sunday, while his opponent Joe Biden urged supporters to “take back our democracy” by voting in two days.

The last-minute scramble came as polls showed Biden maintaining his overall lead — but with some slight tightening in key states including Pennsylvania, where he leads by four points, and Florida, now a tossup, according to a RealClearPolitics average of polls.

With Americans galvanised by the stakes, the election has already mobilised a record number of early voters.

“We’re now leading,” Trump insisted before a raucous rally of supporters in Washington Township, Michigan.

“Look, we’re leading in Florida. We’re leading in Georgia… They say it’s a very close race in Texas. I don’t think so. They did that four years ago and I won in a landslide.”

Snow flurries fell on Trump and the crowd as he shivered and joked repeatedly about the brisk winds and freezing conditions.

He warned, in a state long dependent on manufacturing, that Biden had “spent 47 years outsourcing your jobs, opening your borders and sacrificing American blood and treasure in endless foreign wars.”

Biden and his wife Jill began the day attending Mass at their Catholic church near their home in Wilmington, Delaware.

The former vice president spent the rest of the day in a neighbouring state that is vital to both men’s prospects: Pennsylvania.

At a drive-in rally in Philadelphia, Biden said: “In two days, we can put an end to a presidency that has divided this nation.”

“It’s time to stand up, take back our democracy,” he said.

“We can do this. We’re better than this. We’re so much better.”

‘Almost criminal’

He also continued to hammer Trump over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic — which he called “almost criminal” in an earlier speech to supporters — following the country’s worst week for new cases ever, with more than 1,000 Americans dying daily.

Yet the president has continued to shrug off the seriousness of Covid-19 — going so far as to accuse doctors of inflating virus death tolls for profit.

At his third rally of the day in Hickory, North Carolina, Trump called for businesses and schools to reopen and touted signs of a recovering economy — though economists say underlying factors do not bode well. 

His extraordinary conflict with doctor Anthony Fauci, the widely respected government expert on infectious diseases, also continued.

In an interview in the Washington Post published Saturday, Fauci said bluntly that without “an abrupt change” in the country’s public health practices, Americans face “a whole lot of hurt ahead.”

But he praised the Biden campaign which — in contrast to Trump’s mass rallies — follows health guidance in its public events.

Fauci’s remarks drew a sharp rebuke from a White House spokesman, Judd Deere, who called it “unacceptable” for Fauci “to choose three days before an election to play politics.”

Fears of tensions on election night and afterward, with vote counting expected to continue due to the large number of mail-in ballots, were further stoked by a report that Trump could declare victory prematurely.

The Axios news site reported that Trump has told confidants he would declare victory Tuesday night if it looks like he’s ahead.

Trump called it a “false report” but also repeated his argument that “I don’t think it’s fair that we have to wait for a long period of time after the election.”

He has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that mail-in ballots are open to fraud, and warned Saturday of “bedlam in our country” if no clear winner emerges quickly.

When asked about the report, Biden said: “The president is not going to steal this election.”

Boarding up

In another sign of how unusual and tense the race has become, Biden also denounced the alleged harassment of one of his campaign buses by Trump supporters on a Texas highway — an incident the FBI confirmed it is investigating.

The election takes place in a deeply divided country, with feelings so raw that gun sales have surged in some areas.

Businesses in some cities, including Washington, are protectively boarding windows, and police are preparing for the possibility of violence.

Trump started an exhausting Sunday schedule with successive rallies in Michigan, Iowa, North Carolina and Georgia before an unusual 11:00 pm rally in Florida.

On Monday, both Trump and Biden will campaign again in Pennsylvania, which Trump won in 2016 by less than one percentage point. The president will later return to Michigan, and Biden reportedly is adding a last-minute stop in Cleveland, Ohio.

Biden’s former boss Barack Obama, who has excoriated Trump in his appearances on the campaign trail, will hold an election eve rally in Miami, the campaign announced.

A record 93 million early votes have already been cast, according to the nonpartisan US Elections Project.

In Trump’s 2016 victory, he was able to flip the crucial states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and, by an especially narrow margin, Michigan.

But polls show Biden, despite his more cautious and reserved campaign style, ahead there while also pushing Trump onto the back foot in traditionally conservative battlegrounds like Georgia and Texas.

Source: AFP

Barack Obama will join forces with Joe Biden in Michigan as Donald Trump goes all in on the crucial state of Pennsylvania Saturday and the two candidates dig deep on the final weekend before Tuesday’s US presidential election.

For the first time since the start of the campaign, Biden, 77, will be joined on stage by his former boss and most popular campaigner, former President Barack Obama.

They’ll put on two drive-in rallies in the cities of Flint and Detroit in Michigan. Stevie Wonder is expected to be the musical guest of the evening.

Trump, 74, won the industrial state by a narrow margin of 0.2 points in 2016 — but this year the former vice president leads by seven points.

This puts him in pole position to take its 16 electoral votes, a sizable leap towards the 270 he needs to win the White House.

For the past week Obama has put his popularity at the service of his former vice president, hosting several rallies at which he repeatedly slammed Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, notably in Florida and Pennsylvania.

But Trump — who has dismissed Obama’s rallies as much smaller than his own — will himself head to Pennsylvania Saturday, where he will host three rallies, a sign of how key the state is to his own path to 270 votes.

He won Pennsylvania, where Biden was born, by a razor-thin margin against Hillary Clinton in 2016. Every ballot will therefore count on November 3 if he hopes to claim its 20 electoral votes once more.

Biden will follow suit there both Sunday and Monday in a clear sign that his campaign also sees the Keystone State as absolutely crucial to victory.

Millions voting early

On Friday the two candidates battled over the American Midwest, barnstorming three heartland states each as they chased every last vote in a region that propelled the Republican to victory in 2016.

But the race was overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic, with infections spiking across the country. More than 94,000 new infections were recorded Friday — a new high for the second day running — and total cases passed nine million.

Nevertheless Trump, who has long said the virus will “disappear,” remained defiant at rallies in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

“We just want normal,” he told supporters — many of them unmasked — at an outdoor rally near Detroit as he pushed states to relax public health restrictions and resume daily life.

He again bucked the advice of his own administration’s health experts and downplayed the threat of the coronavirus, saying “if you get it, you’re going to get better, and then you’re going to be immune.”

The virus has killed nearly 230,000 Americans.

US hospitals are bracing as infections soar in nearly every state, with winter flu season looming.

The outbreak has ravaged the economy, and while there have been signs of recovery, millions remain jobless.

Trump has touted the economic successes of his presidency, including positive GDP figures Thursday. But US stocks closed out their worst week since March, highlighting concerns about a shaky recovery.

And with voters concerned about the health hazards of crowded polling stations on November 3, a record 86 million have already cast early ballots by mail or in person.

‘Turn Texas blue?’

After a campaign largely muted by the pandemic, Biden is on the offensive, pushing Trump onto the back foot in unexpected battlegrounds like Texas, a large, traditionally conservative bastion now rated a toss-up by multiple analysts.

On Friday, the state reported that a staggering nine million residents had already voted, surpassing its 2016 total.

Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris visited Texas Friday in a bid to turn the state Democratic for the first time since president Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Biden winning there would be a major blow to Trump, but the president dismissed the notion, saying: “Texas, we’re doing very well.”

Biden also stumped Friday in Wisconsin and in Minnesota, where he sharpened his attacks on the president on everything from Trump seeking to dismantle Obama-era health care protections and keeping his taxes secret to climate change and trade policy with China.

“We can not afford four more years of Donald Trump,” the Democrat said at a socially distanced drive-in rally in St. Paul, Minnesota.

“So honk your horn if you want America to lead again!” he said, embracing the awkward pandemic-era campaign trend of rallying supporters in their vehicles.

In Iowa, he attacked Trump over his handling of the pandemic, telling another drive-in rally in Des Moines that Trump has “given up (and) waved the white flag.”

(AFP)

More than 70 million Americans have cast ballots in the U.S. presidential election, more than half the total turnout of the 2016 election with one week to go until Election Day, according to a Tuesday tally from the U.S. Elections Project.

The tally, which shows a record-breaking pace that could lead to the highest voter turnout in percentage terms in more than a century, is the latest sign of intense interest in the contest between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden. It also highlights voters’ desire to reduce their risk of exposure to COVID-19 as the pandemic regathers strength heading into winter.

Democrats hold a significant advantage in early voting due to their embrace of mail balloting, which Republicans have historically cast in large numbers but have shunned amid repeated and unfounded attacks by Trump, who says the system is prone to widespread fraud.

Overall, Democrats hold roughly a two-to-one advantage in early voting numbers. However, Republicans in recent weeks have narrowed the gap in early, in-person voting, data shows.

The high level of early voting has led Michael McDonald, the University of Florida professor who administers the U.S. Elections Project, to predict a record U.S. voter turnout of about 150 million, representing 65% of those eligible to vote, the highest rate since 1908.

U.S. voters have already cast far more early votes during this presidential campaign than they did in all of 2016 when they passed the 47 million mark earlier this month, data shows.

(REUTERS)