With Democratic US presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton sidelined by pneumonia, US President Barack Obama took up the Democrats’ fight against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday, trying to quash his bid to appeal to working-class voters.
Obama, whose 50 percent approval rating could help improve the climate for the Democratic ticket in the Nov. 8 election, rallied party faithful against Trump at an outdoor event in Philadelphia.
“This is a guy who spent 70 years on this Earth showing no concern for working people. He spent most of his life trying to stay far away from working people. He wasn’t going to let you on his golf course,” Obama said.
Obama’s campaign appearance was his first as a solo act on behalf of Clinton as he tries to ensure Democrats retain control of the White House once his eight years are over in January.
The president lauded new census numbers on income growth as proof that his administration’s policies have helped improve the economy, an attempt to undermine Trump’s argument that economic woes are deep.
“By so many measures, America is stronger and more prosperous than when we started out on this journey together,” Obama said.
Clinton rested at her home in the New York suburb of Chappaqua, as she recovers from pneumonia. She was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday last week, but she kept it secret until she nearly collapsed on Sunday at a ceremony in Manhattan marking the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
She was to return to the campaign trail today, her spokesman Nick Merrill said on Tuesday evening.
Her campaign said in a statement that she will deliver remarks in Greensboro, North Carolina, today and “discuss her vision for an America that is stronger together.”
Trump appeared at a campaign event in suburban Philadelphia after Obama departed, touting proposals that would allow families to deduct childcare expenses from their income taxes and establish paid maternity leave for women whose employers do not offer it.
The plan was aimed at bolstering working-class and middle-class families, he said.
With his daughter Ivanka at his side, Trump also appeared to support equal pay for women, traditionally a core issue for Democrats.
“We need working mothers to be fairly compensated for their work and have access to affordable quality childcare for their work,” Trump said.
As he did earlier in the day at a rally in Des Moines, Trump steered clear of mentioning Clinton’s illness, but stepped up efforts to wring maximum advantage from her controversial comment that his supporters are “deplorables.”
“While my opponent slanders you as deplorable and irredeemable, I call you hardworking American patriots who love your country,” Trump said.
After struggling in opinion polls last month, Trump has erased most of Clinton’s lead in national surveys and is competitive again.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number