Politics

Biden’s Identity Politics and the Media Have Divided a Nation

Published

1 year ago

2023-08-17

Biden' Identity Politics and the Liberal Media Dividing a Nation

President Joe Biden campaigned on a promise to unite the country, but three years later, the clear majority of Americans believe he and his administration are doing more to divide the country through identity politics.

A whopping 92% of Republicans polled claimed Biden was separating the country, while 84% of Democrats felt he was doing more to bring the country together. Half of independents, a major voting demographic that has been critical of Biden, said he was dividing the country.

On the campaign trail, in his victory speech, and in his inaugural address, Biden emphasised the importance of togetherness. Just last week, the president issued another call for peace when speaking on the one-year anniversary of the tragic U.S. Capitol riot.

“I believe the power and purpose of the presidency is to unite this nation, not divide it; to lift us up, not tear us apart; to be about us—about us, not’me,'” he stated. “Deep in the heart of America burns a flame lit nearly 250 years ago—of liberty, freedom, and equality.” This is not a land of monarchs, tyrants, or autocrats. We are a law-abiding people who value order over turmoil and peace over violence.”

Following the second anniversary of the January 6 riot, 53 percent of Americans believe a similar incident is either extremely likely or somewhat likely in the future.

Biden’s approval rating

Moreover, despite Biden’s appeals, more than half of Americans believe political polarisation would intensify throughout their lifetime. Furthermore, more than three-quarters of Americans believe that domestic political instability poses a greater threat than foreign foes.

The negative mindset of Americans extends beyond politics. Views of the economy remain overwhelmingly unfavourable, with nearly half of Americans (46%) expecting economic circumstances to worsen over the next year.

Furthermore, there has been a significant increase in the number of Americans who believe the country cannot fix many of its major problems, from 41% last year to 56% now.

Americans have become much more sceptical of the general public’s political knowledge. Approximately three-quarters of the population (76%) have little or no faith in the intelligence of the American people in making political decisions, up from 62% in 2021.

A recent Pew Research Centre survey of 5,079 members of the Center’s nationally representative American Trends Panel, conducted March 27-April 2, 2023, indicates that Biden’s job rating remains below 40%. Only 37% of those polled approve of his job performance, while 60% disapprove.

Americans fault news media for dividing nation

Meanwhile, when it comes to the liberal news media’s impact on democracy and political polarisation in the United States, Americans are more likely to believe it is causing more harm than good.

According to a new Associated Press poll, nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults believe the news media is growing political polarisation in the country, and just under half have little to no trust in the media’s ability to present the news fairly and honestly.

The poll found that while Americans are concerned about disinformation — and the role that the media, politicians, and social media corporations play in spreading it — many are also concerned about mounting risks to journalists’ safety.

This collapse in confidence may drive many Americans to abandon mainstream news sources in favour of social media and untrustworthy websites that distribute false information and can become partisan echo chambers, leading to increased polarisation.

While a narrow majority of Americans have some confidence in the liberal news media’s ability to convey the news fully and fairly, only 16% are very confident. 45 percent say they have little to no confidence in the future.

The survey reveals many Americans’ complicated relationship with the media: while the majority rate in-depth and investigative reporting as very helpful or extremely helpful for understanding the issues they care about, they are more likely to say they regularly scan the headlines rather than read an in-depth investigative article. While overall trust in the media is low, a majority of respondents believe the media does at least somewhat well in covering issues that are important to them.

American’s very divided

Four out of ten people believe the press is doing more to harm American democracy, while only around two out of ten believe the press is doing more to safeguard it. Another four in ten say neither applies.

According to Joe Salegna, a Republican from Long Island, New York, partisan news outlets and social media platforms have exacerbated the situation by teaching many Americans to view one another as enemies.

“I think it’s tearing this country apart,” Salegna, 50, said to the Associated Press. “I think it’s gotten a lot worse since the 2016 election.”

Republicans hold the news media in lower regard than Democrats, with 61% believing it harms democracy, compared to 23% of Democrats and 36% of independents who do not support either party. Majorities across party lines believe the news media causes political divisiveness, but Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to believe this occurs frequently.

More Republicans believe the news is heavily affected by the US government and journalists’ political opinions.

Coverage of recent presidential elections, the coronavirus pandemic, rallies against police deaths of Black Americans, and other incidents convinced Janis Fort that the media is untrustworthy. She claims that one network will cover a story that others will neglect, leaving viewers unsure who to believe.

“Everyone has a different story to share. “The media does nothing but instill fear,” said Fort, a 71-year-old retired Republican from Navarre, Florida. “Most of the people I know, including myself, feel completely in the dark.”

Media fragmentation

According to research, the fragmentation of the media ecosystem, mostly driven by the internet, has contributed to polarisation. Experts attribute America’s heightened political divisions to a variety of factors, including gerrymandering, which decreases political competition, and politicians who instill fear and distrust, but media fragmentation and misinformation are also playing a role.

“We should be concerned about the health of democracy,” said Joshua Tucker, a New York University political scientist who studies partisanship and co-directs NYU’s Centre for Social Media.

Concern about the threat posed by disinformation unifies Americans of both parties, with nearly nine out of ten U.S. adults stating that misinformation is a concern. Every day, one-third of American people say they encounter news with inaccurate claims made by politicians or misleading headlines.

“There is still good journalism, it’s just that the internet has made it so that anybody can be a quote-unquote journalist,” said Chris Nettell, a Democrat from Hickory Creek, Texas. “We have some news media that only targets a certain segment of society, and those people believe that because that’s all they read, everyone else believes it as well.”

Social media plays a significant role, with nearly two-thirds of respondents expecting an erroneous news report when they encounter it on social media. Those who claimed they get their news from social media on a regular basis were slightly more likely to believe it than others.

Spread of misinformation

Overall, around 6 in 10 believe the news media is to responsible for the spread of misinformation, and a comparable percentage believe it carries a significant degree of responsibility for resolving it. Majorities also believe that others, such as social media corporations and politicians, bear responsibility for both the propagation of disinformation and its prevention.

“So many people get their information from social media, and people believe whatever they want to believe,” said Araceli Cervantes, 39, a Republican mother of four from Chicago.

When it comes to defending press freedom in the United States, 44% of respondents feel the government is doing a good job, while 24% say it is doing a bad one. Most Americans are concerned about the safety of journalists, with nearly one-third stating they are very concerned or extremely concerned about attacks on the press.

The survey of 1,002 individuals was performed from March 30 to April 3 using a sample taken from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is intended to be representative of the U.S. population.

For all respondents, the margin of sampling error is 4.4 percentage points.

Politics

Judge Sides With Special Counsel Over Trump’s 2020 Election Case

Published

17 hours ago

2024-09-07

Geoff Thomas

Judge in Trump's 2020 election case sides with special counsel - File Image

The federal judge supervising former President Trump’s case in the aftermath of the 2020 election spelled out the timeline for the prosecution’s next actions following the Supreme Court’s declaration that Trump is immune for “official acts.”

Hours after the two parties met in her courtroom earlier Thursday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued an order that generally supported special counsel Jack Smith’s timing proposal.

Former President Trump faces four counts in connection with his alleged efforts to alter election results, including conspiracy to defraud the United States. Trump pleaded not guilty to the allegations again, but waived his appearance in court on Thursday CBS News reported.

The judge’s order rejects Trump’s lawyers’ proposed timeline for extending pretrial hearings into the spring or fall of 2025, well beyond the November presidential election.

Smith and his team had pushed for immunity conversations to take place alongside motions and other matters raised by the former president’s legal team.

Chutkan ordered federal prosecutors to send over all necessary information to Trump’s team by September 10, and Smith’s team had until September 26 to submit an opening brief detailing their views on presidential immunity. Smith’s prosecutors stated in court Thursday that the immunity motion will include fresh material not found in the indictment. Chutkan’s order allows the material to become public before the November election.

The judge set an Oct. 17 deadline for Trump’s team to respond to the special counsel’s claims and file their own motion to dismiss the indictment on immunity grounds. The administration will then have until October 29 to submit their response.

Chutkan stated in her two-page order that once the filings on the immunity issue are received, she will determine whether additional proceedings are required.

The judge also ordered Trump’s lawyers to file a petition by September 19 that includes “any specific evidence related to presidential immunity” that the former president feels prosecutors wrongfully concealed.

The decision also indicates that Trump has until October 24 to petition the court to enable him to file a move to dismiss the case based on accusations that Smith’s appointment and financing are unconstitutional. The special counsel’s team has until October 31 to file documents contesting this request.

The criminal case in Washington, DC, had been delayed several times as courts considered Trump’s immunity from prosecution. From 2017 to 2021, Trump claimed “absolute” immunity for any actions he took as president.

On July 1, the Supreme Court delivered a ruling denying any claims to absolute immunity while allowing extensive “presumptive immunity” to any “official” activities the president may take.

The ruling did not specify what constitutes a “official” or “unofficial” activity, but it implied that conversations with government officials, such as the vice president, would be exempt from prosecution.

As a result, the verdict was interpreted as expanding presidential power beyond what the US Constitution allows.

Judge delays Donald Trump’s Hush Money Sentencing Until After the Election

Judge delays Donald Trump’s Hush Money Sentencing Until After the Election

Politics

Judge delays Donald Trump’s Hush Money Sentencing Until After the Election

Published

1 day ago

2024-09-06

Salman Ahmad

Judge delays Donald Trump’s Hush Money Sentencing Until After the Election

The sentencing of Donald Trump in his New York hush money trial was postponed Friday until after November’s presidential election, a victory for the Republican as he faces Democrat Kamala Harris in a razor-thin race.

The former president was set to be sentenced on September 18 for fabricating business records in an attempt to hush a porn star’s politically damaging story.

However, Judge Juan Merchan postponed it until November 26 – well after the November 5 election, as asked by Donald Trump’s lawyers.

“This is not a decision this Court makes lightly but it is the decision which in this Court’s view, best advances the interests of justice,” he wrote at the time.

Donald Trump was convicted in May on 34 charges of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels to prevent her from reporting an alleged sexual encounter on the eve of the 2016 election.

He was originally set to be sentenced on July 11.

However, that was postponed because the US Supreme Court determined that a former president had wide immunity from criminal prosecution.

Following the Supreme Court’s immunity decision, Donald Trump’s lawyers requested that his New York conviction be dismissed. Merchan stated that he would rule on the dismissal request on November 12.

The postponement comes as the already remarkable White House contest enters a new tense phase, with Harris and Donald Trump scheduled for their first televised debate next Tuesday.

Donald Trump’s Public Remarks and Election Campaign Strategies

Instead of addressing major voter issues such as immigration or the economy, Trump was in New York hours before the ruling, making meandering speeches about his numerous legal troubles while denying multiple women’s allegations of sexual harassment or assault.

“This is not the kind of publicity you like,” Trump said from the lobby of Trump Tower, despite spending an hour unprompted reminding voters of his long legal troubles and allegations of rape and sexual assault by various women, including writer E. Jean Carroll.

The legal drama occurred on the day that the first mail-in ballots of the election were scheduled to be distributed.

North Carolina, a battleground state, was expected to mail out some 130,000 absentee voting papers, signalling the symbolic start of a nationwide process that saw 155 million Americans vote in the heated 2020 election.

However, a state appeals court suspended the process in response to a last-minute lawsuit filed by independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who wants his name deleted from ballots. The fringe candidate from America’s most famous political dynasty has dropped out and backed Donald Trump.

North Carolina is one of several swing states that Harris and Donald Trump have been visiting as they enter the most intense part of an election that is likely to be determined by razor-thin margins.

Other states will shortly send out initial batches of ballots, and early in-person voting will begin in 47 states as soon as September 20.

Donald Trump is set to speak in North Carolina later on Friday.

Politics

Putin Arrives In Mongolia, A Member Of The ICC That Issued An Arrest Warrant For Him

Published

5 days ago

2024-09-02

Kiara Grace

Scottie Scheffler is exhausted. Can anyone blame him after what he’s been through?

The world number one closed off a year that was equal parts extraordinary and chaotic by winning the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta by four shots on Sunday.

Putin | Britannica

Putin Arrives In Mongolia, A Member Of The ICC That Issued An Arrest Warrant For Him

After starting the week with a two-stroke lead at the summit on 10-under par, as a reward for his position atop the FedEx Cup standings, the American cruised over East Lake with a closing four-under 67 to beat compatriot Collin Morikawa to the $25 million winner’s cut of a $100 million prize pool.

It is the first time a player has won seven PGA Tour events since Tiger Woods in 2007, and the haul is even more amazing when you consider the Olympic gold, a newborn son, and the mid-major arrest that highlighted Scheffler’s stunning campaign.

“I feel like I’ve lived almost a full lifetime in this one year,” Scheffler told reporters. “It’s been nuts.”

“I’m exhausted right now,” he explained. “There truly is no other way around it. “I’m just really tired.”

A golden year.
Scheffler’s early edge at East Lake was his reward after an outstanding season.

The 28-year-old appeared almost unbeatable during a prolific early season run, becoming the first player to ever defend The Players Championship before winning the RBC Heritage in April, just one week after clinching his second Masters title at Augusta National, for four wins in five starts.

His greatest victory came just a few weeks later when his wife Meredith gave birth to Bennett, the couple’s first child. Their son came just in time for the PGA Championship, where the Texan was arrested amid dramatic scenes in Louisville.

Following his arrest for driving around a police roadblock outside Valhalla Golf Club, the tournament favorite warmed up in a prison cell. Though the week ended in frustration on the golf course, with Scheffler finishing eight strokes behind winner Xander Schauffele, all accusations were dropped a month later.

Scheffler rebounded to win the Memorial Tournament and the Travellers Championship before clinching Olympic gold with a spectacular nine-under-par final round at Le Golf National in Paris last month.

“People still screaming ‘U-S-A’ after almost a month… “It’s pretty cool,” Scheffler stated.

“I’m very proud to be an American, so bringing home that gold medal was a lot of pleasure. I’m at a loss for words regarding the past year.

“You had the one weird spot there at Valhalla – I just don’t really know what to say about it – but everything else has been pretty special,” remarked the musician.

Putin

Putin Arrives In Mongolia, A Member Of The ICC That Issued An Arrest Warrant For Him

“Just nothing fazes him.”
It appeared to be a procession until Scheffler made a series of uncommon blunders near the conclusion of his front nine, beginning with a skewed drive at the seventh that forced him to escape from under a tree.

That resulted in a bogey, repeated at the next hole when the leader shanked his shot from a greenside bunker, allowing a soaring Morikawa to get within two strokes.

Fittingly for the season, Scheffler dispelled any doubts by making three straight birdies before lasering in for an eagle at the par-five 15th to finish ahead of world No. 4 Morikawa.

“Just nothing fazes him,” Morikawa, who received $12.5 million, told reporters of Scheffler.

“Whether I was close to gaining or gaining ground, it made no difference in how he walked, played, or executed each shot. That is something to learn. His mental game is far stronger than most people realize.

“It’s astounding what he’s accomplished this season and over the last three years. It’s been amazing to see him, and I hope I can take something away from it.

Morikawa and Scheffler’s focus will now shift to the Presidents Cup, as both players have been automatically qualified for US captain Jim Furyk’s team, which will face Mike Weir’s international side on September 24 at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Quebec, Canada.

Putin | BBC Image

Putin Arrives In Mongolia, A Member Of The ICC That Issued An Arrest Warrant For Him

Scheffler was a member of a winning US team in Quail Hollow, North Carolina, two years ago, but he struggled individually, losing three of four matches.

“Emotionally right now, I’m pretty drained, so I’m looking forward to going home and getting rest for a week or so before I start prepping for the Presidents Cup because that’s a tournament that I really want us to go out there and win,” Scheffler said on Wednesday.

Despite facing international isolation as a result of the invasion of Ukraine, Putin visited North Korea and Vietnam last month, as well as China, twice in the past year.

Last year, he joined a conference in Johannesburg via video link after the South African government fought against him attending the BRICS summit, including China and other emerging economies. South Africa is an ICC member.

SOURCE | AP