Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 9-7-18

White House and Political News
Donald Trump Book By Watergate Journalist Says White House Is ‘Crazy Town’
WASHINGTON — An in- cendiary tell-all book by a re- porter who helped bring down President Richard Nixon set off a firestorm in the White House on Tuesday, with its descriptions of cur- rent and former aides call- ing President Donald Trump an “idiot” and a “liar,” disparaging his judg- ment and claiming they plucked papers off his desk to prevent him from withdraw- ing from a pair of trade agree- ments.
The book by Washington Post journalist Bob Wood- ward is the latest to throw the Trump administration into damage-control mode with explosive anecdotes and concerns about the com- mander in chief. The Associ- ated Press obtained a copy of “Fear: Trump in the White House” on Tuesday, a week before its official release.
Trump decried the quotes and stories in the book on Twitter as “frauds, a con on the public,” adding that De- fense Secretary Jim Mattis and chief of staff John Kelly had denied uttering quoted criticisms of the president in the book.
And he denied accounts in the book that senior aides snatched sensitive docu- ments off his desk to keep him from making impulsive decisions. He said in an in-
This June 11, 2012 file photo shows former Washington Post re- porter Bob Woodward speaking during an event to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Watergate in Washington.
terview with The Daily Caller, “There was nobody taking anything from me.”
The publication of Wood- ward’s book has been antic- ipated for weeks, and current and former White House of- ficials estimate that nearly all their colleagues cooperated with the famed Watergate journalist. The White House, in a statement from press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, dismissed the book as “nothing more than fabricated stories, many by former disgruntled employ- ees, told to make the Presi- dent look bad.”
Woodward did not im- mediately respond to a re- quest for comment.
The book quotes chief of
staff John Kelly as having doubts about Trump’s men- tal faculties, declaring during one meeting, “We’re in Crazytown.” It also says he called Trump an “idiot,” an account Kelly denied Tues- day.
The book says Trump’s former lawyer in the Russia probe, John Dowd, doubted the president’s ability to avoid perjuring himself should he be interviewed in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference and potential coordination with Trump’s campaign. Dowd, who stepped down in January, resigned after the mock interview, the book says.
Will Joe Biden Run In 2020 To Try And Unseat Pres. Trump?
DES MOINES, Iowa — Shortly after Joe Biden boarded a recent flight from Washington to New York, a string of passengers began stopping at his seat in coach to deliver some version of the same message: Run, Joe, run. “We’re with you,” one said, according to a Demo- cratic strategist who hap- pened to be on the plane and witnessed the scene. “You’ve got to do this,” said another.
Biden himself is more conflicted — but he is listen- ing keenly to the supporters pushing him to run for the White House in 2020. Biden is convinced he can beat Pres- ident Donald Trump, friends and advisers say, and he has given himself until January to deliberate and size up potential competition for the Democratic nomination, according to people who have spoken to the former vice president about his decision- making.
In the meantime, Biden diligently maintains a net- work of supporters in key states, a group 30 years in the making, while some of those competitors are still making introductions.
As he makes each careful step, Biden faces the same dilemma. For an elder states-
JOE BIDEN
man in a leaderless party, one who long envisioned himself in the top job, the pull toward another presidential bid is strong. But the 75-year-old former vice president must weigh the realities of jumping into a crowded primary full of up-and-comers eager to de- bate the future of the party.
“He is not someone who needs to run to cement his place in history. He’s not someone who needs to run to feel he’s making a significant contribution to the public dis- course and the Democratic Party,” said Anita Dunn, a former adviser to President Barack Obama. “But he is someone who, at the end of the day, feels a great deal of responsibility to listen to those people who are urging him to run.”
Betsy DeVos Says She Won’t Be Using Federal Funds To Arm Teachers
WASHINGTON (AP) — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos says she has “no in- tention of taking any action” regarding any possible use of federal funds to arm teachers
or provide them firearms training.
with
DeVos’ comments came Friday after a top official in her department, asked about arming teachers, said states and local jurisdictions always “had the flexibility” to decide how to use federal education funds.
Frank Brogan, assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education, said arming educators “is a good example of a profoundly per- sonal decision on the part of a school or a school district or even a state.” President Donald Trump and DeVos have said schools may benefit from having armed teachers
BETSY DEVOS
and should have that option. DeVos said Friday that “Congress did not authorize me or the Department to make those decisions” about arming teachers or training
them on the use of firearms. Her comments were in a let- ter to Virginia Rep. Bobby Scott, the top Democrat on the House committee over- seeing education, and were posted by the department on Twitter.
Set To Become The First Black Woman Elected To Congress In Massachusetts
MASSACHUSETTS — Ayanna Pressley, a Boston city councilor and sexual as- sault survivor, on Tuesday became the first Black woman to win a House pri- mary in Massachusetts, ush- ering into Congress a new era of fierce, activist leadership in the mold of Shirley Chisholm and Adam Clay- ton Powell, Jr.
Incumbent Representa- tive Michael Capuano, a 10-term lawmaker who until now had never been seriously challenged for his seat, con- ceded to Pressley early Tuesday night as votes were still being counted.
Video of the moment
Ayanna Pressley beat a 10- year incumbent.
Pressley learned she had won the campaign went viral
on Twitter, showing the Con- gresswoman-elect bursting into tears and hugging her husband.
In the fight for his politi- cal life, Capuano called on a litany of backers that in- cluded former Gov. Deval Patrick, Rep. John Lewis, who are both Black; Rep. Joe Kennedy, III, and Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh. Capuano cam- paigned on the foundation that Democrats fighting Trump needed an experi- enced leader and someone with seniority poised to de- liver for the district should Democrats take the House in November.
PAGE 6-A FLORIDA SENTINEL-BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY,SEPTEMBER 7, 2018