The White House press briefing is underway, and press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre began with a question about Donald Trump’s attack on American Jews.
She called the former president’s comments “antisemitic, as you all know, and insulting both to Jews and to our Israeli allies.” “But let’s be clear, for years, for years now, Donald Trump has aligned with extremists and antisemitic figures and it should be called out,” she added. “We need to root out antisemitism everywhere it rears its ugly head. … With respect to Israel, our relationship is iron clad and it’s rooted in shared values and interests.
Donald Trump clearly doesn’t understand that either.” She also condemned Ye’s antisemitic posts, but said she was not able to comment on the announcement this morning that he intends to purchase the far-right social media site, Parler.
Good afternoon.
We’re closing the liveblog for the day.
Here’s a look back at what’s happened so far today.
Georgia Republican senate candidate Herschel Walker admitted to writing 0 check to his ex-girlfriend but denies it was for abortion.
Walker, who is running in one of the most competitive Senate races in the country, has spent weeks dogged by reports that he sent the unnamed woman money to end her pregnancy.
Running as a staunch conservative with Trump’s backing, Walker has publicly argued that abortion should be illegal nationwide without exceptions.
The US Secret Service was made to pay as much as ,185 a night to stay at properties belonging to former president Donald Trump , a congressional committee said on Monday as it released documents that appeared to show the former president profiting from his protection details in and out of office.
Steve Bannon should be sentenced to six months in prison and a 0,000 fine for “his sustained, bad-faith contempt of Congress”, the justice department said in a legal filing on Monday.
Bannon was found guilty on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress in July for ignoring a subpoena from the US House committee investigating the January 6 attack.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre condemned remarks by Donald Trump about American Jews as “antisemitic” and “insulting” to both Jewish people and Israelis.
She also announced that Biden will host president Isaac Herzog of Israel at the White House on 26 October.
The White House formally unveiled its website for student loan forgiveness applications. “This is a game-changer for millions of Americans,” Biden said in remarks at the White House.
He added that “it took an incredible amount of effort to get this website done in such a short time.” JUST IN: Pres.
Biden unveils website for federal student loan debt relief application. “It takes less than five minutes…This is a game-changer for millions of Americans.” https://t.co/1SlS2LJ69i pic.twitter.com/zWAe1RUCjT A beta version of the website, studentaid.gov, launched on Friday.
Biden said 8 million Americans used the website over the weekend to apply for student-loan forgiveness.
This summer, under immense pressure from progressives, Biden announced that he would cancel up to ,000 in student loan debt for individuals making less than 5,000 a year or more for Pell grant recipients.
Asked if Biden regretted his comment that British Prime Minister Liz Truss ’ tax -cut plan was a mistake, Jean-Pierre responded simply: “No.” Commenting on another world leader’s domestic policies, especially those of a close ally, is usually seen as taboo.
Biden, an institutionalist who usually adheres to the norms and codes of foreign relations, is also prone to blunt admissions that often send his aides scrambling to clarify.
Pressed further about the remark , Biden said he wasn’t the only one who thought her economic policies were a mistake , Jean-Pierre said she had no further comment on who the president might have been referring to.
The reporter said he was curious if Biden was referring to discussions with world leaders or if it was a reference to a staff member who viewed the move as a “mistake”.
The plan, which sent financial markets into a tailspin and caused a sharp drop in the value of the pound, was widely criticized by economists and experts.
Jean-Pierre also wouldn’t weigh in on the UK’s new finance minister, Jeremy Hunt nor his plans to drop much of Truss’ tax plan. “The UK is a close ally … and we work with them on a range of issues, including on strengthening the global economy,” she said.
On Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, Jean-Pierre said: “The United States strongly condemns Russia’s missile strikes today which continues to demonstrate Russia’s brutality.” She said the administration is in touch with Ukraine across the administration and noted that Biden spoke to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy last week when he addressed the leaders of the Group of 7 nations.
Russia attacked Kyiv with nearly 30 “kamikaze” drones on Monday morning, killing at least four people, including a pregnant woman and her partner, the Guardian is reporting . “We are going to continue to work with our allies and partners, continue to impose costs on Russia to hold them accountable for their war crimes,” Jean-Pierre said.
Jean-Pierre has fielded a few questions on the midterms and Biden’s travel schedule in the final weeks of the election cycle, particularly why he isn’t appearing at more campaign events.
Jean-Pierre, caveating her response by saying she is prohibited from talking about politics from the podium, pushed back.
She argued that he has been “traveling nonstop,” noting his recent swing through Colorado, Oregon and California.
This week he’ll travel to the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Florida.
Reporters kept pressing.
The subtext of their questions is that Biden is unpopular and his presence in some states could do more harm than good for Democrats in contested races.
Biden has long joked that he would campaign for or against a Democrat , whatever would help them more.
She would not say whether Democrats in states like Arizona and Georgia are asking the White House for help, saying only: “He is going to go where he is needed the most.” In Pennsylvania, Biden will appear alongside the Democratic candidate for Senate, John Fetterman, whose health has been under scrutiny since he suffered a stroke earlier this summer.
Asked whether Biden has any concerns about Fetterman’s health, Jean-Pierre said: “The president has found him to be an impressive individual who is just as capable as always.” The White House press briefing is underway, and press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre began with a question about Donald Trump’s attack on American Jews.
She called the former president’s comments “antisemitic, as you all know, and insulting both to Jews and to our Israeli allies.” “But let’s be clear, for years, for years now, Donald Trump has aligned with extremists and antisemitic figures and it should be called out,” she added. “We need to root out antisemitism everywhere it rears its ugly head. … With respect to Israel, our relationship is iron clad and it’s rooted in shared values and interests.
Donald Trump clearly doesn’t understand that either.” She also condemned Ye’s antisemitic posts, but said she was not able to comment on the announcement this morning that he intends to purchase the far-right social media site, Parler.
During Donald Trump ’s presidency, hotels and properties owned by the former president charged the Secret Service “exorbitant” rates , as much as ,185 per night at the Trump International Hotel in DC , according to new documents released on Monday by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
The secret service was tasked with protecting the safety of Trump and his family during his presidency, and therefore followed them on their travels. “The exorbitant rates charged to the Secret Service and agents’ frequent stays at Trump-owned properties raise significant concerns about the former president’s self-dealing and may have resulted in a taxpayer-funded windfall for former president Trump’s struggling businesses,” the committee chair, the New York representative Carolyn Maloney, said in a statement.
According to the Washington Post, which first reported on the payments, the new documents reveal, based on the committee’s review, that US taxpayers paid the president’s company at least .4m for Secret Service agents’ stays at Trump properties for his and his family’s protection.
The analysis shows that the Secret Service received more than 40 waivers from the Secret Service to let the agency spend more than the recommended rates.
In a new interview, Fiona Hill says Putin is adapting, not giving up and is using messengers like Elon Musk to propose an end to the conflict on his terms. “Putin plays the egos of big men, gives them a sense that they can play a role.
But in reality, they’re just direct transmitters of messages from Vladimir Putin,” Hill told Politico.
Hill, one of the nation’s foremost experts on Russia and Putin, argues that the west has been slow to realize that Putin is waging a world war, what she describes as a “great power conflict over territory which overturns the existing international order and where other states find themselves on different sides of the conflict.” “This is a great power conflict, the third great power conflict in the European space in a little over a century,” Hill said . “It’s the end of the existing world order.
Our world is not going to be the same as it was before.” Read the full interview here .
Donald Trump attacked US Jews on his social media platform last night, saying that they should “get their act together” and show more appreciation to Israel “before it’s too late.” “No President has done more for Israel than I have.
Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the U.S.,” Trump wrote on Truth Social . “Those living in Israel, though, are a different story , Highest approval rating in the World, could easily be P.M.!” he added.
It is not the first time Trump has flirted with the antisemitic trope that Jews hold “dual loyalty” or are more loyal to Israel than the US.
As in this post, he suggested that American Jews, who traditionally favor Democrats , should be more supportive of him because of his policies toward Israel.
Former US president warns US Jews to get their “act together,” be more like Israelis, and appreciate him more pic.twitter.com/taRYa53d74 In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Dr Anthony Fauci warned about the dangers of long Covid, which he called an “insidious” if hard-to-diagnose public health emergency for millions of people.
Speaking to the Guardian’s David Smith, the nation’s top infectious disease expert explained that the rates of long Covid are worrying, even if they receive far less attention than death and hospitalization rates. “ It isn’t that you have people who are hospitalized or dying, but their function is being considerably impaired,” he said.
One of the major challenges to diagnosing and treating long Covid is that relatively little is known about it.
There is no test for long Covid, Smith writes, and its precise causes remain mysterious.
Fauci said long Covid is likely more prominent among those with existing psychological issues, but he adds: “The one thing you don’t want to fall into the trap of saying is well, it’s all psychological, because it’s not, it’s real.” Fauci urged Congress to continue investing in efforts to combat the virus and long Covid. .css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}“We’ve hit a wall when it comes to further resources for Covid, including long Covid.
There doesn’t appear to be a lot of resources that are waiting for us right now,” he said. “I hope that changes.
If you declare victory, you’re declaring an imaginary victory because we haven’t won the battle yet.” Read the full interview here: Major retailers will begin selling hearing aids over the counter without a prescription and at a much lower cost, as part of a new Biden administration rule that take effect today. “Starting today, hearings aids are now on store shelves across the country , for thousands of dollars less than they previously cost,” the White House said in a fact sheet on Monday .
The move comes as Democrats tout their efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs and ease the economic burden of high inflation and rising cost of living ahead of the midterms.
According to the White House, several major retailers, Walgreens, CVS and Walmart among them, will begin selling the devices today.
It estimates that the rule could lower average costs by as much as