Usa Democracy

Kamala Harris accepts historic nomination to start election sprint

Her challenge now is to harness the energy and excitement of a party reinvigorated by her rapid ascent.

President Biden, Lula to put focus on democracy, climate during visit

When President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva meet in Washington on Friday, the leaders will share some awareness of what it's like to walk in one another's shoes. Biden, a centrist Democrat, defeated incumbent Donald Trump in a fraught race, securing victory with thin margins in several battleground states. In Brazil's tightest election since its return to democracy over three decades ago, Lula, the leftist leader of the Workers' Party, squeaked out a win against right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, who earned the nickname Trump of the Tropics and was an outspoken admirer of the former US president. Both Trump and Bolsonaro sowed doubts about the vote, without ever presenting evidence, but their claims nevertheless resonated with their most die-hard supporters. In the US Capitol, Trump supporters staged the January 6, 2021, insurrection seeking to prevent Biden's win from being certified. Last month, thousands of rioters stormed the Brazilian capital .

US Congressman George Santos refuses to step down over resume lies

Santos, a 34-year-old Republican elected in last year's midterm elections to represent New York's 3rd congressional district, tweeted on Wednesday, "I will NOT resign!"

US, allies announce plans for second democracy summit on March 2023

The Biden administration on Tuesday announced plans for a second Summit for Democracy next year, this time to be co-hosted by the governments of Costa Rica, the Netherlands, South Korea and Zambia. The summit will be held March 29 to March 30 in a virtual format and will be followed by hybrid gatherings in each of the host countries with representatives from government, civil society and the private sector participating. We are living through an era defined by challenges to accountable and transparent governance, the five countries said in a joint statement. "From wars of aggression to changes in climate, societal mistrust and technological transformation, it could not be clearer that all around the world, democracy needs champions at all levels. Together with other invitees to the second Summit, we look forward to taking up this call, and demonstrating how transparent, accountable governance remains the best way to deliver lasting prosperity, peace, and justice. The March summit i

GOP predicts midterm wins; President Biden warns of democracy threats

Republicans are eyeing major gains in Tuesday's elections and appealing to supporters over the final weekend of the 2022 campaign to punish Democrats for high inflation and crime rates that have risen in some places. President Joe Biden and his two most recent Democratic predecessors said the prospect of GOP victories could undermine the very future of American democracy. More than 39 million people have already voted in an election that will decide control of Congress and key governorships. Biden was set to campaign in suburban New York on Sunday after former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton made closing cases to voters on Saturday. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, head of the Democrats' House campaign arm, is in a tough contest for his seat north of New York City. But he insisted Sunday that Democrats are going to do better than people think on Tuesday, adding that his party is not perfect but we are responsible adults who believe in this democracy. I think this race is ...

Can't take democracy for granted any longer: US President Joe Biden

Ahead of the November 8 midterm polls, US President Joe Biden has urged Americans to unite in opposition to "political violence" and warned that "we cant take democracy for granted any longer".

Pelosi's husband attack shocks country on edge about democracy threats

An America that can already feel like it's hurtling toward political disintegration has been jolted yet again, this time by the violent attack on the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi less than two weeks before Election Day. Seizing a hammer and leaving a trail of broken glass, an intruder broke into the couple's San Francisco home early Friday and repeatedly struck Paul Pelosi, 82, with a hammer. Paul Pelosi had surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands, and his doctors expect a full recovery, the speaker's office said. The assailant confronted Paul Pelosi by shouting, Where is Nancy, according to another person familiar with the situation who was granted anonymity to discuss it. The Democratic congresswoman was in Washington at the time. The calling out of her name was a sign that the assault could have targeted the lawmaker, who as speaker is second in line to the presidency. The ambush was a particularly savage reminder of the extremi

Joe Biden warns US democracy threatened, but how can he save it?

President Joe Biden is finding it's easier to call out attacks on democracy than it is to stop them. His fundamental rationale for running for president was that America's democratic traditions were in jeopardy. Now, 20 months into his presidency, the dangers are worse, Biden's warnings are more dire -- and the limits of his own ability to fix the problem are clearer. Former President Donald Trump continues to stoke the baseless claim the 2020 election was stolen, and even now advocates for the results in certain battleground states to be decertified even though the falsehood has been rejected by dozens of courts and his own attorney general. The belief has taken deep root in the Republican Party, with dozens of candidates insisting Trump was right. Never in the country's history have elections taken place in a climate where one party has so frontally questioned the integrity of the electoral process and actively sought to undermine confidence in it. Biden has found, even with th

Trump, allies threaten democracy, says Joe Biden at Independence Hall

President Joe Biden warned that equality and democracy are under assault in the US as he sounded an alarm about his predecessor, Donald Trump, and MAGA Republican adherents, labelling them an extremist threat to the nation and its future. Aiming to reframe the November elections as part of a battle for the nation's soul the work of my presidency," Biden used his Thursday night prime-time speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia to argue that Trump and Make America Great Again allies are a challenge to nation's system of government, its standing abroad and its citizens' way of life. Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic," Biden declared. He said they are determined to take this country backward' they promote authoritarian leaders and they fan the flames of political violence. The explicit effort by Biden to marginalise Trump and his adherents marks a sharp turn for the president, who preached his desire to

Trumpism threatens democracy: Joe Biden to sound alarm in prime-time speech

President Joe Biden will sound an alarm Thursday night about what he views as extremist threats to American democracy from the restive forces of Trumpism, aiming to reframe the November elections as part of an unceasing battle for the soul of the nation. Nearly two years after he defeated Donald Trump, it's a reprise of Biden's 2020 campaign theme, casting the midterm election stakes in as dire terms as those that sent him to the Oval Office. His prime-time speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia will lay out what he sees as the risks from those he has dubbed ultra-MAGA Republicans to the nation's system of government, its standing abroad and its citizens' way of life. The explicit effort by Biden to marginalize Trump and and his Make America Great Again adherents marks a sharp turn for the president, who preached his desire to bring about national unity in his Inaugural address. White House officials said it reflects his mounting concern about Trump conservatives' ideological ..

Biden to deliver prime-time speech on battle for democracy in Philadelphia

President Joe Biden will deliver a prime-time address on the continued battle for the soul of the nation Thursday outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the White House announced Monday. Billed as a major address just over two months before the midterm elections, Biden, the White House said, will discuss how the nation's standing in the world and its democracy are at stake. He will talk about the progress we have made as a nation to protect our democracy, but how our rights and freedoms are still under attack," the White House said. "And he will make clear who is fighting for those rights, fighting for those freedoms, and fighting for our democracy. Biden has increasingly sought to portray the November elections as a choice for voters between ultra-MAGA Republicans a reference to former President Donald Trump's Make America Great Again campaign slogan and Democrats. He told supporters last week that they had to vote to literally save democracy once again and labeled some ...

Indian-origin Ajay Jain named Democratic Party Dy National Finance Chair

Eminent Indian-American and major fund raiser Ajay Jain Bhutoria has been named as Deputy National Finance Chair of the ruling Democratic party in the US

Biden calls Trump 'great MAGA king', vows to push Democrats, GOP contrasts

Biden has in recent days begun decrying "ultra-MAGA" Republicans -- a reference to Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan

US President Biden asks Senators to declare their stand on Democracy

US President Joe Biden gave a statement on changing the Senate's so-called filibuster rules to push the voting rights legislation

Joe Biden decries Trump backers' 'dagger at throat' of democracy

Biden's criticism was blistering of the defeated president whom he blamed for the assault that has fundamentally changed Congress

Protecting democracy a 'challenge of our time': Biden to world leaders

Biden announced an ambitious Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal, under which his administration is planning to provide up to $424.4 million on a global democratic renewal strategy.

'Can democracy still deliver?' Biden convenes global leaders at summit

Biden is convening global leaders to pledge strong new commitments to democracy, even as the US itself is facing some of the gravest threats in years to its democratic traditions

US joins annual list of 'backsliding' democracies, says report

It said that as of August 2021, 64 per cent of countries have taken an action to curb the pandemic that it considers "disproportionate, unnecessary or illegal."

Afghanistan's decades of progress at risk at Taliban returns, US pulls out

Collapse of swathes of the country into civil war and attempts by millions of refugees to flee could be likely results.

Basic notion of democratic reforms a national security issue in US: WH

The basic notion of democratic reforms and voting rights in the US is a national security issue, Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has said