We begin on Friday, August 7th, a top U.S. intelligence official says in a statement that Russia, China, and Iran are attempting to interfere in the 2020 presidential election. In his remarks, William Evanina, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, says Russia is “using a range of measures […] to undermine [Joe] Biden’s candidacy,” while China is “expanding its influence efforts” and Iran is waging a disinformation campaign to hurt President Trump’s chances of being re-elected.
Saturday, August 8th, after two weeks of failed negotiations in Congress, President Trump announces multiple executive orders and actions to extend coronavirus relief to Americans, including unemployment benefits, an eviction moratorium, payroll tax holiday, and a deferment on student loans.
Skipping ahead to Monday, August 10th, President Trump tweets that he’ll deliver his presidential nomination acceptance speech from either one of two locations: The Great Battlefield of Gettysburg or the White House.
Perhaps Trump is trying to channel Honest Abe Lincoln, who delivered his famous Gettysburg Address in November 1863, by giving his acceptance speech there, which is fascinating given that in July he vowed to veto a defense authorization bill because it included a provision to change the names of military bases that honored Confederate generals.
Later, during a press conference, the president is abruptly escorted by the Secret Service after shots were fired outside the White House grounds. The suspect was injured and taken to the hospital with no other injuries reported.
Tuesday, August 11th, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., is chosen to be presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s running mate. Trump reacts to the news during his White House press conference by calling Harris “nasty” and “just about the most liberal person in the U.S. Senate.” Meanwhile, Trump announces that the U.S. will buy 100 million doses of Moderna’s experimental coronavirus vaccine, a deal worth up to $1.53 billion.
While the focus was on Biden picking Harris to be his running mate, the news that there could be a viable coronavirus vaccine available on the horizon is a crucial step to getting back to the pre-COVID days as many Trump critics argue that it’s too dangerous to re-open the economy without a vaccine.
Skipping ahead to Thursday, August 13th, President Trump tells Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo that the Democrats’ demands to fund the U.S. Postal Service to expand mail-in voting is a nonstarter in the coronavirus relief package.
“They want $3.5 billion for something that will turn out to be fraudulent,” Trump said. “That’s election money, basically. They want $3.5 billion for the mail-in votes. … They want $25 billion, billion, for the post office. Now, they need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots.”
Meanwhile, in a historic breakthrough, President Trump announces an agreement, which he helped broker, between Israel and the United Arab Emirates that will lead to full normalization of relations and bring the Middle East one step closer to peace. In a joint statement, the two nations pledge “to expand diplomatic, trade, and security cooperation.” According to the proposed deal, Israel intends to suspend annexation of the West Bank.
While Joe Biden gets mixed reviews for selecting Kamala Harris to be his running mate, Trump gets a huge win on the foreign policy front by accomplishing something his critics never thought possible, bringing the Middle East closer to peace.
