In New York's June primary, Jamaal Bowman, an educator from the NYC suburbs running an unabashedly progressive insurgent campaign appeared to topple Rep. Eliot Engel, a 16-term incumbent, for the Democratic nomination in the state's 16th Congressional district, though Engel is now suing to challenge the validity of mail-in ballots.
Bowman told Cheddar on Thursday that he's "not worried at all" about the suit, noting that as more absentee ballots are counted, his vote count is actually widening and the delta is now about 13,000 votes.
"We want every vote to be counted as well," Bowman said. "We're very comfortable with where we are."
As Bowman seems likely to be heading to Congress — NY-16 is about as blue a district as there is and the Democratic nominee is expected to coast to victory in November — he says it's critical that the U.S. pandemic response takes a less "top-down" approach when it comes to vexing problems like whether or not to open schools in the fall.
Bowman, a middle school principal by vocation, said: "We are not ready to open schools, because we have not brought the full resources of the federal government to bear." He called on officials to get serious about "innovative" ways to safely reopen, from prioritizing alternative spaces for learning to redesigned ventilation systems in school buildings. But right now, there are "too many unanswered questions" to safely reopen, he said.
The presumptive nominee also said he'd give President Trump a grade of "less than zero" for his response to the racial unrest and protests that have gripped the nation since the death of George Floyd.
"President Trump is a racist. He is a fascist. And he wants to maintain an order of white supremacy," Bowman stated.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is pushing a bill to save venues for music and the arts hit hard during the pandemic shutdowns.
With just two months left until the U.S. presidential election, Facebook says it is taking additional steps to encourage voting, minimize misinformation and reduce the likelihood of post-election “civil unrest.”
The timeline raised concern among public health experts about an “October surprise" — a vaccine approval driven by political considerations ahead of a presidential election, rather than science.
The House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy for records about widespread delays to mail delivery.
NBA all-star Jrue Holiday is working to combat systemic racism by donating his remaining salary. The New Orleans Pelicans guard is working with Resilia, a technology platform, to track his donations and ensure change is really happening.
Facebook said Tuesday that it removed a small network of accounts and pages linked to Russia's Internet Research Agency, the “troll factory" that has used social media accounts to sow political discord in the U.S. since the 2016 presidential election.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer confirmed the U.S. House of Representatives will vote in September on the MORE Act, which seeks to decriminalize cannabis and remove it from the Controlled Substances Act
Mayor Bill de Blasio says New York City is delaying sending students back to classrooms in the nation’s largest public school system.
China on Friday introduced export restrictions on artificial intelligence technology, including the type that TikTok uses to choose which videos to spool up to its users.
A Star of David-adorned El Al plane has landed in Abu Dhabi after flying in from Israel, carrying a high-ranking American and Israeli delegation in the first-ever direct commercial passenger flight to the United Arab Emirates.
