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.
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Jose Antonio Vargas rose to prominence when he wrote an essay for the New York Times in 2011 essentially outing himself as an undocumented immigrant. Since then, he's crisscrossed the country, advocating on behalf of immigrants. With a new memoir, "Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen," Vargas points out immigration is a "humanitarian crisis" that long predates Donald Trump.
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Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a conservative Republican congressman, is championing a medical cannabis research act, signaling the bipartisan shift in attitudes toward medical marijuana.
Apple appears to have dodged a bullet with the latest round of tariffs on Chinese imports. But if the trade war continues, the risks to the company get more serious, said Tom Forte, senior research analyst at D.A. Davidson. Apple currently gets 20 percent of its revenue from China
Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) said the political action committee will help him "evaluate" the presidential landscape. The moderate Democrat is perhaps best known for overseeing Colorado's creation of a full-fledged cannabis economy.
Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court is now more like a "jump shot in traffic," said Philip Wegmann of the Washington Examiner. Kavanaugh's nomination was put on hold following accusations of sexual assault by Christine Blasey Ford when they were both teenagers. Ford and Kavanaugh will testify at a Senate hearing next Monday, delaying the confirmation vote originally scheduled for this week and putting his place on the top court it peril less than two months before the midterm elections.
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China retaliated to the latest round of tariffs announced by the Trump administration, announcing import taxes on $60 billion in U.S. goods. That came after the White House said it would impose tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods, though many of Apple's products will be exempt.
Kate Shaw, professor at Cardozo School of Law, breaks down the similarities between the current accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the accusations from Anita Hill in 1991 against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas -- the latter largely considered to have been the basis for how workplace harassment is thought of today.
