President Donald Trump signs a proclamation recognizing the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020, in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
By Deb Riechmann, Kevin Freking, and Zeke Miller
As controversy swirls over mail-in voting in this year's election, President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will pardon Susan B. Anthony, a women's suffrage leader arrested for voting in 1872 in violation of laws permitting only men to vote.
Trump's move comes amid an outcry over Postal Service disruptions that Democrats say endanger the voting rights of millions of Americans who would vote by mail in November during the coronavirus pandemic. Trump has denied asking for the mail to be delayed even as he leveled fresh criticism on mail-in voting.
Comments from Trump and some of those assembled for a White House event commemorating the 19th Amendment quickly pivoted into an appeal for Trump's reelection.
"Win, lose, or draw, we have to get it right," Trump said, adding that mail-in voting, as opposed to absentee voting, leads to ballots cast by pets and the deceased.
"We have to have honest voting. that's what this is all about here. we have to have honest voting," he said.
Trump said he would sign "a full and complete pardon" later Tuesday, the 100-year anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which ensured women the right to vote. It's also known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment.
Anthony is best known for her role in the movement to secure voting rights for women, but she also was a strong anti-slavery and voting rights pioneer.
His action comes as his support has been eroding among suburban white women in battleground states since his last campaign, in part because of his harsh rhetoric.
In recent weeks Trump has recognized he needs to work to undo some of the damage among the pivotal constituency and has stepped up his events aimed at women. His campaign has launched a "women for Trump" bus tour and the president has embraced a "law and order" message with renewed vigor.
Anthony was arrested for voting in her hometown of Rochester, New York, and convicted in a widely publicized trial. Although she refused to pay the fine, the authorities declined to take further action.
The 19th Amendment states that "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." Congress passed it in 1919, and the amendment was ratified on Aug. 18, 1920.
Visiting Anthony's gravesite in Rochester on Election Day has become a popular ritual in recent years. Thousands turned out in 2016 for the presidential match-up between Trump and Hillary Clinton. In 2018, voters showed up by the dozens to put their "I Voted" stickers on her headstone.
A second Starbucks location in the U.S. has officially voted to unionize. On Monday, the National Labor Relations Board announced workers at the Starbucks store located in the Buffalo, NY suburb of Cheektowaga voted 15-9 in favor of being represented by Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. The New York Times reports votes were tallied in December but remained inconclusive as the union challenged the ballots of several employees it said did not work at the store. A Starbucks spokesperson has said that it may appeal the labor board's decision, which comes as several other Starbucks stores across the country are also pushing to form a union. Danka Dragic, shift supervisor for the second Starbucks store in the country to unionize, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Earlier today, Minnesota Republican Representative, Tom Emmer, introduced a bill that would prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency directly to American consumers. According to the Congressman from Minnesota, requiring Americans to open a fed account to access a digital currency, would "put the Fed on insidious path akin to China's digital authoritarianism." Rep. Tom Emmer joined Cheddar's None of The Above to discuss more.
Sixteen of the country's most prestigious universities have been hit with a lawsuit claiming those schools illegally conspired to eliminate competitive financial aid offers for students. Just some of the schools mentioned include Yale, Brown, Columbia, UPenn, and Cornell. Author of "Who Gets In and Why" and Professor of practice at Arizona State University, Jeff Selingo, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Navient, a major student loan collecting company, agreed to cancel $1.7 billion in debt owed by more than 66,000 borrowers across the U.S. and pay over $140 million in other penalties to settle allegations of abusive lending practices.
The recently expired child tax credit helped a wide swathe of families throughout the U.S. Megan Pratz looks into the impact the payments had, and how the end of the program will have a drastic effect on families that could still use the help with child care.
The Supreme Court has stopped the Biden administration from enforcing a requirement that employees at large businesses be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing and wear a mask on the job.
Buckingham Palace says that Prince Andrew’s honorary military titles and royal patronages have been returned to Queen Elizabeth II with her “approval and agreement.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has apologized for attending a garden party during Britain’s first coronavirus lockdown, but brushed aside opposition demands that he resign for breaching the rules his own government had imposed on the nation.
