Hillary Clinton to say at DNC: ‘Vote like our lives and livelihoods are on the line’ – live

Trump confirms plan to restore sanctions on Iran

In his press conference, Trump opened by confirming that he wanted to restore sanctions on Iran, which the Associated Press reported that this would set the stage for a United Nations security council crisis.

“All of a sudden, you’re going to have peace in the Middle East,” Trump said.

“Other UN Security Council members are expected to dispute that the United States has the standing to do so,” journalist Laura Rozen reports. “Indeed, even Trump’s own former national security advisor and architect of his Iran deal exit plan, John Bolton, has argued that the U.S. imposing snapback after quitting the deal [two years ago] would be illegitimate and a mistake.”

A new look at the culture of the company run by postmaster general Louis DeJoy

Vice News reviewed more than a dozen employment-related lawsuits filed against New Breed Logistics, the company that current postmaster general Louis DeJoy ran for 30 years, and found they painted a picture of a company culture rife with racism and harassment, including a man who said a coworker harassed him with racial slurs, but when he complained about it, both men were fired.

DeJoy did not respond to a request for comment submitted through the USPS, Vice News reported.

DeJoy is currently battling with Congressional Democrats over changes to the postal service that have been reportedly slowing mail delivery, as the post office itself has warned states that delays in mail delivery of 2020 election ballots could mean missed deadlines that would deprive Americans of the right to have their votes counted.

DeJoy has billed these changes as cost-cutting measures, but Democratic leaders have called them a deliberate attempt to sabotage the postal service’s ability to deliver Americans’ mail-in ballots this fall.

Obama to say Trump treated the presidency as ‘one more reality show’

Trump is expected to give a press briefing from the White House shortly. Meanwhile, the Democratic National Convention has released excerpts from Barack Obama’s speech, which is slated to be aired tonight, including a line saying that Trump has shown “no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show.”

The full passage, which includes Obama’s explanation that he had hoped Trump “might come to feel the weight of the office.”

I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously; that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care.

But he never did. He’s shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.

Army investigating appearance of troops in uniform on DNC livestream

US military personnel are prohibited from appearing in uniform at political campaign or election events.

But during last night’s live streamed Democratic National Convention, two soldiers in uniform appeared alongside Democratic delegates from American Samoa in a “virtual roll call” of different areas of the United States.

Now the army is investigating the incident, CNN reports. A DNC official told CNN the shot was an “oversight,” and “each state was asked to highlight issues and values that matter most and the American Samoa delegation wanted to highlight their commitment to military service when they filmed their segment.”

Islamophobe claims RNC chairwoman called her ‘rock star,’ ‘change agent’ for the party

This is Lois Beckett, taking over our politics live blog from our West Coast office.

At an election party last night celebrating her primary win in a Florida congressional race, Laura Loomer, a conspiracy theorist and self-described “proud Islamophobe,” claimed that she received a personal call of congratulations from the Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, according to Right Wing Watch.

We’ve asked a spokesperson for McDaniel to comment on whether the call happened, and whether McDaniel in fact call Loomer a “change agent for the Republican party.” No response yet.

That’s it from me for now. I will be back tonight to cover the third night of the Democratic convention.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

• The postmaster general is refusing to reverse the operational changes already implemented at the US Postal Service, according to House speaker Nancy Pelosi. Postmaster General Lois DeJoy spoke to Pelosi this morning, and the speaker said he refused to commit to restoring mail sorting machines already removed from some USPS locations. DeJoy announced yesterday he was suspending planned operational changes, but Pelosi said, “The Postmaster General’s alleged pause is wholly insufficient and does not reverse damage already wreaked.”
• The White House dodged questions about whether Trump would accept the election results if he loses to Joe Biden. “Is the president saying if he doesn’t win this election, that he will not accept the results unless he wins?” a reporter asked press secretary Kayleigh McEnany at today’s briefing. McEnany replied, “The president has always said he’ll see what happens and make a determination in the aftermath.”
• The Democratic convention released excerpts from Hillary Clinton’s speech tonight, which include a searing rebuke of Trump’s leadership. “I wish Donald Trump had been a better president. But, sadly, he is who he is,” the 2016 Democratic nominee will say. She will also urge Americans to “vote like our lives and livelihoods are on the line, because they are.”
• The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments of a challenge to Obamacare a week after the November elections. Democrats have criticized the Trump administration for continuing to support the challenge amid a global pandemic, and the issue is sure to be central to November’s presidential election.
• Trump called for a boycott of Goodyear tires over a Kansas plant’s ban on political attire, including “Make America Great Again” hats. McEnany was asked whether the presidential limousine would no longer use Goodyear tires, but she said she would not comment on “security matters.”

My west coast colleague, Lois Beckett, will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

The Democratic convention has released excerpts from Hillary Clinton’s speech tonight, and the 2016 presidential nominee does not mince her words about her former rival.

“I wish Donald Trump had been a better president. But, sadly, he is who he is,” Clinton will say.

Clinton will note she has met a number of Americans who have said they wish they could go back to 2016 in order to cast ballots or change their votes.

“Well, this can’t be another woulda coulda shoulda election,” Clinton will say. “Vote like our lives and livelihoods are on the line, because they are.”

Like other speakers, Clinton will also reference Joe Biden’s personal losses to underscore his commitment to his family and his country.

“There’s a lot of heartbreak in America right now – and the truth is, many things were broken before the pandemic. But, as the saying goes, the world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places,” Clinton will say.

“Joe Biden knows how to heal, unify, and lead, because he’s done all of that for his family and his country.”

Former Republican congressman Charlie Dent said he was supporting Joe Biden’s presidential bid to restore some order to government.

“I’m doing this because I feel that we need to return some sense of normalcy to the function of government. We simply don’t have that now,” Dent told CNN.

The former Pennsylvania lawmaker announced his retirement from Congress in 2017, blaming his departure on “ideological rigidity” that had led to “dysfunction, disorder and chaos” in government.

Dent has been a frequent critic of the president, and he has kept up that criticism since leaving office.

Former Republican congressman Charlie Dent has endorsed Joe Biden for president, two years after leaving office amid disagreements with Trump.

“This isn’t about right or left,” Dent told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “For me it’s about right and wrong.”

The Biden campaign has sought to highlight Republican endorsements at the Democratic convention, hoping to appeal to centrist voters who supported Trump in 2016.

Twitter does not intend to reverse its decision to ban Laura Loomer from its platform, even though the far-right conspiracy theorist won a Republican congressional primary last night.

“We do not plan to reverse that enforcement action,” a Twitter spokesperson told the Daily Beast.

Before her Twitter account was shut down, Loomer tweeted in 2018, “Someone needs to create a non Islamic form of Uber or Lyft because I never want to support another Islamic immigrant driver.”

Loomer won the Republican primary in Florida’s 21st congressional district last night, but she is widely expected to lose her general election race in the Democratic-leaning district.