Crowds cram in for Trump rally in North Carolina, with few masks despite rule –

From me and Joan E Greve:

• Speaking at a crowded campaign rally in North Carolina where many voters were not wearing face masks, as mandated by the state, Donald Trump referred to his supporters as “peaceful protestors”. He said his supporters – at planned campaign rallies – should be able to gather like demonstrators against police brutality. Trump also mocked his opponent for following safety guidelines amid an ongoing pandemic. During the rally, Trump said that Kamala Harris, “could never be the first woman president…That would be an insult to our country” and once again encouraged voters to commit voter fraud.
• Dr Anthony Fauci, the leading White House infectious disease expert, who has been increasingly at odds with Donald Trump, stressed that a coronavirus vaccine would be unlikely to be ready “by the end of the year”. Fauci contradicted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has signaled that health officials might expect a vaccine to be ready before the November election.
• Trump is considering spending his own money on his reelection campaign. “If I have to, I will,” the president told reporters today. “Whatever it takes, we have to win.” The comments come as Trump’s fundraising advantage over Democratic nominee Joe Biden has vanished in recent months.
• Democratic congressional leaders rejected Republicans proposal to pass a “skinny” coronavirus relief bill. House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement, “[T]his emaciated bill is only intended to help vulnerable Republican Senators by giving them a ‘check the box’ vote to maintain the appearance that they’re not held hostage by their extreme right-wing that doesn’t want to spend a nickel to help people.”
• The police chief of Rochester, New York, resigned amid protests over the death of Daniel Prude. Prude, an African American man, died earlier this year after being hooded and held down by police officers.
• House Democrats are launching an investigation of the postmaster general, Louis DeJoy. Democrats intend to investigate reports that DeJoy pressured employees at his former company to donate to Republican candidates, violating campaign finance laws.
• Trump signed an executive order to expand an offshore drilling moratorium to include Florida’s Atlantic coast, Georgia and South Carolina. The moratorium already applied to Florida’s Gulf coast, and it was expected to expire in 2022. Some Florida officials expressed concern that the state’s tourism industry could be negatively impacted if the moratorium was allowed to expire. Trump’s announcement of the order appeared to be an attempt to curry favor with voters in the crucial swing state.

Deriding demonstrators across the country protesting racist policing, Donald Trump told a jam-packed, cheering crowd at his North Carolina: “We decided to call our rallies peaceful protests.”

“Because they have rules in these Democrat-run states that if you campaign you cannot have more than five people,” the president said. “You can’t go to church, you can’t do anything outside. If you are willing to riot, running down the main street, if you want to riot and stand on top of each other’s face and do whatever the hell you want to do, you are allowed to do that because you are considered a peaceful protester.”

That’s a lot of exaggeration: In North Carolina, run by Democrat Roy Cooper, gatherings are currently capped at 50, and masks are mandated. Going outside is allowed in North Carolina (as it in all states), and churches are allowed to conduct services, though officials recommend that worshippers space out and wear masks.

Trump mocked his opponent Joe Biden for following social distancing guidelines. “You ever see the gyms with the circles?” he said of Biden’s events.

Donald Trump is speaking to supporters in North Carolina, many of whom are not wearing face masks. The packed crowd has defied state guidelines that cap gatherings at 50 people. Behind him, some are carrying signs proclaiming that they are “peaceful protestors”.

The president previously suggested that unmasked, crammed members of a Trump country club who were spectators at a press conference were peaceful protestors, and Trump supporters have said that if protestors against police brutality are allowed to gather then they should be too.

Speaking at his rally, Trump said that Kamala Harris “could never be the first woman president. She could never be. That would be an insult to our country”.