MIAMI: Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday reveled in the mounting turmoil surrounding President Joe Biden ‘s campaign in the wake of their debate and teased the expected announcement of his Republican running mate with one of the top contenders, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, in attendance.
After days spent lying low, golfing and letting Democratic infighting play out in public, Trump used his return to the campaign trail in Florida to ratchet up his attacks on both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, indulging speculation that she could replace the president as the Democratic nominee this year and alleging, without evidence, that his son Hunter Biden is “running our government” and first lady Jill Biden “is helping.” Biden has repeatedly insisted he won’t withdraw from the race.
Trump rallied his supporters at one of his Miami-area golf courses as the presumptive Republican nominee nears a deadline to announce his running mate. But he appears in no rush, as much of the political world’s attention is still centered on questions about Biden’s ability to govern for another four-year term. Some Democrats have started calling for Biden to step down as their presumptive nominee following his dismal debate performance last month.
Trump, speaking from the 10th hole of his course, challenged Biden to another debate or even a “golf-off” reviving an offbeat argument from their debate. But mostly, he rubbed in how their meetup left Biden’s campaign facing a grim prognosis.
“Our victory was so absolute that Joe’s own party now wants him to throw in the towel and surrender the presidency after a single 90-minute performance,” Trump said Tuesday night. “They want ‘Crooked Joe’ out of the race. It’s a shame the way they’re treating him. But don’t feel sorry for him. He’s a very bad guy.”
James Singer, a spokesperson for Biden’s campaign, responded to Trump with a series of challenges, saying in a statement: “We’d challenge Donald Trump to create jobs, but he lost 3 million. We’d challenge Donald Trump to stand up to Putin, but he bent the knee to him. We’d challenge Donald Trump to follow the law, but he breaks it.”
Singer also said, “Joe Biden doesn’t have time for Donald Trump’s weird antics — he’s busy leading America and defending the free world.”
Trump laced into Harris with more specifics than usual. She has become a focus of the former president and his allies as speculation has mounted that she would replace Biden as the Democratic nominee. Trump called her “Laughing Kamala,” and referred to the “Biden-Harris administration,” rather than just pinning actions on Biden as he had for months, and blamed Harris for the White House’s immigration policies.
“Despite all the Democrat panic this week, the truth is, it doesn’t matter who they nominate because we are going to beat any one of them in thundering landslides and this November’s going to be amazing,” he said.
Trump, ever the showman, repeatedly played into the speculation that he might elevate Rubio to his ticket.
Rubio, a Miami native and one of the contenders for the vice presidential post, was among the Florida politicians who spoke at the event.
At one point, Trump marveled at the number of reporters in attendance and said, “I think they probably think I’m going to be announcing that Marco is going to be vice president.”
Later, when he talked about his pledge to make tips tax-free, he remarked that Rubio “may or may not be there to vote for it.”
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, is seen as a potential running mate who could help Trump as he tries to secure support from Hispanic Americans, a point the senator emphasized in his remarks as he switched several times in his remarks to Spanish.
The senator did not openly acknowledge any of the speculation about him joining Trump as a running mate. He instead skewered not only Biden, whom he called “the figurehead of a left-wing government, shadow government,” but Harris, whom he would need to debate head-on if he’s chosen for Trump’s ticket.
Rubio referred to Harris not by name at first but called her Biden’s “replacement” and “a real-life, verified left-winger.” At another point in his remarks, he mocked the way Harris laughs.
He notably seemed to insert himself into Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” slogan by saying: “Together, we’re not just going to make it great again. We elect this man as president, we will make together America greater than it has ever been.”
Thousands of people turned out in the humid summer evening for the rally. Attendees were fanning themselves and holding signs featuring Trump’s mug shot, along with others that said, “You’re fired!” — Trump’s signature phrase on his former reality show, “The Apprentice.”
Trump’s youngest child who recently turned 18, Barron, also made his first-ever appearance at one of his father’s rallies. Trump implored his son to stand, with the young man pumping his fist a few times as Trump said, “Welcome to the scene, Barron.”
Both Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, are at least two decades older than most American presidents have been, according to the Pew Research Center, which said the median age for all US presidents on their first inauguration is 55 years old.
But that has not stopped Trump from arguing he is stronger than Biden, who repeatedly stumbled, paused and could not complete sentences at times during the June 27 debate.
Trump revels in Democratic turmoil as he returns to campaign trail and teases VP pick
https://arab.news/b5re4
Trump revels in Democratic turmoil as he returns to campaign trail and teases VP pick
- One of the top VP contenders, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, in attendance in attendance at rally
- Trump ratchets up his attacks on both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris after days spent lying low
Greenland crisis boosts Danish apps designed to identify and help boycott US goods
- Boycott campaigns are usually short-lived and real change often requires an organized effort rather than individual consumers
COPENHAGEN: The makers of mobile apps designed to help shoppers identify and boycott American goods say they saw a surge of interest in Denmark and beyond after the recent flare-up in tensions over US President Donald Trump’s designs on Greenland.
The creator of the “Made O’Meter” app, Ian Rosenfeldt, said he saw around 30,000 downloads of the free app in just three days at the height of the trans-Atlantic diplomatic crisis in late January out of more than 100,000 since it was launched in March.
Apps offer practical help
Rosenfeldt, who lives in Copenhagen and works in digital marketing, decided to create the app a year ago after joining a Facebook group of like-minded Danes hoping to boycott US goods.
“Many people were frustrated and thinking, ‘How do we actually do this in practical terms,’” the 53-year-old recalled. “If you use a bar code scanner, it’s difficult to see if a product is actually American or not, if it’s Danish or not. And if you don’t know that, you can’t really make a conscious choice.”
The latest version of “Made O’Meter” uses artificial intelligence to identify and analyze several products at a time, then recommend similar European-made alternatives. Users can set preferences, like “No USA-owned brands” or “Only EU-based brands.” The app claims over 95 percent accuracy.
“By using artificial intelligence, you can take an image of a product … and it can make a deep dive to go out and find the correct information about the product in many levels,” Rosenfeldt told The Associated Press during a demonstration at a Copenhagen grocery store. “This way, you have information that you can use to take decisions on what you think is right.”
‘Losing an ally’
After an initial surge of downloads when the app was launched, usage tailed off. Until last month, when Trump stepped up his rhetoric about the need for the US to acquire Greenland, a strategically important and mineral-rich Arctic island that is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark.
Usage peaked Jan. 23, when there were almost 40,000 scans in one day, compared with 500 or so daily last summer. It has dropped back since but there were still around 5,000 a day this week, said Rosenfeldt, who noted “Made O’Meter” is used by over 20,000 people in Denmark but also by people in Germany, Spain, Italy, even Venezuela.
“It’s become much more personal,” said Rosenfeldt, who spoke of “losing an ally and a friend.”
Trump announced in January he would slap new tariffs on Denmark and seven other European countries that opposed his takeover calls, only to abruptly drop his threats after he said a “framework” for a deal over access to mineral-rich Greenland was reached with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s help. Few details of that agreement have emerged.
The US began technical talks in late January to put together an Arctic security deal with Denmark and Greenland, which say sovereignty is not negotiable.
Rosenfeldt knows such boycotts won’t damage the US economy, but hopes to send a message to supermarkets and encourage greater reliance on European producers.
“Maybe we can send a signal and people will listen and we can make a change,” he added.
The protest may be largely symbolic
Another Danish app, “NonUSA,” topped 100,000 downloads at the beginning of February. One of its creators, 21-year-old Jonas Pipper, said there were over 25,000 downloads Jan. 21, when 526 product scans were performed in a minute at one point. Of the users, some 46,000 are in Denmark and around 10,000 in Germany.
“We noticed some users saying they felt like a little bit of the pressure was lifted off them,” Pipper said. “They feel like they kind of gained the power back in this situation.”
It’s questionable whether such apps will have much practical effect.
Christina Gravert, an associate professor of economics at the University of Copenhagen, said there are actually few US products on Danish grocery store shelves, “around 1 to 3 percent”. Nuts, wines and candy, for example. But there is widespread use of American technology in Denmark, from Apple iPhones to Microsoft Office tools.
“If you really want to have an impact, that’s where you should start,” she said.
Even “Made O’Meter” and “NonUSA” are downloaded from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store.
Gravert, who specializes in behavioral economics, said such boycott campaigns are usually short-lived and real change often requires an organized effort rather than individual consumers.
“It can be interesting for big supermarket brands to say, OK, we’re not going to carry these products anymore because consumers don’t want to buy them,” she said. “If you think about large companies, this might have some type of impact on the import (they) do.”
On a recent morning, shoppers leaving one Copenhagen grocery store were divided.
“We do boycott, but we don’t know all the American goods. So, it’s mostly the well-known trademarks,” said Morten Nielsen, 68, a retired navy officer. “It’s a personal feeling … we feel we do something, I know we are not doing very much.”
“I love America, I love traveling in America,” said 63-year-old retiree Charlotte Fuglsang. “I don’t think we should protest that way.”
