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 @ISIDEWITHNewsNew YorkDemocratic Party2024 PresidentialDaily DiscussionElectionHakeem JeffriesPresidential DebateNancy Pelosi•••5mos ago

Leading Democrats Vouch for Biden, but Concede a ‘Bad Night’

Democratic Party leaders swiftly and unequivocally ruled out the idea that President Biden would or should step aside after his shaky performance at the first presidential debate. But there was a palpable sense of anxiety on Capitol Hill on Friday morning about what it would mean for his campaign and their own re-election chances.“We have a great team of people that will help govern,” said Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California and an official Biden surrogate responsible for reaching out to young voters. “That is what I’m going to continue to make the case for.”When asked if he could vouch for the president, Mr. Khanna only said, “I can vouch for our policies.”Representative Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California and a former House speaker, acknowledged that “from a performance standpoint, it wasn’t great.” But, she added, “from a values standpoint, it far outshone the other guy.” Ms. Pelosi, a longtime booster of Mr. Biden’s candidacy, said that she did not think Mr. Biden should step aside as the party’s presidential nominee and that she did not know of anyone pushing him to do so.

“I’m not doing it, and I don’t know anyone who’s doing it,” she said.Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the House minority leader, also said that he did not think Mr. Biden should step aside, despite the increased concerns about his age and his ability to do the job.

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Rashida Tlaib calls On Blinken to Resign Over Gaza war

A US congresswoman urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken to resign for not changing the policy on arms supply to Israel."Secretary Blinken exposed his lie by announcing that there will be no change to any policy, despite admitting that the Israeli government has still failed to comply with all of their demands."Secretary Blinken has continued to lie to Congress and should resign," Rashida Tlaib said on the floor of the House of Representatives.Her remarks came after the State Department said Tuesday that the US would not change its policy on arms transfers to Israel even though the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip remains dire.A deadline was set by Washington in an Oct. 13 letter for Israel to ramp up access to aid within 30 days in the besieged Palestinian enclave or risk US military aid.Tlaib said the Biden administration continues to ignore reports that Israel is blocking humanitarian aid into Gaza in violation of US and international law."The Israeli government is using starvation as a weapon of war," she said, showing a picture of a starving child."US law is very clear: No nation blocking US humanitarian assistance can receive US weapons. The Biden administration cannot pick and choose when they comply with our own laws."Children are forced to eat pet food and bug-infested flour, look at this and do not turn your back on again, being complicit to this war crime, but Blinken says there's no need to change our own policy. Shameful!" she added.Eight humanitarian aid organizations said in a statement that Israel has failed to meet the criteria set out by the US to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.Israel has continued its devastating offensive against Gaza since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, on Oct. 7, 2023. The onslaught has killed more than 43,700 people and rendered the enclave almost uninhabitable.Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on Gaza.

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Trump’s ‘Maximum Pressure’ Strategy Reignites U.S.-Iran Tensions

Donald Trump’s new administration will revive its “maximum pressure” policy to “bankrupt” Iran’s ability to fund regional proxies and develop nuclear weapons, according to people familiar with the transition.Trump’s foreign policy team will seek to ratchet up sanctions on Tehran, including vital oil exports, as soon as the president-elect re-enters the White House in January, people familiar with the transition said.“He’s determined to reinstitute a maximum pressure strategy to bankrupt Iran as soon as possible,” said a national security expert familiar with the Trump transition. The plan will mark a shift in US foreign policy at a time of turmoil in the Middle East after Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack triggered a wave of regional hostilities and thrust Israel’s shadow war with Iran into the open.Trump signalled during his election campaign that he wants a deal with Iran. “We have to make a deal, because the consequences are impossible. We have to make a deal,” he said in September.People familiar with Trump’s thinking said the maximum pressure tactic would be used to try to force Iran into talks with the US — although experts believe this is a long shot. The president-elect mounted a campaign of “maximum pressure” in his first term after abandoning the 2015 nuclear deal Iran signed with world powers, and imposing hundreds of sanctions on the Islamic republic.In response, Tehran ramped up its nuclear activity and it is enriching uranium close to weapons-grade level.The sanctions remained in place during the Biden administration, but analysts say it did not implement them as strictly as it sought to revive the nuclear accord with Iran and ease the crisis.Iran’s crude oil exports have more than trebled in the past four years, from a low of 400,000 barrels a day in 2020 to more than 1.5mn b/d so far in 2024, with nearly all shipments going to China, according to the US Energy Information Agency.

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