DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

Vice President Kamala Harris begins a 103-day sprint for the presidency in a virtual tie with former President Donald J. Trump, according to the latest New York Times/Siena College poll, as her fresh candidacy was quickly reuniting a Democratic Party that had been deeply fractured over President Biden. Just days after the president abandoned his campaign under pressure from party leaders, the poll showed Democrats rallying behind Ms. Harris as the presumptive nominee, with only 14 percent saying they would prefer another option. An overwhelming 70 percent of Democratic voters said they wanted the party to speedily consolidate behind her rather than engage in a more competitive and drawn-out process. Ms. Harris was receiving 93 percent support from Democrats, the same share that Mr. Trump was getting from Republicans. Overall, Mr. Trump leads Ms. Harris 48 percent to 47 percent among likely voters in a head-to-head match.

Persons: Kamala Harris, Donald J, Trump, Biden, Harris, Mr Organizations: New York Times, Siena College, Democratic Party, Democratic, Mr, Republicans, Times Locations: Siena

☆ How Kamala Harris Took Command of the Democratic Party in 48 Hours
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-24 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Late on Sunday morning, Vice President Kamala Harris summoned a small clutch of her closest advisers and allies to the Naval Observatory, where she lives and works, with little notice and even less information. President Biden had informed Ms. Harris earlier that morning that he was withdrawing from the race. The vice president had assembled her team so that the exact moment Mr. Biden formally quit, at 1:46 p.m. — one minute after the president had informed his own senior staff — they were ready to go. The vice president, in sneakers and a sweatshirt, began methodically dialing Democratic power brokers. “I wasn’t going to let this day go by without you hearing from me,” Ms. Harris had said over and over, as day turned to night, according to five people who received her calls or were briefed on them.

Persons: Kamala Harris, Biden, Harris, —, ” Ms Organizations: Naval Observatory

On Today’s Episode:Harris Clinches Majority of Delegates as She Closes In on Nomination, by Shane Goldmacher and Reid J. EpsteinTrump’s New Rival May Bring Out His Harshest Instincts, by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan SwanSeeking Answers, Lawmakers From Both Parties Ask Secret Service Chief to Quit, by Luke Broadwater, David A. Fahrenthold, Hamed Aleaziz and Campbell RobertsonFrustrated Californians May Be Ready for a Tougher Approach to Crime, by Tim Arango

Persons: Harris, Shane Goldmacher, Reid J, Epstein Trump’s, Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan, Luke Broadwater, David A, Fahrenthold, Hamed Aleaziz, Campbell Robertson, Tim Arango

☆ Harris Raised $81 Million in First 24 Hours as Candidate
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-22 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | More About Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Vice President Kamala Harris raised $81 million in the first 24 hours since announcing her bid for president, her campaign said, a recording-breaking showing as Democrats welcomed her candidacy with one of the greatest gushers of cash of all time. Her campaign said that 888,000 donors had contributed in her first day, 60 percent of whom were making their first contribution of the 2024 contest. The campaign signed up 43,000 of those donors to make recurring donations, it said. The Harris campaign did not break down what share of the $81 million was raised online by small-dollar donations versus from major donors. But ActBlue, the digital donation portal for Democrats up and down the ballot, had processed more than $90 million in the same 24-hour period, according to a New York Times analysis of the platform’s online ticker of contributions.

Persons: Kamala Harris, Harris Organizations: New York Times

☆ The Promise, and Risks, in Turning to Kamala Harris
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-22 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Vice President Kamala Harris swiftly established herself as the Democratic front-runner to take on Donald J. Trump within hours of President Biden’s exit on Sunday, fundamentally rewiring the presidential contest at warp speed. The tight timeline will magnify any missteps Ms. Harris might make but also minimize the chances for a stumble. And in a race that Mr. Trump had been on a trajectory to win, Ms. Harris immediately becomes the ultimate X-factor. Mr. Biden quickly endorsed Ms. Harris, who would be a barrier-breaking nominee as the first woman, the first Black woman and the first person of South Asian descent ever to serve as president. As the Democratic Party rallies behind her — the loudest voices of dissent were simply those not publicly endorsing her — here are six ways her candidacy holds both promise and peril.

Persons: Kamala Harris, Donald J, Biden’s, Harris, Trump, Biden Organizations: Democratic, Trump, Democratic Party Locations: Europe

Powerful leaders of the Democratic establishment quickly embraced Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday after President Biden’s shocking exit from the race, hoping that a seamless succession could end a month of damaging chaos and transform a contest widely believed to be tipping toward Republicans. With breathtaking speed, she took control of Mr. Biden’s enormous political operation and contacted Democratic leaders in Congress and state houses to ask for their support. The Biden campaign formally renamed itself “Harris for President,” giving her immediate access to an account that had $96 million in cash at the end of June. On an internal call, the Biden campaign’s leaders told staff members that they would now work for Ms. Harris. “I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party — and unite our nation — to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda,” Ms. Harris said in a statement.

Persons: Kamala Harris, Biden’s, Harris, Barack Obama, Biden, “ Harris, ”, “, Donald Trump, Ms Organizations: Democratic, Sunday, Biden, Democratic Party —

Six Takeaways From the Republican Convention , by Shane GoldmacherPeople Close to Biden Say He Appears to Accept He May Have to Leave the Race, by Michael D. Shear, Peter Baker and Katie Rogers

Persons: Shane Goldmacher, Biden, Michael D, Peter Baker, Katie Rogers Organizations: Republican

☆ Six Takeaways From the Republican Convention
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-19 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Donald J. Trump’s dramatic acceptance of his party’s nomination just days after a failed assassination attempt put an exclamation point on a triumphant week for a Republican Party that emerged from its convention confident and unified. He described being saved by providence and emerging “more determined than ever” to take back the White House. The near-universal Republican embrace of Mr. Trump this week — after a deadly riot at the Capitol, an impeachment, four indictments and one criminal conviction since his last nomination — was all the more vivid because Democrats were tumbling further into turmoil over President Biden’s viability. Trump being Trump, his remarks stretched past midnight on the East Coast, shattering his own record for the longest nominating speech. But nearly every ad-lib and scripted line was gobbled up by a party that has never seemed more in his grip.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, — Organizations: Republican Party, Capitol, Trump Locations: East

☆ 2024 at a Crossroads
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-18 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | Lisa Lerer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The 2024 presidential race hurtled toward a consequential crossroads on Thursday, as top Democrats ratcheted up pressure to deny President Biden his party’s nomination while bullish Republicans prepared for a balloon drop to formally select a bandaged Donald J. Trump as their standard-bearer. An extraordinary three weeks in American politics took another surprise turn, after the White House announced on Wednesday that Mr. Biden had contracted Covid, forcing the president into physical isolation just as his presidential candidacy hung in the balance. A race that not long ago seemed a staid rematch came to a dramatic pivot point after a head-spinning series of events: a disastrous debate late last month that made longstanding questions about Mr. Biden’s age unavoidable, and then a shocking attempted assassination of Mr. Trump less than 48 hours before the start of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. For a fleeting few hours on Wednesday, the two presidents presented starkly dueling images that fed into the very story line Republicans were unspooling at their convention — that Mr. Trump was strong and Mr. Biden was weak. One was flying to his beach house on Air Force One to enter seclusion as his party fractured around him; the other was welcomed as a wounded hero by thousands of cheering supporters, some of whom bandaged their ears in a show of solidarity.

Persons: Biden, Donald J, Trump, Mr Organizations: Republicans, White, Republican National Convention, Air Force Locations: Milwaukee

Donald J. Trump long ago decided he wanted a very different Republican Party platform in 2024. It was only then that the delegates received a copy of the platform language the Trump team had meticulously prepared, which slashed the platform size by nearly three-quarters. “This is something that ultimately you’ll pass,” Mr. Trump told the delegates by phone and made audible to the room, according to a person who was there and who was not authorized to speak publicly. “You’ll pass it quickly.”He was right. Within hours, the platform committee had endorsed a document that Mr. Trump had personally dictated parts of, according to two people with direct knowledge of the events, and it all happened before the delegates got their phones back.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, ” Mr, “ Organizations: Republican Party, Republican National Convention, Trump Locations: Milwaukee

☆ Donald Trump Jr. Is Building a ‘MAGA Bench.’ J.D. Vance Is Just the Start.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-17 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Vance did his initial walk-through of the Republican National Convention stage this week after he was named Donald J. Trump’s running mate, the Ohio senator was joined not just by aides and event organizers. He was accompanied by a man who had pushed behind the scenes as hard as almost anyone to put him on the ticket in the first place: Donald Trump Jr. When they each deliver a prime-time address on Wednesday night, the moment will mark not only Mr. Vance’s national debut but the unquestioned arrival of Donald Trump Jr. as a political force to be reckoned with in his own right. The younger Mr. Trump is now the rarest of political creatures: a top confidant not only to the Republican presidential nominee but also the vice-presidential nominee. Soon after Mr. Vance got the call from the former president that he would be on the ticket, one of the first outbound calls he made was to the younger Mr. Trump to thank him for his help, according to a person with knowledge of the call.

Persons: J.D, Vance, Donald J, Donald Trump Jr, Trump Organizations: Republican National Convention, Republican Locations: Ohio

☆ In J.D. Vance, Donald Trump Selects an Inheritor
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-15 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For nearly nine years, Donald J. Trump has been the singular face of Republican politics and the undisputed leader of the Make America Great Again movement. Vance as Mr. Trump’s running mate, a politician nearly 40 years his junior, immediately vaults the first-term senator to the forefront of a G.O.P. If elected in November, Mr. Trump, 78, can serve only a single term — the 22nd Amendment states that no person shall be elected president more than twice — a rarity for a candidate naming a potential vice president. Mr. Vance, 39, is the first millennial to make a major presidential ticket, a Marine veteran and a politician who has thoroughly remade himself as a full-throated MAGA enthusiast. In recent months, it was Mr. Vance’s aggressive defense of Trumpism and Mr. Trump, even on mainstream news outlets, that helped him stand out for the former president as a worthy inheritor.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Vance, Trump’s, MAGA Organizations: Mr, Republican Party, Marine Locations: Trumpism

Mr. Biden stumbled early but remained defiant in the face of questions about his fitness to continue his campaign. Mr. Biden vowed to stay in the presidential race. “I just got to, just, pace myself a little more,” Mr. Biden said. While he vowed to stay in the race, Mr. Biden also on multiple occasions defended the credentials of his vice president. “Unless they came back and said there’s no way you can win,” Mr. Biden said.

Persons: Biden, Donald J, Mr, “ I’m, Trump, “, you’ve, ” Mr, Kamala Harris, ”, Donald Trump, —, Xi, Xi Jinping, they’re, Israel “, “ you’ve, Biden rambled, I’ve, ‘ Biden’s, Harris Organizations: Trump, Democratic, NATO, Mr, North Locations: Washington, Ukraine, China, Russia, Europe, North Korea, Moscow, Gaza

But leaning into the microphone and whispering to dramatize his defiance, Mr. Biden made clear that he did not foresee this happening. “No poll says that.”He seemed to open the door to an alternative, then swiftly shut it. Sure, “other people can beat Trump,” he said, but it would be too hard to “start from scratch.”The president’s first news conference since the debate amounted to a competent presentation, if not a compelling performance. But it remained in doubt whether it was enough to stop the bleeding of Democratic support that has threatened to hemorrhage. Minutes after he left the stage, the drip-drip-drip of Democratic members of Congress calling for him to step aside continued unabated.

Persons: Biden, ”, “ Organizations: Trump

On Today’s Episode:U.S. Officials Say Russia Is Unlikely to Take Much More Ukrainian Territory, by Julian E. Barnes and Eric SchmittBiden Says He Is ‘Firmly Committed’ to Staying in the Race, by Michael D. ShearParkinson’s Expert Visited the White House Eight Times in Eight Months, by Emily Baumgaertner and Peter BakerFollowing Trump’s Lead, Republicans Adopt Platform That Softens Stance on Abortion, by Maggie Haberman, Shane Goldmacher and Jonathan Swan

Persons: Julian E, Barnes, Eric Schmitt Biden, ‘, ’, Michael D, Emily Baumgaertner, Peter Baker, Maggie Haberman, Shane Goldmacher, Jonathan Swan Organizations: Officials Locations: Ukrainian Territory

☆ How Biden Is Leveraging His Defiance to Try to Stem Democratic Defections
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-08 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Biden’s increasingly emphatic declarations that he will not exit the presidential race are delivering an unmistakable message to potential wayward Democrats: Any criticisms going forward damage the party’s chances against Donald J. Trump. For days, Mr. Biden has said he will remain his party’s nominee after his poor debate short of an intervention from “the Lord Almighty.” On Monday, he put that assertion into action. It began with an open letter to congressional Democrats saying he was definitely running. “I am not going anywhere,” Mr. Biden told the donors. The moves amounted to a show of defiance that the Biden operation hoped would earn him some deference, as uneasy Democratic lawmakers trickled back to Capitol Hill after a holiday break.

Persons: Biden’s, Donald J, Biden, ”, “, Mr, trickled Organizations: Trump, Congressional Black Caucus, Democratic, Capitol

Donald J. Trump told officials on Monday that he supports a new Republican Party platform, one that reflects the presumptive nominee’s new position on abortion rights and slims down policy specifics across all areas of government. The new platform, as described to The New York Times by people briefed on it, cements Mr. Trump’s ideological takeover of the G.O.P. The platform is even more nationalistic, more protectionist and less socially conservative than the 2016 Republican platform that was duplicated in the 2020 election. Mr. Trump, who has had the draft for several days, called into a meeting of party officials on Monday and said that he supports it. The document overwhelmingly was approved during a vote by the platform committee on Monday, passing 84 to 18, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, ” Organizations: Republican Party, slims, The New York Times, Republican

☆ Four Takeaways From Biden’s Post-Debate Interview
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-05 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

He downplayed. President Biden’s first television interview since his poor debate performance last week was billed as a prime-time opportunity to reassure the American people that he still has what it takes to run for, win and hold the nation’s highest office. The president on Friday did not struggle to complete his thoughts the way he did at the debate. But at the same time he was not the smooth-talking senator of his youth, or even the same elder statesman whom the party entrusted four years ago to defeat former President Donald J. Trump. Instead, it was a high-stakes interview with an 81-year-old president whose own party is increasingly doubting him yet who sounded little like a man with any doubts about himself.

Persons: Biden’s, Biden, George Stephanopoulos, Donald J Organizations: ABC News, Trump

☆ Trump Widens Lead After Biden’s Debate Debacle, Times/Siena Poll Finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-03 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Trump now leads Mr. Biden 49 percent to 43 percent among likely voters nationally, a three-point swing toward the Republican from just a week earlier, before the debate. It is the largest lead Mr. Trump has recorded in a Times/Siena poll since 2015. Mr. Trump leads by even more among registered voters, 49 percent to 41 percent. Doubts about Mr. Biden’s age and acuity are widespread and growing. A majority of every demographic, geographic and ideological group in the poll — including Black voters and those who said they will still be voting for him — believe Mr. Biden, 81, is too old to be effective.

Persons: Donald J, Trump’s, Biden’s, Biden, Trump, — Organizations: The New York Times, Siena College, Republican, Mr, Black Locations: Times, Siena

President Biden and his advisers rushed to stem the first serious defections inside the Democratic Party since his shaky debate last week, as leading Democrats lent legitimacy to questions about his mental acuity and raised the specter of replacing him atop the ticket. Mr. Biden’s operation hoped to assert fresh control on Wednesday, holding a call with a group of Democratic governors, in person and virtually, as he seeks to shore up support after days of private hand-wringing went public in sudden and quick succession. On Tuesday, Mr. Biden suffered his first formal call to resign from the race from a Democratic member of Congress. But a private set of polls from a pro-Biden super PAC leaked to the news site Puck showed the president losing ground — around two percentage points — across all the most important battleground states. He was also now trailing in New Mexico, New Hampshire and Virginia, three states that were not seen a year ago as likely even to be contested seriously by Republicans.

Persons: Biden, wringing, Mr, Biden “, Nancy Pelosi, Puck Organizations: Democratic Party, Democratic, Biden, PAC Locations: New Mexico , New Hampshire, Virginia

Wealthy Democratic donors who believe a different nominee would be the party’s best chance to hold the White House are increasingly gritting their teeth in silence about President Biden, fearful that any move against him could backfire. As of late Tuesday, the party’s moneyed class was carefully monitoring post-debate poll results and the positioning of elected Democrats for signs that support for Mr. Biden was cracking. Earlier moves by donors to mount their own campaigns to pressure Mr. Biden to step down as the party’s presidential candidate have either fizzled out or prompted pushback from fellow contributors and operatives. The deadlock reflects a broader paralysis within the party about how to handle a fraught situation that could inflame intraparty rifts, alienate key constituencies, damage personal relationships and benefit a Republican candidate most of the donors believe poses a threat to democracy.

Persons: Biden, pushback Organizations: Republican

☆ Biden’s New Post-Debate Ad: ‘When You Get Knocked Down, You Get Back Up’
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-01 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Biden’s campaign will begin airing a new 60-second television ad in key battleground states on Monday as the presumptive Democratic nominee seeks to recover from a stilted debate performance last week in Atlanta that has shaken his standing in the 2024 race. The ad, provided to The New York Times ahead of its first airing, doesn’t show footage of Mr. Biden’s hoarse, halting delivery before an audience of more than 50 million at Thursday’s debate. Instead, the ad features narration by Mr. Biden that is culled entirely from the rally that his campaign staged the next day in North Carolina. At that event, Mr. Biden, with the top two buttons of his dress shirt open under his suit jacket, gave the kind of energetic performance that allies had been hoping for the night before. With dramatic music pulsing in the background, the ad begins with attacks on former President Donald J. Trump before Mr. Biden, 81, pivots to acknowledging his own limitations.

Persons: Biden’s, Mr, Biden, Donald J, Trump Organizations: Democratic, The New York Times, Mr Locations: Atlanta, North Carolina

Later on Friday, top White House aides worked the phones, with Mr. Biden’s chief of staff, Jeff Zients, calling the Democratic leader of the Senate, Chuck Schumer, to check in, according to a person familiar with the call. And by the afternoon, the Biden campaign had transformed its weekly all-staff call into a virtual pep talk to dispel any doubts creeping into the campaign offices in Wilmington, Del., and beyond. “Nothing fundamentally changed about this election last night,” said Quentin Fulks, Mr. Biden’s deputy campaign manager, according to a recording of the all-staff meeting. “We’re going to get punched. We’re going to punch back.

Persons: Biden, Jen O’Malley Dillon, Biden’s, Jeff Zients, Chuck Schumer, ”, Quentin Fulks, “ We’re Organizations: White, Democratic, Senate Locations: Wilmington, Del

There were discussions with political advisers about arcane rules under which Mr. Biden might be removed from the ticket against his will and replaced at or before the Democratic National Convention, according to a person familiar with the effort. In Silicon Valley, a group of megadonors, including Ron Conway and Laurene Powell Jobs, were calling, texting and emailing one another about a situation they described as a possible catastrophe. The donors wondered about whom in the Biden fold they could contact to reach Jill Biden, the first lady, who in turn could persuade her husband not to run, according to a person familiar with the conversations. A Silicon Valley donor who had planned to host an intimate fund-raiser featuring Mr. Biden this summer decided not to go through with the gathering because of the debate, according to a person told directly by the prospective host. Another major California donor left a debate watch party early and emailed a friend with the subject line: “Utter disaster,” according to a copy of the email.

Persons: Biden’s, Biden, Ron Conway, Laurene Powell Jobs, Jill Biden Organizations: Democratic, Democratic National Convention Locations: America, Silicon Valley, California

☆ Memo Reveals Trump’s Plan to Slash the Size of the G.O.P. Platform
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-29 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Donald J. Trump’s top advisers are planning to drastically scale back and simplify the official platform of the Republican Party, according to a memo sent to the party’s platform committee that was reviewed by The New York Times. The memo — signed by Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, the former president’s two lead advisers — described their efforts to pare down the platform “to ensure our policy commitments to the American people are clear, concise and easily digestible.” It dismissed past platforms as needlessly “textbook-long” documents shaped by “special interest influence” that had left the party and its nominee open to attacks from Democrats. “Publishing an unnecessarily verbose treatise will provide more fuel for our opponent’s fire of misinformation and misrepresentation to voters,” the memo read. “It is with that recognition that we will present a streamlined platform in line with President Trump’s principled and popular vision for America’s future.”The memo was sent on Thursday ahead of the G.O.P.’s gathering in Milwaukee next month, where it will first vote on its platform and then hold its national convention to select a presidential nominee.

Persons: Donald J, Trump’s, —, Chris LaCivita, Susie Wiles, pare, ” Organizations: Republican Party, The New York Times, “ Locations: Milwaukee

Search resuls for: "Shane Goldmacher"

25 mentions found