US Domestic News Roundup: Trump hangs on to financial edge in race against Biden; Facebook, Twitter, YouTube pull Trump posts over coronavirus misinformation and more


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 06-08-2020 18:41 IST | Created: 06-08-2020 18:27 IST
US Domestic News Roundup: Trump hangs on to financial edge in race against Biden; Facebook, Twitter, YouTube pull Trump posts over coronavirus misinformation and more
US President Donald Trump (File photo) Image Credit: ANI
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Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube pull Trump posts over coronavirus misinformation

Facebook Inc on Wednesday took down a post by U.S. President Donald Trump, which the company said violated its rules against sharing misinformation about the coronavirus. The post contained a video clip, from an interview with Fox & Friends earlier in the day, in which Trump claimed that children are "almost immune" to COVID-19.

Trump hangs on to financial edge in race against Biden

President Donald Trump thwarted efforts to cripple his re-election campaign's financial advantage, as Republican donors forked over record cash in July, campaign disclosures showed on Wednesday. Trump's campaign and closely allied groups pulled in $165 million during the typically sluggish political fundraising month of July, more than Democratic rival Joe Biden's $140 million, the campaigns said in separate statements.

White House, Congress to resume coronavirus talks on major issues

Top congressional Democrats and White House officials will try again on Thursday to find a compromise on legislation that would enable Congress to come to the aid of Americans reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. As talks neared the end of their second week, the four principal negotiators appeared to be near agreement on some topics, but still trillions of dollars apart on major issues including the size of a federal benefit for tens of millions of unemployed workers.

Conservatives battling to the end in Tennessee U.S. Senate primary

Tennessee Republicans will cast their ballots on Thursday in a bitter Senate primary race that will test President Donald Trump's influence and as the two leading candidates fight over who is most qualified to pursue conservative goals. The winner of the nominating election will be well positioned on Nov. 3 to replace retiring Republican Senator Lamar Alexander, the 80-year-old former U.S. secretary of education, who is among a dwindling number of moderate Republicans in Congress.

As U.S. Congress wrangles over aid, millions of renters get desperate

Amanda Geno accepted what felt like a dream job offer on March 13 from a college near Holyoke, Massachusetts, putting an end to a six-month search after she was laid off in the fall. Or so she thought. Three days later, the college told the 39-year-old fundraiser that the promised job would need to be put on hold. At the end of April, she was notified the team she was to join wouldn't be hiring until 2021.

U.S. Republican congressman Rodney Davis says he has COVID-19

U.S. Representative Rodney Davis said he tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, making him at least the 15th U.S. lawmaker to be infected or presumed to have the disease. Davis, a Republican of Illinois, said in a statement that he took the test after running a fever Wednesday morning. His office was contacting constituents he had met with within the previous 48 hours, Davis said, and he was postponing public events until he had received a negative test.

Majority of registered voters oppose U.S. election delay: Reuters/Ipsos poll

Two thirds of registered American voters oppose delaying the Nov. 3 presidential election due to the coronavirus pandemic, and more than half think President Donald Trump floated the idea of postponing it last week to help himself politically, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling released on Wednesday. The national public opinion poll was conducted from July 31 to Aug. 4, shortly after Trump said without providing evidence that a surge in mail-in voting would lead to widespread voter fraud and suggested the election be delayed. The idea was immediately rejected by Democrats and Republicans in Congress, who have sole authority to change the election date.

Exclusive: Fauci says regulators promise politics will not guide vaccine timing

U.S. regulators have assured scientists that political pressure will not determine when a coronavirus vaccine is approved even as the White House hopes to have one ready ahead of the November presidential election, the country's leading infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci said on Wednesday. "We have assurances, and I've discussed this with the regulatory authorities, that they promise that they are not going to let political considerations interfere with a regulatory decision," Dr. Fauci told Reuters in an interview.

Two U.S. senators seek ban on collecting customer biometric data without consent

Two U.S. senators are proposing legislation to prohibit private companies from collecting biometric data without consumers and employees' consent. Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon said this week he is introducing the reform measure along with independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The effort comes after growing concerns about biometric data collection among private companies, including the use of facial-recognition technology.

Factbox: Coronavirus in U.S. Congress: 15 members have tested or been presumed positive

At least 15 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate - eight Republicans and seven Democrats - have tested positive or are presumed to have had COVID-19 since the novel coronavirus pandemic began earlier this year, with Representative Rodney Davis becoming the latest on Wednesday. Here is a look at lawmakers affected by the virus:

(With inputs from agencies.)

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