PITTSBURGH — Still reeling from the horror and grief after Saturday’s massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue, Pittsburgh is now dealing with something else: the barbed politics of the 2018 midterms and widespread opposition to President Trump’s plan to visit here Tuesday.
Jewish leaders said that President Trump was not welcome in Pittsburgh and accused him of stirring up extremism.
Mayor William Peduto, who strongly rejected Mr. Trump’s suggestion that armed guards in houses of worship are the answer to violence, warned that the president would be a distraction from funerals taking place Tuesday.
Many in the Jewish community in Pittsburgh cited what they saw as the president’s divisive rhetoric, which they feel had a role in enabling the violence here, as well as other recent episodes including the mail bombs sent from Florida to prominent Democratic figures and what appears to be the racial killing of two black shoppers near Louisville, Ky. Interviews in Florida reflected a similar urgency and unease about the intersection of violence in American life and the looming midterm elections.
The incidents returned to a boil a long-running issue dating at least to the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017, when Mr. Trump was widely condemned for equating neo-Nazis with demonstrators protesting them.
Now, one week before Americans head to the polls, criticisms that the president is sowing hurtful divisions in society have become an electoral issue, a turn of events that the White House and Republicans are vehemently pushing back on. Chants of “Vote! Vote! Vote!†broke out during vigils for victims of the synagogue shootings.
The U.S. military said it would send 5,200 troops to the southwest border in response to a caravan of migrants from Central America that President Trump has seized on as an issue in the Nov. 6 midterm elections.
The movement is the largest, quick deployment of active-duty U.S. troops since the response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, when thousands arrived within days, former officials said. It is a major escalation of the U.S. response at the border, which as recently as last week was planned for 800 troops. With 2,000 National Guard members already in place, it will exceed the combined U.S. military footprint in Iraq and Syria.
“Our first level of effort will be to harden the points of entry and address key gaps in areas around the points of entry,†said Air Force Gen. Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy, commander of the U.S. Northern Command, which is responsible for the continental U.S.
With the balance of power in Congress up for grabs next Tuesday, President Trump has seized on the migrant caravan to rally his Republican supporters. Close U.S. Senate or House elections are being fought in the border states of Arizona, California and Texas.
“This is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!†Mr. Trump wrote Monday morning on Twitter, without directly mentioning troop numbers.
Critics of the president said the use of active-duty troops is a political gambit and that the domestic deployment will degrade military readiness for defense abroad.
“When Donald Trump deploys troops for a nonexistent threat, that means troops are not training or preparing for the fights that could be on the horizon, for legitimate threats,†said Will Fischer, director of government relations for VoteVets, a pro-Democratic advocacy group. “This is a campaign ploy.â€
New: Pittsburgh Mayor, Pittsburgh County Exec, Senate Majority Leader McConnell, House Speaker Ryan, Senate Minority Schumer, and House Minority Leader Pelosi all tell CNN they have declined WH invite to join Pres Trump in Pittsburgh today.
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) October 30, 2018
Quote by Raine:
I said that he was going to try this over a year ago.
Trump Says He Will Order Limits to Birthright Citizenship
Quote by Raine:
Woah, this seems like a big deal.New: Pittsburgh Mayor, Pittsburgh County Exec, Senate Majority Leader McConnell, House Speaker Ryan, Senate Minority Schumer, and House Minority Leader Pelosi all tell CNN they have declined WH invite to join Pres Trump in Pittsburgh today.
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) October 30, 2018
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
Woah, this seems like a big deal.New: Pittsburgh Mayor, Pittsburgh County Exec, Senate Majority Leader McConnell, House Speaker Ryan, Senate Minority Schumer, and House Minority Leader Pelosi all tell CNN they have declined WH invite to join Pres Trump in Pittsburgh today.
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) October 30, 2018
They are actually respecting the families and temples who are in the middle of making preparations for services which have to be done within a very tight time frame. Good on them.
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
I said that he was going to try this over a year ago.
Trump Says He Will Order Limits to Birthright Citizenship
Really don't see how its legal to do that, plus I have a sneaking suspicion Stephen Millers racisty fingerprints are on this too. I get that tRump is willfully ignorant but someone had to lead him to this.
Quote by Raine:pack the courts the way they are, I can see them doing it.Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
I said that he was going to try this over a year ago.
Trump Says He Will Order Limits to Birthright Citizenship
Really don't see how its legal to do that, plus I have a sneaking suspicion Stephen Millers racisty fingerprints are on this too. I get that tRump is willfully ignorant but someone had to lead him to this.
This is way bigger than just being unconstitutional.
I wasn't going to report on this, but I think my fears are coming true. Based on information that I am privy to, I believe false accusations will be spread about Mueller in order to discredit him and possibly the journalists who are preparing this story. https://t.co/HQXTvPYirD
— Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) October 30, 2018
Quote by Scoopster:
Here comes the Mueller smear campaignI wasn't going to report on this, but I think my fears are coming true. Based on information that I am privy to, I believe false accusations will be spread about Mueller in order to discredit him and possibly the journalists who are preparing this story. https://t.co/HQXTvPYirD
— Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) October 30, 2018
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin' all! One week to go, and I just updated my tracking sheet again! So far for the competitive House races...
- 18 look certain to flip blue (AZ-2, CA-45, CA-49, CO-6, FL-27, IA-1, KS-3, MN-2, MN-3, NJ-2, NJ-11, PA-3, PA-4, PA-5, PA-6, PA-7, PA-8, and VA-10)
- 5 favor flipping blue, within the margin of error (CA-10, IA-3, NY-19, NC-7, MI-11)
- 21 are straight toss-ups (CA-39, CA-48, FL-15, FL-26, IL-6, KS-2, KY-6, ME-2, NJ-3, NJ-7, NM-2, NY-22, NC-2, NC-9, OH-12, PA-1, PA-10, TX-7, UT-4, VA-5, VA-7).
- 33 favor staying red, within the margin of error (AK-AL, AZ-8, CA-1, CA-4, CA-22, CA-25, CA-50, FL-6, FL-25, GA-6, GA-7, IL-13, IL-14, IA-4, MI-6, MI-7, MI-8, MO-2, MT-AL, NY-2, NY-11, NY-23, NY-27, NC-13, TX-10, TX-32, VA-2, WA-3, WA-5, WV-2, WV-3, WI-1, WI-6)
- 12 look certain to remain red (FL-18, IL-12, MI-2, NY-21, NY-24, OH-1, OH-4, OH-7, OH-10, OH-14, TX-23, WA-8)
- 2 are certain to flip from blue to red (MN-8, PA-13)
- 5 are tossups that could flip blue to red (AZ-1, FL-7, MN-1, NV-3, NV-4)
There's a lot of neutral ground here. Hopefully the generic ballot preference carries it home.
Quote by Raine:Quote by Scoopster:
Here comes the Mueller smear campaignI wasn't going to report on this, but I think my fears are coming true. Based on information that I am privy to, I believe false accusations will be spread about Mueller in order to discredit him and possibly the journalists who are preparing this story. https://t.co/HQXTvPYirD
— Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) October 30, 2018
I am getting so damn sick and tired of this garbage.
Mostly sick.
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
I said that he was going to try this over a year ago.
Trump Says He Will Order Limits to Birthright Citizenship
Really don't see how its legal to do that, plus I have a sneaking suspicion Stephen Millers racisty fingerprints are on this too. I get that tRump is willfully ignorant but someone had to lead him to this.
Quote by BobR:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
I said that he was going to try this over a year ago.
Trump Says He Will Order Limits to Birthright Citizenship
Really don't see how its legal to do that, plus I have a sneaking suspicion Stephen Millers racisty fingerprints are on this too. I get that tRump is willfully ignorant but someone had to lead him to this.
The one concern is that tRump will push this, everyone will get outraged and push back, and then a "compromise" will be reached that requires both parents to be U.S. citizens.
Quote by BobR:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
I said that he was going to try this over a year ago.
Trump Says He Will Order Limits to Birthright Citizenship
Really don't see how its legal to do that, plus I have a sneaking suspicion Stephen Millers racisty fingerprints are on this too. I get that tRump is willfully ignorant but someone had to lead him to this.
The one concern is that tRump will push this, everyone will get outraged and push back, and then a "compromise" will be reached that requires both parents to be U.S. citizens.
Quote by Raine:Quote by BobR:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
I said that he was going to try this over a year ago.
Trump Says He Will Order Limits to Birthright Citizenship
Really don't see how its legal to do that, plus I have a sneaking suspicion Stephen Millers racisty fingerprints are on this too. I get that tRump is willfully ignorant but someone had to lead him to this.
The one concern is that tRump will push this, everyone will get outraged and push back, and then a "compromise" will be reached that requires both parents to be U.S. citizens.
I am getting ready to read this from WaPo.
Trump doesn't propose to end birthright citizenship. He proposes a switch from “jus soli†(right of soil) citizenship o “jus sanguinis†(right of blood) citizenship. Under the present system, any baby born in the United States is a U.S. citizen by birthright. Under the propose system, only babies born to a U.S. parent would become U.S. citizens by birthright. As the New York Times points our, dozens of countries grant jus soli citizenship, but jus sanguinis citizenship is most common among developed nations.
The Citizenship Clause of 14th Amendment states†All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.†Although legal precedent favors the jus soli interpretation of the 14th amendment, the Supreme Court had never made a definitive ruling on the meaning of “under the jurisdiction thereof.â€
The authors of the 14th Amendment’s “Citizenship Clause†obviously did not intend to grant citizenship to babies born to foreign nationals on U.S. soil. The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868 to grant citizenship to former slaves. Babies born within U.S. borders to Native American parents were not granted U.S. citizenship until the Indian Citizen Act was passed in 1924. The reason was that Native Americans were not consider as being under the full jurisdiction of the United States because of their allegiance to tribal governments. Foreign nationals visiting or residing in the United States are not under full jurisdiction of the United States today. The constitutional issue is whether the Citizenship Clause’s reference to “under the jurisdiction thereof†means full jurisdiction.
If Trump signs an executive oder ending jus soli citizenship, there will be a definitive ruling. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the jus soli interpretation, we should make the switch to jus sanguine citizenship by constitutional amendment
Peter Carr, Mueller's spokesman: "When we learned last week of allegations that women were offered money to make false claims about the Special Counsel, we immediately referred the matter to the FBI for investigation."
— Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) October 30, 2018
Quote by Raine:
NBC has announced that Whitey Bulger has been found Dead in Prison.
Was just moved to the Prison. No confirmation about rumors that he was murdered.
Quote by Scoopster:
Mueller's camp strikes back.Peter Carr, Mueller's spokesman: "When we learned last week of allegations that women were offered money to make false claims about the Special Counsel, we immediately referred the matter to the FBI for investigation."
— Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) October 30, 2018
Quote by Scoopster:
Mueller's camp strikes back.Peter Carr, Mueller's spokesman: "When we learned last week of allegations that women were offered money to make false claims about the Special Counsel, we immediately referred the matter to the FBI for investigation."
— Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) October 30, 2018
.@JacobAWohl you might want to lawyer up (again)
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) October 30, 2018
I have German citizenship because Germany stripped my father of his German citizenship in 1935 under the Nuremberg Laws (and the country later, in shame, restored it).
— Eric Muller (@elmunc) October 30, 2018
Redefining the constitutional boundaries of citizenship is a sign of illness.
Please help this go viral. pic.twitter.com/pzfZoQR5lH
Some sad news. On Thursday, November 1, at the Rosslyn
— Jack Burkman (@Jack_Burkman) October 30, 2018
Holiday Inn at noon, we will reveal the first of Special Counsel Robert
Mueller's sex assault victims. I applaud the courage and dignity and
grace and strength of my client. pic.twitter.com/wZVQeHD45r
Kellyanne removed her title from her Twitter bio. 🤔 pic.twitter.com/zDmu9FlDYL
— Yashar Ali 😠(@yashar) October 30, 2018
Quote by Raine:
Marine one('s) just flew over our house. It makes my stomach turn.
Jacob gave us comment at first, but went quiet when we told him Surefire Intelligence's phone number redirected to a voicemail account registered to his mom.https://t.co/aVPzVDjGR4
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) October 30, 2018
Seems unfair that Jacob’s mom built the Wohl and also has to pay for it
— Student Loans ðŸ (@AdamSerwer) October 30, 2018
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
Marine one('s) just flew over our house. It makes my stomach turn.
Next years garden going to be in the form of a giant finger?
Quote by Scoopster:
Oh my gawd.. the entire internet is laughing hard at Jacob Wohl right now.Jacob gave us comment at first, but went quiet when we told him Surefire Intelligence's phone number redirected to a voicemail account registered to his mom.https://t.co/aVPzVDjGR4
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) October 30, 2018Seems unfair that Jacob’s mom built the Wohl and also has to pay for it
— Student Loans ðŸ (@AdamSerwer) October 30, 2018