Republicans

The Washington Post reports: When a man in the crowd of her Iowa campaign stop told Sen. Joni Ernst (R) on Monday that he believed the number of U.S. coronavirus deaths had been overcounted, Ernst replied that she too was “so skeptical.” “These health-care providers and others are reimbursed at a higher rate if COVID is tied to it, so …

The Washington Post reports: Virginia Republican Bob Good dropped his first congressional campaign ad Monday, showing Cameron Webb, his Democratic opponent, against images of rioting in an unidentified location and trying to paint Webb as a “radical” who supports forced government health care and defunding the police. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee condemned the ad as a “racist dog whistle.” …

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports: A federal judge on Monday extended the deadline for absentee ballots to be returned in Georgia, ruling that they must be counted if postmarked by Election Day and delivered up to three days afterward. The decision will likely result in tens of thousands of ballots being counted after Nov. 3 that would have otherwise been rejected, …

Fox News reports: Rep. Steve Scalise on Sunday removed a video he had posted on Twitter of an edited interview between Joe Biden and a disabled liberal activist after backlash that the clip was “doctored” to portray the Democratic presidential nominee as supporting the defunding of police. Scalise’s video was initially marked as doctored by Twitter before it was removed. …

The Verge reports: A Sunday tweet from Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) showing a video of activist Ady Barkan got a “manipulated media” label from Twitter. Barkan has ALS and speaks through voice assistance. In the video, a conversation between Barkan and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Barkan asks “But do we agree that we can redirect some of the funding?” …

Raw Story reports: In a highly contentious interview on CNN Sunday morning, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) repeatedly refused to condemn Kyle Rittenhouse, the Donald Trump fan accused of shooting and killing two Black Lives Matter protestors early this week. Speaking with “State of the Union” host Dana Bash, Johnson repeatedly spoke over her while manically spouting out prepared comments and …

Wisconsin Public Radio reports: Rapper Kanye West is making another effort to get on Wisconsin’s presidential ballot, filing a lawsuit late Friday that argues the Wisconsin Elections Commission violated his constitutional rights when it rejected his nominating petitions. The lawsuit, which was filed in Brown County Circuit Court, argues that the Elections Commission erred when it voted 5-1 that West …

The Birmingham News reports: An Alabama Republican congressional candidate on Saturday defended the teen in Wisconsin charged in the shooting deaths of two people during protests after Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was shot seven times in the back by a police officer. Barry Moore, a former state legislator from Enterprise who is the Republican nominee in the 2nd …

From a pair of lawyers who served in White House Counsel’s Office under Reagan and Bush I: First and foremost, the Hatch Act explicitly exempts the president and vice president from its strictures President Trump was entirely within his legal rights to give his acceptance speech from the South Lawn of the White House. Any members of the White House …

Rand Paul writes for Fox News: My wife Kelley and I were attempting to leave the White House event. We were staying at a hotel directly across the street, maybe 50 yards from the gates of the White House. But as we went to leave, it became apparent there was no safe exit out the gates and through the unruly …

ABC News reports: Nick Sandmann is joining Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s campaign team as their grassroots director. McConnell’s campaign team confirmed the hiring to WYMT Friday morning. McConnell’s campaign manager Kevin Golden provided this statement on the new hire: “We’re excited to have Nicholas on Team Mitch. Along with our already strong team, his efforts to bring people together …

Politico reports: A federal judge has ordered a jury trial in former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s libel suit against the New York Times over an editorial linking her to the 2011 Arizona shooting rampage that badly wounded then-Rep. Gabby Giffords and killed six others. In the latest round of litigation in the case, U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff rejected …

The Associated Press reports: North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said on Friday he “fell short of my own standard” by failing to keep his face mask on in the White House crowd while listening to President Donald Trump accept the Republican nomination. Tillis, who is in a tough reelection bid against Democrat Cal Cunningham, has been consistently talking up face …

CNN reports: The billboards began popping up along a desert stretch of highway in Arizona and California in early August — plastered with “Make America Great Again!” in large capital letters or an image of President Donald Trump looking up to the sky and giving a big thumbs up. The small company that funded the large billboards had just months …

Fox News reports: Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told “Fox & Friends” he believes he would have been killed if not for the police when he and his wife were surrounded and attacked by a “mob” yelling threats and pushing police upon exiting the White House after President Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC) Thursday night. The Pauls …

The Denver Post reports: Congressional candidate Lauren Boebert — who often espouses a pro-police, law-and-order message on the campaign trail — has been arrested and summonsed at least four times over the past decade, records show. Boebert was arrested twice in Mesa County in 2015 after a verbal altercation with police at Country Jam, a music festival near Grand Junction. …

CBC News reports: A crowd of protesters surrounded U.S. Sen. Rand Paul as he was leaving the White House following the Republican National Convention early Friday, shouting for the lawmaker from Kentucky to acknowledge the shooting of Breonna Taylor. Video posted on social media showed dozens of people confronting Paul and his wife, who were flanked by Metro Police, in …

The Los Angeles Times reports: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, California’s most powerful Republican, lauded President Trump as a savior for the nation on Thursday, the final night of the GOP’s national convention. “No one has done more to protect and advance [the United States] than President Trump,” McCarthy said, arguing that Trump created strong trade deals, supported the military …

Politico reports: Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson paused during remarks at the Republican National Convention on Thursday night to express support for the family of Jacob Blake, the Black man shot in the back by police in Kenosha, Wis., on Sunday. Carson went on to defend Trump’s record on issues important to the Black community, saying Trump — …

The New York Post reports: In his speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned that if Democrats win, police will be defunded, Second Amendment rights will be trampled — and Americans’ hamburger intake will be limited. “Today’s Democrat Party doesn’t want to improve life for middle America,” McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a taped …