Simone Biles takes apparent jab at Donald Trump: ‘I love my black job’
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(PARIS) — The greatest gymnast of all time, Simone Biles, took an apparent jab at former President Donald Trump early Friday, tweeting, “I love my black job,” in response to a tweet about her winning the gold medal in the women’s individual all-around hours earlier.
Biles’ tweet came in response to one from Ricky Davila, a singer and fan of the gymnast, who tweeted, “Simone Biles being the GOAT, winning Gold medals and dominating gymnastics is her black job.”
Both comments came after Trump used the term “Black jobs” during an appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists Conference on Wednesday.
“I will tell you that coming, coming from the border are millions and millions of people that happen to be taking Black jobs. You had the best–” Trump said, as ABC New’s Rachel Scott pointedly asked him, “What is a ‘Black job?'”
“A Black job is anybody that has a job. That’s what it is,” Trump said. “Anybody that has a job.”
The response generated audible laughs from the audience.
Biles bounced back after dropping out of the Tokyo Games to focus on her mental health to win gold in the individual all-around Thursday. She won the same title in Rio in 2016, and is the first gymnast to win the individual gold eight years apart. She already has two gold medals in Paris — including the team all-around win earlier in the week — and is favored to win more gold in the individual apparatus events.
Already acknowledged as the greatest of all time before Paris — not just due to her Olympic performances, but also her 23 world championship gold medals — Biles now holds six Olympics gold medals and nine medals total — the most of any American gymnast.
Biles’ comments on social media were likely colored by previous criticism from conservatives. In fact, Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, criticized support for Biles dropping out of competition in Tokyo to focus on her mental health and deal with a condition known as “the twisties,” when a gymnast loses their spacial awareness during flips, putting them at serious risk for injury.
“What I find so weird about this … is that we’ve tried to turn a very tragic moment, Simone Biles quitting the Olympic team, into this act of heroism,” Vance told Fox News in 2021. “I think it reflects pretty poorly on our sort of therapeutic society that we try to praise people, not for moments of strength, not for moments of heroism, but for their weakest moments.”
Biles has been targeted since Tokyo on social media for prioritizing her mental health. Former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis, who pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting false statements and writings in relation to election interference in Georgia, called Biles a loser on social media after the gymnast was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom in July 2022.
(WASHINGTON) — Democratic support has quickly coalesced around Vice President Kamala Harris after President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 race.
In the days since the president withdrew and backed his running mate for the top of the ticket, Harris has received an unprecedented flood of donations and backing from most party leaders, rank-and-file members and even a slate of Democrats floated as could-be Biden replacements.
On Monday night, Harris secured commitments from enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee if they all honor their commitment when voting, according to ABC News reporting.
But her formal nomination, the Democratic National Committee says, will still come as part of its previously announced plan to run a “virtual roll call” that will formally determine the Democratic nominee for president.
A DNC memo obtained by ABC News, along with a press briefing from party leadership on Monday night, provided additional details on how this virtual nomination — ahead of the in-person convention starting Aug. 19 — will move forward. Virtual voting could start as soon as Aug. 1 and the DNC hopes to have it “wrapped up” by Aug. 7.
How does nominating a presidential candidate normally work for Democratic candidates?
When voters cast ballots for their preferred candidate in a Democratic presidential primary, they are not actually voting directly for the candidate — but for pledged delegates, who are individuals who have promised to support a candidate at a later party convention. A candidate nets delegates both based on the percentage of the vote the candidate gets statewide and by congressional district (in most states; some states use different divisions).
Those Democratic delegates are not formally bound to the candidate and are able to change their vote without penalty, but are pledged to follow the will of the people who elected them and are meant to reflect the will of the primary voters. The delegates formally vote for the presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention in a roll call vote. There are nearly 4,000 pledged delegates this cycle.
Automatic delegates — also known as superdelegates — are not pledged, but only vote if no candidate gets a majority of the delegates in a first round of voting at the convention. There are more than 700 automatic delegates this cycle. This type of delegate is usually composed of local party leaders.
Why are Democrats holding a virtual roll call in the first place? And what changed when Biden left the race?
The DNC announced in May — before Biden’s decision to step away from the presidential race — that it would hold a virtual roll call vote ahead of the convention.
This is because in April, Ohio’s secretary of state alerted Democrats that the state’s ballot certification deadline would come before the party’s convention in August, meaning Biden wouldn’t be the official nominee by their cutoff and thus was ineligible. The Ohio legislature later rectified the issue, passing legislation that extended their deadline and led to Biden’s qualification.
Still, the DNC has argued that GOP-controlled Ohio leaders are acting in bad faith and that Biden’s qualification is not assured, and that they want to avoid any legal challenges. The office of the Ohio Secretary of State has disputed this and said there would be no issue.
The virtual roll call faced increased scrutiny in recent weeks as Democratic voters called on Biden to withdraw. They argued that Biden would be confirmed as the official nominee without any real opportunity for opposition when delegates are in-person together in Chicago on the convention floor.
When Biden left the race, his delegates — who were never legally or formally obligated to vote for him as pledged delegates — became completely “up for grabs” and do not transfer automatically by any means over to Harris.
Still, DNC leaders told reporters on Monday that the truncated virtual process will still “ensure” that their nominees are on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The DNC has held back on formally endorsing Harris — letting the planned process still play out. The party has also said voting will be conducted similar to how party voting was done in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the planned in-person convention.
Technically, other candidates can still run in the virtual roll call. They must meet the party and legal qualifications to be president, file their candidacy formally with the DNC and secure the signatures of supporting delegates before the nomination vote. They also must be Democrats, not registered as independents or with another party.
Automatic delegates will not vote in any first round of voting in the virtual roll call, a DNC official said Monday.
Does Harris need to announce her vice presidential pick before the roll call?
According to the DNC, technically, no. During a Monday briefing, a DNC official indicated that candidates do not need to have selected a vice presidential pick by Aug. 7, and that the DNC is leaving that timeframe (and any concerns with ballot access in states that need a running mate) up to the candidate — although they give the candidate the option to have running mates selected on that timeline. The official framed that as preserving how the candidate in every cycle have their own timeline to make the pick.
DNC Chair Jamie Harrison suggested Tuesday during an appearance on MSNBC that while the party has built into their working nomination proposal some flexibility surrounding vice presidential selection, the process should be “wrapped up” by Aug. 7 in order to guarantee getting the candidate on the ballot in all 50 states.
“Well, we have built this system in terms of the nomination process so that our nominee of the party has some opportunity to go through a vetting process for their VPs … But in order to be on the ballot in all 50 states, we have to have all of this wrapped up by Aug. 7,” he said.
What does it mean for Harris to have ‘secured commitments’ from more than enough delegates? Can they still change their minds?
As of Tuesday morning, according to ABC News reporting, Harris has secured non-binding commitments from more than 2,300 delegates — a total that’s well more than the 1,975 delegates needed to clinch the nomination.
That came because many state parties — including groups with large delegations such as California and New York — announced Monday, the day after Harris announced she was running, that all of their delegates would commit to supporting her. Put more simply, more than enough delegates have said they’ll vote for Harris during the roll call to put her over the threshold.
“When I announced my campaign for President, I said I intended to go out and earn this nomination. Tonight, I am proud to have secured the broad support needed to become our party’s nominee … I look forward to formally accepting the nomination soon,” Harris said in a statement Monday night.
Delegates are not required — legally or otherwise — to stick to those commitments and are allowed to change their minds, which is similar to how the rules for regular nominating process would have played out.
(WASHINGTON) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has officially withdrawn his petition to be on the Arizona ballot, the Arizona secretary of state’s office told ABC News Thursday night, marking the first tangible sign Kennedy plans to exit the presidential race.
“We have processed withdrawal forms for RFK prior to the ballot printing deadline,” Arizona secretary of state spokesperson JP Martin told ABC News. “No changes may be made to put the electors back on the ballot now.”
The ballot printing deadline for Arizona is 6 a.m. Friday, Martin said. That means if Kennedy’s campaign hadn’t filed withdrawal paperwork by then, Kennedy’s name would have been on the November ballot no matter what.
ABC News reported Wednesday that Kennedy plans to exit the race on Friday and endorse former President Donald Trump, according to sources.
A push from Trump’s team to secure an endorsement from Kennedy began in earnest about a week before the Republican National Convention, with a concerted effort, in particular, from Donald Trump Jr., Tucker Carlson and Omeed Malik, a donor to both Trump and Kennedy, sources told ABC News.
At the time, it was unclear to Trump’s team who Kennedy’s campaign hurt more: Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris. That changed when Harris became the Democratic nominee, and surveys showed that Kennedy would take more votes from Trump than from her.
As ABC News previously reported, Trump and Kennedy spoke by phone in the hours after the assassination attempt against Trump in Pennsylvania last month, then spoke in person in Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention.
Days after Kennedy’s son leaked a portion of the phone call, Kennedy interrupted a Zoom meeting with top supporters to take a call from Trump, according to two people in the meeting. When the call came in, he turned his iPhone to the screen to show the attendees who was calling.
Kennedy then stepped away for 10 minutes, and when he returned, he told attendees that Trump called to thank him for a message Kennedy had left him that day to apologize for the leak.
Though Kennedy still plans to exit the race on Friday and endorse Trump, some in his inner circle have concerns about such a move, multiple people familiar with the dynamics told ABC News.
Moreover, two people who know Kennedy described him as notoriously indecisive, though they had no indication the candidate planned to change his mind about his plans.
The Kennedy campaign lays blame for its current situation at the feet of Democrats, who have flooded the campaign with a deluge of lawsuits over ballot access.
Kennedy’s running mate Nicole Shanahan told ABC News that the lawsuits have drained the campaign of resources — money, time and energy — that it might have put toward campaigning and doing the work to win votes.
“We’re being prosecuted politically right now. This is not normal for democracy,” Shanahan said.
She also cited her and Kennedy’s desire for national unity and their motivation to advance the causes they care about, even if they can’t do so from the White House.
As for the conversations with Trump and his team, Shanahan said, “All we can do is gauge sincerity, and we’re gauging sincerity from Donald Trump.”
(WASHINGTON) — Despite a cascade of defections from within his own party in recent weeks, President Joe Biden has been able to count on labor unions as a bulwark against diminishing support for his re-election bid. That backing has begun to weaken, however, placing further pressure on Biden at a moment of peril for his campaign.
A 55,000-member union local in the Pacific Northwest on Friday issued a public letter calling on Biden to end his candidacy. Democratic members of Congress with close ties to labor on Friday also joined the roster of elected officials calling on Biden to step aside.
Local 3000 of the United Food and Commercial Workers, the union in the Pacific Northwest, released a letter on Friday that said Biden should leave the race. The labor organization did not endorse Biden in this year’s Democratic primary, opting to weigh in as “uncommitted,” but it has vowed to support whoever the party nominates for the general election.
“We call on President Biden to pass the torch to the next generation. He has much to celebrate over his career of accomplishments fighting alongside working people, but it is time for him to retire with dignity, and campaign as hard as we all will for an alternative candidate,” the union’s letter said. “The stakes are simply too high to do otherwise.”
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, among the top allies of organized labor in the chamber, called on Biden to end his re-election bid on Friday. Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan, of Wisconsin, co-founder and co-chair of the House Labor Caucus, did the same.
Two allies of Biden in the labor movement told ABC News that he should step aside and a third said it would support an alternative Democratic nominee. The labor allies requested that ABC News not publish their names due to the sensitivity of the issues surrounding Biden’s candidacy.
A union with a presence in several battleground states, which endorsed Biden, told ABC News that it would back an alternative candidate at the top of the Democratic ticket.
A labor leader, who also endorsed Biden, told ABC News that they believe Biden should leave the race, praising Biden for his pro-labor policies but warning of the threat to workers presented by his Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump. “I think the time has come,” they said.
Concern about Biden is widespread among union officials, the labor leader said. “There’s not a person in the labor movement who isn’t worried,” they added, pointing to Biden’s unsteady debate performance and weakened election prospects. “Unions are looking at the same thing that everybody else is looking at.”
Another labor leader, who has publicly supported Biden, said it is time for him to step aside from his campaign. The person similarly cited the risk posed by Trump, including the potential to undo Biden’s achievements in office. “Let’s secure his legacy and build on it,” they said. Worry about Biden is pervasive among union officials, but they risk fracturing the support of voters if they speak out publicly, the person added.
Sean O’Brien, president of the 1.3-million member International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which endorsed Biden in 2020, spoke at the Republican National Convention this week. “We are not beholden to anyone or any party,” O’Brien told the audience in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “We want to know one thing: What are you doing to help American workers?”
The speech angered White House officials, Congressional Democrats and other labor leaders, the Washington Post reported.
The Teamsters did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment. In a statement to the Post, Teamsters spokesperson Kara Deniz said: “The Teamsters refuse to be pressured to fall in line by those who continue to applaud a broken system,” Deniz continued. “We will continue to participate in the political process at all levels on behalf of working people.
In a statement to ABC News, the Biden campaign touted the president’s record on labor issues, contrasting him with former President Donald Trump.
“Joe Biden is the most pro-union president in American history, the first president to walk a picket line, the defender of more than 1 million pensions, and a champion for working people over greedy corporations,” a Biden campaign spokesperson said. “That’s why our campaign has more than 30 unions supporting us — it reflects Joe Biden’s record of delivering results for working families while Donald Trump delivers for his wealthy donors and himself.”
The concerns are part of growing anxiety among the Democratic Party and its allies about Biden’s candidacy. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told Biden in a private conversation last Saturday that it would be best if he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, ABC News sources previously reported. House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries is said to have expressed a similar sentiment, ABC News found.
To be sure, Biden retains support from many of the nation’s largest labor unions. The AFL-CIO, a labor federation that boasts about 12.5 million members, told ABC News that it stands by a statement issued last week reiterating its support for the Biden-Harris ticket.
“We are still Riding with Biden,” DeLane Adams, assistant communications director at the 600,000-member International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, told ABC News.
Several other unions echoed that ongoing support for Biden’s presidential bid, including the Communication Workers of America and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades.
The UFCW, the 1.3-million member union to which Local 3000 belongs, shared a statement with ABC News on Friday pledging its continued support for Biden’s presidential campaign.
“President Biden is the nominee of the Democratic Party and the only pro-labor candidate in this race, and we strongly support his candidacy over former President Trump,” the UFCW said.
Larry Cohen, former president of the Communications Workers of America, said Biden will ultimately decide whether to continue his campaign. If union leaders were to speak out publicly, they may “damage his chances to beat Trump,” Cohen added. “They’re playing a tricky risk game.”
Still, he said, if Biden steps aside, union leaders would likely come out in support of Vice President Kamala Harris as the nominee. The two labor leaders who spoke to ABC News agreed. “It has to be the vice president,” one labor leader said, citing the limited time remaining before Democrats nominate their presidential candidate.
At least one prominent figure in the Democratic party has voiced concern about whether unions would sustain the same level of backing for an alternate candidate. Speaking on Instagram Live on Thursday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, who has supported Biden’s bid, said labor unions may not back a replacement to the same degree as they would Biden.
“Whether people like it or not, President Biden has very strong, broad union support, and that is not something that just goes automatically to any Democrat.”
Cohen said such fears are overstated due to the severity of the threat Trump poses for workers and unions. “Another four years of Donald Trump would be worse than the first,” Cohen said. “The key difference is Trump versus Biden or Trump versus Harris, not Biden versus Harris.”
