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The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

Trump doesn’t heed Barr’s request to cool tweeting on DOJ

By MICHAEL BALSAMO, COLLEEN LONG, and ZEKE MILLER | February 15, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — Unbowed by a public rebuke from his attorney general, President Donald Trump says he has the "legal right" to intervene in criminal cases and sidestep the Justice Department's historic independence. At the same time, it was revealed...

Limbaugh draws bipartisan criticism for Buttigieg remarks

By ALAN FRAM | February 13, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh drew bipartisan criticism Thursday for saying the country won't elect Pete Buttigieg president because he's been “kissing his husband" on stage after debates.Limbaugh's comments came eight...

Pence pokes fun at slow caucus count while in South Carolina

By MEG KINNARD | February 13, 2020

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — While not technically a campaign visit, Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday made a trip to South Carolina an opportunity to rail on Democrats for their failed attempt to oust President Donald Trump from office and for having...

Trump slams ex-adviser who defended key impeachment witness

By AAMER MADHANI | February 13, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday lashed out against former White House chief of staff John Kelly for being disloyal after he came to the defense of a former national security aide who offered key testimony in the impeachment inquiry.The...

Fox News has best ratings since Trump election, inauguration

By DAVID BAUDER | February 11, 2020

NEW YORK (AP) — The week President Donald Trump was acquitted in his impeachment trial was Fox News Channel's best in the ratings since the weeks he was elected and inaugurated.The Nielsen company said Fox News averaged 4.27 million viewers in prime...

Trump plunges into New Hampshire race, aiming to rattle Dems

By JILL COLVIN and JONATHAN LEMIRE | February 11, 2020

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Eager to put on a show of force in a general election battleground state, President Donald Trump tried to rattle Democrats on Monday with a rally in New Hampshire on the eve of the state's first-in-the-nation primaries.Trump,...

Trump meets Parkland families to discuss school safety

By AAMER MADHANI and TERRY SPENCER | February 10, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump met Monday with several family members of the victims of the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, to discuss school safety.Parents from the group Stand with Parkland were briefed on a new school safety...

Buttigieg on defense as rivals aim to blunt his momentum

By THOMAS BEAUMONT | February 10, 2020

DOVER, N.H. (AP) — Pete Buttigieg spent Sunday on defense as his Democratic presidential rivals attacked him on everything from his struggle to connect with black voters to accepting campaign contributions from large donors in an effort to blunt any momentum heading into Tuesday's New Hampshire primary.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who essentially tied with Buttigieg in last week's Iowa caucuses, blasted the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, for taking contributions from the very wealthy, suggesting Buttigieg won't stand up to “Wall Street tycoons” or “the corporate elite.” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren voiced similar criticism, telling ABC's “This Week" that “the coalition of billionaires is not exactly what's going to carry us over the top." Former Vice President Joe Biden told the same program that Buttigieg hasn't been able to “unify the black community."

The volley of criticism was fresh evidence that Buttigieg, who was virtually unknown in national politics a year ago, has become an early front-runner in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination. The developments usher in a new phase of the campaign that will test how Buttigieg responds to the pressure, especially as the contest moves to more racially diverse states where he has struggled to gain traction.

Buttigieg hit back at Biden, who on Saturday lamented comparisons between the former mayor and former President Barack Obama.

“Oh, come on, man," Biden told reporters. “This guy's not a Barack Obama."

“Well, he's right, I'm not," Buttigieg responded on CNN's “State of the Union." “And neither is he. Neither is any of us running for president.”

He later offered an oblique critique of Sanders' combative call for revolution.

“Let's remember we're facing the most divisive president of our time, which is why we can't risk dividing Americans further,” Buttigieg told more than 1,800 people at an event in Nashua, New Hampshire.

Later in Dover, he declared himself the candidate on the rise. “We are the campaign with the strongest momentum in the state of New Hampshire, thanks to you,” he told a crowd of several hundred.

While responding to some of the attacks, Buttigieg didn't escalate any feuds on Sunday. That could help him maintain the energy of his optimistic Iowa campaign in which he portrayed himself as above the Washington fray.

“Part of the reason why he’s doing well is he’s got a pretty sunny and upbeat presentation,” said David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to Obama. “Tactically, I think it’s smart to handle it the way he’s handling it. We still don’t know what the impact any of this will have.”

But in a sign of potential hurdles ahead for Buttigieg, even voters in an overwhelmingly white state like New Hampshire said they wanted to see evidence that he could build relationships with people of color. Kim Holman of Brookline, New Hampshire, said she was undecided but leaning toward Buttigieg's "energy and passion." Yet his struggle so far especially with black voters weighs on her decision.

"It’s definitely a concern. New Hampshire is a super-white state," the 52-year-old personal trainer said. "I’m hoping he resonates more with people of color.”

Buttigieg's standing has posed a challenge to Sanders. The two contenders represent opposite ideological wings of the party, yet Sanders is under pressure to show that he can unify Democrats if he is the nominee. With that in mind, the progressive Vermont senator has sought to qualify his criticisms of Buttigieg.

When a Sanders supporter in Plymouth laughed at the mention of Buttigieg, Sanders interjected, “We're not here to denigrate Pete."

But Sanders nonetheless proceeded to blast Buttigieg's ties to large donors. And one of his most prominent surrogates, former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner, ripped into both Buttigieg and billionaire former Mayor Michael Bloomberg at a separate event later Sunday.

She slammed Buttigieg for fundraising with billionaires in a wine cave featuring a Swarovsky crystal chandelier. And she laid into Bloomberg for skipping the early voting states and running a campaign funded by hundreds of millions of dollars of his personal fortune.

“Whose side are you on?” she repeatedly asked the crowd to cheers.

There were other awkward moments Sunday during the final stretch of the New Hampshire campaign. During a rally in the state capital of Concord, Warren declared, “It's up to you, Massachusetts."

During an event in Hampton, a woman asked Biden to explain his underperformance in Iowa. He said it was a good question, then asked her if she'd been to a caucus. When she said she had, Biden responded, “No, you haven't" and proceeded to call her “a lying, dog-faced pony soldier." The audience laughed during the exchange.

The chaos from the Iowa caucuses lingered over the New Hampshire contest. Problems with an app led to delays in results and prompted questions about the accuracy of the vote count. Nearly a week after the caucuses, The Associated Press hasn't declared a result.

In an interview on CNN's “State of the Union" on Sunday, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said he was “mad as hell" about the situation.

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Associated Press writer Kathleen Ronayne in Plymouth, N.H., contributed to this report.

Trump airs impeachment gripes while pushing economic agenda

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE | February 7, 2020

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — President Donald Trump came to North Carolina on Friday to showcase a new economic revitalization program, but he quickly took a verbal detour to reprise complaints about his impeachment by the House, saying Democrats should have...

Trump’s acquittal confronts Dems with election year choices

By ALAN FRAM and ANDREW TAYLOR | February 7, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump’s impeachment ended with a reminder of why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi resisted the idea for so long — an acquittal everyone saw coming, followed by a bombastic presidential victory lap and a bump in his poll numbers...

Campaigner or commander in chief? No difference for Trump

By AAMER MADHANI and JILL COLVIN | February 6, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dispatching Cabinet secretaries across the country to woo Iowa voters. Using private cash to finance an official made-for-TV moment. Delivering a State of the Union address that doubled as a campaign kickoff speech. Holding an impeachment...

Victims: PG&E still has rickety power line near Paradise

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE | February 6, 2020

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pacific Gas & Electric is still operating a rickety power line near the one that ignited a 2018 wildfire that wiped out the Northern California city of Paradise and killed 85 people, according to an expert inspection conducted...