The Latest: Clyburn says protests meant to make US 'better'
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Democratic National Convention (all times local):
9:30 a.m.
The third-ranking Democrat in the U.S. House says that Black people should not be blamed for any violence that has erupted during the summer’s protests following George Floyd's death.
Majority Whip Jim Clyburn told Fox News Channel's “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday “that is not who I am, that is not who we are,” of the outbursts that have occurred amid mostly peaceful protests across the country.
Clyburn is the highest-ranking Black member of Congress. He spoke a day after his remarks at the opening night of the Democratic National Convention, where he advocated for former Vice President Joe Biden as a president who could unite the country following what he characterized as four divisive years under President Donald Trump.
Clyburn says the protest efforts were undertaken by those “trying to make this country be a better place for our children and our grandchildren." He says, “We’re aren’t trying to burn it down — we’re trying to build it up.”
Democrats convene virtually Tuesday for the convention’s second night, with remarks from Jill Biden and former President Bill Clinton.
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8:10 a.m.
President Donald Trump is pushing back against former first lady Michelle Obama, claiming that her husband’s Oval Office performance is what catapulted him into the White House.
In her remarks Monday night at the Democratic National Convention, Mrs. Obama declared Trump was “in over his head” and the “wrong president for our country.”
In tweets Tuesday morning Trump taunted that someone should explain to her that he wouldn’t be in the “beautiful White House” today if it “weren’t for the job done by her husband,” President Barack Obama.
He also criticized the Obamas for making a “late and unenthusiastic endorsement” of Joe Biden. And in other tweets, Trump criticized Obama and Biden’s handling of the H1N1 swine flu in 2009 and claimed, without evidence, that the Obama administration was the most corrupt in history.
Trump ended with a sarcastic thanks to Michelle Obama for her “very kind words.”
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