Election 2020, ADVISORY
Here are today’s plans for coverage of Election 2020. For up-to-the minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan. Find the AP’s latest coverage in our Election 2020 hub. All times are Eastern.
UPCOMING:
TRUMP-COLUMNIST LAWSUIT: Attorney General William Barr defends the Justice Department’s bid to intervene in a defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump, but experts say the maneuver rests on legally dubious arguments and places federal government lawyers in a role better suited to private attorneys. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos by 4 p.m.
ONLY ON AP:
ELECTION 2020-QANON FUNDRAISER - Vice President Mike Pence and top officials from President Donald Trump’s campaign are slated to attend a Montana fundraiser next week hosted by a couple who have expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory, according to an event invitation obtained by The Associated Press and a review of social media postings. SENT: 640 words, photos
SENT/DEVELOPING:
TRUMP-POLITICS AS UNUSUAL-ANALYSIS: Americans are confronting questions they’re not used to asking. Can they count on an election every fourth November? Might the armed forces get involved? Will the approval of a vaccine for the coronavirus be guided by science and public health or politics? Such concerns have long been foreign to the American experience, but Trump has forced people to consider them. AP News Analysis. SENT: 900 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-DUELING CAMPAIGNS: President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden are taking diametrically opposite approaches to campaigning during a pandemic — and the differences amount to more than political theater. SENT: 900 words, photos.
TRUMP-WOODWARD BOOK: President Donald Trump seemed to understand the severity of the coronavirus threat even as he was telling the nation that the virus was no worse than the seasonal flu and insisting that the U.S. government had it totally under control, according to a new book by journalist Bob Woodward. SENT: 300 words.
ELECTION 2020-BIDEN: Joe Biden is hoping to win back Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin this fall. The three states traditionally make up what Democrats considered a “blue wall” protecting their electoral hopes. But Donald Trump’s surprise wins in all three in 2016 helped him win the White House. SENT: 950 words, photos. Will be updated with Biden’s afternoon events.
ELECTION 2020-HARRIS’ FAITH MESSAGE: As Joe Biden’s campaign launched its Catholic voter outreach effort last week, the Trump campaign sought to portray running mate Kamala Harris as “anti-Catholic” and said the Democrats’ stance on abortion “clashes strongly” with the church’s pro-life beliefs. SENT: 900 words, photos.
VOTING MACHINES-GEORGIA: A long-running legal battle over Georgia’s voting machines gets another court hearing this week. Voting integrity activists want a judge to order the state to scrap its new voting machines and switch to hand-marked paper ballots ahead of the November election. SENT: 990 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-CALIFORNIA REPUBLICANS: Republicans across California are hoping to gain ground in November elections by targeting the state’s dominant Democratic leadership. From President Donald Trump on down, GOP candidates are pointing to the strongly Democratic state as an example of America gone wrong. SENT: 1030 words, photos.
AP VIDEO:
AP Video is covering Joe Biden’s campaign stop in Warren, Michigan to talk about the economy. Broadcast and online edits are planned.
AP Video will also feature analysis by AP reporters on a pair of topics: how Trump and Biden are taking opposite approaches to campaigning during the pandemic, and which states the campaigns consider critical to winning the election. Broadcast edits for both are expected by 4 p.m.
AP PHOTOS:
AP Photos is covering Joe Biden in Warren, Michigan and Jill Biden in Minneapolis for her “Back-to-School Tour. Photos is also with Vice President Mike Pence in Pennsylvania.