The Hill’s Campaign Report: Liberal groups pressure Biden on police reform as Trump signs executive order

Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, your daily rundown on all the latest news in the 2020 presidential, Senate and House races. Did someone forward this to you? Click here to subscribe.

We’re Julia Manchester, Max Greenwood and Jonathan Easley. Here’s what we’re watching today on the campaign trail.

 

LEADING THE DAY:

Roughly 50 liberal groups, including Our Revolution, Working Families Party and Black Voters Matter, have signed onto a letter pressuring former vice president and Democratic nominee Joe Biden to adopt a more progressive stance when it comes to policing policies.

Jonathan Easley reports that the letter pushes Biden to adopt a 21-page policy proposal rolled out by the Movement for Black Lives to call for a reduction in incarceration and a nationwide scaling back of police forces.

“We make these demands first and foremost because we seek justice for George Floyd and Breonna Taylor — as well as all the other Black lives lost — and policies like these are what justice looks like in practice,” the letter says.

“But we also make them with an eye toward the November election … You cannot win the election without the enthusiastic support of Black voters, and how you act in this moment of crisis will play a big role in determining how Black voters — and all voters concerned with racial justice — respond to your candidacy. A ‘return to normalcy’ will not suffice,” they wrote.

The groups also called on Biden to scratch his recent proposal for an additional $300 million in funds to be added to the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, which would hire and train police officers to patrol the communities they reside in.

The letter comes as the U.S. grapples with the issue of racial injustice, including policing, amid the police-involved deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and countless other unarmed African Americans.

Many on the left have called for defunding the police, which in many cases means a reallocation of police funds to social programs. Others have even gone as far as to say police departments should be abolished.

Biden himself has said he does not believe police departments should be defunded, but called on more investment in social programs, like education.

Meanwhile, President Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order on police reform, which instructs the Department of Justice to allocate discretionary grant funding to police departments that are certified by federally approved bodies in police training and de-escalation techniques.

State and local law enforcement agencies must certify that their policies do not allow the use of chokeholds except in situations where use of deadly force is permitted by law.

— Julia Manchester

 

FROM THE TRAIL:

Trump’s reelection campaign is accusing Biden of intentionally avoiding the campaign trail and is demanding that the media raise pressure on the Democratic nominee to cut a more visible profile. Jonathan reports.

 

PERSPECTIVES:

Andy Langenkamp: The U.S. will face a turbulent period after November no matter who wins.

Mark von Rennenkampff: Voters must not forget Lafayette Square on Election Day.

Rich Lowry: Why are Democrats banning funerals but allowing protests?

 

CONGRESS & STATES:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) formally threw her support behind Jamaal Bowman, who is challenging Rep. Eliot Engel‘s (N.Y.) reelection bid in New York’s 16th District, becoming the latest progressive to back the former middle school principal. Julia Manchester reports. Meanwhile, Alison Lundergan Grimes, the former Kentucky secretary of State who unsuccessfully challenged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for his seat in 2014, endorsed state Rep. Charles Booker’s bid for the Democratic Senate nomination on Tuesday. Booker has endorsements from top progressives as he seeks to defeat Amy McGrath, the former Marine fighter pilot who has the support of Senate Democratic leaders in Washington. Max Greenwood reports. 

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) has apologized after video surfaced of him comparing himself and elected officials to slaves on ships, comments he appeared to make six years ago while he was governor. Julia reports on the latest controversy for the Democratic Senate candidate trying to unseat Sen. Core Gardner (R-Colo.).

 

MONEY WATCH:

Former President Obama will join Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for the first time in a virtual fundraiser next week. Justine Coleman reports.

 

POLL WATCH:

DES MOINES REGISTER – IOWA PRESIDENTIAL

Trump: 44%

Biden: 43%

EPIC-MRA – MICHIGAN PRESIDENTIAL

Biden: 55%

Trump: 39%

PUBLIC POLICY POLLING – GEORGIA SENATE

Ossoff: 45% 

Perdue: 44%

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

(Keep in mind these dates could change because of the outbreak.)

June 23:

Kentucky primaries

New York primaries

Virginia primaries

Mississippi primary runoffs

North Carolina primary runoffs

South Carolina primary runoffs

 

June 30:

Colorado primaries

Oklahoma primaries

Utah primaries

 

July 7:

New Jersey primaries

Delaware primaries

 

July 11:

Louisiana primaries

 

July 14:

Alabama primary runoffs

Texas primary runoffs

Maine primaries

 

Aug. 4:

Arizona primaries

Kansas primaries

Michigan primaries

Missouri primaries

Washington primaries

 

Aug. 11:

Connecticut primaries

Minnesota primaries

Vermont primaries

Wisconsin primaries

Georgia primary runoffs

 

Aug. 18:

Alaska primaries

Florida primaries

Wyoming primaries

 

Aug. 17-20:

Democratic National Convention

 

Aug. 24-27:

Republican National Convention

 

Sept. 1:

Massachusetts primaries

 

Sept. 8:

New Hampshire primaries

Rhode Island primaries

 

Sept. 15:

Delaware primaries

 

Sept. 29:

First presidential debate

 

Oct. 7:

Vice presidential debate

 

Oct. 15:

Second presidential debate

 

Oct. 22:

Third presidential debate