POLITICAL WRAP: Mixed Messages on President’s Health; Cal Cunningham Text Scandal

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Mixed messages this weekend about President Trump’s health, as he remains hospitalized at Walter Reed Medical Center.

And North Carolina’s Senate race, upended by revelations Democrat Cal Cunningham sent sexually suggestive text messages to a California strategist, who is not his wife.

Our political contributor Mary C. Curtis has more in the video above.

Shut up and act? Tell that to Donald Trump

After refusing to weigh in on previous presidential contests, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the 2020 race, lending his star power — while looking quite buff after a coronavirus scare — to a video with the Democratic ticket.

Cue the naysayers with the familiar refrain of “who cares” and “stick to acting,” conveniently ignoring the reality show-starring, tabloid-exploiting résumé of the man in the White House. Donald Trump’s Tuesday night debate performance was light on policy, but heavy on drama and fireworks, which is how he and his supporters like it. Though when the president encouraged the far-right Proud Boys to “stand back” and “stand by,” the act became all too real for anyone who cares about the “United” States.

Mary C. Curtis: Takeaways From First Presidential Debate

CHARLOTTENC — The first presidential debate is in the books!

President Donald Trump and former vice president Joe Biden took the stage in Cleveland Tuesday night.

WCCB Political contributor Mary C. Curtis discusses the biggest takeaways from the debate.

POLITICAL WRAP: Previewing First Presidential Debate; Supreme Court Battle

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Two days to go before the much anticipated first debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.

President Trump is now “strongly demanding” Biden take a drug test before or after the debate, calling his previous performances “uneven.”

Our political contributor Mary C. Curtis has a debate preview and the latest on the battle to fill the open seat on the Supreme Court.

The Heat: Pres. Trump Threatens to Challenge U.S. Election Results

With 38 days to go, the latest polls continue to show Donald Trump trailing his opponent Joe Biden in many key states. For weeks the U.S. president has repeated baseless claims that the election results would be a “big scam” because of the expected increased use of mail-in voting. Something, he says, is open to fraud.

Then earlier this week a new tactic – a threat not to honor the results.

For more, CGTN’s Nathan King reports from the  White House.

To Discuss:

  • Eric Bolling is a political commentator and the host of “America This Week” on Sinclair broadcasting.
  • Chris Prudhome is a Republican strategist and the president of Sunvision Strategies
  • Mary C. Curtis is in North Carolina. She’s a columnist for “Roll Call’ and host of the “Equal Time” podcast.
  • Christopher Hahn is political commentator and the host of “The Aggressive Progressive” podcast.

Mary C. Curtis: Presidential Campaign Visits

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With presidential campaign visits, Charlotte is the center of a political universe.

If you did not already realize it, now it’s clear that North Carolina and Charlotte will be crucial in the November elections — actually before then, as early voting starts soon and mail-in ballots are already going out.

Both President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden will be visiting Charlotte this week — Biden on Wednesday and President Trump on Thursday. Family members and surrogates, both in person and virtually, have already visited the state — which holds 15 electoral votes and battleground status. (Mary C. Curtis)

The legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Mary C. Curtis, a Columnist at Roll Call, talked about the legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the fight to replace her on the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

POLITICAL WRAP: Battle Over Filling Supreme Court Opening

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Battle lines are being drawn over the fight to fill the open seat on the Supreme Court. Our political contributor Mary C. Curtis takes a look at the possible scenarios over the weeks and months to come.

POLITICAL WRAP: Woodward Interview; Campaign Trail

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Fallout continues after President Trump’s comments to Bob Woodward about downplaying the danger of the coronavirus.

But Woodward is facing criticism too, about holding the comments for a date closer to the election.

Our political contributor Mary C. Curtis has more on that in the video above, along with the latest as the campaigns turn their attention to the battleground states.

Where faith divides: How do voters define justice in 2020?

In a recent phone conversation — a catch-up during COVID isolation — a longtime friend talked of a memory that seemed especially relevant these days. A fellow cradle Catholic, whom I met at a Catholic university, she recalled how startled she was on entering my childhood parish for my decades-ago wedding and finding herself surrounded by statues of the saints and Christ on the cross, familiar to her but so very different. The faces and hands and pierced feet were painted black, so unlike anything she had experienced growing up.

It stopped her, until she realized how appropriate the scene was. Of course, these representations would be reimagined in the image of those who gathered and worshipped in this particular holy place, located in the heart of West Baltimore.

It opened her eyes and, at that moment, expanded her worldview. The incident was one among many that inched our friendship toward a richer, more fulfilling space, where we could see the world and its gifts, as well as its inequities, through one another’s eyes.