In anticipation of the November 11 release of the sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, ABC Audio is doing a deep dive into the lore of the Marvel favorite — and here, the man who played him, Chadwick Boseman.
The Oscar nominee died in 2020 at the age of 43, following a years-long, private battle with colon cancer.
After Boseman’s passing, some of his Marvel movie co-stars appeared on a special ABC tribute in his honor. Robert Downey Jr., who played Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, noted, “Always, always humble, always working, always a smile on his face. And then now, looking back, all the more I realized just what an incredibly graceful human being he was.”
Speaking to Whoopi Goldberg, his widow, Simone Ledward Boseman, recalled how his health took a turn for the worse during the pandemic — but it made it easier to hide his condition from the public.
“It was COVID when things were really starting to spiral. And that meant that everybody was in their house and there was no pressure for anybody to go outside.” She added, “It seemed like, ‘Is this a crazy coincidence that we get to actually be inside?’ We get to be here with family, with, you know, together. And everybody in the world is also experiencing this togetherness in the midst of this awful, scary, unpredictable time. We kept that circle real [small] — the circle was basically a dot.”
The interview, part of ABC’s recent Black Panther: In Search of Wakanda, also saw Simone talking about her grief in losing the actor. “Some days I’m doing worse than I’m really willing to acknowledge, and other days I’m doing better than I feel comfortable admitting,” she expressed.
Simone explained, “I can’t believe that I was so lucky. I can’t believe that I got to love this person. And I also got them to love me, too.”
(NEW YORK) — More than six months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose forces began an offensive in August, has vowed to take back all Russian-occupied territory. But Putin in September announced a mobilization of reservists, which is expected to call up as many as 300,000 additional troops.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Nov 08, 8:09 AM EST
Ukraine asks US for new capabilities in fighting Iranian drones
ABC News has obtained a letter sent by a top Ukrainian official to senior members of Congress, asking them to assist Ukraine’s calls for additional air defense systems to counter the attack drones built and supplied by Iran to bolster Russia’s war effort.
Russia has launched waves of deadly attacks in recent weeks, using Iranian-made drones that explode on impact to strike power plants, killing civilians and causing rolling blackouts, plunging millions of Ukrainian homes into darkness.
In the letter, the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, calls on the U.S. to provide Ukraine with highly mobile air defense systems known as C-RAMs, saying they would help protect “important objects, especially crucial power plants.”
Nov 08, 6:37 AM EST
US ambassador to UN travels to Ukraine
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield is traveling to Ukraine on Tuesday “to reiterate the United States’ unwavering support as Ukraine defends its freedom and territorial integrity amidst Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion,” according to a statement from the U.S. Mission to the U.N.
While in the country’s capital, Kyiv, Thomas-Greenfield “will meet with Ukrainian government leaders to discuss the ironclad American commitment to the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” and she “will observe efforts to document and preserve evidence of atrocities committed by Russian forces and will hear first-hand accounts of survivors,” according to the U.S. mission.
“Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield will also discuss the global food insecurity crisis exacerbated by Russia’s invasion and will underscore the critical need for an extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative into the coming year,” the U.S. mission said. “She will also meet with humanitarian organizations working to meet winterization needs for vulnerable people impacted by Russia’s attacks on energy and other civilian infrastructure.”
Nov 06, 1:57 PM EST
Biden, German chancellor call Russian nuclear threats ‘irresponsible’
President Joe Biden spoke to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday and both agreed Russia’s nuclear threats stemming the war in Ukraine are “irresponsible,” according to the White House.
Both leaders said they would continue to “provide Ukraine with the economic, humanitarian, and security support it needs to defend against Russia,” the White House said in a statement.
Biden and Scholz also spoke of the chancellor’s recent trip to the People’s Republic of China and, according to White House officials “affirmed their shared commitment to upholding the rules-based international order, human rights, and fair trade practices.”
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Nov 03, 12:02 PM EDT
Western officials believe Russia is planning ‘orderly, well-planned and deliberate’ military withdrawal from Kherson
Western officials are “confident” Russia’s military is “setting the conditions” for withdrawal from the Ukrainian city of Kherson, the only regional capital that has been occupied by Russian forces since the February.
The Russian military is preparing to make a “strategic” withdrawal and move its forces east across the Dnipro river, officials said.
“It looks like an orderly, well-planned and deliberate military process is taking place,” a Western official told ABC News.
The officials would not put a timeframe on when the withdrawal would happen and added that it is not guaranteed to take place. They downplayed, however, any speculation that the Russians are using the withdrawal to mask a more “nefarious” action in that area.
The officials said their assessment was that the Russians believe Kherson “is not worth fighting for.”
The advance of Ukrainian forces in Kherson has slowed over the past three weeks.
In mid-October, the newly appointed commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, General Surovikin, said “difficult decisions” may be necessary in Kherson.
Senior Ukrainian officials have suggested more recently that Russian forces are preparing to fight for Kherson and a source on the ground told ABC News that the Russian military is still moving in and out of the city.
-ABC News’ Tom Burridge
Nov 02, 12:14 PM EDT
North Korea covertly shipping ammunition to Russia for war in Ukraine, US says
North Korea was secreting sending ammunition to Russia to use in its invasion of Ukraine and is disguising the shipments as appearing to be destined to the Middle East or North Africa, the White House said Wednesday.
“Our information indicates that [North Korea] is covertly supplying Russia’s war in Ukraine with a significant number of artillery shells, while obfuscating the real destination of the arms shipments by trying to make it appear as though they’re being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa,” White House spokesman John Kirby said.
Kirby said North Korea was sending “a significant number of artillery shells.” He did not specify an exact number but said it was more than “dozens.”
“But we don’t believe that they are in such a quantity that they would tangibly change the direction of this war or tangibly change the momentum either in the east or in the south” of Ukraine, he said.
Kirby added, “We’re gonna continue to monitor whether these shipments are received.”
In September, the U.S. had said Russia is looking to purchase millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea, saying at the time that this indicated the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Nov 02, 12:01 PM EDT
Russia waives veiled threat on use of nuclear weapons
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a warning to nations with nuclear capabilities, calling on them to abandon attempts to infringe on each other’s vital interests, warning that direct armed conflict and provocations with weapons of mass destruction can lead to catastrophic consequences.
Russia claimed it believes there can be no winners of nuclear war and said it refarrims its commitment to the prevention of nuclear warm.
“A reaction with the use of nuclear weapons is hypothetically allowed by Russia only in response to aggression using weapons of mass destruction or aggression using conventional weapons, when the existence of the state is threatened,” the ministry said in a statement.
The White House has said it will not confirm or deny New York Times reporting that senior Russian military officials had recently discussed when and how Russia might use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine. The intelligence about the conversations was reportedly circulated inside the U.S. government in mid-October.
But, Russian President Vladimir Putin was not a part of these alleged conversations, according to the New York Times.
The White House on Wednesday said it still sees “no indications that Russia is making preparations” to use nuclear weapons.
-ABC News’ Natalia Shumskaia and Ben Gittleson
Nov 02, 12:14 PM EDT
North Korea covertly shipping ammunition to Russia for war in Ukraine, US says
North Korea was secretly sending ammunition to Russia to use in its invasion of Ukraine and is disguising the shipments as appearing to be destined to the Middle East or North Africa, the White House said Wednesday.
“Our information indicates that [North Korea] is covertly supplying Russia’s war in Ukraine with a significant number of artillery shells, while obfuscating the real destination of the arms shipments by trying to make it appear as though they’re being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa,” White House spokesman John Kirby said.
Kirby said North Korea was sending “a significant number of artillery shells.” He did not specify an exact number but said it was more than “dozens.”
“But we don’t believe that they are in such a quantity that they would tangibly change the direction of this war or tangibly change the momentum either in the east or in the south” of Ukraine, he said.
Kirby added, “We’re gonna continue to monitor whether these shipments are received.”
In September, the U.S. had said Russia is looking to purchase millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea, saying at the time that this indicated the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine.
Nov 02, 12:01 PM EDT
Russia waives veiled threat on use of nuclear weapons
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a warning to nations with nuclear capabilities, calling on them to abandon attempts to infringe on each other’s vital interests, warning that direct armed conflict and provocations with weapons of mass destruction can lead to catastrophic consequences.
Russia claimed it believes there can be no winners of nuclear war and said it reaffirms its commitment to the prevention of nuclear warm.
“A reaction with the use of nuclear weapons is hypothetically allowed by Russia only in response to aggression using weapons of mass destruction or aggression using conventional weapons, when the existence of the state is threatened,” the ministry said in a statement.
The White House has said it will not confirm or deny New York Times reporting that senior Russian military officials had recently discussed when and how Russia might use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine. The intelligence about the conversations was reportedly circulated inside the U.S. government in mid-October.
But, Russian President Vladimir Putin was not a part of these alleged conversations, according to the New York Times.
The White House on Wednesday said it still sees “no indications that Russia is making preparations” to use nuclear weapons.
Nov 02, 8:40 AM EDT
Russia rejoins wartime deal on Ukrainian grain exports
Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Wednesday that Russia has agreed to resume its participation in a deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations to keep grain and other commodities shipping out of Ukraine’s ports amid the ongoing war.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, that the so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative would “continue in the same way as before” as of noon Wednesday, according to Erdogan.
The renewed agreement, first reached over the summer, will prioritize shipments to African countries, including drought-ravaged Somalia, after Russia expressed concerns that most of the grain was ending up in richer nations.
Moscow agreed to return to the deal after receiving written guarantees from Kyiv that Ukraine would not use the safe shipping corridors through the Black Sea for military actions against Russian forces, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Russia had suspended its role in the deal over the weekend, after accusing Ukrainian forces of carrying out a “massive” drone attack on its Black Sea fleet on Saturday.
Turkey and the U.N. brokered separate deals with Russia and Ukraine in July to allow Ukraine to resume its shipment of grain from the Black Sea to world markets and for Russia to export grain and fertilizers.
Since Russian forces invaded neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, the cost of grain, fertilizer and fuel has skyrocketed worldwide. Russia and Ukraine — often referred to collectively as Europe’s breadbasket — produce a third of the global supply of wheat and barley, but a Russian blockade in the Black Sea combined with Ukrainian naval mines have made exporting siloed grain and other foodstuffs virtually impossible. As a result, millions of people around the world — particularly in Africa and the Middle East — are now on the brink of famine.
Nov 01, 3:01 PM EDT
Ukraine does not have effective defenses against Iranian ballistic missiles, air force official claims
Iranian ballistic missiles, which Russia plans to purchase from Iran, will probably be placed on the northern border of Ukraine, the spokesman of the Ukrainian Airborne Forces Yuri Ignat said Tuesday.
Ignat claimed the ballistic missiles’ range was 300 km for one and 700 km for another.
“We have no effective defense against these missiles. It is theoretically possible to shoot them down, but in fact it is very difficult to do it with the means we have at our disposal. We have air defense, not missile defense,” he said.
-ABC News’ Yulia Drozd
Nov 01, 3:01 PM EDT
Russia announces wider evacuation of occupied southern Ukraine
As Ukrainian forces advance to capture the city of Kherson, Russian forces are ordering civilians out of parts of the now-occupied city. Some 70,000 people along a 15 kilometer (10 mile) stretch of the left bank of the Dnipro River will be evacuated deeper into the Kherson region or to Russia, according to the Russian-installed leader of the occupied Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo.
Russia had previously ordered civilians out of an area it controls on the west bank of the river.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 31, 7:07 PM EDT
Russia’s withdrawal from grain deal ‘collective punishment’ for world: State Department
State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Monday lambasted Russia’s recent decision to withdraw from the U.N.-brokered deal that allowed for grain to be exported through the Black Sea — likely to be a chief focus of this week’s G-7 ministerial meeting and potentially the G-20 Leaders’ Summit next month.
“We deeply regret Russia’s decision to suspend its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which is having immediate, harmful impacts on global food security,” Price said during a press briefing. “Russia should return to full participation in the initiative, and we urge all parties to swiftly agree to sustain this crucial program through the months to come.”
“Any disruption to the initiative risks spiking food prices, lowering the confidence of insurers and commercial shippers who have returned to Black Sea routes, and further imposing hardships on low-income countries already reeling from dire humanitarian crises and global food insecurity,” he added.
Price said Russia’s reneging had already caused future contracts for foodstuff to rise, even though some ships appear to have been allowed to pass through the water routes with their cargo following Moscow’s announcement.
“We’ve seen Russia engage in what appears to be collective punishment for the people of Ukraine,” he said. “But Moscow’s suspension of the initiative would be tantamount to collective punishment for the rest of the world — but especially lower- and middle-income countries that so desperately needed this grain.”
ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 31, 3:32 PM EDT
Ukraine energy company warns about attacks on energy infrastructure
Following a series of coordinated strikes across Ukraine this Monday morning, Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK says it’s running out of equipment and spare parts needed for repairs of the damaged infrastructure facilities.
“Unfortunately, we have already used up the stock of equipment that we had in our warehouses after the first two waves of attacks that have been taking place since Oct. 10,” said DTEK Executive Director Dmytro Sakharuk. “We were able to purchase some equipment. But unfortunately, the cost of the equipment is now measured in hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Most parts have been already used for repairs following previous Russian strikes, he added.
Oct 31, 4:54 AM EDT
Russia launches waves of missiles at energy targets
Russia on Monday morning again launched a series of coordinated strikes across Ukraine, targeting energy infrastructure, including in the Kyiv region.
Ukraine’s military said it shot down 44 cruise missiles as the Russians launched “several waves of missile attacks on critical infrastructure facilities” across the country.
About five distant booms could be heard in central Kyiv at about 8 a.m. local time.
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, confirmed that a power plant has been hit, meaning mid-morning around 350,000 homes in the capital were left without power. Kyiv’s water supply has also been compromised, according to a water company.
A local official said “critical infrastructure” had also been hit in the Chernivtsi region in southwestern Ukraine.
Critical infrastructure has also been hit and damaged in Zaporizhzhia in the south, according to another local official.
Other regions of Ukraine appear to have been targeted, including Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Poltava and Lviv.
There are currently no reports of significant casualties.
ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge
Oct 30, 10:02 AM EDT
Blinken accuses Russia of ‘weaponizing food’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken slammed Russia’s decision to pull out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative as a statement from the Kremlin that “people and families around the world should pay more for food or go hungry.”
Russia announced it is withdrawing from the U.N.-brokered grain deal in response to a drone attack Saturday in the waters of the Sevastopol Bay, in the Black Sea near Crimea.
Russia’s decision, Blinken said, is jeopardizing grain shipments he described as “life-saving.”
“In suspending this arrangement, Russia is again weaponizing food in the war it started, directly impacting low- and middle-income countries and global food prices, and exacerbating already dire humanitarian crises and food insecurity,” Blinken said in a statement released Saturday night.
He said 9 million metric tons of food has been shipped under the agreement, which was signed and launched in July. He said the shipments have reduced food prices around the world.
“We urge the Government of Russia to resume its participation in the Initiative, fully comply with the arrangement, and work to ensure that people around the world continue to be able to receive the benefits facilitated by the Initiative,” Blinken said.
Blinken’s statement echoed what President Joe Biden said earlier Saturday, calling Russia’s withdrawal from the initiative, “purely outrageous.”
“It’s going to increase starvation. There’s no reason for them to do that, but they’re always looking for some rationale to be able to say the reason they’re doing something outrageous is because the West made them do it. And it’s just not,” Biden said. “There’s no merit to what they’re doing. The UN negotiated that deal and that should be the end of it.”
The ABC drama A Million Little Things will end with its upcoming fifth season. “We can’t believe this incredible journey is coming to an end. But as we’ve always said from the beginning, we would end this journey when the time was right. And as hard as it is to say it, now feels like the right time to say goodbye,” the show’s stars, Grace Park, David Giuntoli, Christina Moses, James Roday Rodriguez, Stephanie Szostak and Romany Malco shared in a video released on Monday. The show, which debuted in 2018, follows a tight-knit group of friends who become motivated to live fuller lives after the unexpected death of a close friend. A Million Little Things returns for its fifth and final season February 8…
Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya has joined the voice cast of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — a sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, according to Entertainment Weekly. The Oscar-winning actor will be voicing Hobart “Hobie” Brown, a.k.a. Spider-Punk, who “gains spider powers and declares himself Spider-Punk, fighting for freedom and defeating his enemies with the power of punk-rock.” He joins Shameik Moore as Miles Morales, Oscar Isaac as Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 and Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy. Across the Spider-Verse is set to hit theaters in June 2023, with a second, Beyond the Spider-Verse, slated for a March 2024 release. Marvel is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News…
Jimmy Kimmel‘s ABC late night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! will literally air live on Election night, Tuesday Novemeber 8. He’ll be joined by Bill Maher, host of HBO’s Real Time, and George Conway, a lawyer, co-founder of anti-Donald Trump activist group The Lincoln Project and husband of Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway. Kimmel joins Stephen Colbert, who’ll also be hosting CBS’ Late Show live. Kimmel’s show, which airs at 11:35am ET on ABC, will be sandwiched between ABC News coverage of the midterm elections. The last time the show went live was for the 2018 midterm elections. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Late Late Show with James Corden will be pre-empted for news coverage…
There’s bad and good news for The Wonder Years fans. The ABC comedy has been left off of the network’s fall schedule, but will air in the summer of 2023. Season two of The Wonder Years, starring Dulé Hill and and narrated by Don Cheadle, will feature guest stars including Patti LaBelle, Wayne Brady, Tituss Burgess, Donald Faison, Phoebe Robinson and Bradley Whitford. A premiere date has yet to be announced…
(NEW YORK) — ABC News has obtained a letter sent by a top Ukrainian official to senior members of Congress, asking them to assist Ukraine’s calls for additional air defense systems to counter the attack drones built and supplied by Iran to bolster Russia’s war effort.
Russia has launched waves of deadly attacks in recent weeks, using Iranian-made drones that explode on impact to strike power plants, killing civilians and causing rolling blackouts, plunging millions of Ukrainian homes into darkness.
In the letter, the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, calls on the U.S. to provide Ukraine with highly mobile air defense systems known as C-RAMs, saying they would help protect “important objects, especially crucial power plants.”
C-RAMs have a built-in radar to track incoming threats and a giant rapid-fire gun to shoot them down, with NATO saying the “most effective” systems are able to fire 4,500 rounds per minute.
A senior Ukrainian politician told ABC News that the Ukrainian government has also made an official request to the Biden administration for the C-RAMs systems.
ABC contacted the Ukranian Ministry of Defense for comment. The Pentagon does not comment on specific Ukrainian requests for weaponry.
However, Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Garron Garn told ABC News this week that U.S. support “focuses on equipment that is relevant for the current fight.”
“We are working around the clock to fulfill Ukraine’s priority security assistance requests, delivering weapons from U.S. stocks when they are available,” he added.
As things stand, Ukrainian officials say they are using an array of methods to shoot down the drones.
Ukrainian fighter jets are being used to track them and, in some instances, shoot them down, according to the Ukrainian politician who has been briefed on the matter.
“We are using all kinds of different stuff [to destroy the Iranian drones],” the source told ABC News, adding that the Ukrainian military even sometimes resorts to shoulder-launched anti-tank weapons to counter the threat.
The White House last month indicated that Russia is launching Iranian-supplied drones from Crimea, a peninsula to the south of mainland Ukraine that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
The White House National Security Council spokesperson, John Kirby, also said at the time that a “relatively small number” of Iranian personnel had been on the ground in Crimea to assist the Russians in how to operate the drones.
The drones fly slowly, giving the Ukrainian military a matter of hours from the moment they are launched from Crimea, through to when they reach their targets, Ukrainian officials said.
However, Ukrainian officials said the drones are able to change trajectory mid-flight, making it harder for the military to position assets that could shoot them down.
In his letter, Stefanchuk also asks senior U.S. lawmakers to assist him in asking the Biden administration to provide longer-range missiles so that the Ukrainian military could destroy targets such as “stocks of Iranian drones, deep behind the enemy lines on the occupied territory of Ukraine.”
On Monday, Ukraine’s defense minister announced that advanced air defense systems for countering Russian missiles and rockets, called NASAMS, had arrived in Ukraine. A senior U.S. official confirmed that two systems were delivered to Ukraine.
The U.S. announced in August that it promised another six NASAMS launchers to Ukraine, but it could be some time until they arrive in the country.
A Ukrainian government source said the Ukrainian government was talking to all of its partners, including the U.S., about creating a “comprehensive and wide” air defense system “all across Ukraine.”
“We’re not talking about a few systems near the front lines,” the official added. “If we have this [comprehensive air defense] system, this war can end sooner and that’s in all of our interests.”
Last month, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley called the project a priority.
At a NATO meeting, he stressed that air defense systems would have to be provided to Ukraine by a number of countries.
“The task is then to bring those together, get them deployed, get them [the Ukrainians] trained, because each of these systems is different,” Milley said.
Last weekend, after weeks of denials, Iran finally acknowledged that it has supplied Russia with drones.
However, Iran’s foreign minister claimed Tehran only sold a relatively small number of drones to Russia and did so before President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February.
He also claimed that Iran had no knowledge that the drones were being used to attack Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Iran of “lying.”
(NEW YORK) — A number of severe weather alerts are now in effect along Florida’s east coast as Subtropical Storm Nicole makes its way toward the Sunshine State.
The National Weather Service has warned that Nicole could be as strong as a hurricane when it arrives in eastern Florida late Wednesday.
The storm could impact election week in the southeastern U.S. state, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is running against Democratic rival Charlie Crist and Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., is trying to unseat Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for 34 of Florida’s 67 counties.
“While this storm does not, at this time, appear that it will become much stronger, I urge all Floridians to be prepared,” the governor said in a statement Monday. “We will continue to monitor the trajectory and strength of this storm as it moves towards Florida.”
Meanwhile, Florida Power & Light has urged customers to prepare for power outages and activated its emergency response plan ahead of Nicole’s potential impact on the state this week.
“[Hurricane] Ian saturated soil and weakened trees in many parts of the state, so Nicole could cause trees to topple over and other vegetation and debris to blow into overhead power lines and equipment, which may cause outages,” Florida Power & Light chairman and CEO Eric Silagy said in a statement Monday.
Nicole formed in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean on Monday, becoming the 14th named storm of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, which ends this month. Nicole’s center is expected to approach the northwestern Bahamas on Tuesday, move near or over those islands on Wednesday, then approach the east coast of Florida and make landfall there late Wednesday night. It will move across central and northern Florida into southern Georgia on Thursday, according to the latest forecast from the National Weather Service.
Currently, Nicole wields maximum sustained winds of about 50 miles per hour, with higher gusts. Winds of 40 mph extend outward up to 380 miles from the storm’s center.
“Nicole is expected to make a transition to a tropical storm later today and begin strengthening, and it is forecast to be near or at hurricane strength by Wednesday and Wednesday night while it is moving near the northwestern Bahamas and approaching the east coast of Florida,” the National Weather Service said in a public advisory on Tuesday morning.
The National Weather Service has issued hurricane and tropical storm warnings for parts of the northwestern Bahamas. Tropical storm and storm surge warnings, tropical storm and storm surge watches as well as hurricane watches were issued for portions of southern and central Florida as well as coastal southeastern Georgia.
“Interests in the central Bahamas, the remainder of Florida, and along the southeastern coast of the United States should monitor the progress of Nicole,” the National Weather Service said in a public advisory on Tuesday morning. “Additional watches or warnings may be required later today.”
Hurricane conditions are expected in the northwestern Bahamas, within the hurricane warning area, on Wednesday, with tropical storm conditions beginning across the entire area by Tuesday night. A storm surge could raise water levels by as much as 4 to 6 feet above normal tide levels along the coast in areas of onshore winds, according to the National Weather Service.
Hurricane conditions are possible along Florida’s east coast, within the hurricane watch area, by Wednesday night, with tropical storm conditions expected to begin Tuesday night or early Wednesday. Tropical storm conditions are also possible along Florida’s west coast, within the watch area, by Wednesday night.
Through Friday, Nicole is expected to produce between 3 and 5 inches of rainfall across the northwestern Bahamas into the eastern, central and northern part of the Florida Peninsula, with a maximum of 7 inches for localized rain. Southeastern Georgia into portions of South Carolina could see 1 to 4 inches of rain. The storm’s “heavy rainfall” will spread north farther up the Eastern Seaboard late Thursday into Friday, the National Weather Service said.
Large swell waves generated by Nicole will affect the northwestern Bahamas, the east coast of Florida and much of the southeastern U.S. coast over the next several days.
“These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” the National Weather Service warned.
Tropical weather systems have the potential to quickly grow into hurricanes, while subtropical ones do not. A subtropical storm typically generates more rain and heavy thunderstorms. If a subtropical storm intensifies enough to have hurricane-force winds, then it has become fully tropical. There is no such thing as a subtropical hurricane, according to the National Weather Service.
(WASHINGTON) — With FiveThirtyEight forecasting a slight edge for a GOP takeover in the Senate — and with momentum solidly behind Republicans — just what would that mean?
In short, big changes and a Biden presidency instantly having to play defense.
No ‘contract’
Senate Republicans, unlike their House counterparts, have not put out a “contract” or plan for what they would do if they take over, but in speeches and interviews and looking at who is poised to take the gavels at powerful Senate committees, some priorities seem clear.
For starters, inflation.
Laying the blame for historically high inflation at the feet of President Joe Biden and his unified Democratic government, Republicans have repeatedly called for an end to the “spending spree” in Washington.
It’s worth noting that some of that increased spending was related to trying to bring the U.S. economy back from a historic pandemic, action that began under former President Donald Trump. Still, Republicans have charged that Democrats went entirely too far with the American Rescue Plan that pumped nearly $2 trillion into the economy, fueling inflation already aggravated by the roiling supply chain crisis.
The situation was made worse with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Republicans have pointed to a handful of solutions, such as making some of the business tax cuts from their 2017 package — set to expire in the next few years — permanent, as well as, mounting an effort to roll back the new corporate minimum tax against larger corporations enacted in the recently-passed climate, health and tax bill by Democrats.
The boogeyman in many GOP ads the latter part of this midterm cycle has been the Democrats’ plan to beef up the IRS to go after tax cheats. It was a key way they planned to raise revenue to pay for their climate and health bill, but Republicans seized on it to falsely warn Americans that an “army of IRS agents” were coming for them.
The IRS commissioner, Charles Rettig, a Trump appointee, has tried to reassure lawmakers that the new resources would not be focused on middle income Americans, but the claims continued and oversight hearings are a sure bet. Republicans might even try to find a way to roll back that effort.
Whether or not any of this could have any effect on inflation remains to be seen. Usually tax cuts — in other words, less revenue for the federal government — are not seen as inflation-reducing. And while spending cuts are, the level of draconian cuts needed to make a dent are not likely to be approved by a majority of the new majority.
‘Drill, baby drill’
With gas prices soaring, Republicans laid into Democrats for clamping down on domestic energy production, and with Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso expected to resume the chairmanship of the Energy Committee, the focus almost surely will be squarely placed on that issue.
In that same vein, and with GOP anger at Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. for that deal he made with Democrats passing the Inflation Reduction Act having subsided, it is entirely possible that energy permitting reform will be back on the table but in a bipartisan way this time. That is actually something that might get done in the lame duck session.
Investigations ramp up
While Senate Republicans might not ramp up the number of investigations expected by their GOP counterparts in the House, the upper chamber’s new majority is expected to spin up quite a few of their own.
For starters, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who can be is expected to retake the gavel at the Judiciary Committee for a year, has already been looking into the affairs of the president’s first son and conservative lightning rod, Hunter Biden. His partner in the years-long effort, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson — who has been locked in a fierce contest to keep his seat — is expected to helm the powerful investigative subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee known as the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI). It has a large budget for investigative staff, as well as subpoena power.
It’s unclear if the GOP duo can outrun the Justice Department on this one, though. Federal investigators have made clear they feel they have enough to charge Hunter Biden with financial crimes, sources told ABC News in early October, and a federal probe has been underway for quite some time.
Crime
Top of Grassley’s to-do list is also how to tackle the nation’s rising violent crime, a centerpiece of GOP campaigns this midterm season, and what to do about what conservatives see as a politicized Justice Department.
“All of the things that Republicans have been talking about that aren’t really getting a huge amount of attention in the Judiciary Committee will be a focus, particularly violent crime,” a GOP committee aide told ABC News.
Paul, Fauci and the origins of COVID
While it might seem as if the COVID-19 pandemic has lost its grip on the nation, conservative Sen. Rand Paul has some old scores to settle.
Paul, on track to win a third term this year, has promised to investigate the origins of the pandemic, a pet issue for the irascible conservative.
Running contrary to two previous scientific reports this summer on the origins of the virus pointing to a zoological connection from the Huanan Seafood Market, a recent report by GOP staff on the Senate panel Paul is set to chair, came to a different conclusion. The 35-page interim report concluded that the origin “was most likely the result of a research-related incident,” though the document specifically states, “This conclusion is not intended to be dispositive.”
The report does not mention anything about motive, as some conservatives have sought to espouse, claiming China may have weaponized a virus, nor does it mention any involvement of the frequent target of Paul’s ire, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci.
From practically the outset of the pandemic, Paul questioned the power of the virus and government mandates to try to contain it, repeatedly clashing in hearings with Fauci. All of it fed a “fire Fauci” movement in conservative circles. Fauci, who said he plans to retire at the end of Biden’s first term, has said he and his family have been the victim of threats.
Paul and his conservative counterparts in the House have all indicated Fauci’s retirement will not stop their push to have him testify and deliver documents related to their probes.
Social media platforms a target
Firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz is champing at the bit to take over at the Senate Commerce Committee. The Texas conservative, known to have 2024 presidential ambitions, is sure to capture the spotlight as he takes on social media platforms, a frequent target of his displeasure claiming widespread anti-conservative bias.
On his podcast, “The Verdict,” earlier this year, during the frenzied confusion amid billionaire Elon Musk’s attempted takeover of Twitter, Cruz said, “I think it is one of the most important moments for free speech in decades. This is a testing moment where Big Tech keeps getting more and more brazen, saying we can control everything you say; we can control everything you hear; we can control everything in your feed; we can control everything you listen to … suddenly Elon Musk came in and is threatening to tip over the apple cart.”
Of course, there is wide-ranging jurisdiction at this panel covering Commerce, Science, and Transportation issues. There are some GOP aides speculating that Cruz will cast a wide net.
“‘Science’ could cover practically anything,” one GOP leadership aide said cryptically.
Ukraine
Whereas House Republicans appear poised to make it more difficult to pass future foreign aid for Ukraine, their Senate counterparts are not expected to follow suit — at least not the vast majority.
In a recent statement, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell — a full-throated supporter of Ukraine — said, “The Biden Administration and our allies need to do more to supply the tools Ukraine needs to thwart Russian aggression,” even urging that the aid be “expedited.”
Taking over at the Armed Services Committee, barring something unforeseen, will be Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, a McConnell ally.
Wicker, who has worn a Ukrainian flag pin on his lapel since Russia invaded, has fought for military equipment and ammunition to be sent, including MiG fighters and HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems).
In an interview with Gray Television earlier this month, the senator sounded a tone of bipartisanship on Ukraine funding.
“It’s a clear distinction between good and evil, between a war criminal who has no respect for the rights of people to people that are fighting for their own homeland,” said Wicker.
The southern border
Republicans have been hammering the administration and Democrats for what they say has been a dereliction of duty at the southern border. Many want a return to the hard-line policies under President Donald Trump.
At the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over border issues, the expected chairman, Sen. James Lankford, has pushed repeatedly for hearings.
In an April letter, Lankford and his fellow GOP committee members, wrote to the then-chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., “The Biden Administration’s policies are directly contributing to the historic levels of illegal immigration. Administration officials must explain to the American people the rationale for their decisions, and what their plans are to deal with the consequences of their actions.”
The group demanded to have Attorney General Merrick Garland, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus, and Rochelle Walensky, CDC Director, among others.
That could prove a template for early hearings.
Judges
President Biden has seen a record 84 federal judges confirmed to the bench, according to the American Constitution Society, including one historic nominee to the Supreme Court. But once Republicans take over the Judiciary Committee, that pace is sure to slow, the scrutiny to mount.
Depending on how many nominees the panel’s current chairman, Dick Durbin of Illinois, can get cleared and on to full floor confirmation in the lame duck session, scores will still be pending.
There are expected to be 57 nominees pending, according to the ACS, a number that has vexed some progressive groups like Demand Justice.
But the issue that already has Democrats and their outside allies up in arms is the prospect of a Supreme Court vacancy in the next year of Biden’s presidency, a full year before presidential election season kicks off.
McConnell, who is expected to keep his position in the new Congress, has suddenly gone mum on whether or not he would stick with the normal practice in the Senate of considering Supreme Court nominees for the president of any party.
Vilified by Democrats for refusing to even consider President Barack Obama’s replacement for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, claiming it occurred in a presidential election year with Republicans in charge and voters should decide, McConnell has left everyone wondering if he might enact yet another new policy.
Asked by Fox News recently if he would allow consideration of a Supreme Court nomination if a vacancy occurred on his watch as majority leader next year, McConnell demurred.
“I’m not gonna announce what our agenda might be on appointments before we even become the majority. I hope we’re in a position to make a decision,” said McConnell.
It would have been easy to say yes. It is quite notable that he did not.
Making history
Speaking of McConnell, retaining his position as GOP leader would put him at the 15-year mark for his service as a Senate leader, both in the majority and minority. Next year, he will match the record set by the late Sen. Mike Mansfield, D-Mont. It’s widely believed the Kentucky Republican is focused on beating that record, making history, after which he might consider stepping aside, though he has made clear he intends to complete his full term as a senator which ends in 2027.
But it won’t all be smooth sledding for McConnell. Former President Donald Trump, who could announce a run for re-election soon after the midterms, has chosen to continue his attacks on the Republican leader, recently calling for his impeachment in a radio interview.
There is no mechanism for impeaching a senator and McConnell enjoys wide support in his conference, but it was a clear sign that the anger at the senator — unleashed in force after the GOP leader lambasted the former president for “practically and morally” sparking the Jan. 6 insurrection — is sure to continue, particularly with Trump more in the spotlight.
McConnell has largely chosen to ignore the attacks, though, as is his style, making light of one Trump nickname — “Old Crow” — telling reporters with a grin, “It’s my favorite bourbon.”
(LONDON) — An American aid worker was gunned down in Baghdad on Monday, officials said.
Millennium Relief and Development Services, a Texas-based international aid group, confirmed in a statement that one of its workers was “shot and killed by armed attackers as he returned to this home on Monday evening.” His name has not yet been released.
“We are greatly saddened by the tragedy that took the life of our colleague, near his home in Baghdad, Iraq,” Millennium said. “An investigation is ongoing and details on the assailants and the motivation for the attack are not known at this time.”
The victim had worked for the past few years for Global English Institute, a local English learning institute that Millennium said has operated under its umbrella for more than two decades. He was in charge of “managing the promotions and advertising while his wife was manager of the school,” according to Millennium.
“He loved the people of Iraq and it motivated him to strive for excellence in his work at Global,” Millennium added. “He will be remembered as a source of great encouragement and will be missed by all who knew him and were touched by his life.”
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killing.
Attacks against individual foreigners in Baghdad were common in the early years that followed the United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
U.S.-led coalition forces concluded their combat mission in Iraq last year, but American troops remain there to advise and train Iraqi forces in the ongoing fight against ISIS.
(WASHINGTON) — The results of the 2022 midterm elections will almost certainly not be called on election night, but instead in the days and weeks after polls close on Tuesday, according to election experts and officials.
This is normal, they said, because the results of a number of decidedly tight, consequential federal and statewide races will be counted on each state’s separate calendar for canvassing early and mail-in votes and ensuing recounts or challenges to results that could further prolong the certification of votes.
“I would highly doubt that we would know who controls both chambers of Congress by the end of Election Day. I think we need to be prepared for an Election Day that will likely stretch over the week,” said Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor and director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University.
“It’s not like the olden days of us getting results, even if it’s late into the night. I think this [getting official results late after Day] is going to be something that becomes a rule instead of the exception,” Koning said.
The process by which American elections are tallied is not new, election officials said, but the timeline for results to become official has swelled in recent years. That’s because of changes in American voting preferences, with many states permanently adopting expanded mail-in and early vote options initially enacted during the height of COVID-19 in 2020, coupled with few changes in state law that allow those early votes to be counted sooner and therefore quicker.
“The election does not ever and has not ended on Election Day… the election ends when all the legal votes have been counted and certified,” said David Alexander Bateman, an associate professor of government at Cornell University.
“The only thing new is that it’s just taking a little bit longer because of the increase in mail-in ballots and failure of some states, Pennsylvania especially, to expand authority to canvass and precanvass mail in ballots to make sure they could count them as quickly as they could,” he said.
Kim Wymaan, the Senior Election Security Advisor for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, noted that though news outlets call races on election night, it takes days and weeks to have official results.
“When the polls close, election officials remain in action — counting, processing, and conducting audits to be sure that the final, official results are accurate,” she said.
“It is precisely because of this rigorous counting and verification that voters can and should have confidence that their vote will be counted,” Wymaan added.
Another large component of the lag in announcing official election results will be the race recounts and candidates who may challenge the results of their contest that may arise after polls close and unofficial tallies trickle in.
And states like Georgia trigger automatic runoff elections between the two top candidates if no one candidate receives over 50% of the vote on Nov. 8. A recount could also be requested by the second-place candidate if the difference between them and the top candidate is not more than 0.5% of the total votes cast in the race.
Given the current polarized political climate, Koenig said she anticipates a number of candidates who will contest results.
“I don’t see any candidate is going to go down without a fight this cycle if the results are anywhere near close on either side of the aisle,” she said.
In the days leading up to Election Day, several states with particularly competitive races have noted they expect to certify their results after the election.
In Pennsylvania, home to one of the most closely-watched Senate races, acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman told reporters in a briefing on Monday that they don’t anticipate having unofficial results for “at least a few days.”
“We prioritize accuracy over speed,” Chapman said, noting that fully certified results won’t come until the Nov. 28 deadline under law. In Pennsylvania, counties will participate in “marathon counting,” meaning that they can start processing votes at 7 a.m. on Election Day, but counting still must begin at 8 p.m., after polls close.
“The delay doesn’t mean anything bad is happening,” she said.
The public and media should “not expect complete results on election night,” she added.
In Michigan, it may take until about 24 hours after the polls close before all votes are counted and the unofficial results are reported, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said at a press conference last week.
“Some jurisdictions may be done more quickly, but barring any disruption, we expect it will take until Wednesday late in the afternoon or evening for all jurisdictions to finish counting and reporting their results,” said Benson.
Benson added that the state has seen “meritless lawsuits,” and warned that “many of the seeds of doubt” will perhaps resurface after Election Day.
“We’re seeing the first of what we have seen for years. Meritless lawsuits used to get one’s name in the news and gain media attention caused confusion and sow seeds of doubt among voters. While these suits are ultimately resolved by the judges in accordance with the law, voters can expect that many of the seeds of doubt that they will plant will resurface potentially after the election,” said Benson.
In Arizona — which features a competitive Senate race and a tight contest for the governorship with Kari Lake, an election denier, as the Republican nominee — a high density of mail-in ballots may delay the release of official results. A recount is also more likely in Arizona, after the Republican legislature eased the threshold for an automatic recount to 0.5 percent after the 2020 election.
Nevada has given counties until Nov. 12 to receive mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day, with the secretary of state’s spokesperson Jennifer Russell telling the Las Vegas Sun that it could take a few days following the election to announce unofficial results. Counties have until Nov. 18 to certify results.
Nevada voters and candidates can request recounts which may be utilized as the races remain tight.
(NEW YORK) — A Michigan hospital system has limited the number of young visitors as cases of respiratory viruses continue to spike throughout the state and the country.
Under a new rule that took effect Monday morning, hospitals under the Corewell Health East system will not allow any visitors under the age of 5 to enter buildings.
The only exceptions will be for certain circumstances, such as if a parent or sibling is severely ill or if there is an end-of-life situation.
Cases of respiratory viruses have been increasing across the United States, mostly linked to respiratory synclinal virus, or RSV, and the flu.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, weekly RSV cases rose from 5,845 for the week ending Oct. 1 to 7,679 for the week ending Oct. 29.
Additionally, over the same period, positive tests for influenza reported to the CDC by clinical laboratories have jumped from 2,083 to 7,504, data shows.
What’s more, the cumulative hospitalization rate for flu in the U.S. is currently 2.9 per 100,000, the highest it has been since the 2010-11 season, according to the CDC.
Corewell Health East told local affiliate WXYZ there has been a 500% increase in positive tests for upper respiratory infections among pediatric patients, one of the reasons that led to the implementation of the new rule.
“We’re seeing an unprecedented number of patients in our emergency departments and upper respiratory infection caused by RSV,” Dr. Matthew Denenberg, chief of pediatrics at Corewell Health East, said. “It’s been a really early and severe year for RSV. Worse than any other year that I’ve seen. I’ve been doing this 20 years.”
According to state data, 72.2% of pediatric hospital beds across Michigan are occupied. Denenberg said the pediatric intensive care unit at his hospital has reached capacity.
“Our pediatric intensive care unit here at Corewell East in Royal Oak has been full consistently for the last few weeks,” he said in reference to a hospital 17 miles northwest of Detroit. “In fact, we have some ICU patients that are, you know, boarding over in the adult spaces.”
Corewell Health did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Last week Michigan health officials revealed that a 6-year-old boy died after developing complications from RSV.
The child is from Macomb County, which is made up of northern Metro Detroit and the immediate surrounding area.
According to the CDC, between 100 and 500 pediatric deaths occur from RSV every year.
At the time, Denenberg told “Good Morning America” deaths are not common and usually occur among those with pre-existing conditions.
“Very, very few children die from RSV, and the kids that get that sick, it’s usually a child that has an underlying illness,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — As the midterm elections begin, sky-high prices for essentials like food and gasoline have become a major line of criticism leveled at Democrats, who control the White House and Congress.
In fact, the issue may be enough to drive the incumbent party out of power — just as it has helped fuel government turnover across the globe, some experts told ABC News.
Global inflation during the pandemic era has helped drive public opposition toward incumbent parties and politicians, contributing to shifts in power across a host of countries over the past year, some financial experts told ABC news.
While experts cautioned against generalizations that diminish other issues or political dynamics at play within a given country, they noted how frustration over living costs has animated efforts to change political leadership in ways that resemble voter sentiment in the U.S. leading up to the midterm elections.
“This is a global inflationary shock – many countries are seeing inflationary pressure they haven’t seen since the 1970s and 1980s,” Robert Kahn, the managing director of global macro-geoeconomics at the New York-based Eurasia Group, told ABC News. “It’s driving a level of unhappiness among populations that’s definitely putting pressure on governments.”
“A lot of what we’re seeing and feeling is a U.S. manifestation of what everyone else is dealing with,” he added.
In Brazil, where President Jair Bolsonaro cut taxes on fuel and electricity in an effort to slash prices over the months preceding an election that concluded in October, the nation nevertheless replaced him with a leftwing challenger.
Meanwhile, in England, Prime Minister Liz Truss responded to the highest inflation in four decades with an economic policy centered on tax cuts and energy price controls. Her tenure in office lasted just 44 days before market reaction and political disarray led to her stepping down.
Over the summer, Colombia elected the first leftist president in its history as the inflation rate soared near 10%. While in Sri Lanka, a couple months prior, a mass uprising led to the removal of the country’s sitting president, as protesters cited frustration over the fastest inflation rate in Asia.
“When essential prices explode in ways that people can’t pay them anymore, it’s like some basic social contract breaks,” Isabella Weber, a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, told ABC News.
“People go to work and earn money and they can buy stuff that covers their basic needs on the market,” she added. “If they feel their wage isn’t sufficient to cover these basic needs, then this basic contract starts to crumble for too many people, which brings social and political consequences.”
The pattern this year matches a high rate of leadership change amid inflation crises around the world over the last half century, according to research authored by Kahn and Eurasia Group CEO Maziar Minovi. Examining 57 inflation shocks since 1970, they found government turnover in 58% of cases.
Further, when there was an election during or within two years of an inflation shock, it led to a change in government in roughly three out of every four instances, the study found.
To be sure, at least one expert said it’s too difficult to discern the political impact of inflation alongside other potential factors driving voter sentiment worldwide.
Carsten Kowalczyk, a professor of international economics at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, acknowledged the role that inflation has played historically in contributing to government turnover, but he said the political implications of current price hikes remain uncertain.
“It’s not clear how much inflation has really affected the outlook of folks,” he told ABC News. “Inflation may affect people differently.”
As with other global economic problems, inflation comes down to an imbalance between supply and demand.
Billions across the globe facing lockdowns replaced restaurant or leisure expenditures with couches and exercise bikes. The surge in demand followed a pandemic-induced flood of economic stimulus. Moreover, that stimulus brought about a speedy economic recovery from the March 2020 downturn, triggering a hiring blitz.
But the surge in demand for goods and labor far outpaced supply, as COVID-related bottlenecks slowed delivery times and infection fears kept workers on the sidelines.
In turn, prices and wages skyrocketed, prompting sky-high inflation. The war between Russia and Ukraine has exacerbated the price hikes, worsening a global shortage of oil and food. Such price increases have bedeviled countries across the globe, some of which have suffered much worse inflation than the U.S.
“We made a tradeoff in 2020: We’re going to save the economy and save people’s jobs by pumping trillions into the economy,” Aswath Damodaran, a professor of finance at New York University. “This inflation is the tradeoff. They were effectively delaying the pain that COVID brought to the global economy.”
Despite the global nature of inflation and limited policy levers available to President Joe Biden to reverse it, Democrats are being held accountable for a cost of living crisis experienced while they’ve controlled Congress and the White House, some experts said.
The share of likely voters who say economic issues are the most important concerns facing America stands at 44%, a jump from 36% who said so in July, according to a New York Times/Siena poll released last month. Those economy-focused voters overwhelmingly preferred Republicans, by more than a two-to-one margin, the poll said.
In a similar poll, released by NBC News in September, voters favored Republicans by nearly 20 percentage points on the issue of the economy.
“If you’re an incumbent, you get credit for things that go well, even if they’re not your fault,” Kenneth Rogoff, a professor of economics at Harvard University who studies global inflation, told ABC News. “You get blame for things when they go badly, even if it’s not your fault.”
On the campaign trail, many Republican candidates have criticized Biden and Congressional Democrats for expansive spending, which Republicans say directly led to the spike in prices. Specifically, the Democrats have faced criticism for the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus measure signed into law by Biden in March 2021 in response to the pandemic.
While the Biden measure comprised a major spending package, former President Donald Trump backed even greater coronavirus-related spending, signing into law a package in December 2020 worth $2.3 trillion.
Inflation appears to fuel discontent with incumbents, regardless of whether they pursue liberal or conservative policies, said Kahn of the Eurasia Group.
“There is a tendency in the American economic debate to see what’s happening in the U.S. as unique to the U.S.,” Kahn said. “It’s right to say that it’s playing out differently in the U.S. than it is elsewhere but it’s a part of the same global phenomenon.”
“In the face of a global shock, there is a vote-the-bums-out element to this,” he added. “It punishes whoever is in power, whether left or right.”
