Harris eulogizes Jackson Lee as coalition builder - The Boston Globe (2024)

“To honor her memory, let us continue to fight,” Harris said.

Harris is poised to be the first Black woman to be a major party’s presidential candidate, and Jackson Lee was one of Congress’ most prominent Black women during her nearly three decades in Washington. Jackson Lee helped lead federal efforts to protect women from domestic violence and recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday.

More than 50 members of the US House attended Thursday’s funeral service. New York Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, said Jackson Lee was a “voice for the voiceless.”

The crowd of several hundred in the church cheered and often stood during the service and at times people in the audience yelled out, “Thank you Sheila.”

Former president Bill Clinton said Jackson Lee was on his “just say yes” list whenever she called him during his time in office. She “really believed that we are all created equal,” he said, emphasizing, “We are the longest lasting democracy in human history because we had enough people like Sheila Jackson Lee.”

Associated Press

Trump calls Schumer ‘member of Hamas’

Former president Donald Trump falsely accused Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, of being a “proud member of Hamas” at a rally Wednesday night, lodging another insult directed at a prominent Jewish American.

“Chuck Schumer refused to shake the Israeli prime minister’s hand,” Trump told his supporters in Harrisburg, Pa. “Chuck Schumer has become a Palestinian. Can you believe it? He’s become a proud member of Hamas.”

In response, Schumer said in a statement: “The lower [Trump] drops in polls, the more unhinged he becomes.”

At the rally, Trump was referring to actions by the Senate majority leader — who is currently the highest-ranking Jewish official in the United States — when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a joint address to Congress last week amid the war in Gaza that has killed at least 39,445 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

While Schumer attended the speech, he nodded rather than shook Netanyahu’s hand. “Well, look, you know, I went to this speech, because the relationship between Israel and America is ironclad, and I wanted to show that. But, at the same time, as everyone knows, I have serious disagreements with the way [Netanyahu] has conducted these policies,” Schumer told CBS News on Sunday.

Trump made the remarks as he criticized Vice President Kamala Harris — the presumptive Democratic nominee for president and his new campaign rival — for declining to preside over Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress. Harris did not attend the speech, citing scheduling conflicts — but she did meet with Netanyahu in the days afterward and called for a cease-fire and the release of hostages in the ongoing conflict there.

Trump’s comments come one day after he said on a radio show that Harris “doesn’t like Jewish people,” even though her husband Doug Emhoff is Jewish. Trump also appeared to agree with the radio host who described Emhoff as a “crappy Jew.” Emhoff is a leading voice in the White House’s efforts to combat antisemitism.

In Schumer’s case, Trump falsely attacked the New York Democrat for being a member of a group the United States lists as a terrorist organization. Trump has repeatedly claimed the Democratic Party “hates Israel” and has previously said that “any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion.”

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his remarks about Schumer.

Schumer is staunchly pro-Israel and one of the country’s biggest supporters in the Senate, but he called earlier this year for new elections in Israel amid frustrations about how Netanyahu is conducting the war in Gaza, enraging the Israeli leader.

Earlier on Wednesday, Schumer delivered a Senate floor speech addressing Trump’s comments about Emhoff.

“Calling Jews fools and suggesting they are bad or disloyal because of their political beliefs is not just some juvenile insult,” Schumer said. “It’s an old antisemitic trope that goes back centuries, one of dual-loyalty. It’s been used for a very long time to drive Jews out of their homes, to paint them as untrustworthy, to deny their basic dignity.”

Washington Post

Shapiro, on short list for VP spot, cancels events

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, one of the front-runners to be Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate, has abruptly canceled a three-event fund-raising swing through the Hamptons just days before Harris is expected to make her selection.

Shapiro had been expected to headline three different events throughout the wealthy New York island towns, according to invitations seen by the Times. But gradually, throughout Wednesday, hosts were informed that Shapiro would no longer take part, according to two people briefed on the matter. The Shapiro team had hoped the cancellation would not be made public until later in the week, but the news began to get out on Thursday, the two people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the change publicly.

“The governor’s trip was planned several weeks ago and included several fund-raisers for his own campaign committee,” said Manuel Bonder, a spokesman for Shapiro. “His schedule has changed, and he is no longer traveling to the Hamptons this weekend.”

It is unclear why precisely the trip was canceled. Michael Kempner, who was supposed to host one of the events for Shapiro’s campaign committee, said he had been told that Shapiro needed to be with his family in Pennsylvania. Another event was a “summer soiree” expected to be held for a liberal youth-advocacy organization called The Next 50, where Shapiro was marketed as a “special guest.”

Whatever the reason, the quieter schedule will prevent Shapiro from drawing additional media speculation over the weekend about his chances of being Harris’s pick.

New York Times

Obama, Bush join 250th anniversary effort

Former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush will join an effort to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary in 2026, highlighting the initiative’s attempts to build bipartisan momentum in an era of extreme political polarization.

The former presidents and first ladies Michelle Obama and Laura Bush will serve as honorary national co-chairs of America250, the organization created by Congress in 2016 to oversee the celebration of the the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The commission’s leaders hope bringing together the two recent Democratic and Republican presidents will serve as an example of bipartisan cooperation in a country where political agreements seem rare and concerns are heightened over the potential for violence, especially heading toward a divisive presidential election.

Rosie Rios, a former US treasurer who heads America250, emphasized that the commission organizing the celebration “has representation across all aisles.”

“This is a grassroots effort that all Americans feel like they can be a part of from Guam to Alaska, Fairbanks to Philadelphia, and everything in between,” Rios said. “This is about celebrating and commemorating that we’re the oldest democracy in the world.”

The multiyear semiquincentennial celebration will include events in all 50 states and six US territories. It formally launched July 4, 2023, during an MLB game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs at American Family Field in Milwaukee.

It also will include a service project called America Gives, an effort to compile oral histories of Americans, and a nationwide scholastic contest in which students will reflect on what America means to them.

“This milestone is an opportunity to reflect on our history and recommit to our country’s founding values,” the Bushes said in a statement.

The Obamas said they look forward to reflecting on “the remarkable stories that make our nation the place it is today.”

“America is not the same country it was 250 years ago — but there are threads that tie us back to the very beginning of it all,” they said in a statement. “Our history plays a big role in shaping the kind of future we hope to create.”

Associated Press