Biden Is Laying Low at the White House on Election Day

US President Joe Biden points a finger as he delivers remarks on the administration's continued drawdown efforts in Afghanistan in a speech from the East Room at the White House in Washington US, July 8, 2021. (Reuters)
US President Joe Biden points a finger as he delivers remarks on the administration's continued drawdown efforts in Afghanistan in a speech from the East Room at the White House in Washington US, July 8, 2021. (Reuters)
TT

Biden Is Laying Low at the White House on Election Day

US President Joe Biden points a finger as he delivers remarks on the administration's continued drawdown efforts in Afghanistan in a speech from the East Room at the White House in Washington US, July 8, 2021. (Reuters)
US President Joe Biden points a finger as he delivers remarks on the administration's continued drawdown efforts in Afghanistan in a speech from the East Room at the White House in Washington US, July 8, 2021. (Reuters)

US President Joe Biden has no public appearances on his schedule and his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, won’t be holding her typical daily briefing on Tuesday.

Biden made his final campaign appearance on Saturday when he delivered a speech to laborers on behalf of the Harris-Walz campaign in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

He hasn’t taken a question from reporters since gaggling at an event in Baltimore last Tuesday.

Later that same day, Biden created an uproar in remarks to Latino activists when he responded to racist comments at a Trump rally made by the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who referred to the US island territory of Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”

Biden, according to a transcript prepared by the official White House stenographers, told the Latino group on a Tuesday evening video call, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”

The dizzying presidential contest between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris hurtled toward an uncertain finish on Tuesday as millions of Americans headed to the polls to choose between two sharply different visions for the country.

A race churned by unprecedented events – two assassination attempts against Trump, Biden's surprise withdrawal and Harris' rapid rise – remained neck and neck as Election Day dawned, even after billions of dollars in spending and months of frenetic campaigning.



Macron to Host European Leaders’ Meeting on Ukraine on Monday, Says FM

France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks during the International Conference on Syria at the Ministerial Conference Center, in Paris, France, 13 February 2025. (EPA)
France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks during the International Conference on Syria at the Ministerial Conference Center, in Paris, France, 13 February 2025. (EPA)
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Macron to Host European Leaders’ Meeting on Ukraine on Monday, Says FM

France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks during the International Conference on Syria at the Ministerial Conference Center, in Paris, France, 13 February 2025. (EPA)
France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks during the International Conference on Syria at the Ministerial Conference Center, in Paris, France, 13 February 2025. (EPA)

French President Emmanuel Macron will host a meeting of European leaders on Monday to discuss the situation in Ukraine, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told France Inter radio on Sunday.

Barrot spoke a day after US President Donald Trump's special Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg jolted Europe by saying it would not have a seat at the table for talks on ending the Russia-Ukraine war.

Five European diplomats said the meeting would include France, Britain, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain and Denmark, which would represent Baltic and Scandinavian countries.