US midterm elections 2022: How crowd’s treatment of heckler at Trump rally reveals a deeply divided America
Over the space of just a few hours and within just 50 miles of each other, I’ve seen two entirely different visions for America this weekend.
In the unseasonably warm afternoon sun in Pittsburgh, a crowd had gathered to listen to their hero Barack Obama.
The Democratic Party is in trouble, perhaps big trouble, in Tuesday’s midterm elections. They stand to lose both the Senate and the House of Representatives in Washington DC and maybe see Republican governors win power in several states.
The implications for the Democrats’ domestic policies on the economy, healthcare, abortion rights, immigration and the climate would be profound. American foreign policy would shift more inward too.
And so the orator Obama, with a sparkle that President Joe Biden lacks, was out to gee up a lacklustre Democratic Party base.
His focus was the now-familiar warnings of the threat to democracy which Democrats say is posed by the election-denying Trumpian Republicans.
Dangerous divisions
He warned about divisions which fuel a “dangerous climate”, citing the hammer attack on the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
As it is so often in American election cycles, Pennsylvania is key for both parties.
It could tip the balance in a pivotal midterm US Senate race between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz.
“This habit we have of demonising political opponents, of saying crazy stuff. It creates a dangerous climate,” Mr Obama said.
“You’ve got politicians who work not to bring people together but to stir up division and to make us angry and afraid of one another just for their own advantage, so they can take power.”
In the crowd, there was a clear recognition of the importance of this midterm take on the country’s direction.
“This midterm is the most important midterm I think that we’ve ever had during my life for sure,” voter Alex told me.
Another said: “It feels good to hear a sane speech. Measured and balanced and says the right things and the things that people need to hear and that this country needs to hear is refreshing.”
Leeanna McKibben said: “I think it’s critical that we exercise our right to vote and that we eliminate the incivility that’s happening. We can have two-party politics, but it’s got to happen with respect and civility. And that’s not what’s happening right now.”
The key state of Pennsylvania
While Nevada and Georgia are both key senate races too, much of the focus is on Pennsylvania because of its history of swinging from the left to the right.
In the 2016 presidential election it swung to Donald Trump, delivering him the White House. Four years later it edged back to Mr Biden and the Democrats.
No wonder so much campaign money has ploughed into the campaigns here, and no wonder all the big hitters are criss-crossing the state.
A key problem for the Democrats is Mr Biden. His approval rating is just 40% according to the most recent polling. It’s another reason Mr Obama is out – a reminder that there is more to the Democrats than Mr Biden.
Trump’s red wave?
Fifty miles down the road at an airport, another former president was out too – Mr Trump, a man who hasn’t stopped campaigning since he lost the election two years ago.
“The election was rigged and stolen and we’re not going to let it happen again,” he told a huge crowd of his most faithful.
There is no evidence at all for his claim of election fraud. Audits, recounts and court cases across America have confirmed Mr Biden as the winner in 2020, yet Mr Trump has managed to sow doubt into the fabric of society.
Pic: AP
The false claim remains his core message for a 2024 presidential campaign everyone expects him to announce any day.
“I love Trump!” supporter Lory Randall told me. “Best president ever.”
“Trump’s my guy because he’s honest, he doesn’t sugar coat anything, he doesn’t put up with anything and he puts America first,” Aaron Hoffman said.
Another said: “I’m here to see Donald Trump because I believe he should be our president and Joe Biden is destroying America.”
The vibe, the energy, the branding – it’s all here for the man who seems to command near-total control of today’s Republican Party.
For all that the Democratic Party and a minority of anti-Trump Republicans have done to try to discredit him, to expose him as a liar and a crook, to try to make sure he’s history, it really doesn’t feel like he is the past at all.
He hopes that this week’s midterm elections will provide a “red wave” confirming that his appeal stretches beyond this core and that election-denying candidates across the country, who he has endorsed, will win.
Remember – if they win, many of them will be responsible for judging the validity of the 2024 presidential election.
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How do midterm elections work?
The lone heckler
As Mr Trump spoke a lone voice piped up from the crowd.
“He’s a liar,” she screamed.
Her heckling, and the reaction from around her, was a neat glimpse of the deep angry divisions, up close.
“Lock her up! Lock her up!” the crowd shouted, borrowing a chant they used for Mr Trump’s 2016 rival Hilary Clinton.
“Go home. Go to your rally and brag about your Obama and brag about the inflation,” a man shouted into her face.
With some considerable force and with her arms locked into a hold behind her, she was then carted out by police.
Beyond the perimeter they released her and we chatted briefly.
“We know full well that the election was not stolen. It was fair, it was safe, it was secure…” she said before the police returned and resumed their eviction.
She never did tell us her name, but she spoke for many millions in the other America.
It’s hard to see how these two starkly different visions for these supposedly United States can be reconciled.
Outgoing US President Joe Biden is set to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping today for what is likely to be his last time as US president.
The two leaders are expected to hold talks on the sidelines of a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders in the Peruvian capital, Lima.
It comes against the backdrop of increasing tension in the US-China relationship with a potential trade war looming under a Trump presidency, several China hawks tapped for US cabinet positions and China’s growing status among global south countries as an emerging leader of an alternative world order.
This week China was focused on events in the southern city of Zhuhai.
First there was a car ramming attack at Zhuhai’s sports stadium which left 25 people dead. A shocking event that was heavily censored in China.
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What happened at Zhuhai sports centre?
Less than an hour’s drive away the country was holding its premier air show.
It was a military enthusiast’s dream, and not even intermittent rain could keep the crowds of tens of thousands of people away from relishing in the roar of jets in the skies above Zhuhai.
China’s fighter jet fleet
One of the main drawcards was China’s newest stealth fighter the J-35A. It will join the country’s J-20 in service for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).
A J-35A stealth aircraft flies during the exhibition. Pic: Reuters
The J-10C was China’s aerobatics star of the show. There were daily displays of its prowess in sky-high manoeuvres and formations that impressed onlookers, leaving a streak of colours across the cloudy rain-clogged sky.
China’s aerobatic team
China’s military modernsiation programme is continuing apace
It boasts the largest navy in the world and the largest armed forces by active-duty personnel.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Airforce is developing fast too.
Dr Nicole Leveringhaus, a China security expert from King’s College London, says: “China started with very little. It was devastated by wars on many fronts in the 30s and 40s. Its defence industry was depleted. In 70-plus years it’s built itself up and now we’re seeing the results.
“It’s an impressive feat to go from a bloated land-based peasant guerrilla army to what it has to today.”
Chinese pride and nationalism on display
Enjoying the air show spectacle, military fan Liu Liansong said: “I think the air show is great. It is a firm manifestation of the air force’s development from scratch. We as Chinese people feel very proud.”
Inside the air show
The air show included massive exhibition halls of military hardware, from drones to robotics, firearms and mock missiles. Merely getting from one end of the venue to the other through densely packed crowds was a mission.
Russia in the air
The other crowd puller this week was Russia’s aerobatic air force unit, performing daily theatrics at dizzying speeds.
It is another sign of the deepening ties between China and Russia.
Russia’s aerobatic team shows off for the crowd
One Russian tourist and recreational pilot, Yulia, told Sky News: “Both sides are looking for good communication in business, aviation and in many spheres including tourism.”
The secretary of Russia’s security council and former defence minister Sergei Shoigu also visited the air show, viewing both Chinese and Russian-made jets.
In Beijing, secretary Shoigu was quoted by Russian state media as saying: “I see the most important task as countering the policy of ‘dual containment’ of Russia and China pursued by the United States and its satellites.”
One of Russia’s jets up close
The West is increasingly frustrated by China’s support of Russia. The US has sanctioned two Chinese companies, accusing them of being involved in the production of Russian aerial drones used on the battlefield.
China insists it is not supplying weapons to Russia.
One of the companies, Xiamen Limbach Aircraft Engine Co, had a small stand in one of the exhibition halls. Its representatives declined Sky News’ request for an interview.
Tariff war brewing
Despite the raw military might on display in Zhuhai, in China there is uncertainty and unease about what an impending Donald Trump presidency will mean for global trade.
President-elect Trump has threatened blanket tariffs of up to 60% on Chinese products exported to the US.
This would be a serious blow to China’s target GDP growth and comes at a time when the country’s economy faces deep-set challenges.
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At the other end of the country, in Beijing analysts are weighing up the impact of possible tariffs and the Chinese government’s options to respond.
Senior Asia analyst Chim Lee, from The Economist Intelligence Unit, is not optimistic that a US-China agreement to minimise the damage can be reached.
Senior Asia analyst Chim Lee
“I think both sides have recognised that the era of making deals is passed,” Mr Lee said.
“We’re going to see China starting with some targeted measures, tariffs it feels more comfortable to impose,” he explained. “But there are also areas where China is starting to be a bit more aggressive.”
This action could include export controls on China’s production of critical minerals and retaliatory tariffs on US agriculture exports.
Trade competition, military posturing and complicated geo-political alliances have set the stage for a challenging next phase in US-China relations.
New pictures show the moment of impact as an Israeli missile hit a Beirut apartment block and exploded.
The block was one of five buildings destroyed by airstrikes on Friday alone.
Israel launched airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut in a fourth consecutive day of intense attacks.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press photographer captured a sequence of images showing an Israeli bomb approaching and hitting a multi-storey apartment building in Beirut’s Tayouneh area.
Richard Weir, a senior crisis, conflict and arms researcher at Human Rights Watch, reviewed the close-up photos to determine what type of weapon was used.
“The bomb and components visible in the photographs, including the strake, wire harness cover, and tail fin section, are consistent with a Mk-84 series 2,000-pound class general purpose bomb equipped with Boeing’s joint directed attack munition tail kit,” he told AP.
Pics: AP
Smoke covers a building that collapses following the strike. Pic: AP
Deadly strikes as bombardment stepped up
Israel stepped up its bombardment this week – an escalation that has coincided with signs of movement in US-led diplomacy towards a ceasefire.
The Israeli military said its fighter jets attacked munitions warehouses, a headquarters and other Hezbollah infrastructure. It issued a warning on social media identifying buildings ahead of the strikes.
Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike killed five members of the same family in a home in Ain Qana in the southern province of Nabatiyeh, Lebanon’s state media said.
The report said a mother, father and their three children were killed but didn’t provide their ages.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Three other Israeli strikes killed six people and wounded 32 in different parts of Tyre province on Friday, also in south Lebanon, the report said.
Video footage also showed a building being struck and turning into a cloud of rubble and debris that billowed into Horsh Beirut, the city’s main park.
Residents check the site of the airstrike in Tayouneh, Beirut. Pic: AP
More than 3,200 people have been killed in Lebanon during 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah – most of them since mid-September.
About 27% of those killed were women and children, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Israel dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon from September, vowing to cripple Hezbollah and end its barrages in Israel.
Friday’s strikes come as Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister has asked Iran to help secure a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The prime minister appeared to urge Ali Larijani, a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, to convince the militant group to agree to a deal that could require it to pull back from the Israel-Lebanon border.
Iran is a main backer of Hezbollah and for decades has been funding and arming the Lebanese militant group.
On Thursday, Eli Cohen, Israel’s energy minister and a member of its security cabinet, said that prospects for a ceasefire with Lebanon were the most promising since the conflict began.
The Washington Post reported Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was rushing to advance a Lebanon ceasefire to deliver an early foreign policy win to his ally, US President-elect Donald Trump.
“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.
The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.
The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.
“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.
“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.
“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”
Read more:
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Elon Musk speaking at an event held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.
“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.
“What a great deal!”
When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.
Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”
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