Obama raises $7.6 million at fundraiser for Biden's campaign

 

Former President Barack Obama warned Democrats against being “complacent or smug” about the presidential race at a grassroots fundraiser Tuesday for presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, calling on viewers to learn the lessons from 2016 and not take the election for granted.

Referencing what he called a “great awakening” going on among younger Americans pushing for reforms, Obama said that “just because this energy is out there does not mean that it assures our victory and it does not mean that it gets channeled in a way that results in real change.”

“There’s a backlash, that is fierce, against change,” Obama added.

The former president referenced the division among Americans that he said President Donald Trump “exploits,” as well as new challenges to voting rights in recent years.

“We can’t be complacent or smug or suggest that somehow it's so obvious that this president hasn’t done a good job because, look, he won once, and it’s not like we didn't have a good clue as to how he was going to operate the last time,” Obama said.

He implored the audience to get engaged with Biden's presidential campaign, declaring that “whatever you've done so far is not enough.”

The fundraiser marked Obama’s official return to the presidential campaign trail and underscored his unmatched popularity within the Democratic Party. Biden, who appeared virtually alongside Obama at the event, said it raised a record-breaking $7.6 million from more than 175,000 individual donors.

Trump’s Dallas fundraiser earlier this month raised north of $10 million for the campaign, Republican National Committee and the Trump Victory Fund.

Tuesday's event was a kickoff of what Obama’s team says will likely be a busy schedule heading into the fall, as he looks to help elect not just Biden but Democrats running for House and Senate. And his comments suggest Democrats are taking very seriously the possibility that their base could grow too comfortable this fall, with a number of state and nationwide surveys showing Biden with significant, often double-digit leads over Trump.

AP, Associated Press

FG briefs Senate on school’s reopening

The Federal Ministry of Education Tuesday briefed members of the Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education on its plans to reopen schools which have been shut as part of measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Minister of State for Education, Mr. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, during the meeting expressed concern over the decision of the Oyo State Government to reopen its primary and secondary schools in spite of the rising cases of coronavirus infection in the country.

Nwajiuba wondered why the government of Oyo State which is currently battling with an increase cases of new infections, should be eager to throw open the gates of its schools when its neighbouring states, were exercising caution.The Minister was reacting to a question from the Senator representing Oyo South, Lekan Balogun, who wanted to know the views of the Federal Government on the plan by the Oyo State Government to reopen its schools.

Nwajiuba said, “Why is Oyo State talking of reopening schools when it has just started recording an increase cases of Coronavirus infection.

“Just beside Oyo is Ogun State which was part of the three states under the FG’s lockdown since April is not talking about schools reopening.

“That’s part of the country’s problem, education is on the concurrent list, so every state takes decisions that pleases it on it. Also everybody is a big man. When you call them on phone, they will not answer you.

“As we speak, Kogi and Cross River states are not on the same page with the National Centre for Disease Control on the issue of testing while all their neighbouring states are conducting tests.”

The Nation