7 Things: Jones knows his chances are tied to Harris/Biden, curbside voting in Alabama lawsuit moves forward, Alabama to extend unemployment benefits and more …

7. People don’t approve of how Trump has handled the pandemic

• In a new poll released by CNN, 58% of people in America don’t approve of how President Donald Trump has handled the coronavirus pandemic, and 51% of people are “very angry” with the current state of the country.
• The poll also shows that 55% of people believe that we haven’t been through the worst of the pandemic yet, 52% of people aren’t comfortable going back to their normal lives yet and 93% of Democrats are embarrassed by how the country has handled the pandemic, compared to only 33% of Republicans.

6. United States will bring back sanctions on Iran

• During a press conference, President Donald Trump announced that the United States intends to “snapback” sanctions on Iran, saying that he’s “directing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to notify the U.N. Security Council that the United States indents to restore virtually all the previously suspended United Nations sanctions on Iran.”
• The “snapback” ability was part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that allows sanctions to be placed back on Tehran if they’re found to be in violation of the agreement. This decision by Trump comes after the United Nations decided not to extend the arms embargo on Iran that expires in October.

5. Alabama is adding unemployment benefits

• Governor Kay Ivey has announced that Alabama has applied for the unemployment benefit program, Lost Wages Assistance Program, that will add $300 in weekly benefits through the federal government.
• These benefits will be added to the state’s current weekly benefits of $275, but the state won’t be providing the additional $100 per week due to the concerns expressed by the House and Senate General Fund budget committees about the state being able to afford that.

4. Trump slams Goodyear for perceived political bias

• Taking a page out of the “cancel culture” playbook, President Trump called for a boycott of Goodyear, a tire manufacturing company that recently closed a plant in Alabama and outsourced those jobs to Mexico, over the slide that appeared during a diversity training seminar connected to the company that declared that “Black Lives Matter” and LGBTQ activism on the clock is OK but “Blue Lives Matter” and MAGA activism is not.
• Goodyear said the slide was not official, but after the tweet was sent, the boycott-loving American media and Democrats rushed to the company’s defense and declared them to be a great American company that should not be criticized for their apparent biased decisions.

3. Curbside voting lawsuit to proceed

• U.S. District Judge Abdul Kallon has ruled to allow the lawsuit that would allow curbside voting in Alabama to proceed. The plaintiffs in the case claim that banning curbside voting violates federal law.
• Jefferson County and Montgomery County officials have already said that if the court rules to allow curbside voting, then they will “undertake reasonable efforts to provide curbside voting.”

2. Democrats party like it’s 2016

• Wednesday night, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) was formally nominated as the Democratic vice president for the 2020 presidential election and accepted the nomination during a night that included former President Barack Obama and failed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton rehashing their failed 2016 arguments.
• Obama warned that democracy itself is at stake, again, stating, “Do not let them take away your power. Don’t let them take away your democracy.” Clinton seethed her massive failures and cast doubts on the results in 2016 and in 2020, saying, “Remember: Joe and Kamala can win 3 million more votes and still lose. Take it from me.” She added, “We need numbers so overwhelming Trump can’t sneak or steal his way to victory.”

1. Biden and Jones will do the same in Alabama

• While on ABC News, U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) spoke about former Vice President Joe Biden and what is expected in November in Alabama. Jones said that he doesn’t think the state “is as deep-red as everybody says,” using the special election in 2017 when he was elected to support that claim.
• Jones remains confident, though, that Biden will gain more support in the state, saying that Biden “has a chance to win over a lot of folks.” He added, “I doubt that he’s going to take Alabama – that would be a real shock if that’s the case. But he’s going to do well in Alabama. He is going to do very well in Alabama. The people in Alabama know Joe.”