A Frayed Bond Between Biden and the Police
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C M Y K Nxxx,2020-10-25,A,001,Bs-4C,E2 Late Edition Today, breezy, cooler, a mix of clouds and sunshine, high 52. Tonight, cloudy, a few showers, low 50. To- morrow, mostly cloudy, not as cool, high 62. Weather map, Page 28. VOL. CLXX ... No. 58,857 © 2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020 $6.00 A Frayed Bond TRUMP’S LEGACY Between Biden ON ECONOMY GOES And the Police BEYOND NUMBERS Amid Calls for Reform, Old Ally Seeks Trust HIGH MARKS IN A SLUMP By ALEXANDER BURNS President Altered Parties’ Bill Johnson knew, before he reached out to Joseph R. Biden Positions on Trade Jr.’s campaign last spring, that things had changed between the and Immigration former vice president and the na- By PATRICIA COHEN THE LONG RUN BETHLEHEM, Pa. — To under- Crime Bills and Social Justice stand how much President Trump has altered the conversation around the economy, just listen to tion’s police unions. A once-close Bruce Haines, who spent decades alliance had frayed amid clashes as an executive at U.S. Steel be- over police brutality and racism in fore becoming a managing part- the justice system. Still, Mr. John- ner of the elegant Historic Hotel son, the executive director of the Bethlehem. National Association of Police Or- The steel mills that still domi- ganizations, invited Mr. Biden to nate Bethlehem’s skyline have address the group as it weighed its long been empty. And now, so are 2020 endorsement. the tables in the Tap Room, the ho- For weeks, the campaign was tel’s restaurant, a sign of the eco- politely noncommittal, Mr. John- nomic hardship caused by the co- son said. Finally, he recalled, on ronavirus pandemic. “It’s been the day NAPO was deciding its en- RUTH FREMSON/THE NEW YORK TIMES Many in Bethlehem, Pa., a steel industry town, believe the president has been good for the manufacturing sector and the economy. very difficult,” Mr. Haines said. dorsement, he heard from a cam- The president’s management of paign aide asking if there was still the pandemic is a prime reason time to send a message. “Not to be many voters cite for backing his a jerk, but we were literally start- opponent. But Mr. Haines, who ing the meeting,” Mr. Johnson lives in a swing county in a swing said. “It’s kind of a little late.” How an Obscure Newspaper Became a Bullhorn for the Far Right state, is struck most by a different The police federation, which aspect of Mr. Trump’s record. relatively staid coverage of U.S. Daily Caller and Breitbart News, twice endorsed the Obama-Biden “I spent 35 years in the steel ticket and stayed neutral in 2016, By KEVIN ROOSE politics became more partisan, and with a similar willingness to business and I can tell you unfair backed President Trump in July. with more articles explicitly sup- feed the online fever swamps of trade deals were done by Republi- For years, The Epoch Times porting Mr. Trump and criticizing the far right. Soon after, its president told the was a small, low-budget newspa- cans and Democrats,” Mr. Haines his opponents. It also has growing influence in Republican convention that Mr. per with an anti-China slant that said. Both parties, he complained, Around the same time, The Ep- Mr. Trump’s inner circle. The pres- Biden and Senator Kamala Harris was handed out free on New York had given up on manufacturing — ident and his family have shared were “the most radical anti-police street corners. But in 2016 and och Times bet big on another pow- once a wellspring of stable mid- articles from the paper on social ticket in history.” 2017, the paper made two changes erful American institution: Face- dle-class jobs. “Trump has been media, and Trump administration That attack marked a low point that transformed it into one of the book. The publication and its affili- the savior of American industry. in a political relationship that had country’s most powerful digital ates employed a novel strategy officials have sat for interviews He got it. He’s the only one.” endured for most of Mr. Biden’s publishers. that involved creating dozens of with its reporters. In August, a re- In perhaps the greatest rever- career. The changes also paved the Facebook pages, filling them with porter from The Epoch Times sal of fortune of the Trump presi- If elected, Mr. Biden would way for the publication, which is feel-good videos and viral click- asked a question at a White House dency, a microscopically tiny vi- press briefing. bring to the White House a long affiliated with the secretive and bait, and using them to sell sub- ALAMY rus upended the outsize economic career’s worth of relationships relatively obscure Chinese spiri- scriptions and drive traffic back to The Epoch Times is affiliated It is a remarkable success story legacy that Mr. Trump had with police chiefs, union leaders for Falun Gong, which has long tual movement Falun Gong, to be- its partisan news coverage. with a Chinese spiritual group. planned to run on for re-election. and policy experts that is un- come a leading purveyor of right- In an April 2017 email to the struggled to establish its bona Instead of record-low unemploy- matched by any other major fig- wing misinformation. staff obtained by The New York fides against Beijing’s efforts to ment rates, supercharged confi- ure in the Democratic Party, ac- First, it embraced President Times, the paper’s leadership en- Gong, fulfilling the group’s mis- demonize it as an “evil cult,” dence levels and broad-based cording to more than a dozen cur- Trump, treating him as an ally in visioned that the Facebook strat- sion of “saving sentient beings.” partly because its strident ac- gains in personal income, Mr. rent and former law-enforcement Falun Gong’s scorched-earth fight egy could help turn The Epoch Today, The Epoch Times and its counts of persecution in China can Trump will end his term with ris- officials who have worked with against China’s ruling Communist Times into “the world’s largest affiliates are a force in right-wing sometimes be difficult to substan- ing poverty, wounded growth and Mr. Biden in various capacities. Party, which banned the group and most authoritative media.” It media, with tens of millions of so- tiate or veer into exaggeration. In a higher jobless rate than when he During a late-summer speech two decades ago and has perse- could also introduce millions of cial media followers and an online 2006, an Epoch Times reporter took office. Continued on Page 26 cuted its members ever since. Its people to the teachings of Falun audience that rivals those of The Continued on Page 22 Continued on Page 31 Improbably, Sports Made It Back in 2020. Now, the Hard Part. Why Apple and Google Set Aside A Rivalry: To Rake In Billions By MATTHEW FUTTERMAN and MARC STEIN Professional sports figured out By DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI how to sputter back to life over the and JACK NICAS past three months. The N.B.A. finished its season OAKLAND, Calif. — When Tim with LeBron James on top again. Cook and Sundar Pichai, the chief The N.H.L. has a new Stanley Cup executives of Apple and Google, champion. The W.N.B.A. also de- were photographed eating dinner livered a title team, including two together in 2017 at an upscale of its biggest stars. The N.F.L. is Vietnamese restaurant called charging ahead despite a series of Tamarine, the picture set off a tab- positive coronavirus tests among loid-worthy frenzy about the rela- some of its 32 teams. And Major tionship between the two most League Baseball this week, if all powerful companies in Silicon Val- goes as planned, will become the ley. STEVE SIMS latest elite sports league to pull off As the two men sipped red wine Sundar Pichai, left, and Tim the small miracle of completing a at a window table inside the Cook dining together in 2017. season that once appeared be- restaurant in Palo Alto, their com- yond hope. panies were in tense negotiations Against all odds, and with their to renew one of the most lucrative the company’s illegal tactics to financial futures threatened as business deals in history: an protect its monopoly and choke off never before, the leagues de- agreement to feature Google’s competition in web search. ployed aggressive, rapid-re- search engine as the preselected The scrutiny of the pact, which sponse testing that remains out of choice on Apple’s iPhone and was first inked 15 years ago and reach for the general public. Keep- other devices. The updated deal has rarely been discussed by ei- ing spectators out or severely lim- was worth billions of dollars to ther company, has highlighted the iting attendance, they apparently ETIENNE LAURENT/EPA, VIA SHUTTERSTOCK both companies and cemented special relationship between Sili- avoided the calamity of a virus Game 2 of the World Series on Wednesday was screened outside Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. their status at the top of the tech con Valley’s two most valuable death traced to an event. And they industry’s pecking order. companies — an unlikely union of pushed through, their schedules Now, the partnership is in jeop- rivals that regulators say is un- overlapping as never before, as lice killings convulsing the coun- In a late-night call, after an acri- they would be giving up a power- ardy.