IS AT CROSSROADS HARRIS WARNS U.S. IN ......2 days ago  · WNCKDOCRA Facebook went after thousands of groups related to the QAnon movement. PAGE B1 MILWAUKEE Democrats formally nominated

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Kamala Harris stands beforethe Democratic Party as thebridge between a moderategeneration of leaders and young-er liberals on the rise, balancingthe obligations of promotingJoseph R. Biden Jr. while offeringherself to someday lead the partyinto a post-Biden era.

Pressures, hopes, aspirations— this was the burden on Ms.Harris at the Democratic conven-tion on Wednesday, as shesought to introduce herself to anation and a party that reallybarely knows her. But this is alsothe burden that will be on her forthe next four years if she and Mr.Biden win in November.

Rarely has a vice-presidentialcandidate served under a presi-dential nominee who well maynot seek a second term. As aresult, Ms. Harris carries anextraordinary weight of expecta-tions from her party to rise to thedemands of leadership.

“That’s a lot to put on theshoulders of a person,” said TimKaine, the Virginia senator whowas the vice-presidential candi-date for Hillary Clinton in 2016.In the tumultuous tent that is theever-changing Democratic Party,he said, there was no one personMr. Biden could have chosen whowould appeal to everyone.

“There’s no way that you’regoing to get, in this broad family,like everybody like, ‘Oh, youwere my first pick,’” he said,even as he spoke enthusiasticallyabout Ms. Harris.

If anything, the first two daysof the convention were about theparty trying to paper over anykinds of disagreements, aimingto present a united front of mod-erates and progressives, as wellas some Republicans and demo-cratic socialists. With elaboratevideos and stage-managedspeeches, Democrats showcaseddiversity — racial, gender, age —while nominating a 77-year-oldwhite grandfather from Dela-ware as their standard-bearer.Party leaders gave small slots toliberals, though barely gave aplatform to their policy goals like

NEWS ANALYSIS

Unusual Pressureon Running Mate

By ADAM NAGOURNEYand KATIE GLUECK

Continued on Page A17

WASHINGTON — The Trumpadministration has accelerated apush to sell the F-35 stealthfighter and advanced armeddrones to the United Arab Emir-ates, at a time when the Gulf na-tion is working with the Trump ad-ministration on a historic plan toformalize diplomatic ties with Is-rael, according to American offi-cials familiar with the discussions.

Administration officials in re-cent weeks gave a classified brief-ing about the F-35 to the Emiratimilitary — despite some concernsamong National Security Councilstaff about the wisdom of givingdetails on one of the Pentagon’smost advanced weapons to a for-eign government before a deci-sion about a potential arms salehas been finalized.

American officials deny that thenew push to sell the advancedweapons is a direct reward for theEmirati role in a diplomatic break-through, announced by PresidentTrump last week, where the Emir-ates would become just the thirdArab nation to recognize Israel. Inexchange, Israel will suspend an-nexation of occupied West Bankterritory.

But officials do not dispute thatthe new momentum on the armssale — after years of stalled re-quests by the Emirates to buy thefighter jet — is linked to thebroader diplomatic initiative.

Such a move could dramaticallyalter the military balance in theMiddle East and is likely to facestrong objections from some partsof the government in Israel, which

Trump Presses Weapons Sale

To the U.A.E.

By MARK MAZZETTIand EDWARD WONG

Continued on Page A11

VACAVILLE, Calif. — Howmany things can go wrong atonce?

On Wednesday millions of Cali-fornia residents were smotheredby smoke-filled skies as dozens ofwildfires raged out of control.They braced for triple-digit tem-peratures, the sixth day of a pun-ishing heat wave that included arecent reading of 130 degrees inDeath Valley. They braced for pos-sible power outages because thestate’s grid is overloaded, the lat-est sign of an energy crisis. Andthey continued to fight a virus thatis killing 130 Californians a day.

Even for a state accustomed todisaster, August has been a terri-ble month.

Across the state there were 23major fires reported on Wednes-day and more than 300 smallerones.

In the San Francisco Bay Areaalone there were 15 wildfires,most of them burning out of con-trol and feeding off the grassesand shrubs desiccated by the ex-treme heat. Thousands of resi-dents were ordered evacuated inthe wine country of Napa Countyand from the hills above Silicon

Valley in Santa Cruz and San Ma-teo Counties.

In Southern California, fireswere reported in Ventura and Riv-erside Counties — and sweepingthrough one of the world’s biggestcollections of Joshua trees, burn-ing a 43,000-acre stretch of theMojave National Preserve. Im-ages of the fire showed the iconictrees shooting flames into the airlike blowtorches.

The evening breezes that manyCalifornians rely on to chase theheat from their homes had van-ished. And for those with air-con-ditioning, the power outages werea constant threat to that remedy.

But closer to the fires, residentshad more urgent concerns.

Edie Kansas left her home out-

Raging Fires Add to California’s August TormentBy THOMAS FULLER Heat, Virus, Outages:

Anything That CanGo Wrong, Has

Wildfires near Vacaville, Calif., have burned over 32,000 acres and destroyed more than 50 homes.MAX WHITTAKER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A22

To allay safety and hygiene fears, col-orful stalls built in parks use “smartglass,” which turns opaque. PAGE A10

INTERNATIONAL A9-13

Tokyo’s Very Public ToiletsEvan Kinori has drawn a passionatefollowing with his one-man clothinglabel’s meticulous workwear. PAGE D2

THURSDAY STYLES D1-6

A Small-Is-Beautiful Ethos

Despite a lack of European support, theU.S. is asking the U.N. to punish Iranunder the 2015 nuclear deal. PAGE A12

Pompeo’s ‘Snapback’ PleaOn Block Island in this summer of sor-row, a hunt for handblown glass fishingfloats has magical meaning. PAGE D1

Orbivores on the Prowl

As the F.D.A. prepared to give emer-gency clearance to use blood plasma totreat Covid-19, government healthleaders urged caution. PAGE A7

TRACKING AN OUTBREAK A4-8

Plasma Approval Is on HoldDemocrats are calling on Louis DeJoyto step down amid fears that changeshe has already made could disenfran-chise voters in November. PAGE A21

NATIONAL A21-24

Postmaster General Under FireExalted as a martyr to the cause, InezMilholland later fell from view. An artistis determined to change that. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-6

Retracing a Suffragist’s Path

The state is betting its student testingand technology program will be enoughto ward off outbreaks, even as campusesabruptly close elsewhere. PAGE A6

Alabama’s College Experiment

Many New Yorkers are avoiding thesubway. Masks and social distancing arecrucial, but good airflow also helpsreduce the risk of infection. PAGE A8

Viral Particles on the Subway

At a handful of theaters in the country,white artistic directors are steppingdown to diversify leadership. PAGE C1

Setting Stage for Racial Equity

Walmart and Target reported recordsales, as shoppers sought convenienceamid the pandemic. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-6

A Boon for Big-Box StoresGail Collins PAGE A27

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A26-27

WASHINGTON — PresidentTrump on Wednesday offered en-couragement to proponents ofQAnon, a viral conspiracy theorythat has gained a widespread fol-lowing among people who believethe president is secretly battling acriminal band of sex traffickers,and suggested that its proponentswere patriots upset with unrest inDemocratic cities.

“I’ve heard these are peoplethat love our country,” Mr. Trumpsaid during a White House newsconference ostensibly about thecoronavirus. “So I don’t know re-ally anything about it other thanthey do supposedly like me.”

When told by a reporter aboutthe central premise of the QAnontheory — a belief that Mr. Trump issaving the world from a sataniccult made up of pedophiles andcannibals connected to Democrat-ic Party figures, so-called deep-state actors and Hollywood celeb-

rities — Mr. Trump did not ques-tion the validity of the movementor the truth of those claims.

Instead, he offered his help.“Is that supposed to be a bad

thing or a good thing?” the presi-dent said lightly, responding to areporter who asked if he could

support that theory. “If I can helpsave the world from problems, Iam willing to do it. I’m willing toput myself out there.”

Mr. Trump’s cavalier responsewas a remarkable public expres-sion of support for conspiracytheorists who have operated in

Trump Says QAnon Followers ‘Love Our Country,’ Raising AlarmBy KATIE ROGERSand KEVIN ROOSE

Giving a Boost to FringeConspiracy Theorists

Continued on Page A18

CRACKDOWN Facebook wentafter thousands of groups relatedto the QAnon movement. PAGE B1

MILWAUKEE — Democratsformally nominated Kamala Har-ris for the vice presidency onWednesday night, placing a wom-an of color on a major party ticketfor the first time and showcasingthe diversity of race and genderthey believe will energize their co-alition to defeat President Trumpin the fall.

The program at the party’s na-tional convention also featured astriking repudiation of Mr. Trumpby former President BarackObama, a break with the presiden-tial custom of not criticizing a suc-cessor by name. Mr. Obamapraised Mr. Biden’s character,contrasting it with Mr. Trump’s,and directed a portion of his re-marks to voters undecided aboutwhom they will vote for, orwhether they will vote at all.

“Donald Trump hasn’t growninto the job, because he can’t,” Mr.Obama said, growing emotional at

points as he talked about the chal-lenges facing the country and de-mocracy. “The consequences ofthat failure are severe. 170,000Americans dead. Millions of jobsgone.”

A day after nominating JosephR. Biden Jr., a 77-year-old fixtureof Washington establishment poli-tics, at their national convention,Democrats tried to make the casethat while Mr. Biden would be onekind of change agent — a repudia-tion of Trumpism — Ms. Harriswould help steer the party in newdirections and reflect a changing

IN ACCEPTING BID,HARRIS WARNS U.S.

IS AT CROSSROADSA Nominee to Link

Democrats’ Pastand Future

By ASTEAD W. HERNDONand LISA LERER

Continued on Page A16

“We’re at an inflection point,” Senator Kamala Harris said in accepting the Democratic nomination for vice president on Wednesday.ERIN SCHAFF/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Barack Obama in Philadelphia.DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

A settlement will provide about $600million, mostly for children poisoned bylead-tainted tap water. PAGE A23

Michigan to Pay Flint Victims

Shortly before the 2016 election,President Barack Obama toldsupporters that he would considerit “a personal insult” if Americachose a bombastic reality televi-sion star who trafficked in racistconspiracy theories and stoodagainst everything that he hadspent eight years building.

America did it anyway. “Thisstings,” Mr. Obama confessed af-terward.

Four years later, Mr. Obama re-turned to the national stage onWednesday night seeking vindi-cation with an implicit defense ofhis own record and an indignantcondemnation of PresidentTrump as a corrupt and failingleader who has used his office toenrich himself, pit Americansagainst one another and threatenAmerican democracy.

“Donald Trump hasn’t growninto the job because he can’t,” hesaid in an 19-minute Democraticconvention speech from the Mu-seum of the American Revolutionin Philadelphia. “And the conse-quences of that failure are severe:

170,000 Americans dead. Millionsof jobs gone while those at the toptake in more than ever. Our worstimpulses unleashed, our proudreputation around the world badlydiminished, and our democraticinstitutions threatened like neverbefore.”

After watching Mr. Trump sys-tematically demolish many of hisachievements, Mr. Obama has al-most as much at stake in thisyear’s campaign as his formervice president and his party’s2020 presidential nominee, Jo-seph R. Biden Jr., does — a secondchance to redeem his legacy andprove to history that Mr. Trump’selection was an anomaly, not apermanent repudiation.

On the line is the opportunitynot just to restore programs andinternational agreements that Mr.Trump abandoned and bolsterthose that remain threatened, butalso to rewrite the narrative aboutAmerica and its values accordingto Mr. Obama. The story line that

‘Do Not Let Them Take AwayYour Democracy,’ Obama Says

By PETER BAKER

Continued on Page A19

VOL. CLXIX . . . No. 58,791 © 2020 The New York Times Company THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020 Printed in Chicago $3.00

Mostly sunny. Turning warmer formost. Highs in 80s. Clear skies to-night. Lows in 50s to 60s. Sunny to-morrow. Highs in 80s to 90s.Weather map appears on Page B10.

National Edition