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Indonesians vote for a new president as Joko Widodo era comes to an end

Counting is under way in Indonesia after millions of people turned out to vote for a successor to Joko Widodo, the hugely popular president known as Jokowi, who is barred from running for a third term under the constitution. The frontrunner is Prabowo Subianto, the only general ever to be given a dishonourable discharge from the country’s armed forces. Widodo’s archrival in the last two elections, 72-year-old Prabowo later became his defence minister and has sought to soften his strongman image throughout the two-month campaign. He’s been helped by a cartoon portraying him as a “cuddly grandpa” and having Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Jokowi’s eldest son, as his running mate after a controversial Constitutional Court ruling on age limits last year. While the president has not formally endorsed the pair, his unofficial support has boosted their bid for office. “Jokowi is the single most important person not running for office in this campaign,” Greg Fealy, an emeritus professor at the Australian National University and an expert in Indonesian politics, told Al Jazeera. “Jokowi is extraordinarily popular, with a more than 80 percent approval rating, and Prabowo is the main beneficiary of that.” The other candidates are academic turned education minister and Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan, and Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the biggest party in parliament and Jokowi’s party in 2014 and 2019. Heavy overnight rain caused flooding in some places and led to the temporary closure of some polling stations, but voting generally went smoothly. In a country that celebrates election day as a “festival of democracy”, some polling stations were decorated with pink and red hearts for Valentine’s Day. Queues of voters were enthusiastic. Turnout was more than 80 percent at the last election in 2019. Some polling stations were decorated for Valentine’s Day [Firdia Lisnawati/AP Photo] Young voters In the beach town of Sanur on the island of Bali, 18-year-old Gunghar was voting for the first time. His heart “pounded,” as he placed his vote, he said. “Young people want major changes in Indonesia,” he told Al Jazeera without revealing which candidate he had backed. “We want Indonesia to be the most impactful country in the world.” Young people make up just over half the total number of voters and are expected to have a substantial impact on the result. In Jakarta, Marcellina Pujowati was concerned about unemployment which stands at just under 20 percent for those aged 15-24. “The job situation is most important to us young voters because nowadays it is hard to find a job,” she said. Before casting her ballot, Marcellina said she also wanted a president who would “make Indonesia better” by improving the political and economic situation in the country. Over in Beijing, 20-year-old Maria Jessica Fernanda Santoso was voting for the first time. She said she had decided to back Prabowo and Gibran because they offered the best chance of a continuation of Jokowi’s policies. “I feel it is important to continue and finalise the milestones that President Jokowi has achieved during his administration,” she told Al Jazeera. “I am confident that [Prabowo-Gibran] has the potential to continue these efforts better.” Prabowo Subianto is seen as the frontrunner in this election, his third attempt at the country’s top job  [Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP] The pair have promised to continue with Jokowi’s controversial plan to relocate the country’s capital to a site on the island of Borneo, as has the PDI-Ps Ganjar.  Anies, meanwhile, is seen as a candidate for change and has said he will stop the move. Students and civil society groups have raised concerns about Prabowo’s dark past. A former Kopassus special forces commander, the 72-year-old is the only candidate with links to the hardline regime of former leader Soeharto, once his father-in-law. He was dishonourably discharged in 1998 after Kopassus soldiers kidnapped and tortured Soeharto’s political opponents. Of 22 activists kidnapped that year, 13 remain missing. And while Prabowo never faced trial, several of his men were tried and convicted. He has also been accused of human rights abuses in East Timor, which won independence from Indonesia amid the collapse of the Soeharto regime, and its troubled eastern region of Papua. For all that, most Indonesian voters seemed unconcerned. Ben Bland, the head of the Asia Pacific programme at Chatham House in London, said that probably reflects Indonesians’ growing confidence in their democracy and institutions’ ability to constrain an autocratically inclined president. At an online election discussion last week, he also noted the “tendency in Indonesia for grand coalitions” to be formed after elections, further limiting a president’s power. “Whoever wins will be looking to build a big tent coalition,” he said. As the count progresses, all eyes will be on the 50 percent threshold to avoid a run-off in June. Ten years ago, Jokowi and Prabowo were bitter rivals. With Jokowi’s son now by his side, he appears to be facing his best-ever chance to become president. “It’s quite a turn of fate,” political analyst Tobias Basuki told Al Jazeera. “It could be third time’s the charm for Prabowo. With reporting by Madeline Coad in Sanur, and Adam Hancock and Randy Mulyanto in Jakarta Adblock test (Why?)

Biden slams Trump criticism of NATO as ‘shameful’ and ‘un-American’

The Republican frontrunner had questioned the United States’ willingness to support its NATO allies if they were attacked. United States President Joe Biden has condemned comments about NATO by his likely 2024 election opponent and former President Donald Trump as “dangerous” and “un-American”, and said they raised the stakes for the US Congress to approve new funding to support Ukraine. Speaking at the White House, the Democratic president on Tuesday criticised Trump’s comment over the weekend calling into question the US’s willingness to support members of the Western defence alliance if they were attacked. Biden said the comments by Trump, the Republican frontrunner in the presidential race, made it more urgent that Congress pass his long-stalled funding request to support Ukraine in its war against Russia. “The stakes were already high for American security before this bill was passed in the Senate,” he said. “But in recent days, those stakes have risen. And that’s because the former president has sent a dangerous, and shockingly, frankly un-American signal to the world.” At a rally in the state of South Carolina on Saturday Trump blasted what he called “delinquent” payments by NATO members and recounted what he said was a past conversation with the head of “a big country” about a potential attack by Russia. “No, I would not protect you. In fact I would encourage them [Russia] to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay,” Trump claimed he told the unnamed leader. Biden said Trump’s remarks amounted to an invitation to Russia to invade US allies. “Can you imagine a former president of the United States saying that? The whole world heard it. And the worst thing is he means it,” Biden said. “No other president in our history has ever bowed down to a Russian dictator. Well, let me say this as clearly as I can: I never will.” In remarks calling for Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring a Senate-passed $95.34bn military aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan to a vote in the House of Representatives, Biden said of Trump’s comments: “For God’s sake, it’s dumb, it’s shameful, it’s dangerous, it’s un-American.” Failing to support Ukraine war funding would amount to support for Vladimir Putin, Biden said, adding that the Russian president’s attacks may move beyond Ukraine’s borders deeper into Europe. NATO, a military alliance of 29 European and two North American countries, has a provision in its statute that says it must defend any member that is attacked. This is not the first time Trump has criticised the alliance. When president, Trump threatened to pull the US out of NATO. He also suggested he could cut Washington’s funding of the organisation, and repeatedly complained that the US pays more than it should. As the war in Ukraine nears its second year, concerns have mounted over the ramifications of a potential Trump victory in November. While Ukraine is not a NATO member, the alliance has served as a key contributor to the US-organised effort to support Kyiv’s military defences. Adblock test (Why?)

In Gaziantep, love bloomed in the midst of earthquake rubble

Gaziantep, Turkey – A few hours after the first massive earthquake that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria last year, Ahmad Nached decided to marry his partner, Anna Rudnichenko. Ahmad, 30, and Anna, 23, were asleep in their old eighth-floor apartment when the first tremors woke them from a deep sleep. The two massive earthquakes, which struck a few hours apart, killed more than 50,000 people in both countries.The couple, who hail from Syria and Ukraine respectively, assumed that the noise and destruction were an air raid, a familiar occurrence for them. It took them a few minutes to realise it was an earthquake, which neither of them had ever experienced in their lives. From their cosy home in Gaziantep, as they talk about the last details of their first Valentine’s Day as husband and wife, they explain they had never talked about marriage before the tragedy. Rudnichenko decided to move to Turkey from her native Zaporizhia in 2021, seeking independence after graduating from university. “I always had this affinity for Turkey because, when I was little, I lived here for a few years,” she told Al Jazeera. She chose Gaziantep, a city famous for its cuisine, where she found part-time jobs in hotel management and teaching English. What for her was a choice was forced on Ahmad by the conflict ravaging his country. In 2012, after taking part in the protests in his native Aleppo that, over time, led to clashes with the government and a war, his parents sent him and his sister to safety in Gaziantep, just across the border. Since then, Nached has been working with Syrian humanitarian organisations in Turkey while cultivating his passion for electronic music at Room41, a collective of Syrian and Turkish DJs trying to brighten up Gaziantep’s nights. A proposal, a sunset, and a ring [Courtesy of Anna Rudnichenko] Initially disappointed by Gaziantep’s lack of nightclubs, Rudnichenko ended up attending one of Room41’s parties. “All I remember of that night is that the music suddenly turned off at what, according to me, was quite early – around 1am,” Rudnichenko recalls. “So I went to the console, quite angry, complaining to the DJ and asking him why the party was already over,” she laughs from the couch, sipping a hot cup of Turkish tea. Nached remembers being confused by the way she approached him, but he had had a feeling all day that he would meet someone that night. It took time, but eventually, their friendship evolved into something more. Nached says dating someone from a different background makes the relationship richer. Rudnichenko had never met a Syrian refugee and was fascinated by Nached’s story. Little did she know that in less than a year, she, too, would become a refugee. When the war in Ukraine started, Nached knew the exact words to comfort his partner because he had been through it. “We now had something more in common drawing us closer,” he says. “We both were very upset for our countries, but as a Syrian with a decade-worth background in war trauma management, I knew how to pass on the skill of keeping calm while your loved ones are stuck in a war zone.” While the unusual couple shared a tragic backstory, it also highlighted the significant differences in their displacement. As a Syrian in Turkey, Nached says he experiences a lot of racism. “I’ve always felt like I had to hide my identity, trying not to speak Arabic in the streets or portraying the best version of me to not be labelled as ‘the bad one’,” he explains. Turkey hosts more than three million Syrian refugees, and there have been tensions between them and the local population since 2012, highlighted by the earthquake fallout and national elections characterised by a ferocious campaign against Syrians. Anna and Ahmad married on Christmas Day [Courtesy of Anna Rudnichenko] On the other hand, since early 2022, Turkey has also welcomed thousands of Ukrainian refugees, who feel a lot more welcome and integrated. In Gaziantep, both refugee communities live together but are treated differently. “When I say I’m Ukrainian, I get a lot of compassion and sympathy,” says Rudnichenko. “But the same doesn’t happen to Ahmad.” In February 2023, Nached and Rudnichenko spent a couple of days in a shelter in the city before being evacuated to a hotel in Ankara through Nached’s workplace. They were so shocked they decided to leave Gaziantep. They looked into Canada resettlement programmes, but eventually opted for Germany, a common destination for Syrian and Ukrainian refugees. Rudnichenko left first, hopeful to find assistance upon arrival. “But since I was not coming directly from Ukraine, I could not qualify as a refugee, even though I could not return to my country, which is the description of a refugee,” she explains. The same went for Nached, as the Syrian crisis is no longer considered an emergency in Europe that entitles Syrian asylum seekers to be accepted for resettlement. In Germany, Rudnichenko finally experienced the same kind of racism that Syrians experience daily in Gaziantep. “Only then, I could really empathise with what Ahmad had lived through for over 10 years,” she says. After five months, they decided to give up and stay in Turkey. In the meantime, life had gone back to normal in the earthquake zone and they felt safe enough to return to Gaziantep together. Last September, during a trip to Istanbul’s Princes Islands, Nached proposed to Rudnichenko, and the two got married in Gaziantep on Christmas Day. After the last year, they never imagined they would be spending Valentine’s Day in Gaziantep. But they say the city – despite the tragedy it witnessed – remains their perfect refuge. “Whatever the future is hiding for us, spending it with the right person just makes the world and this life a little less traumatic,” Nached says. [embedded content] Adblock test (Why?)

FBI Director Wray makes surprise Israel stop amid ‘elevated threat picture’

FBI Director Christopher Wray made an unannounced trip to Israel, where he sat in on intelligence meetings before speaking to Fox News. Wray’s visit was his first time on the ground in Israel since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.  The FBI director met with his counterparts in Israel’s Shin Bet (Israeli intelligence) and others. He spoke to Fox News before boarding a plane to leave the country for Germany for the Munich Security Conference, where he’ll speak Thursday.  “We’ve seen a rogues’ gallery of foreign terrorist organizations both express support and praise for the Hamas attacks and threaten to attack U.S. interests at home and abroad,” Wray said. “We’re working with all our partners to confront the elevated threat picture, which includes, I should add, the threats posed by Iran and Hezbollah, both in terms of the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, and more broadly.”  ISRAEL CONDUCTS AIRSTRIKES IN LEBANON AFTER DEADLY HEZBOLLAH ATTACK “We have learned a lot,” Wray added of the information gathered by the FBI in the wake of Oct. 7. “The information exchange between our two countries has been terrific as well. As with a number of our other close allies who are all collaborating out of a shared commitment to combat the scourge of terrorism.” Wray also spoke about the FBI’s role in protecting Americans in Israel and Gaza.  “The FBI has been working side by side, really around the clock, to aid in investigative and recovery efforts to provide support and services to U.S. victims of the attack and their families, and to identify and disrupt additional threats that we’re seeing emanating from the conflict,” he said.  Wray said he felt it was important to travel to meet with Israeli law enforcement and intelligence partners on Israeli soil “to show our unwavering support and commitment to these partners in the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas against innocent civilians on Oct. 7, and second, because we are closely working – again, I cannot overstate this – closely working with our partners in Israel and others around the world to investigate these attacks.” ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTRY CALLS FOR UNRWA COMMISSIONER TO RESIGN AMID ALLEGATIONS ITS WORKERS ASSISTED HAMAS  “Some of our FBI folks here in Israel have literally not taken a day off since Oct. 7, and I’m proud of the incredible support the team has provided to our partners during this dark time. The FBI’s partnership with our Israeli counterparts is long-standing, close and robust,” he said. “Whenever we meet and talk – which we do all the time – these are deeply substantive conversations across a whole range of common threats between countries with shared values and shared commitment to the rule of law.” “I’m confident the closeness of our agencies contributed to our ability to move so quickly in response to these attacks and to ensure our support is as seamless as possible,” he said. “My hope is that today’s meetings with Israeli intelligence and law enforcement partners, as well as our FBI personnel and officials at the U.S. Embassy, are demonstrative of the bureau’s continued commitment to these partners and helped identify even more ways that we can work together to keep people around the world safe from terrorism.”  

White House declares Suozzi victory a ‘devastating repudiation’ of Trump, Republicans

The White House touted New York Democrat Tom Suozzi’s victory over Republican Mazi Pilip as a “devastating repudiation” of former President Trump and Republicans in Congress on Wednesday. Suozzi defeated Pilip in a special election to replace disgraced former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y. White House spokesman Andrew Bates highlighted Suozzi’s support for the bipartisan border security bill that crashed and burned in Congress last week, saying he put it at the “forefront of his campaign.” “When President Biden worked with Republicans and Democrats in the Senate to deliver the toughest, fairest border security legislation in decades, Speaker Johnson killed it – choosing politics, Donald Trump and fentanyl traffickers over the Border Patrol Union and America’s national security,” Bates said. “Yesterday, voters proved him right with a devastating repudiation of congressional Republicans. Tom Suozzi put support for the bipartisan border legislation – and congressional Republicans’ killing of it for politics – at the forefront of his case.” “The results are unmistakable. And right now, House Republicans are yet again putting politics ahead of national security – siding with Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Tehran against America’s defense industrial base, against NATO, against Ukraine, and against our interests in the Indo-Pacific,” he added. ELECTION DAY SNOWSTORM HITS AS CANDIDATES IN CRUCIAL SPECIAL HOUSE ELECTION MAKE CLOSING CASES Meanwhile, Trump himself denounced Pilip as a “foolish woman” on Wednesday and claimed that she had tried to distance herself from Trump during her campaign. Pilip did not endorse Trump and said she would not support him in the general election if he was convicted of a crime, but she did not criticize him. NEW YORK SPECIAL ELECTION CANDIDATES CLASH OVER BORDER CRISIS, ABORTION: ‘YOU CREATED THIS ISSUE’ “Republicans just don’t learn, but maybe she was still a Democrat? I have an almost 99% Endorsement Success Rate in Primaries, and a very good number in the General Elections, as well, but just watched this very foolish woman, Mazi Melesa Pilip, running in a race where she didn’t endorse me and tried to ‘straddle the fence,’ when she would have easily WON if she understood anything about MODERN DAY politics in America,” Trump wrote on social media Wednesday. “I STAYED OUT OF THE RACE, ‘I WANT TO BE LOVED!’ GIVE US A REAL CANDIDATE IN THE DISTRICT FOR NOVEMBER. SUOZZI, I KNOW HIM WELL, CAN BE EASILY BEATEN!” Trump added. Both Democrats and Republicans flooded cash into the race. The district had long been held by Democrats before Santos flipped red in 2022. He was ejected from Congress less than a year into his term. The White House says Biden called Suozzi personally to congratulate him on his victory Tuesday evening. Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.

Georgia bill would require private schools to get parents’ approval before ‘addressing gender identity’ issues

A Georgia Senate committee is advancing a long-stalled proposal aimed at stopping private school teachers from talking to students about gender identity without parental permission, but both gay rights groups and some religious conservatives remain opposed to the bill. Senate Bill 88, which majority Republicans on Tuesday passed out of the Senate Education and Youth Committee on a party-line vote, now says private schools would have to obtain written permission from all parents before instruction “addressing issues of gender identity, queer theory, gender ideology, or gender transition.” “We worked in earnest to make this bill fair while still achieving our goal of making sure children’s parents are involved in a sensitive and often life-changing issue,” said Sen. Carden Summers, a Cordele Republican. GEORGIA HOUSE PASSES $5B STATE BUDGET INCREASE FOR TEACHER RAISES, INFRASTRUCTURE Liberal opponents say the measure, which goes to the full Senate for more debate, remains a thinly veiled attack on LGBTQ+ students. “There has been no evidence presented that kids are being taught gender identity issues in school that would lead to any kind of confusion or coercion,” Jeff Graham, executive director of the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Georgia Equality, said after the hearing. Some conservatives say the law is a flawed attempt to regulate private schools that unwisely introduces the concept of gender identity into state law. They also say it would let public schools override Georgia’s 2022 parental bill of rights, which gives every parent “the right to direct the upbringing and the moral or religious training of his or her minor child.” Some gay people testified in favor of the bill Tuesday, saying that transgender activists don’t represent them. “They are proselytizing this queer sex sexuality ideology to children,” said Jeff Cleghorn, a former board member of Georgia Equality. “Activists in schools have no business interfering with the parent-child relationship. Do not let schools teach kids to keep secrets from their parents.” Graham said proponents like Cleghorn don’t represent a majority opinion in their community. Committee Chairman Clint Dixon, a Buford Republican, didn’t let opponents testify, which Democratic Sen. Elena Parent of Atlanta said was “really a black eye on moving ahead on this.” The measure requires public schools to create policies by Jan. 1, 2025, that would determine how the schools would handle issues of gender identity or a child wanting to dress as a different gender or use a different name. Public schools that violate the law would have their state aid withheld and be banned from participating in the Georgia High School Association, the state’s main athletic and extracurricular body. Private schools that violate the law would be banned from getting state money provided by vouchers for children with special educational needs. Public school teachers and administrators would be threatened with the loss of their state teaching license.

House Intel Chair Turner warns of ‘serious national security threat,’ urges Biden to declassify

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner is urging President Biden to declassify information related to a “serious national security threat.”  “Today, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has made available to all Members of Congress information concerning a serious national security threat,” Turner, R-Ohio, said in a statement Wednesday. “I am requesting that President Biden declassify all information relating to this threat so that Congress, the Administration, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat,” he added. Fox News Digital obtained the notice sent to congressional members Wednesday, which pointed to “an urgent matter with regard to a destabilizing foreign military capability that should be known by all Congressional Policy Makers.” BIDEN’S MEMORY STRUGGLES COULD IMPERIL NATIONAL SECURITY, DEFENSE EXPERTS WARN: ‘NOT ONLY WEAK BUT CONFUSED’ Turner’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment and more information.  White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Wednesday at the White House press briefing that earlier in the week, he reached out to the Gang of Eight to offer himself for a personal briefing on the matter. That briefing will take place Thursday. “I am a bit surprised that Congressman Turner came out publicly today in advance of a meeting on the books for me to go sit with him alongside our intelligence and defense professionals tomorrow. That’s his choice to do that,” Sullivan said. “All I can tell you is that I’m focused on going to see him, sit with him, as well as the other House members of the Gang of Eight tomorrow, and I’m not in a position to say anything further from this podium at this time, other than to make the broad point that this administration has gone further, and in more creative, more strategic ways, dealt with the declassification of intelligence in the national interest of the United States than any administration in history,” Sullivan continued. Sullivan added: “You definitely are not going to find an unwillingness to do that when it’s in our national security interest to do so.” Sullivan said, however, the administration has prioritized “the issue of sources and methods.” “Ultimately, these are decisions for the president to make, but in the meantime, the most important thing is we have the opportunity to sit in a classified setting and have the kind of conversation with the House Intelligence leadership that I, in fact, had scheduled before Congressman Turner went out today,” Sullivan said. Sullivan again stressed that he “personally reached out” to Congress on the matter. “It is highly unusual, in fact, for the national security adviser to do that,” he said.  This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Uttar Pradesh to get 2nd Rapid Rail Corridor to connect Delhi, Noida and Jewar; check routes, timeline and other details

This news comes ahead of the approval for the second corridor of the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) extending from Ghaziabad to Jewar Airport. The proposal intends to provide balanced and sustainable urban development through better connectivity and access.

“New golden chapter, many years of hard work went into this”: PM Modi after inaugurating Abu Dhabi temple

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated Abu Dhabi’s first Hindu stone temple, describing it as a symbol of the shared heritage of humanity and thanking the UAE for scripting a new golden chapter of human history.

‘She better be’: Kamala Harris says she’s ‘ready to serve’ as president. Here’s what AOC says

Vice President Harris said she’s ready to step in as president amid growing concerns over President Biden’s age and mental acuity, prompting scorn from Republican lawmakers and support from her fellow Democrats. “She’s vice president of the United States,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said when asked if Harris was ready to serve as president. “She better be.” CONGRESS FACES ‘EXISTENTIAL MOMENT’ OVER $95 BILLION FOREIGN AID BILL: DEM REPRESENTATIVE The New York Democrat added that Harris has been “doing a solid job as vice president” and a major part of her constitutional responsibility is “to stand at the ready.” Special Counsel Robert Hur, appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, released an investigative report last week recommending no charges against Biden for his actions related to mishandling classified documents, partly due to the president’s potential defense at trial as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” The assertion led to increased scrutiny over President Biden’s age and mental abilities, particularly among Republicans, but Harris said she was “ready to serve” during an interview ahead of the report’s release. “I am ready to serve. There’s no question about that,” Harris told The Wall Street Journal, adding that everyone who observes her work “walks away fully aware of my capacity to lead.” WATCH MORE FOX NEWS DIGITAL ORIGINALS HERE Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas, said the vice president’s comments exacerbated concerns about the current commander in chief. “What’s scary is that she is basically admitting that he is not able to serve,” the Texas Republican told Fox News on Wednesday. “Look, we don’t need four more years of Biden, and we certainly don’t need one day of President Harris.” Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., said a Harris administration “would be an unmitigated disaster.” “It’s two of the most clueless people that have ever been in the executive office,” Palmer told Fox News. ‘HE’S DELUSIONAL’: BIDEN’S BORDER COMMENTS SPARK STIFF REBUKE ON CAPITOL HILL FROM SOME LAWMAKERS Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., said America has already “seen the results of the vice president’s version of serving.” “As the border czar, she’s done a terrible job and I have no confidence that she will do any better doing anything else,” the Arizona Republican said. Rep. Austin Scott, a Republican from Georgia, said he doesn’t “know what she’s ready for.” “She doesn’t seem to even make a coherent statement,” Scott said. But Rep. Madeleine Dean, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, bristled at the question of Harris’ readiness. “Of course she’s ready to serve. What an absurd question,” Dean said. To hear more from lawmakers about a potential Harris presidency, click here.