US Senate Dean Dianne Feinstein, a historic figure in the Democratic Party, has died at the age of 90, US media announced on Friday.
Ms. Feinstein was the first female mayor of San Francisco before serving as a California senator for more than 30 years. She was considered a stubborn politician and an influential pillar in the upper house of Congress.
However, she faced criticism from the Democratic Party’s left for several months after a journalistic investigation highlighted her cognitive decline.
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Punchbowl News, a media outlet specializing in congressional news, provided the information, as did a local ABC station. The senator voted again in Congress on Thursday morning.
She announced her political retirement in February and indicated she would not run again in the 2024 election.
President Joe Biden then praised the qualities of Dianne Feinstein, a “close friend,” noting in particular her role as a trailblazer for women in politics.
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Dianne Feinstein served as mayor of San Francisco for ten years, following the assassination of her predecessor George Moscone and gay rights activist Harvey Milk in 1978, a tragedy in which this woman was able to demonstrate her determination.
In particular, in 1994 the Senate passed a ten-year ban on assault rifles.
She also supported George W. Bush’s war in Iraq and became an influential member of the Intelligence Committee. His multi-thousand-page report exposing the CIA’s lies about torture in the context of the “war on terrorism” has gone down in history.
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The California senator has played a leading role in considering hundreds of bills throughout her career.
However, in recent years, the elected official has eroded her political capital due to persistent doubts about her coherence, often expressed from within her own camp.
Former legislative staffers described episodes of mental confusion reported in a New Yorker article in late 2020. His memory lapses also came to light at the Senate hearing of ex-Twitter boss Jack Dorsey: she asked him the same question word for word twice in a row.
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His case has been regularly cited in debates about the age of many elected officials in the United States.
The candidate for President Joe Biden is 80 years old, his competitor and predecessor Donald Trump is 77 years old. Former Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, 83, announced in early September that she would run again in California.