Panel vice-chair issues statement with chair Bennie Thompson after Trump vice-president gives interview to CBSThe chair and vice-chair of the January 6 committee hit back after Mike Pence said they had “no right” to his testimony about the Capitol attack, and claimed they presided over a “partisan” investigation.Testimony presented to the panel and to the nation in a series of dramatic public hearings was “not partisan”, Bennie Thompson and Liz Cheney said. “It was truthful.” Continue reading...
Slim majority means any member of party sitting in House of Representatives could block legislation. Plus, the meteorite that may solve mystery of Earth’s water
His campaign proved that class can be a driver of political behavior and a foundation of redistributive economic policyThe midterm elections last Tuesday blew a hole in conventional political wisdom. The supposed law that the president’s party could never win a midterm. That partisanship was too entrenched for voters to split their tickets between parties at a high rate. That candidate quality and experience no longer mattered. That politics has been so nationalized that the entire country would get more Republican or Democratic together, rather than different climates in different states or regions. The most important myth busted for people with leftwing politics is the impressive win of John Fetterman for Senate in Pennsylvania. Fetterman proved that progressive politics really could win back working class white Trump voters in rural areas.The idea that populist redistributive economics could win back working class Trump voters has been proposed since immediately after the 2016 election. It made sense ideologically to leftists, but there was no proof of concept until this election. Every attempt at using Medicare for All and anti-elite rhetoric to bring Trump voters in ancestrally Democratic areas back to the party had failed miserably. The platform and messaging of Fetterman, however, led him to a shocking 4.4% win in a state that President Biden won by just 1.1%. The president’s party flipping a Senate seat in a midterm election, let alone quadrupling the president’s winning margin, is incredibly rare. Respected sites like Fivethirtyeight and Sabato’s Crystal Ball viewed Oz as a clear favorite. Beyond this, Fetterman flipped the script on 40 years of partisan trends. Fetterman matched Biden’s margins in highly educated urban and suburban areas that have been getting more Democratic for decades, especially in the Trump era. His surprising winning margin came most of all from drastically improving on Biden’s margins in working class post-industrial and rural areas that had been getting redder for the last few decades, even faster than the suburbs had been getting bluer. How did he do this, and what does this mean for Democrats going forward?Ben Davis works in political data in Washington, DC. He worked on the data team for the Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign Continue reading...
Republicans were expected to maintain their iron grip on state legislature –but Democrats took control of the vital swing state’s senate and houseEarly on the morning after the midterm elections, a stunning new development that few Michigan political observers imagined possible took shape: Democrats, for the first time in nearly 40 years, took control of the vital swing state’s senate and house.They achieved it in a year Republicans were expected to maintain their iron grip on the state legislature, but when the dust settled, Democrats held a 56-54 majority in the House and 20-18 advantage in the Senate. It came in addition to Dems sweeping the statewide offices at the top of the ballot, retaining control of the state supreme court and winning a majority of US House seats. Continue reading...
The Americans are on the right path as they look towards co-hosting the World Cup in 2026. But in Qatar they lack the experience of previous USMNT rostersThe Gregg Berhalter era began in the desert with a 3-0 friendly win over Panama in January 2019 in front of 9,040 people in Glendale, Arizona.The journey to Qatar has spanned 56 matches: a sometimes thrilling, occasionally dreary trip from the cacti and air-conditioned sprawl of the oblivious Phoenix suburbs to the dense skyscrapers and ignoble stadiums of the peninsula hosting the globe’s highest-profile sporting event. Continue reading...
Gary Gold’s Eagles are 80 minutes away from Pool C in France but Os Lobos are on the up. A nerve-shredding night is in storeOn Friday, USA and Portugal will meet in Dubai for a winner-takes-all Test match, the prize the last place at the Rugby World Cup in France next year. It is by some distance the most important game in the recent history of American rugby.The US will host the men’s World Cup in 2031 and the women’s tournament two years later. World Rugby has placed a significant bet. Executives are of course neutral but without wishing any ill to the Portuguese, anyone seeking to plant rugby union in the American consciousness will be mighty relieved should the Eagles make it into Pool C with Australia, Wales, Fiji and Georgia. Continue reading...
Claims of delays, unfair labor practices and retaliation against workers as the battle for a first union contract stallsStarbucks corporate board meetings reportedly include two empty chairs to represent employees and customers. It is a sort of gimmick aimed at portraying an inclusive company culture.But recently workers at unionized Starbucks stores have been posting photos of empty chairs at tables set out for talks on a first union contract. They do so as a way of making a very different point: workers have now made multiple complaints about Starbucks attorneys showing up to bargaining sessions and then leaving before any bargaining could begin. Continue reading...
The Jets haven’t appeared in the playoffs since the 2010 season. But a strong defense and talented young players have transformed the teamThe 10th anniversary of the Butt Fumble arrives next Tuesday, but the New York Jets probably won’t mark the day because that sad-sack play symbolically planted them on their tushies. The Jets have won 57 of 160 games since, with seven 10-loss seasons and zero playoff appearances.But look again. Six of those victories have come this year, in just nine games, and the Jets find themselves one-half game out of first place in the AFC East – and tied with the Buffalo Bills, whom the Jets beat in their last game and many consider to be of Super Bowl caliber. Continue reading...
Kevin McCarthy will be a mere stooge – that is, until he’s replaced by someone even more TrumpistEven before the midterm elections – when the vaunted “red wave” dried up – influential Republicans, over drinks in Washington, casually discussed the fate of Kevin McCarthy as a short-timer.The man who would be the speaker of the House had already been taking a victory lap before a single vote was counted. “I’m better prepared now,” he recently told New York magazine. “If I’m not going to be acceptable to the body having that scenario this time, no one’s acceptable,” he boasted to Punchbowl News. The failed frozen yogurt shop owner from Bakersfield, California, envisions himself at last standing as the hero of his Horatio Alger success story atop the greasy pole. McCarthy now trumpets that he has won the confidence of the far-right Freedom Caucus that previously opposed his elevation. He clutches its leader, his twitchy former foe Jim Jordan, as a great friend. “Probably my biggest advocate is Jim Jordan,” he has said. Continue reading...
Gigs have come roaring back after a lull – though some comics are preparing DeSantis impressionsRepublicans may be split on Donald Trump’s bid for the presidency, but at least one group of people woke up happy the morning after his announcement. “I’m totally energized,” said John Di Domenico, a Las Vegas-based comic who makes a living impersonating Trump at corporate events and parties. “We just got new booking requests today, and I keep getting texts from people who see this as another opportunity for me.”After watching the events of January 6, Di Domenico wasn’t sure he would ever be able to put on his $4,000 wig and bronzer spray tan ever again. “There was a dip,” he said. The best way he can explain it: on Mother’s Day 2020, at the height of Trump’s re-election campaign, he shot 30 Cameo videos dressed as the president – short clips intended as gifts for his female fanbase. Continue reading...
by Sam Levin and Lois Beckett in Los Angeles on (#65XH5)
The Democrat takes over as the second Black mayor in LA’s history, beating a rival who spent over $80m of his own money on the raceThe congresswoman Karen Bass was elected mayor of Los Angeles, defeating billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso and becoming the first woman to run the second-largest city in the US.The Democrat, who has served as a US representative for more than a decade, had amassed an insurmountable lead of nearly 47,000 votes, with 70% of the votes counted, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday, nearly one one week after the election. Caruso had a slight lead in the first counts after the polls closed, but Bass soon surpassed him and steadily increased her lead as ballots were counted. Continue reading...
by Dani Anguiano in Los Angeles and agencies on (#65X69)
The cadets were on a training run when a 22-year-old driver going the wrong way crashed into them, critically injuring fiveMore than 20 Los Angeles county sheriff’s academy recruits were injured early Wednesday morning when an SUV driving the wrong way hit the class while they were on a training run.Authorities have detained a 22-year-old driver in connection with the incident, which left 25 people injured, five critically, including head trauma, broken bones and “loss of limb”, said Sheriff Alex Villanueva. Continue reading...
With Republicans in control of the House and Democrats holding the Senate, expect a legislative logjamRepublicans officially captured control of the House on Wednesday, as the Associated Press called the 218th seat for the party. The House victory ends four years of Democratic control of the lower chamber, handing Republicans the speakership and the chairmanships of key committees, while Democrats will maintain control of the Senate.But the incoming Republican speaker has the unenviable task of attempting to pass legislation with a very narrow majority, where only a few defections within the party will be enough to kill a bill. Continue reading...
Controlling an unruly party with an extremely narrow majority will all but guarantee brutal tests every dayEven before Republicans took the House of Representatives, leading figures on the right of the party pointed to troubled waters ahead for Kevin McCarthy – or whoever else becomes the next House speaker.Now Republicans have won their slim victory in the lower chamber of Congress, the next two years are likely to be chaotic. Controlling an unruly party with an extremely narrow majority will all but guarantee brutal tests every day, especially from the right wing. Continue reading...
Xu Yanjun was accused of a lead role in a five-year Chinese state-backed scheme to steal commercial secrets from GE AviationA US federal court has sentenced a Chinese intelligence officer to 20 years in prison after he was convicted last year of plotting to steal trade secrets from from US and French aviation and aerospace companies.Xu Yanjun was accused of a lead role in a five-year Chinese state-backed scheme to steal commercial secrets from GE Aviation, one of the world’s leading aircraft engine manufacturers, and France’s Safran Group, which was working with GE on engine development. Continue reading...
Dehydrated 10-year-old sent to hospital after arrival, as Governor Greg Abbott sends thousands of migrants to Democratic-led areasA bus carrying 28 migrants from Texas arrived in Philadelphia on Wednesday, including a 10-year-old girl suffering from dehydration and a high fever who was taken to a hospital for treatment.Advocates who welcomed the migrants with coats and blankets before dawn on a cold and drizzly morning said the families and individuals came from Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. The city and several non-profit groups were ready to provide food, temporary housing and other services. Continue reading...
The tribe’s right to representation is detailed in the 1835 Treaty of New Echota, which forced them from their ancestral landThe Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma moved a step closer on Wednesday to having a promise fulfilled from nearly 200 years ago that a delegate from the tribe be seated in Congress.Chuck Hoskin Jr, principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, was among those who testified before the US House rules committee, which is the first to examine the prospect of seating a Cherokee delegate in the US House. Hoskin, the elected leader of the 440,000-member tribe, put the effort in motion in 2019 when he nominated Kimberly Teehee, a former adviser to Barack Obama, to the position. The tribe’s governing council then unanimously approved her. Continue reading...
Some members cool on former president’s White House candidacy after poor performance of Trump-backed midterm contendersDonald Trump is not allowing the Republican party to move on from him – no matter how desperately some of its members want to.Announcing his third consecutive presidential campaign at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Tuesday night, Trump made it clear that he viewed himself as the only acceptable option for the 2024 Republican nomination. Continue reading...
We have been abandoned by our allies before. What happens next will be a test of the west’s resolveIf the history of central and eastern Europe is being rewritten by the conflict in Ukraine, then so is the history of the north Atlantic alliance.Two people were killed on Tuesday evening in Polish territory, struck, it seems, by a Russian-made missile. The US president, Joe Biden, and the Warsaw government sought to dial down the tension, saying on Wednesday that the missile most probably came not from Russia but from Ukrainian air defence.Karolina Wigura is a historian of ideas. Jaroslaw Kuisz is editor-in-chief of the Polish weekly Kultura Liberalna. Continue reading...
Ex-player allegedly shot three team members dead and wounded two on bus Sunday as students returned from a play in WashingtonPeople struggling to grasp why a former University of Virginia football player allegedly shot three team members dead on a bus last Sunday have found few answers, though the suspect’s father has said his son had become “paranoid” as he faced potential school discipline.Christopher Darnell Jones Sr apologized to the families of D’Sean Perry, Lavel Davis Jr and Devin Chandler, who were killed, as well as two others who were wounded: Mike Hollins, another football player, and fellow student Marlee Morgan. Continue reading...
Asylum restrictions imposed at beginning of Covid pandemic are ‘arbitrary and capricious’, US district judge saysA federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Biden administration to lift Trump-era asylum restrictions that have been a cornerstone of border enforcement since the beginning of Covid.The US district judge, Emmet Sullivan, ruled in Washington that enforcement must end immediately for families and single adults, calling the ban “arbitrary and capricious”. The administration has not applied it to children traveling alone. Continue reading...
Dogs and crew injured but not seriously after aircraft forced into emergency landing in Pewaukee, WisconsinA plane carrying dozens of adoptable dogs crashed on to a snowy Wisconsin golf course – and the dogs all survived.On Tuesday, the aircraft, which was transporting 53 dogs at-risk adoptable dogs from New Orleans to various shelters, made an emergency landing on the Western Lakes golf course in Pewaukee, about 40 minutes outside of Milwaukee, reported WTMJ-TV Milwaukee. Continue reading...
It’s arrogant of the activists who attacked a Klimt to assume anyone who cares about art doesn’t also care about the planetAnother day, another gallery: the attacks on art in the name of climate action have become a headline-hogging obsession with a hideous escalating logic. The nastier the treatment a famous masterpiece gets, the bigger the media coverage.Now, members of Letzte Generation Österreich (Last Generation Austria) have smeared “non-toxic fake oil” all over the glass covering of Gustav Klimt’s Death and Life, a colouristic vision of pink and gold intertwined human bodies menaced by the grim reaper. Not that you can see much of that in the disturbing images of the attack at the Leopold Museum in Vienna: a black and purple stain all but obscures the delicate picture. The aggression of the attack takes this wave of action a step further than tomato soup on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers and mashed potato on a Monet. But a step further to where? Continue reading...
Former White House chief of staff said his ex-boss’s planned third run for presidency is bad for Republican partyDonald Trump’s announcement of a third consecutive run for the presidency is bad for the Republican party because he is the only Republican who could lose in 2024, Trump’s own former White House chief of staff said on Tuesday night.Asked on CNN if he thought Trump’s announcement at Mar-a-Lago was good for the Republican party, Mick Mulvaney said: “No I don’t. I think he’s the only Republican who could lose.” Continue reading...
The sheriff’s term was marked by misconduct, abuse and corruption cases in the largest county sheriff’s agency in the USFor only the second time in more than a century, Los Angeles residents have voted out an incumbent sheriff, ending the reign of Alex Villanueva, a scandal-plagued official who civil rights leaders say had become a “danger to the people”.Villanueva conceded to Robert Luna, the former police chief of the city of Long Beach, on Tuesday, one week after the election, with latest count showing Luna had 60% of the vote compared with the incumbent’s 40%. The results marked a decisive rejection of the leader of the largest county sheriff’s agency in the US. Continue reading...
Twice-impeached former president makes expected announcement despite shaky midterms and surge from rival Ron DeSantis. Plus, the latest from Cop27• Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.Donald Trump has formally announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, likely sparking another period of tumult in US politics and especially his own political party.Will Trump’s legal battles stand in the way? Federal and state authorities are investigating his personal, political and financial conduct, and that of his business empire. How any indictment would affect Trump’s run remains unclear – he is experienced in using delaying actions in the courts and in using political or investigatory moves against him as fuel to fire up his base.Just a few months ago it was received wisdom that the Republican nomination was his for the taking. What happened? The star of the former president was already waning among the party faithful before the midterms, as Cas Mudde explores.What might have happened? Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he took Russian denials of involvement in the attack seriously, adding it was likely to be a technical error. Continue reading...
The scandal surrounding Sam Bankman-Fried is a dire warning about the potential of effective altruism’s power and influenceSam Bankman-Fried’s recent alleged fraud raises familiar questions about the reliability and regulation of cryptocurrency. But it also calls into question “effective altruism”, an intellectual movement in philanthropy. If the movement doesn’t change course, one of the most ambitious charitable drives in recent history will end up like so many others: a lab and playground for wealthy donors.Bankman-Fried was a junior at MIT when he first encountered William MacAskill, a founder of effective altruism. MacAskill pitched him about the “earning to give” strategy – trying to make as much money as one can in order to maximize one’s charitable donations. On MacAskill’s advice, Bankman-Fried began his career trading securities before being hired by the Center for Effective Altruism. Afterwards, he began FTX, an international crypto exchange. Alongside it were the FTX Future Fund and the FTX Foundation, philanthropic organizations committed to effective altruism and staffed by prominent effective altruists, including MacAskill.Olúfẹ́mi O Táíwò is associate professor of philosophy at Georgetown University. He has written for publications including the Guardian, the New Yorker and the NationJoshua Stein, a postdoctoral fellow at the Georgetown Institute for the Study of Markets and Ethics, has written for Slate and Aeon Continue reading...
Unions say airline industry seeks to return to normal without addressing serious problems around pay and staffingFlight attendants at American Airlines have held picket rallies at 11 major airports in the US, over the airline rejecting new union contract proposals from the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents 25,000 of its flight attendants.The move is the latest in a series of industrial actions and disputes to have hit the US airlines industry as it recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic. Workers and unions say that the industry has sought to return to normal without addressing serious problems, especially around pay and staffing levels. Continue reading...
Rishi Sunak played down the prospect of an imminent trade deal with the US at a press conference in Bali, Indonesia, after he held his first face-to-face bilateral meeting with Joe Biden. Sunak said the UK was focusing more on the quality of trade deals rather than the speed at which they could be agreed. However, the British prime minister struck an optimistic tone about the prospects for further economic cooperation with the US
Victory in the south will give Ukrainians strength, just as the explosion in Poland highlights the risks involved in this conflictThe longer this war lasts, the higher the chances that it will spill over into Nato territory. Last night’s missile explosions that reportedly killed two people in the Polish village of Przewodów, 20km from the border with Ukraine, are testimony to a dangerous trend of miscalculation that could lead to escalation. As long as Russia continues its desperate tactic of missile barrages against civilian infrastructure, this risk is high.But while attention is focused on Russia’s indiscriminate long-range strikes, and the emerging G20 and Nato reactions, Moscow’s position on the ground is weaker than it has been in months. The loss of Kherson last week was a major blow – to the point that even senior Russian commanders have acknowledged setbacks for the first time.Orysia Lutsevych is the head of Ukraine Forum at Chatham House Continue reading...
As the American men prepare for their 11th World Cup, we look back at the highs and lows of their appearancesThe US men have been to every World Cup so far … aside from the last one, the 1938 edition, and every single one between 1950 and 1990.Some trips have been momentous occasions that propelled the sport in the US forward. Some passed by a country that ignored soccer for a generation or three. And some may bring about traumatic memories, in which case American readers may be advised to skip down to No 6 or so. Continue reading...
Pundits who prophesied Trump will ride high seemingly forgot that the wheel that turns up, also turns down – and the midterms proved itThe incredible shrinking Trump announced, in the most predictable news of the year, that he’s running for president again. In his eternal quest for attention, he had to be dissuaded from doing it before the recent election, so he wouldn’t do what he most aspires to do, which is to steal attention from everyone else, including the candidates in the party he may or may not still head but definitely disrupted.He would like lots more attention from you and me and everyone else, and he would also like some qualified immunity from all the criming he did during his last presidency. By the way, he stole a lot of classified documents and tried to steal an election and there should be lots of legal consequences for both of those more newsworthy things, though I wouldn’t bet on that. I’d much rather talk about everyone and anyone else, but within the parameters of this assignment I will have to talk about them talking about Trump. Continue reading...
Staying in relationships after they’re healthy is never a good idea. The veteran point guard and the stumbling Lakers offer a textbook exampleLong before I was ever anything close to what could be considered an expert on the NBA, I was something of an expert on relationships. I’ve always found human interaction fascinating (and that was even before the years of therapy). Relatedly, one of the many basketball hills I’m prone to die on is that it’s a relationships business. Chemistry, camaraderie and general good vibes are not only important to team success; they’re everything. So, needless to say, living in Los Angeles the last few years has made for intriguing proximity to one of the most interesting case studies on fractured relationships in the league: that between Russell Westbrook and the Los Angeles Lakers.The present-day Lakers are, to put it in plain English, a mess. Placing the blame for that squarely on the shoulders of the mercurial Westbrook is woefully reductive, and certainly doesn’t tell the full story. For starters, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka just got a contract extension, which is somewhat puzzling given his less-than-stellar success rate in the years since the team’s 2020 championship (though some have argued that LeBron James’ opinion on the roster weighed heavily in decision making as well). Even dating back to a time before James signed with the Lakers in the summer of 2018, the industry has kibitzed about the front office’s apparent ineptitude. But Westbrook’s $47m salary has certainly encumbered the team and limited any functional ability to build around its top-tier superstars in James and Anthony Davis. To put the $47m in perspective: it’s almost $3m more than James himself will make this season, and, staggeringly, more than everyone else on the team outside James and Davis makes combined. Directly or indirectly, Westbrook finds himself at the crux of the issue. Continue reading...
The rightwing views young people as a threat – and that is not just in the USGen Z certainly brought their A-game to the US midterms last week. Predictions of a “red wave” were thwarted, thanks largely to young people turning up in huge numbers to vote for Democrats. Young women in particular: 72% of women aged 18-29 voted for Democrat candidates according to exit polls. Not hard to figure out why, is it? Do we vote for the forced-birthers or do we vote for the people who might give us a few rights over our own bodies? Hmmm. Still, that question seems to have stumped other demographics: Democrats lost voters aged 45 and older by at least seven points, including a 12-point loss among people over 65.The fact that young people don’t like them very much hasn’t bypassed the Republican party. Instead of rethinking their policies, however, some of them have decided to rethink the voting age. Over the last few days, a lot of Republicans have been proclaiming that the US ought to increase the legal voting age to 21. (One conservative radio personality even suggested it be raised to 28.) The same people who reckon a 10-year-old girl is mature enough to be forced to carry a baby, reckon a 20-year-old isn’t mature enough to vote.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
The former president consistently painted a misleading image of his years in office, recalling nonexistent global peace, secure borders and a strong economyDonald Trump’s announcement that he will run for president again in 2024 was met with joy, dismay and mockery across the political spectrum.Making the widely anticipated announcement at his Florida resort of Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday night, Trump delivered remarks that would feel quite familiar to anyone who has watched one of his many campaign rallies. Looking back on America as he left the presidency in early 2021, Trump painted a rosy and often misleading picture of a nation that had established secure borders, a strong economy and global peace. Continue reading...
Expect months of self-pity as Republicans inch away from the ex-president and Ron DeSantis gains steamThe guy who spawned an insurrection in January 2021 is back. On Tuesday night, Donald Trump launched his bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. In front of Mar-a-Lago’s fawning faithful, he attacked Joe Biden and lamented the state of the US in his own absence. “Embarrassed”, “humiliated” and “glory” emerged as the evening’s buzzwords.The speech sounded like a rehash of his inaugural address. The US has been warned. Unless “45” goes to prison sometime soon, expect the coming months to be a constant pity-party, fueled by a bottomless pit of grievances. In his own words, he is “persecuted” and a “victim”. His son Eric is the unfair recipient of a passel of subpoenas. Continue reading...
Joe Biden says the US and its Nato allies are investigating a blast that killed two people in Poland. Asked whether Russia was involved in the blast, Biden said it was 'unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia, but we'll see'. Poland summoned Russia's ambassador to Warsaw for an explanation after Moscow denied it was responsible
Ex-president appears over the hill at 2024 announcement to an enthusiastic – but dwindling – group of loyalistsFrom plastering his name on buildings to hiring his own children, from salivating over military parades to savaging the media, from befriending fellow strongmen to defying the will of the people, Donald Trump has done much to invite comparisons with autocrats.On Tuesday he continued to play that role to perfection. Only now he was the ousted dictator, drained of power and surrounded by a dwindling band of loyalists in his last redoubt, the opulent Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. As a rule, the grander the palace, the weaker the man. Continue reading...
The evening was full of contradictory messages supporting and slighting the former presidentAll the signs in the past week have been that the Rupert Murdoch-owned US media was ready to ditch Donald Trump en masse. The New York Post mocked Trump as Humpty Dumpty, the Wall Street Journal declared him to be “the Republican party’s biggest loser” and even Fox News offered scant defense of Trump’s miserable midterm elections.Watching Fox News on Tuesday night, however, as Trump announced he was running for president yet again in 2024, it seemed that not everyone was ready to let Trump go. Continue reading...
Just a few months ago, it was received wisdom that the Republican nomination was his for the taking. Now, that’s not the caseHe is running! In the least surprising news of the year, a low-energy Donald Trump announced that he is running for president again last night. The speech itself was also predictable, hitting the traditional authoritarian and nativist favorites. We heard about the “invasion” at the border and “radical Democrats” in the White House, all spiced up with the usual combination of self-complimenting anecdotes and self-serving lies that we have come to expect from the former president.What was much more interesting was the almost complete absence of prominent Republicans in Mar-a-Lago and even the lukewarm interest of the US media. At various channels, journalists were “analyzing” Trump’s run while the former president was giving his speech on mute in the background. Even Fox News’s Sean Hannity cut into the speech after a little over half an hour. Continue reading...
by Lauren Gambino in Washington and Martin Pengelly i on (#65W9F)
Twice-impeached ex-president makes expected election announcement despite shaky midterms and surge from rival Ron DeSantisDonald Trump on Tuesday night announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, likely sparking another period of tumult in US politics and especially his own political party.“In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” Trump said from ballroom of his private Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, where he stood on a stage crowded with American flags and Make America Great Again banners. Continue reading...
Trump skips father’s announcement and says she is prioritizing her family after serving as adviser during his presidencyIvanka Trump has decided to bow out of US politics and not actively join her father’s bid to retake the White House in 2024, saying she has chosen “to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family”.Donald Trump launched his 2024 bid for the Republican nomination on Tuesday night at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Members of his family, including his wife, Melania, and son Eric were present. Even Ivanka’s husband, Jared Kushner, was in attendance. But Ivanka was not. Continue reading...
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