DeSantis news - live: Florida governor snaps at reporter for simple question at New Hampshire campaign event

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is facing mounting criticism over a sweeping new immigration law coming into effect on 1 July, which has caused the state’s Latino truck drivers to pledge to leave deliveries unmade on Thursday and migrant-owned businesses to shutter their doors in protest.

Senate Bill 1718 imposes strict new employment mandates on businesses and workers, limits access to social services for undocumented immigrants, allocates millions more tax dollars to expand Mr DeSantis’s “Unauthorized Alien Transport Program”, invalidates driver’s licences issued to undocumented people in other states and requires public hospitals to check up on a patient’s immigration status.

Guadalupe de la Cruz, director of the Florida chapter of the American Friends Service Committee, told Mother Jones: “The bill has caused a lot of panic and chaos. Many of our community members are either leaving Florida or considering it.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida has likewise denounced the bill as “cruel, dangerous and overbroad”.

Meanwhile, on the 2024 campaign trail, Mr DeSantis has travelled from Iowa to New Hampshire in his tour of early-voting states. At one stop he snapped at a reporter when asked why he hadn’t taken questions from voters.

Key Points

• DeSantis under fire over anti-immigration law as boycott pressure grows

• Florida governor hits familiar targets Fauci, Disney and ‘wokeism’ in first rally as 2024 candidate

• DeSantis vows to ‘destroy leftism’ and accuses Trump of allying with Disney

• Member of DeSantis's Disney governing board quits role

• DeSantis hit by three federal lawsuits alleging voter suppression violate constitutional amendments

Recap: Trump caught on tape discussing classified documents he kept after leaving White House

18:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Federal prosecutors have reportedly obtained a recording of former president Donald Trump discussing classified documents he kept at his private residences long after his term expired in January 2021.

According to CNN, the audiotape of Mr Trump was created during the summer of 2021, approximately six months after the ex-president had left office.

Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.

Trump caught on tape discussing classified docs he kept after leaving White House

Oath Keeper who guarded Roger Stone before Jan 6 attack sentenced

18:17 , Oliver O'Connell

A member of the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group who was part of a security detail for former President Donald Trump‘s longtime adviser Roger Stone before storming the US Capitol was sentenced on Thursday to more than four years in prison.

Read more...

Oath Keeper who guarded Roger Stone before Jan. 6 attack gets more than 4 years in prison

Watch: McEnany still praising Trump even after he insulted her

18:05 , Oliver O'Connell

Alabama senator condemned by his own brother for ‘vile rhetoric'

17:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville has evoked outrage and scorn from Democratic critics in recent weeks with a string of incendiary comments defending white nationalists and suggesting that teachers in “inner cities” are illiterate.

Now, his own brother has added his voice to the chorus of Americans who’ve been offended and dismayed by the first-term senator’s forays into racism.

Andrew Feinberg has the story.

Alabama senator condemned by his own brother for ‘ignorant, hateful rants’

Trump doesn’t like the term ‘woke’

17:36 , Oliver O'Connell

Speaking in Iowa, Donald Trump says he doesn’t like the term “woke” because most people don’t know what it means.

The former president said: “I don’t like the term ‘woke,” because I hear the term ‘woke woke woke’ — it’s just a term they use, half the people can’t define it, they don’t know what it is.”

Watch:

Watch: Trump in Des Moines

17:26 , Oliver O'Connell

Failed MAGA candidate indicted for shooting spree targeting Democrats

17:15 , Oliver O'Connell

A failed Republican candidate has been indicted on federal charges of organising a series of drive-by shootings at the homes of Democratic officials in New Mexico after losing his 2022 midterm election, according to a Department of Justice statement.

Bevan Hurley reports.

Failed Maga candidate indicted for drive-by shootings of Democratic officials’ homes

Trump arrives in Urbandale, Iowa

16:51 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump accuses DeSantis of faking his own name

16:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Former president Donald Trump escalated his attacks on competitor Ron DeSantis as the Florida governor began his presidential campaign in Iowa following his glitch-laden Twitter announcement.

The 45th president on Wednesday claimed that Mr DeSantis was looking to “change his name”.

“Have you heard that ‘Rob’ DeSanctimonious wants to change his name, again,” Mr Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

Read more...

Trump accuses DeSantis of faking his own name in wave of attacking social media posts

Watch: DeSantis snaps at reporter

16:22 , Oliver O'Connell

Rivals hit the campaign trail in key early-voting states

16:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Former President Donald Trump returns to the campaign trail Thursday as his chief rival for the GOP presidential nomination, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, is undertaking his first swing through early-voting states as an official candidate.

Trump is back in Iowa nearly three weeks after cancelling his last event, a large rally near Des Moines, due to a tornado warning, reluctantly ceding the spotlight to DeSantis as the governor crisscrossed the state ahead of his campaign launch.

Trump, who has spent the last few weeks attacking DeSantis on social media and mocking his glitch-filled kickoff announcement, has a series of events scheduled around Des Moines followed by a town hall airing on Fox News Channel on Thursday night.

DeSantis is coming off a two-day burst of stops around Iowa, which leads off the GOP presidential primary contest next year. On Thursday, he will be in the early voting state of New Hampshire, with stops scheduled in Laconia, Rochester, Salem and Manchester, before taking his campaign on Friday to South Carolina, another state high on the presidential voting calendar.

The duelling appearances between Trump and DeSantis come as each man is portraying himself as the stronger fighter for conservative policies.

Trump returns to campaign trail in Iowa as GOP rival DeSantis makes case to New Hampshire voters

Trump legal team asks for removal of judge in hush-money case

15:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump’s lawyers plan to request the judge presiding over a criminal trial into alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels be removed due to his campaign donations and family’s ties to the Democrat Party, according to a report.

It’s the latest in a series of legal manoeuvres by the former president to move the Manhattan criminal trial slated to begin next March away from New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.

Bevan Hurley reports.

Trump legal team asks for judge in hush-money case to be removed

‘Are you blind?’ DeSantis asks reporter

15:36 , Oliver O'Connell

Ron DeSantis was asked by AP reporter Steve Peoples why he wasn’t interacting with voters in New Hampshire and gave the following response:

People are coming up to me, talking to me. What are you talking about? Are you blind? Are you blind? People are coming up to me, talking to me whatever they want to talk to me about.

Trans activist slams Trump campaign for using her in ad

15:20 , Oliver O'Connell

them reports:

Genderfluid TikTok creator James Rose says they “fear for the safety of our community” after Donald Trump’s latest campaign ad used footage of her alongside her friend, fellow TikToker and activist Dylan Mulvaney, to push violent rhetoric and anti-trans moral panic.

The ad, which the Trump campaign posted to social media sites May 15, includes a brief clip of a comedic video that Mulvaney and Rose filmed together last year for Mulvaney’s video diary series “Days of Girlhood.” Over the clip and stock footage of a sign for “all gender restrooms,” a narrator describes a “war” against “the global elitists [...] who tell you a woman is a man and a man is a woman.”

“I saw it, then I kind of fell apart,” Rose told their followers in a TikTok video posted Sunday, fighting back tears. The ad made her feel ashamed for being trans, Rose confessed. “I felt shame about being public about my transition, being bubbly and fun and loving life, and I thought ‘oh, maybe if I were just different, then maybe I wouldn’t have, like, failed my community in this way.”

Watch Rose’s TikTok below:

Trump v McEnany: Why did he turn on his once great defender?

15:00 , Oliver O'Connell

In a moment that shocked some — but came as no surprise to others — Donald Trump turned on his former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Tuesday night for allegedly sharing inaccurate poll numbers.

Ms McEnany, who served as the former president’s fourth press secretary, was known as one of his most loyal aides and staunch defenders, something she continued when she joined Fox News as a contributor after he lost the 2020 election and left office.

Nevertheless, the former president pulled no punches in a Truth Social Post, complaining about a segment in which he claims she misreported his lead over Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Read more...

Why did Donald Trump turn on Kayleigh McEnany?

Trump returns to campaign trail in Iowa as DeSantis makes case in New Hampshire

14:30 , Joe Sommerlad

Here’s a look at the Republican front-runners next moves as the primary GOP race begins to take shape.

Trump returns to campaign trail in Iowa as GOP rival DeSantis makes case to New Hampshire voters

Trump employee who moved classified papers at Mar-a-Lago ‘also questioned surveillance video’

14:00 , Joe Sommerlad

A Mar-a-Lago employee who helped move boxes of classified documents the day before Justice Department investigators visited Donald Trump’s home also reportedly asked questions about the property’s security cameras.

Graeme Massie picks up the story.

Trump worker who moved classified papers questioned surveillance video details

Trump touts plans for celebration of 250 years of American Independence

13:30 , Oliver O'Connell

In a new campaign-style video, Donald Trump says if elected president in 2024 he will throw the USA the “most spectacular” birthday party to mark the 250th anniversary of American Independence.

The former president is proposing a year-long “Salute to America 250” celebration, including a “Great American State Fair,” featuring pavilions from all 50 states. He also wants nationwide high school sporting contests.

In a revival of one of his 2020 election plans, Mr Trump also wants to build the “National Garden of American Heroes” with statues of important figures in American history such as Frederick Douglass and Amelia Earhart — a plan enshrined in a Trump presidency executive order but scrapped when Joe Biden won the election.

The celebration would be organised by a task force formed on the first day of his presidency and will last from Memorial Day 2025 through until 4 July 2026.

The fair he proposed he even suggests could be held at the Iowa State Fairground — coincidentally where he is currently heading for a two-day tour as the 2024 campaign gets going in the first caucus state.

“I will work with all 50 governors, Republican and Democrat alike, to create the Great American State Fair, a unique one-year exhibition featuring pavilions from all 50 states. It’ll be something. The Great American State Fair will showcase the glory of every state in the Union, promote pride in our history, and put forth innovative visions for America’s future,” he says.

“My hope is that the amazing people of Iowa will work with my administration to open up the legendary Iowa state fairgrounds to host the Great American State Fair and welcome millions and millions of visitors from around the world to the heartland of America for this special one-time festival,” Mr Trump says. “Together we will build it, and they will come.”

Recap: Trump caught on tape discussing classified documents he kept after leaving White House

13:00 , Joe Sommerlad

Federal prosecutors have reportedly obtained a recording of former president Donald Trump discussing classified documents he kept at his private residences long after his term expired in January 2021.

According to CNN, the audiotape of Mr Trump was created during the summer of 2021, approximately six months after the ex-president had left office.

Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.

Trump caught on tape discussing classified docs he kept after leaving White House

Trump lawyer was discouraged from searching Mar-a-Lago office for documents, report says

12:30 , Joe Sommerlad

One of Donald Trump’s attorneys has said he was “waved off” from searching the former president’s office for classified documents in the weeks before FBI agents found more than 100 such records during a court-authorised search.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

Trump lawyer was discouraged from searching office for documents

Biden laughs off idea of Trump pardon

12:00 , Joe Sommerlad

President Joe Biden on Monday scoffed at the idea of granting his predecessor, former president Donald Trump, a pardon absolving him of any crimes he may have committed during or after his presidency.

More here.

Biden laughs off idea of Trump pardon after DeSantis pledges to consider it

Trump trashes Ron DeSantis and Chris Christie on Truth Social

11:30 , Joe Sommerlad

The ex-president has been at it again on his favourite MAGA echo chamber, teasing DeSantis for being short and allegedly altering the pronounciation of his surname and posting an unkind joke about Christie’s weight courtesty of Roger Stone.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar has more.

Trump accuses DeSantis of faking his own name in wave of attacking social media posts

All the major lawsuits and investigations Trump is facing

11:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Here’s what you need to know about all the major investigations and lawsuits against Donald Trump.

Donald Trump under arrest: All the other major lawsuits he is also facing

Five takeaways from Ron DeSantis’s 2024 launch

10:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Ron DeSantis is officially running for president, and on Tuesday landed in the early caucus state of Iowa to give voters a preview of what his campaign will look like.

What that shaped up to be in Des Moines was largely what analysts had expected for months: a bid for higher office that leans into Republican culture war battles and as far away from direct confrontation with the incumbent de facto leader of the party, Donald Trump.

Mr DeSantis spoke to an enthusiastic crowd that cheered enthusiastically at his vows to score major wins on those issues like LGBT+ rights and “critical race theory”, but less for his veiled shots at the former president, who was never mentioned by name for obvious fear of losing the audience.

John Bowden reports.

Five takeaways from Ron DeSantis’s 2024 launch in Iowa

DeSantis under fire over anti-immigration law as boycott pressure grows

10:00 , Joe Sommerlad

Ron DeSantis is facing mounting criticism over a sweeping new immigration law introduced in Florida and coming into effect on 1 July, which has caused the state’s Latino truck drivers to pledge to leave deliveries unmade on Thursday and migrant-owned businesses to shutter their doors in protest.

Senate Bill 1718 imposes strict new employment mandates on businesses and workers, limits access to social services for undocumented immigrants, allocates millions more tax dollars to expand Mr DeSantis’s “Unauthorized Alien Transport Program”, invalidates driver’s licences issued to undocumented people in other states and requires public hospitals to check up on a patient’s immigration status.

In signing the law last month, the governor and aspiring Republican presidential candidate claimed to be “fighting back against reckless federal government policies and ensuring the Florida taxpayers are not footing the bill for illegal immigration”.

Guadalupe de la Cruz, director of the Florida chapter of the American Friends Service Committee, told Mother Jones: “The bill has caused a lot of panic and chaos. Many of our community members are either leaving Florida or considering it.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida has likewise denounced the bill as “cruel, dangerous and overbroad”.

Here’s Alex Woodward on the hostile reaction of civil rights groups to Mr DeSantis’s latest policies.

DeSantis wants to model America on Florida. Civil rights groups say be worried

Trump legal team asks for judge in hush-money case to be removed

09:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Donald Trump’s lawyers plan to request the judge presiding over a criminal trial into alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels be removed due to his campaign donations and family’s ties to the Democrat Party, according to a report.

It’s the latest in a series of legal manoeuvres by the former president to move the Manhattan criminal trial slated to begin next March away from New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.

Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty to the 34 counts of falsifying business records related to alleged payments to conceal negative stories about him prior to the 2016 presidential election.

Bevan Hurley reports.

Trump legal team asks for judge in hush-money case to be removed

Trump returns to campaign trail in Iowa

09:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Former president Donald Trump returns to the campaign trail today as his chief rival for the GOP presidential nomination, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, is undertaking his first swing through early voting states as an official candidate.

Mr Trump is back in Iowa nearly three weeks after canceling his last event, a large rally near Des Moines, due to a tornado warning, reluctantly ceding the spotlight to DeSantis as the governor crisscrossed the state ahead of his campaign launch.

The former president, who has spent the last few weeks attacking Mr DeSantis on social media and mocking his glitch-filled kickoff announcement, has a series of events scheduled around Des Moines followed by a town hall airing on Fox News.

More here.

Trump returns to campaign trail in Iowa as GOP rival DeSantis makes case to New Hampshire voters

Pence to announce 2024 White House bid on 7 June, report says

08:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Former vice president Mike Pence is expected to announce his campaign for 2024 president next Wednesday, according to reports.

After weeks of speculation, Mr Pence will make the official announcement on 7 June just before his town hall with CNN in Des Moines, Iowa, a source told ABC News.

Ariana Baio reports.

Mike Pence to announce 2024 White House bid on 7 June

Hayley Williams says anyone who votes for Ron DeSantis is ‘dead to me’

07:57 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Paramore’s Hayley Williams has declared that anyone who votes for Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is “dead” to her.

The 34-year-old lead singer of the alternative rock band shared her stance on stage at the Adjacent Music Festival in Atlantic City, New Jersey, over the weekend.

“I’ll be happy to tell you I’m very f***ing comfortable talking politics,” Williams told the crowd. “If you vote for Ron DeSantis, you’re f***ing dead to me. Is that comfortable enough for anyone?”

Peony Hirwani has more.

Paramore’s Hayley Williams says anyone who votes for Ron DeSantis is ‘dead to me’

Trump accuses DeSantis of faking his own name

07:04 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Former president Donald Trump escalated his attacks on competitor Ron DeSantis as the Florida governor began his presidential campaign in Iowa following his glitch-laden Twitter announcement.

The 45th president on Wednesday claimed that Mr DeSantis was looking to “change his name”.

“Have you heard that ‘Rob’ DeSanctimonious wants to change his name, again,” Mr Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar reports.

Trump accuses DeSantis of faking his own name in wave of attacking social media posts

Where did it all go wrong for Trump and McEnany?

06:45 , Oliver O'Connell

In a moment that shocked some — but came as no surprise to others — Donald Trump turned on his former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Tuesday night for allegedly sharing inaccurate poll numbers.

Ms McEnany, who served as the former president’s fourth press secretary, was known as one of his most loyal aides and staunch defenders, something she continued when she joined Fox News as a contributor after he lost the 2020 election and left office.

Nevertheless, the former president pulled no punches in a Truth Social Post, complaining about a segment in which he claims she misreported his lead over Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Read more...

Why did Donald Trump turn on Kayleigh McEnany?

Report: Trump worker who moved classified papers at Mar-a-Lago questioned surveillance video

04:45 , Oliver O'Connell

A Mar-a-Lago employee who helped move boxes of classified documents the day before Justice Department investigators visited Donald Trump’s home also reportedly asked questions about the property’s security cameras.

The employee first moved the boxes at the Florida estate in June, then weeks later questioned asked an IT worker about the security cameras, according to The Washington Post.

Graeme Massie has the story.

Trump worker who moved classified papers questioned surveillance video details

Nikki Haley's husband to deploy with National Guard to Africa

03:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Nikki Haley‘s husband will soon begin a yearlong deployment with the South Carolina Army National Guard to Africa, a mission that will encompass most of the remainder of his wife’s campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Read more...

Nikki Haley's husband to deploy with National Guard to Africa as she seeks 2024 GOP nomination

House GOP majority to be cut by one after shock resignation

02:45 , Oliver O'Connell

The impending resignation of Utah Representative Chris Stewart will give House Speaker Kevin McCarthy approximately 20 per cent less room to manoeuvre when trying to cobble together enough GOP votes to pass legislation in the closely-divided House.

Mr Stewart, a former US Air Force pilot who has represented the Beehive State’s second congressional district for over a decade, is set to announce that he will step down from his Congressional seat to care for his wife, Evie Stewart, who is reportedly suffering from unidentified medical issues.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

House Republican majority cut by one after shock resignation of congressman

Jan 6 rioter who threatened to hang Nancy Pelosi is jailed

01:45 , Oliver O'Connell

A Pennsylvania restaurant owner who screamed death threats directed at then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while storming the US Capitol was sentenced on Tuesday to more than two years in prison.

Pauline Bauer was near Ms Pelosi’s office suite on 6 January 2021 when she yelled at police officers to bring out the California Democrat so the mob of Donald Trump supporters could hang her.

Read more...

Capitol rioter who threatened to hang Nancy Pelosi is jailed for over two years

Christie set to announce 2024 bid next week

Thursday 1 June 2023 00:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Chris Christie, the pugnatious ex-New Jersey governor and ally turned critic of former president Donald Trump, is set to enter the 2024 Republican presidential primary and challenge the man he endorsed after failing to gain traction in the GOP field nearly eight years ago.

According to multiple reports, Mr Christie will announce his candidacy at a town hall to be held on Tuesday at St Anselm College in New Hampshire.

Read more...

Chris Christie set to announce 2024 bid next week

DeSantis hits familiar targets of Fauci, Disney and ‘wokeism’

Thursday 1 June 2023 00:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Governor Ron DeSantis was in Iowa on Tuesday for his first rally of the 2024 Republican primary cycle — but his remarks were clearly aimed at a general election audience.

John Bowden reports.

DeSantis hits familiar targets of Fauci, Disney and ‘wokeism’ in first 2024 rally

Peter Navarro to go on trial in September in Jan 6 contempt case

Wednesday 31 May 2023 23:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Former Trump White House official Peter Navarro will stand trial in September on contempt of Congress charges filed after he refused to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

US District Judge Amit Mehta set a 5 September trial date during a court appearance on Tuesday in Washington.

Read more...

Trump White House official Peter Navarro has trial set in Jan 6 contempt case

Five takeaways from Ron DeSantis’s 2024 launch

Wednesday 31 May 2023 22:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Ron DeSantis is officially running for president, and on Tuesday landed in the early caucus state of Iowa to give voters a preview of what his campaign will look like.

What that shaped up to be in Des Moines was largely what analysts had expected for months: a bid for higher office that leans into Republican culture war battles and as far away from direct confrontation with the incumbent de facto leader of the party, Donald Trump.

Mr DeSantis spoke to an enthusiastic crowd that cheered enthusiastically at his vows to score major wins on those issues like LGBT+ rights and “critical race theory”, but less for his veiled shots at the former president, who was never mentioned by name for obvious fear of losing the audience. The governor instead heaped his criticism on Joe Biden and the administrative state which he hinted that Mr Trump had failed to rein in.

He was joined by his wife, Casey, and a handful of state-level elected officials — a preview of the battle that is no doubt shaping up in the state where the governor will have his first (and potentially only) real chance to prove that he can credibly compete with the former president, who has turned his fire wholly on his top rival in recent weeks amid continued polling showing the governor falling further behind him.

Here are five things you should remember about Tuesday night’s rally going forward into the 2024 primary season:

Five takeaways from Ron DeSantis’s 2024 launch in Iowa

Trump campaign responds to classified documents recording report

Wednesday 31 May 2023 22:24 , Oliver O'Connell

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted the following response from the Trump campaign to the network’sreporting on a recording of former president Donald Trump speaking about classified documents:

Leaks from radical partisans behind this political persecution are designed to inflame tensions and continue the media’s harassment of President Trump and his supporters. It’s just more proof that when it comes to President Trump, there are absolutely no depths to which they will not sink as they pursue their witch hunts. The DOJ’s continued interference in the presidential election is shameful and this meritless investigation should cease wasting the American taxpayer’s money on Democrat political objectives.

FULL STORY: Trump caught on tape discussing classified documents he kept after leaving White House, reports say

Wednesday 31 May 2023 21:55 , Oliver O'Connell

Federal prosecutors have reportedly obtained a recording of former president Donald Trump discussing classified documents he kept at his private residences long after his term expired in January 2021.

According to CNN, the audiotape of Mr Trump was created during the summer of 2021, approximately six months after the ex-president had left office.

Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.

Trump caught on tape discussing classified docs he kept after leaving White House

Wednesday 31 May 2023 21:35 , Oliver O'Connell

A Mar-a-Lago employee who helped move boxes of classified documents the day before Justice Department investigators visited Donald Trump’s home also reportedly asked questions about the property’s security cameras.

The employee first moved the boxes at the Florida estate in June, then weeks later questioned asked an IT worker about the security cameras, according to The Washington Post.

Graeme Massie reports.

Trump worker who moved classified papers questioned surveillance video details

Watch: CNN reports on Trump audio recording

Wednesday 31 May 2023 21:24 , Oliver O'Connell

GOP primary field to grow to 11 with three new entrants

Wednesday 31 May 2023 21:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Christie, Pence, and Burgum announcements scheduled for next week grow the Republican Party primary field to 11 contenders.

Might this be what Donald Trump is hoping for?

Trump's welcome of Scott into 2024 race shows his calculus: The more GOP rivals, the better for him

Trump caught on tape talking about classified records he kept after presidency, report says

Wednesday 31 May 2023 21:07 , Oliver O'Connell

CNN reports:

Federal prosecutors have obtained an audio recording of a summer 2021 meeting in which former President Donald Trump acknowledges he held onto a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran, multiple sources told CNN, undercutting his argument that he declassified everything.

The recording indicates Trump understood he retained classified material after leaving the White House, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation. On the recording, Trump’s comments suggest he would like to share the information but he’s aware of limitations on his ability post-presidency to declassify records, two of the sources said.

More follows...

Kayleigh McEnany and Donald Trump: Where did it all go wrong?

Wednesday 31 May 2023 20:45 , Oliver O'Connell

In a moment that shocked some — but came as no surprise to others — Donald Trump turned on his former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Tuesday night for allegedly sharing inaccurate poll numbers.

Ms McEnany, who served as the former president’s fourth press secretary, was known as one of his most loyal aides and staunch defenders, something she continued when she joined Fox News as a contributor after he lost the 2020 election and left office.

Nevertheless, the former president pulled no punches in a Truth Social Post, complaining about a segment in which he claims she misreported his lead over Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Why has he soured on Ms McEnany?

Why did Donald Trump turn on Kayleigh McEnany?

Trump touts plans for celebration of 250 years of American Independence

Wednesday 31 May 2023 20:25 , Oliver O'Connell

In a new campaign-style video, Donald Trump says if elected president in 2024 he will throw the USA the “most spectacular” birthday party to mark the 250th anniversary of American Independence.

The former president is proposing a year-long “Salute to America 250” celebration, including a “Great American State Fair,” featuring pavilions from all 50 states. He also wants nationwide high school sporting contests.

In a revival of one of his 2020 election plans, Mr Trump also wants to build the “National Garden of American Heroes” with statues of important figures in American history such as Frederick Douglass and Amelia Earhart — a plan enshrined in a Trump presidency executive order but scrapped when Joe Biden won the election.

The celebration would be organised by a task force formed on the first day of his presidency and will last from Memorial Day 2025 through until 4 July 2026.

The fair he proposed he even suggests could be held at the Iowa State Fairground — coincidentally where he is currently heading for a two-day tour as the 2024 campaign gets going in the first caucus state.

“I will work with all 50 governors, Republican and Democrat alike, to create the Great American State Fair, a unique one-year exhibition featuring pavilions from all 50 states. It’ll be something. The Great American State Fair will showcase the glory of every state in the Union, promote pride in our history, and put forth innovative visions for America’s future,” he says.

“My hope is that the amazing people of Iowa will work with my administration to open up the legendary Iowa state fairgrounds to host the Great American State Fair and welcome millions and millions of visitors from around the world to the heartland of America for this special one-time festival,” Mr Trump says. “Together we will build it, and they will come.”

Special counsel probing Trump firing of cybersecurity official, report says

Wednesday 31 May 2023 20:10 , Oliver O'Connell

A US special counsel investigating former President Donald Trump and efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss isexamining his firing of a cybersecurity official whose office said the vote was secure, The New York Times said on Wednesday.

Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is also probing Trump’s handling of classified documents, has subpoenaed former Trump White House staff as well as interviewed Christopher Krebs, who oversaw the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency under Trump, the Times said, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

Trump fired Krebs in November 2020, days after the CISA issued a statement calling the November 3, 2020, election “the most secure in American history” at a time of the then-president’s unsupported accusations the vote had been rigged.

CISA, part of the Department of Homeland Security, works to protect US elections from hackers but drew Trump’s ire at the time, leading Krebs to tell associates at the time that he expected to be fired.

Representatives for Smith’s office declined to comment on the report. Representatives for Krebs and Trump could not immediately be reached for comment.

Reuters

Capitol rioter who threatened to hang Nancy Pelosi is sentenced

Wednesday 31 May 2023 19:45 , Oliver O'Connell

A Pennsylvania restaurant owner who screamed death threats directed at then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while storming the US Capitol was sentenced on Tuesday to more than two years in prison.

Pauline Bauer was near Ms Pelosi’s office suite on 6 January 2021 when she yelled at police officers to bring out the California Democrat so the mob of Donald Trump supporters could hang her.

Read more...

Capitol rioter who threatened to hang Nancy Pelosi is jailed for over two years

Pence officially joining 2024 race on 7 June, report says

Wednesday 31 May 2023 19:32 , Oliver O'Connell

Per NBC News:

Mike Pence plans to enter the GOP presidential nomination fray June 7 with a campaign video and a kickoff speech in Des Moines, Iowa, according to a person familiar with his launch schedule.

The former vice president, a longtime advocate of the priorities of traditional conservatives on social and economic issues, will join the race at a time when his onetime boss, former President Donald Trump, claims a majority in most national polls and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is in a clear second place.

House GOP majority cut by one after shock resignation

Wednesday 31 May 2023 19:15 , Oliver O'Connell

The impending resignation of Utah Representative Chris Stewart will give House Speaker Kevin McCarthy approximately 20 per cent less room to manoeuvre when trying to cobble together enough GOP votes to pass legislation in the closely-divided House.

Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.

House Republican majority cut by one after shock resignation of congressman

Chris Christie to enter the GOP primary fray

Wednesday 31 May 2023 18:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Chris Christie, the pugnatious ex-New Jersey governor and ally turned critic of former president Donald Trump, is set to enter the 2024 Republican presidential primary and challenge the man he endorsed after failing to gain traction in the GOP field nearly eight years ago.

According to multiple reports, Mr Christie will announce his candidacy at a town hall to be held on Tuesday at St Anselm College in New Hampshire.

Andrew Feinberg and Ariana Baio report.

Chris Christie set to announce 2024 bid next week

Nikki Haley’s husband to deploy with National Guard to Africa

Wednesday 31 May 2023 18:25 , Oliver O'Connell

Nikki Haley’s husband will soon begin a yearlong deployment with the South Carolina Army National Guard to Africa, a mission that will encompass most of the remainder of his wife’s campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

A formal deployment ceremony will likely happen in the next few weeks, a person with knowledge of Michael Haley’s deployment told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

This spring, the South Carolina National Guard called officers with his skill set to deploy in support of U.S. Africa Command, according to the person, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the deployment and spoke on condition of anonymity.

It will be his second active-duty deployment since he joined the Guard as an officer in 2006.

AP

What’s in the cliffhanger deal ceiling deal struck by Biden and McCarthy

Wednesday 31 May 2023 18:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Weeks of sniping back-and-forth between the White House and the Republican majority in the House of Representatives has finally yielded a deal: America will not default on its debt obligations, should Congress successfully pass the legislation on Wednesday 31 May.

But what exactly has been agreed?

John Bowden explains.

What’s in the cliffhanger deal struck by Biden and McCarthy to raise the debt limit?

Voices: Conservatives bark after the debt limit deal. Will they actually bite McCarthy?

Wednesday 31 May 2023 17:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Eric Garcia writes:

Nobody should be surprised at the rage House conservatives feel after the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced their deal to raise the debt limit.

The debt limit was always going to be a massive hurdle for Mr McCarthy, who made a number of concessions back in January to secure the speaker’s gavel. Any potential deal, no matter how conservative, would inevitably anger the members of his conference who initially opposed him.

That anger was palpable during a press conference for the House Freedom Caucus, the group of hellraisers that has historically poked House Republican leadership and usually succeeded in either pummeling them into submission or outright making a House speaker quit.

Read more...

Conservatives bark after the debt limit deal. Will they actually bite McCarthy?

DeSantis called out for ‘ignoring’ Hollywood beach shooting

Wednesday 31 May 2023 17:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis faced criticism on Tuesday for failing to issue a statement about the mass shooting in Hollywood, Florida that left nine people, including four children, injured.

Mr DeSantis, who announced his campaign for US president last week, made no mention of the victims or event on his social media nearly a day after the shooting.

Five adults and four children, including a one-year-old, suffered gunshot wounds after two groups of people engaged in gunfire at the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk on Monday.

Ariana Baio reports.

Ron DeSantis called out for ‘ignoring’ Hollywood beach shooting: ‘He doesn’t care’

Pence to launch 2024 campaign within two week, report says

Wednesday 31 May 2023 16:55 , Oliver O'Connell

Former Vice President Mike Pence is set to launch his 2024 run for the White House within the next two weeks, according to reporting by The Messenger. The outlet cites four sources familiar with the planning.

Mr Pence will join an increasingly crowded Republican primary field and will be running against his one-time boss, former President Donald Trump among others.

The Georgia GOP announced in an email that Mr Pence will no longer be the keynote speaker at an event on 9 June (he is being replaced by Kari Lake) but was forced to reschedule “because of a televised national town hall at which he will be making an announcement regarding his future plans”.

Mr Pence is scheduled to take part in a CNN town hall in Iowa on 7 June, his 64th birthday.

What happens next with the debt ceiling agreement?

Wednesday 31 May 2023 16:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Eric Garcia explains:

The bipartisan agreement to raise the debt limit cleared a key hurdle on Tuesday evening despite vehement criticism from many House Republicans.

The House Rules Committee voted 7-6 to advance the legislation that codifies the bipartisan agreement struck between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s team and negotiators from President Joe Biden’s administration. The rule will now go to the full House floor before the agreement comes to a full House vote.

Read more...

Debt limit agreement clears first hurdle. Here’s what happens next

As House debt ceiling vote looms, Biden and McCarthy move to shore up support

Wednesday 31 May 2023 16:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Hard-fought to the end, the debt ceiling and budget cuts package is heading toward a crucial US House vote as President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy assemble a coalition of centrist Democrats and Republicans to push it to passage over fierce blowback from conservatives and some progressive dissent.

Biden is sending top White House officials to meet early Wednesday at the Capitol to shore up support ahead of voting. McCarthy is working furiously to sell sceptical fellow Republicans, even fending off challenges to his leadership, in the rush to avert a potentially disastrous US default.

Read more...

Ahead of House debt ceiling vote, Biden shores up Democrats and McCarthy scrambles for GOP support

Who in the GOP is supporting DeSantis?

Wednesday 31 May 2023 16:15 , Oliver O'Connell

According to the latest data from Morning Consult, 22 per cent of potential Republican primary voters support Ron DeSantis, while 56 per cent support former President Donald Trump. This has remained largely unchanged since the DeSantis 2024 launch last week, with support for the Florida governor increasing by just one percentage point.

Mr DeSantis enjoys good name recognition and is well-known compared with other current and potential GOP candidates besides Mr Trump, but a notable share of GOP voters do not know how they feel about him when asked about a range of personal traits. This could provide an opportunity when voters get to know him better, Eli Yokley of Morning Consult reports.

Regarding the issues, Mr DeSantis trails Mr Trump on voter trust to handle a range of topics but is strongest on education and race relations than other areas of voter concern.

But if there is a DeSantis base from which he could build, what does it look like? According to Morning Consult:

DeSantis’ backing is still strongest among groups such as self-described conservatives (25%), suburbanites (25%), voters over the age of 65 (26%) and college-educated whites (29%) — but he still trails Trump in all of those demographics.

These groups had helped fuel DeSantis’ early competitiveness in the nascent stage of the Republican primary, giving him a base to compete with the former president’s dominance among the party’s youngest voters and the white working class. But any special status DeSantis had with higher-educated and older voters has been erased in recent months as Trump has grown stronger with a wider range of the party’s voters.

Trump attacks ‘DeSaster’ over ethanol and trade as he heads to Iowa

Wednesday 31 May 2023 15:50 , Oliver O'Connell

Former President Donald Trump has attacked GOP primary rival Ron DeSantis over support for ethanol as he heads to Iowa for a two-day swing through the first caucus state.

He wrote on Truth Social:

Will be heading to the Great State of Iowa this afternoon for two days. I strongly defended and backed Ethanol, Ron "DeSaster” has ALWAYS been strongly against Ethanol, just like he voted 3 times to cut Social Security (and raise the minimum age to 70!), obliterate MediCare, and charge everyone a National Sales Tax of 23%. Remember, I terminated the worst trade deal in USA history, NAFTA, and replaced it with the best, USMCA. Also got China to pay our great FARMERS 28 Billion Dollars in damages!

Mr DeSantis kicked off his in-person campaign events last night with a rally in Iowa as he embarks on a 12 city, three-state tour of early voting caucus and primary states, also taking in New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Former President Trump also couldn’t help having a jab at his once favourite network Fox News, also posted: “FoxNews is really pushing De Sanctimonious. He can’t win!”

Here are some key takeaways from Mr DeSantis’s first major campaign speech since the launch of his 2024 run.

Five takeaways from Ron DeSantis’s 2024 launch in Iowa

Watch: Bartiromo says ‘disheartening’ GOP having ‘very little luck’ in Biden probes

Wednesday 31 May 2023 15:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Six years ago today...

Wednesday 31 May 2023 15:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump posted one of the most famous tweets of his presidency six years ago today and introduced the world to a new word: “covfefe”.

Elon Musk is ‘testing waters’ to interfere in 2024 election, warns AOC

Wednesday 31 May 2023 15:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has issued a warning that Twitter owner Elon Musk is “testing the waters” to possibly interfere in the 2024 election.

The New York progressive representative slammed the Tesla CEO for blocking dissident accounts ahead of the Turkish election.

Gustaf Kilander reports.

AOC warns Elon Musk is ‘testing waters’ to interfere in 2024 election

Former Trump press secretary warns: ‘He. WILL. Turn. On. You.’

Wednesday 31 May 2023 15:00 , Oliver O'Connell

After former President Donald Trump hit out at his one-time White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, another of his former press aides from his time in office was quick to jump into the conversation.

“He. WILL. Turn. On. You. There is only loyalty to HIM - not the country, the constitution, his constituents, or anything/anyone else,” she tweeted.

Her tweet was also reposted by another Trump administration veteran, now co-host of The View, Alyssa Farah Griffin.

Chris Christie planning to launch GOP presidential campaign next week

Wednesday 31 May 2023 14:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is expected to launch his second campaign for the Republican nomination for president next week in New Hampshire.

Christie is planning to make the announcement at a town hall Tuesday evening at Saint Anselm College’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics, according to a person familiar with his thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity to confirm Christie’s plans.

The timing, which was first reported by Axios, comes after several longtime Christie advisers started a super political action committee to support his expected candidacy.

Read more...

Ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie planning to launch GOP presidential campaign next week

Watch: Asa Hutchinson says defending January 6 ‘indefensible'

Wednesday 31 May 2023 14:30 , Oliver O'Connell

DeSantis vows to ‘destroy leftism’

Wednesday 31 May 2023 14:15 , Oliver O’Connell

Ron DeSantis has made clear what he believes the purpose of his 2024 candidacy to be: The utter destruction of the Democratic Party and its ideology.

The Florida governor spoke on Fox & Friends on Monday and made the bold claim that not only would he win the general election should Republican voters nominate him in the primary, but added that he would “destroy leftism in this country” if allowed to serve in the White House.

John Bowden reports.

Ron DeSantis vows to ‘destroy leftism’ if he wins 2024 race

Nevada becomes latest to enhance penalties for election worker intimidation after statewide exodus

Wednesday 31 May 2023 13:45 , Joe Sommerlad

Those who harass, intimidate or use force on election workers performing their duties in Nevada could soon face up to four years in prison under a new law signed by the Western swing state’s Republican governor on Tuesday.

The law is meant to deter attacks against those in state and local election offices who have faced increased scrutiny for doing their jobs, Democratic secretary of state Cisco Aguilar said on Tuesday.

Threats and initimidation of election workers had ramped up significantly in Nevada and across the country amid falsehoods and conspiracy theories about foul play denying former president Donald Trump victory in the 2020 presidential race.

Other states have taken similar steps to better protect election officials in recent years, including Maine, Vermont, Washington and New Mexico.

Here’s more.

Nevada becomes latest to enhance penalties for election worker intimidation after statewide exodus

AOC threatens to leave Twitter as Musk promotes ‘disgusting’ account

Wednesday 31 May 2023 13:15 , Joe Sommerlad

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has threatened to quit Twitter after Elon Musk promoted a “sick” account impersonating the Democratic politician.

The New York congresswoman said that she was “assessing” what to do after the billionaire interacted with the fake account on his social media platform.

“FYI there’s a fake account on here impersonating me and going viral. The Twitter CEO has engaged it, boosting visibility,” Ms Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Tuesday.

“It is releasing false policy statements and gaining spread. I am assessing with my team how to move forward. In the meantime, be careful of what you see.”

Ms Ocasio-Cortez reacted after Mr Musk, with whom she has had a series of public spats on Twitter, responded with a flames emoji to the fake AOC account tweeting, “This might be the wine walking but I’ve got a crush on Elon Musk).”

Graeme Massie has more.

AOC threatens to leave Twitter after Musk promotes account impersonating her

Donald Trump’s legal team and Manhattan prosecutors spar over where he will stand trial

Wednesday 31 May 2023 12:45 , Joe Sommerlad

Ten months before Donald Trump is scheduled to stand trial in his historic New York City criminal case, Manhattan prosecutors are turning the former president’s words against him in a tug of war over precisely where he will be tried.

Trump’s lawyers have spent weeks angling to have the hush money case moved to federal court. The Manhattan district attorney’s office responded on Tuesday that the case should remain in the state court where it originated, citing old Trump tweets that they say undermine his lawyers’ jurisdictional challenge.

Here’s more on that spat.

Donald Trump’s legal team and Manhattan prosecutors spar over where he will stand trial