Trump news - live: Ex-president claims Piers Morgan promo ‘doctored’ as new audio shows he didn’t storm out

Former president Donald Trump hit out at presenter Piers Morgan and accused him of doctoring the promo of an interview to suggest that the Republican leader stormed out of the room. In the edited trailer, an irate Mr Trump is shown grimacing as Mr Morgan calls the 2020 election “free and fair” and says the ex-president “never produced the hard evidence” to prove otherwise. The former president is seen interjecting by shouting “excuse me” over and over again before apparently flouncing off.

However, new audio released to NBC News by a Trump spokesman indicates that the interview in fact came to a far more amicable end, with the two men enjoying a disussion about the ex-president’s alleged hole-in-one during a recent golf game.

Meanwhile, Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor and former attorney to ex-president was unmasked on Wednesday’s episode of Fox’s “The Masked Singer” as Jack in the Box. He was also the first star to be eliminated from the third round of contestants.

Mr Giuliani made an appearance on stage singing “Bad to the Bone” by George Thorogood & the Destroyers, leaving the judges and the audience stunned.

Key Points

• Trump says Piers Morgan promo was ‘doctored’

• Trump campaign ordered to pay $1.3m settlement to Omarosa Manigault Newman in NDA case

• Rudy Giuliani unmasked on ‘The Masked Singer’, sings ‘Bad to the Bone’

• Analysis: What’s behind Marjorie Taylor Greene’s cash flow problem?

Trump circulates audio contradicting Morgan interview trailer

11:04 , Andrew Naughtie

After Piers Morgan aired a trailer for his interview with Donald Trump, the former president reacted with a furious statement that included the now-circulating audio clip that shows a far more orderly end to the encounter than the promo clip implies.

Here’s what Mr Trump had to say...

You can listen to the audio below.

InfoWars chief offers to speak to Jan 6 investigators

10:30 , Stuti Mishra

InfoWars chief Alex Jones has offered to speak to the Justice Department’s January 6 prosecutors but wants immunity in return for his cooperation.

Jones, who runs the right-wing conspiracy media outlet that filed for bankruptcy earlier this week, said through his lawyer that he had informed the DOJ of “his desire to speak to federal prosecutors about Jan 6.”

Graeme Massi has more details here:

Alex Jones offers to speak to Jan 6 investigators in return for immunity

Trump was ‘almost foaming at the mouth’ during interview, claims Morgan

09:45 , Stuti Mishra

Piers Morgan has claimed Donald Trump was “almost foaming at the mouth” ahead of the interview that will launch his new global show next week.

Morgan said that, shortly before the interview, Trump had been handed a three-page document detailing critical comments the journalist had made about him on topics including his “woeful handling” of the coronavirus pandemic and his response to defeat in the 2020 presidential election.

More details here from Alex Green:

Piers Morgan claims Trump was ‘almost foaming at the mouth’ during interview

Fans react to Rudy Giuliani reveal on ‘The Masked Singer'

09:00 , Stuti Mishra

Fans have reacted with surprise to Rudy Giuliani being revealed on The Masked Singer US – and judge Ken Jeong’s subsequent walk-off.

“Wow I can’t believe they actually aired it,” one person said.

The former New York City mayor and Donald Trump advisor was revealed to be the man behind the Jack in the Box mask and was voted off in a single round elimination after his one and only performance of “Bad to the Bone” by George Thorogood & the Destroyers.

Here are all the details from the Wednesday episode and the reactions that followed:

‘I can’t believe this was aired’: Fans react to Rudy Giuliani reveal on Masked Singer

Poll shows Americans not satisfied with Biden’s stand on Russia

08:15 , Stuti Mishra

Many Americans still question whether President Joe Biden is showing enough strength in response to Russia’s war against Ukraine, even as most approve of steps the US is already taking and few want American troops to get involved in the conflict.

A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows 54 per cent of Americans think Mr Biden has been “not tough enough” in his response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Here are the findings of the poll:

AP-NORC poll: Many say Biden not tough enough on Russia

Trump tells Morgan he has hit seven hole-in-ones on the golf course

07:32 , Stuti Mishra

Former US president Donald Trump claimed he hit not one, but seven hole-in-ones on the golf course while speaking to Piers Morgan ahead of an interview for his new show “Piers Morgan Uncensored”.

In a first-person account in The Sun, the former Good Morning Britain presenter gave dramatic details of the moments that led up to the interview.

Morgan, who joined the Rupert Murdoch-owned TalkTV to host his own programme, met the former president at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Read more here:

Trump ‘implausibly’ claims he has hit seven hole-in-ones on the golf course

Trump says Piers Morgan promo was ‘doctored’

06:45 , Stuti Mishra

Former president Donald Trump hit out at presenter Piers Morgan and accused him of doctoring the promo of his interview to suggest that the Republican leader stormed out of the room.

In a series of shots, an irate Mr Trump is shown grimacing as Mr Morgan calls the 2020 election “free and fair” and says the ex-president “never produced the hard evidence” to prove otherwise. The former president was seen trying to interject by shouting “excuse me” over and over again.

Here’s what the former president has said now in a statement:

Trump says Piers Morgan promo ‘doctored’ as video shows him storming out of interview

Giuliani says he appeared on ‘The Masked Singer’ to be an example for his granddaughter

06:00 , Stuti Mishra

Rudy Giuliani, who made a shocking appearance on the Fox show “The Masked Singer” on Wednesday said in an interview with host Nick Cannon that he decided to appear on the show to be an example for his granddaughter.

“I want her to know you should try everything -- even things that are completely unlike you and unlikely -- and I couldn’t think of anything more unlike me or unlikely than this,” he said.

The former attorney for Donald Trump, who sang “Bad to the Bone” on stage, was speculated to be a part of the show for many weeks. However, he surprised many as Jack in the Box.

Rudy Giuliani unmasked on ‘The Masked Singer’, sings ‘Bad to the Bone’

05:16 , Stuti Mishra

Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor and former attorney to ex-president Donald Trump, was unmasked on Wednesday’s episode of Fox’s “The Masked Singer” as Jack in the Box. He was also the first star to be eliminated from the third round of contestants.

Mr Giuliani made an appearance on stage singing “Bad to the Bone” by George Thorogood & the Destroyers, leaving the judges and the audience stunned.

Judge Ken Jeong, who looked visibly upset with Mr Giuliani’s appearance, said “I’m done”, before walking off stage.

Inga Parkel has more here:

Rudy Giuliani is revealed as Jack in the Box on Masked Singer US

ICYMI: Video of Zelensky looking horrified after Trump tells him to work with Putin

04:10 , John Bowden

As Republicans suggest that Donald Trump would have had a stronger response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, they are facing reminders of the reality that Mr Trump’s relationship with Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky was tenuous at best.

Aside from the fact that the president was impeached by the House in 2020 for pushing Mr Zelensky to open a baseless, politically-damaging criminal investigation into Joe Biden or his son Hunter as he prepared to face Mr Biden in the 2020 election, a video of Mr Trump’s in-person press conference with Mr Zelensky is also resurfacing as it reveals the clear distance between the two leaders.

In the video, Mr Zelensky makes a visibly pained expression while the then-president suggests that Mr Zelensky and Mr Putin should ”get together and solve your problem”.

At the time, Russian forces were already supporting separatist governments in Crimea and Donbas, where fighting has taken place since 2014.

Read more:

Video resurfaces of a horrified Zelensky as Trump tells him to work with Putin

ICYMI: Biden to attend Correspondent’s dinner

03:15 , John Bowden

Joe Biden will attend the White House Correspondent’s Association annual dinner next week, hosted by comedian Trevor Noah.

The event will mark the first time a president has attended since the days of the Obama administration.

Read more from The Independent’s Eric Garcia:

Biden to attend the White House Correspondents Dinner Trump boycotted

Dem state senator smeared by Republican appears on Morning Joe

02:15 , John Bowden

Mallory McMorrow layed into her GOP rivals in an interview on Morning Joe on Wednesday, accusing the party of fully embracing Qanon-style conspiracies.

Speaking after a Republican state senator accused her (without evidence or purpose) of being a “groomer”, Ms Morrow said that her opponents were engaged in “full fringe QAnon hateful, hateful rhetoric with no actual policy”.

Read more in The Independent:

Democrat who blasted ‘groomer’ slur accuses GOP of ‘fringe QAnon hateful rhetoric’

Judge delays trial for Sandy Hook hoaxer Alex Jones

01:15 , John Bowden

A judge has delayed the trial of Sandy Hook hoaxer and top Trump supporter Alex Jones after he filed for bankruptcy.

Mr Jones faces an accusation of defamation for his work to spread conspiracies about parents of slain Sandy Hook Elementary students.

A judge said this week that the trial would begin “as soon as I possibly can”, once the bankruptcy court’s pause on civil litigation against Mr Jones and his company ends.

Read more in The Independent:

Alex Jones’ Sandy Hook defamation trial delayed after filing for bankruptcy

Thursday 21 April 2022 00:15 , John Bowden

Dr Jerome Adams, the former US Surgeon General under Donald Trump, excoriated a Trump-appointed federal judge on social media after her ruling ending a nationwide mask mandate on trains and airplanes.

“Remind me - which ‘Schoolhouse Rock’ explains to kids how a single unelected judge has the power to endanger their lives in public settings?” Mr Adams quipped, substituting in his own lyrics: “I’m just a judge — I’m just a judge, and I’m hurting you cuz I’ve got a grudge”.

Read more from The Independent:

Trump’s surgeon general condemns judge who overturned mask mandate on planes

GOP engages in remote voting after calling it unconstitutional

Wednesday 20 April 2022 23:48 , John Bowden

Dozens of GOP lawmakers have used the House’s remote voting system after many denounced the same plan as unconstitutional when it was first unveiled.

The Associated Press found more than 50 House Republicans who joined a lawsuit against the practice have since used it themselves to vote.

Read more:

GOP lawmakers vote remotely more often after initial scorn

Wednesday 20 April 2022 23:15 , John Bowden

Donald Trump’s endorsement remains the most coveted of any support in a GOP primary, but how valuable is it with Mr Trump no longer in the White House?

The Independent’s Eric Garcia took a look at some of Mr Trump’s chosen acolytes and examined where the former president is having the biggest impact.

Read more:

From Doctor Oz to Herschel Walker: Here’s who Trump’s backing in primary races in May

Trump campaign ordered to pay $1.3m settlement to Omarosa Manigault Newman in NDA case

Wednesday 20 April 2022 22:50 , John Bowden

Donald Trump’s campaign was ordered this week to pay more than one million dollars to Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former Apprentice candidate who became part of the Trump administration.

The fine covers Mr Newman’s legal fees stemming from a case in which a court ruled against the Trump campaign and found that she had not violated her Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with the publication of her book.

Read more in The Independent:

Trump campaign ordered to pay $1.3m settlement to Omarosa in NDA case

Trump appears to storm out of interview with Piers Morgan

Wednesday 20 April 2022 21:44 , John Bowden

The former president was confronted by Piers Morgan on his legal team’s inability to produce a shred of evidence proving that the 2020 election was stolen - and it didn’t go well.

A preview shared online by Mr Morgan on Wednesday appears to show Donald Trump storming out of the interview.

Watch below, and read more from The Independent:

Trump appears to walk out of Piers Morgan interview in new preview

Wednesday 20 April 2022 20:57 , John Bowden

Far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is preparing for her upcoming battle to prove that she should remain on the ballot after embracing the same “Stop the Steal” campaign of falsehoods that led to Jan 6.

The congresswoman complained on a podcast to Donald Trump’s former attorney this week about media being allowed in the courtroom.

Read more from The Independent’s Greg Graziosi:

Marjorie Taylor Greene complains media won’t be barred from her upcoming trial

Morning Joe mocks Michigan Republican for rant against Democrat

Wednesday 20 April 2022 20:26 , John Bowden

A Democrat is making waves after firing back against a Republican who used her name for baseless accusations of child sexual abuse.

Mallory McMorrow, the Democrat who defended herself, was on Wednesday’s program for an interview. On the show, former GOP congressman Joe Scarborough denoucned what he said was the party’s “crazy” decision to embrace “extremists”.

Read more in The Independent:

Morning Joe hits ‘weird’ and ‘absolutely crazy’ GOP over QAnon and ‘testicle tanning’

Trump-endorsed candidate in Tennessee removed from the ballot

Wednesday 20 April 2022 19:43 , John Bowden

A former State Department spokeswoman who is running for Congress in Tennessee will no longer be able to do so as a Republican after the state party found that she had not been an active enough participant in past statewide primary elections.

The Hill reported on Wednesday that Morgan Ortagus released a statement claiming that her campaign was “evaluating the options” after the decision, which if final would all but doom her chances for winning the seat as independent bids are rarely successful.

“I’m a bonafide Republican by their standards, and frankly, by any metric. I’m further disappointed that the party insiders at the Tennessee Republican Party do not seem to share my commitment to President Trump’s America First policies,” Ms Ortagus added.

Read more in The Hill:

GOP congresswoman ridiculed for claiming over one billion migrants were stopped at US-Mexico border

Wednesday 20 April 2022 18:40 , John Bowden

A GOP congresswoman is under fire afte going a bit overboard in her attempts to criticise Joe Biden’s record on immigraton.

Rep Debbie Lesko erroneously claimed on Twitter that more than 1 bn migrants had been stopped at the US-Mexico border over the past six months; the real figure is just over one million.

Read more about the online reaction from The Independent’s Nathan Place:

Republican claims over one billion migrants were stopped at US-Mexico border

Biden to attend White House correspondents dinner Trump boycotted after suffering humiliation

Wednesday 20 April 2022 17:53 , John Bowden

Joe Biden will attend the White House Correspondents Association dinner next week, breaking with the path Donald Trump took for four years as president after suffering humiliation at the 2011 gathering.

Mr Biden’s plans for attendance were first reported by The Associated Press.

Read more in The Independent:

Biden to attend the White House Correspondents Dinner Trump boycotted

Analysis: What’s behind Marjorie Taylor Greene’s cash flow problem?

Wednesday 20 April 2022 17:24 , John Bowden

As she prepares for an unwanted court appearance in a case that could see her banned from holding public office, Marjorie Taylor Greene is showing signs of losing her fundraising mojo, writes Eric Garcia – and some of the reasons may be down to difficult developments on the communications front...

Read the full analysis below.

Marjorie Taylor Greene has a cash flow problem. What’s the real reason?

Colorado governor invites Disney to decamp to his state

Wednesday 20 April 2022 16:40 , Andrew Naughtie

Democratic Colorado Governor Jared Polis has joined the chorus of condemnation against Florida’s moves to sanction Disney, which has spoken out against the notorious “Don’t Say Gay” bill recently signed into law. And he’s gone one further, deriding GOP Governor Ron DeSantis’s punitive approach to the private sector as “authoritarian socialism” – and offering Disney and Twitter havens in his state.

Read more on the Disney-DeSantis row from Alex Woodward below.

DeSantis moves to repeal Disney governing plan over ‘Don’t Say Gay’

Fox & Friends hosts grapple with end of mask mandate

Wednesday 20 April 2022 16:12 , Andrew Naughtie

Beginning the day on the top right-wing cable news network, the co-hosts of Fox & Friends have taken a look at the now-overturned mask mandate that applied to plane travel. And to go by their discussion, the judge’s decision hasn’t cleared up very much.

Democrat who refuted “groomer” slur against Democrats condemns GOP’s QAnon pandering

Wednesday 20 April 2022 15:47 , Andrew Naughtie

A Democratic state senator in Michigan went viral earlier this week with a broadside against the Republican Party for deriding as “groomers” people who want to see children receive sex and gender education in schools. Mallory McMorrow has since been doing the interview rounds, and on MSNBC’s Morning Joe today, she laid out why it was she spoke up against what she called “full frung QAnon hateful rhetoric”.

“Part of the reason I really wanted to identify myself is because this moment is going to require straight, white, Christian, suburban moms to stand up and get uncomfortable and say this is not okay,” she told the hosts.

“Because odds are, a lot of us are probably pretty comfortable and okay, but that doesn’t mean that this is okay. And we can’t stand back and let it happen.”

Gustaf Kilander and Alex Woodward have the story.

Democrat who blasted ‘groomer’ slur accuses GOP of ‘fringe QAnon hateful rhetoric’

Trump’s surgeon general slams judge who threw out mask mandate

Wednesday 20 April 2022 15:17 , Andrew Naughtie

Jerome Adams, who served as surgeon general under Donald Trump has laid into the judge who overruled the Biden administration’s mask mandate for passenger transportation across the US, bemoaning the fact that “a single unelected judge” can take a decision with such extreme public health impact.

While many Trump administration figures either minimised the threat of Covid-19, promoted false cures for it and/or circulated conspiracy theories about its origins or very existence, Mr Adams took a more mainstream stance on the pandemic. He was also less visible than many other officials who hewed closer to the then-president’s line.

Alex Woodward has more on the fate of the mask mandate.

Opinion: Marjorie Taylor Greene faces consequences for her actions at last

Wednesday 20 April 2022 14:35 , Andrew Naughtie

Writing for The Independent, Noah Berlatsky writes that the looming case against Marjorie Taylor Greene offers a rare hope that there could finally be genuine consequences for those who have openly endorsed the sorts of false narratives that fuelled the 6 January attack on the US Capitol:

Read his full op-ed below.

Marjorie Taylor Greene is finally facing some consequences for her actions

GOP Congresswoman shares news of a billion migrants at southern border

Wednesday 20 April 2022 14:03 , Andrew Naughtie

Republican representative Debbie Lesko has crashed into the endless row over policing at the US’s southern border with a tweet expressing her horror that “1,000,000,000 migrants” have been arrested there in just six months.

That number has understandably earned her a measure of derision – as has the argument she used it to make.

Sarah Palin calibrating message as she stands in midterms

Wednesday 20 April 2022 13:31 , Andrew Naughtie

Former Alaska governor and sometime vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has got Donald Trump’s backing for her unexpected congressional campaign announced just weeks ago – but she is clearly all too aware of criticism that she long ago turned her attention away from her home state in service of building a national profile.

Speaking to the Associated Press, she insisted that if she were to win, her national recognition would be a boon for her constituents – saying she could “pick up the phone and call any reporter and be on any show if I wanted to, and it would be all about Alaska.

“I love to work, and anyone who is around me, they know. What I’m doing is applying for a job, for Alaskans, saying: ‘Hey, you guys would be my boss. Do you want to hire me? Because if you do, I’ll do a good job for you, and I won’t back down.’”

After vaulting to conservative stardom with her 2008 run alongside John McCain, Ms Palin became a campaigner for assorted right-wing causes (in particular opposition to Obamacare) and resigned halfway through her only gubernatorial term. However, her star steadily fell after a series of disastrous missteps and a decision not to run for president in 2012.

Jan 6 texts show Oath Keepers discussing how to protect GOP congressman

Wednesday 20 April 2022 12:53 , Andrew Naughtie

As prosecutors prepare their case against Stewart Rhodes, the Oath Keepers founder facing sedition charges over the 6 January riot, newly released messages from a group chat during the insurrection show members of the group discussing how to protect a GOP Congressman.

Texas representative Dr Ronny Jackson, who has denied having anything to do with the extremist group, is described in the messages as being “on the move” as the attack proceeded. “Needs protection,” wrote one person. “If anyone inside cover him. He has critical data to protect."

Mr Rhodes responded: “Give him my cell.”

As CNN reports, the texts do not explain what “critical data” Mr Johnson was allegedly carrying, if any.

Read more about the case against the Oath Keepers below.

Oath Keepers leader to stay jailed until Capitol riot trial

Trump-backed candidate kicked off ballot – by Republicans

Wednesday 20 April 2022 12:25 , Andrew Naughtie

Donald Trump’s endorsement is longed for by Republican candidates across the country, but not all those receiving it are reaping the supposed benefits. Some are floundering in the polls or losing their primaries, and others haven’t met with the warm reception they expected.

Faring worst of all is Morgan Ortagus, a House candidate who has been thrown off the ballot by Tennessee Republicans on the basis that her ties to the district she wants to represent in Washington are tenuous at best.

In a statement after the decision came down, Ms Ortagus was plainly irked.

Read more from NBC below.

Watch: MTG on upcoming court case

Wednesday 20 April 2022 11:57 , Andrew Naughtie

Marjorie Taylor Greene is clearly furious about the court ruling allowing a case against her to proceed later this week. In an interview yesterday, she complained not just that the case is going ahead, but that it will expose her to negative publicity thanks to her court appearance.

“You know what that’s going to look like?” she said. “They’re going to be able to twist and turn and clip out any little piece they want of the horrible things that these funded attorneys are going to try to say about me.”

Watch a clip below.

Democrats, Republicans neck and neck for control of Congress in midterms

Wednesday 20 April 2022 11:15 , Andrew Naughtie

A new poll shows that the two parties are neck-and-neck when it comes to a question of which party voters would rather see in control of Congress after November.

Democrats had a one-point edge in the poll, with 43 per cent of voters supporting the idea of them retaining power in Congress while 42 per cent wanted the GOP to take control.

But the poll’s margin of error means the race could easily swing in either direction.

Read more in The Independent:

Voters split on control of Congress ahead of midterm elections, new poll finds

Is the gravy train running dry for MAGA loyalists?

Wednesday 20 April 2022 10:45 , Andrew Naughtie

Trump loyalists like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz are struggling to raise funds more than ever before as some among the far-right wing of the House face competitive primary races in their home districts.

The Indepdendent’s Eric Garcia took a look into whether the Trump brand is running out of juice to sustain some of its most devoted acolytes in Congress:

Is Greene, Cawthorn, Gaetz and Boebert’s weak fundraising a sign of weakness?

Another former Trump hater turned fan: Jenna Ellis

Wednesday 20 April 2022 10:15 , Andrew Naughtie

As JD Vance’s back catalogue of anti-Trump tweets and posts makes the rounds, online Trump-watchers are excavating embarrassing material from another of the ex-president’s loyalists: former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis, who played a key role in the 2020 election lawsuits spearheaded by Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell.

Ms Ellis and Mr Vance are, of course, hardly alone in transforming from furious “never-Trumpers” to disciples once Mr Trump took the reins. Perhaps the most infamous switcher is Senator Lindsey Graham, whose long-shot presidential campaign in 2015 was partly premised on rejecting Mr Trump’s style of politics.

ICYMI: Jan 6 rioter arrested after bragging to Uber driver

Wednesday 20 April 2022 09:30 , John Bowden

A January 6 rioter who was arrested this month had his indictment unsealed this week.

According to court filings, Jerry Daniel Braun told a DC-area Uber driver of his experience joining the battle at the US Capitol for hours before it became clear that it would not end with Donald Trump being ushered into a second term.

Read more at NBC News:

Video resurfaces of Trump asking Zelensky to work with Putin

Wednesday 20 April 2022 08:30 , John Bowden

As Russia and Vladimir Putin specifically stand accused of carrying out war crimes across Ukraine including in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, old video of Donald Trump urging his Ukrainian counterpart to “work” with the leader of the country that first invaded his in 2014 is once again floating around.

In the video, Volodymyr Zelensky is seen with a pained expression as Mr Trump makes the suggestion, “I really hope that you and President Putin can get together and solve your problem”.

Read more and watch the video here:

Video resurfaces of a horrified Zelensky as Trump tells him to work with Putin

ICYMI: Ethics watchdog wants DOJ to look at Trump call logs

Wednesday 20 April 2022 07:30 , John Bowden

A top Washington ethics watchdog believed the Justice Department should open a criminal investigation into a hours-long gap in the White House call logs from January 6, 2021.

The gap in the logs occurred as rioters were storming the US Capitol, spurred on by false claims about the 2020 election spread by Donald Trump.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’s director called the gap significant and worthy of probing to see if it was the result of “tampering”.

Read more:

Trump call log gap could be investigated for criminal misconduct

ICYMI: Ohio Senate candidate who Trump endorsed once called him ‘Hitler'

Wednesday 20 April 2022 06:30 , John Bowden

JD Vance may be Donald Trump’s favoured candidate for the Ohio US Senate race, but in 2016 he was the furthest thing from a vocal ally of the now-former president.

The Independent takes a look at why Mr Vance’s past remarks could still serve to throw his current alliance with Mr Trump in jeopardy:

After Trump endorsement JD Vance quote suggesting he’s ‘America’s Hitler’ reemerges

ICYMI: Trump turns on GOP Senate candidate

Wednesday 20 April 2022 05:29 , John Bowden

Donald Trump is swiping at Mark Brnovich, one of his party’s numerous candidates for the Arizona US Senate race ahead of a primary in August.

The move is signficant: It symbolises Mr Trump’s ongoing efforts to purge the GOP of anyone who does not push his false claims about the 2020 election.

Read more:

Trump attacks Arizona GOP Senate candidate for not pursuing the ‘Big Lie’ enough

Biden reportedly told Obama he was running again in 2024

Wednesday 20 April 2022 03:38 , John Bowden

President Joe Biden apparently confirmed to Barack Obama that he was still planning to run for reelection in 2024 when the former president visited the White House for a ceremony recognising the successes of the Affordable Care Act.

The news, if true, could all but guarantee a rematch between Donald Trump and Mr Biden if the former goes through with his much-hinted intention to run for the presidency again.

Read more from The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg:

Biden tells Obama that he is running again in 2024, report says

Donald Trump Jr backs up father’s endorsement of JD Vance

Wednesday 20 April 2022 02:54 , John Bowden

Donald Trump Jr is joining his father in endorsing JD Vance over Josh Mandel, a frontrunner in the Ohio Republican Senate primary who has run a campaign closely aligned with the former president’s message.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Mr Trump Jr wrote: “The same America Last establishment that hates Trump, hates JD...And that's exactly why we need to send JD to the Senate!”

Ex-Fox host Bill O’Reilly caught on video yelling at JetBlue employee

Wednesday 20 April 2022 01:55 , John Bowden

Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, anchor of the prime time show The O’Reilly Factor, was seen at an airport in xxx yelling at an employee after his flight was delayed.

In the cell phone video, published on Tuesday by the Daily Mail, Mr O’Reilly is seen apparently threatening to get the man fired. At issue was Mr O’Reilly’s flight to the Turks and Caicos from New York’s JFK airport, which had apparently been delayed for five hours.

Watch the video at The Daily Mail:

Trump-backed Senate candidate gets boost from major anti-abortion group

Wednesday 20 April 2022 01:02 , John Bowden

Herschel Walker, Donald Trump’s pick for the US Senate seat held by Sen Raphael Warnock in Georgia, was endorsed on Tuesday from one of the US’s largest anti-abortion groups.

“Herschel Walker will be a most effective champion for unborn babies and their mothers in Washington and he has demonstrated the passion and perseverance it takes to win the critically important Georgia Senate race,” said the director of the National Right to Life.

Polls have shown Mr Warnock narrowly trailing his challenger; the seat is one of the most important potential pickups for the GOP this November.

DOJ to appeal mask mandate defeat dealt by Trump judge

Tuesday 19 April 2022 23:24 , John Bowden

The Justice Deparment under President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that it would appeal a ruling from a federal judge appointed by Donald Trump that halted a nationwide mandate for mask use on air travel and trains.

Read more:

Trump sabotages GOP senate candidate for not pushing ‘big lie'

Tuesday 19 April 2022 22:35 , John Bowden

Donald Trump is attacking a candidate for Senate in Arizona, one of his party’s most important battlegrounds and a top target for the GOP in November, over the Republican candidate’s insufficient support for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The ex-president hit Arizona's attorney general Mark Brnovich on Monday, claiming he had received "massive information on the fraud and so-called 'irregularities’" of the 2020 election, but that he "seems to be doing nothing about it."

Read more from The Independent’s Greg Graziosi:

Trump attacks Arizona GOP Senate candidate for not pursuing the ‘Big Lie’ enough

Former staffer says Trump ally Madison Cawthorn is ‘habitual liar'

Tuesday 19 April 2022 22:00 , John Bowden

A former staffer for Rep Madison Cawthorn unloaded on her ex-boss in an interview where she called him a “habitual liar” and insinuated that he drinks heavily.

Cawthorn’s spokesman has sharply denied the claim, which she said she detailed in an employment complaint while still working for him. She was accused by the congressman’s staff in response of working for one of Mr Cawthorn’s challengers in a contested GOP primary.

Read more from The Independent:

Ex-Madison Cawthorn staffer reportedly files complaint against him

DeSantis escalates feud with Disney

Tuesday 19 April 2022 21:42 , John Bowden

Ron DeSantis is escalating his feud with the Walt Disney Co. over its opposition to Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

On Tuesday he asked the state legislature to consider repealing the private government privileges granted to the company over the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a grant from the state in 1967 that gave the company near-total control over rought 40 square miles of Florida real estate where Disney World is located.

Read more at NPR:

Accused Jan 6 rioter arrested after bragging to Uber driver

Tuesday 19 April 2022 20:59 , John Bowden

A man accused of participating in the January 6 riot was arrested this month after bragging to an Uber driver of his involvement the day it occurred, the FBI said in an indictment unsealed this week.

Jerry Daniel Braun is now facing multiple federal charges, NBC News first reported on Tuesday.

Read more from NBC:

Pompeo breaks with Trump, endorses McCormick in PA Senate race

Tuesday 19 April 2022 20:35 , John Bowden

Donald Trump’s former secretary of State is breaking with him and endorsing Dave McCormick in the Pennsylvania GOP primary for the state’s open US Senate seat.

The move could signal an effort by Mr Pompeo, who like his former boss is thought to be laying the groundwork for a 2024 run for president, to distinguish himself as a more hardline conservative than Mr Trump.

Mr McCormick made the announcement of the ex-secretary’s endorsement on Instagram.

Tuesday 19 April 2022 20:11 , John Bowden

JD Vance has scored Donald Trump’s endorsement in the Ohio Senate race, but will his past statements about the GOP president weigh his candidacy down?

A Georgia state representative revealed this week that the man now touting Donald Trump’s support suggested as recently as 2016 that he could be “America’s Hitler”.

Read more:

After Trump endorsement JD Vance quote suggesting he’s ‘America’s Hitler’ reemerges

Biden admin to reverse Trump-era policy that irked left

Tuesday 19 April 2022 19:02 , John Bowden

The Biden administration is about to eliminate a policy enacted under the Trump administration that allowed medical professionals to refuse to perform procedures to which they have religious objections.

The rule was seen by many on the left as giving doctors a free pass to discriminate against LGBT+ Americans, as well as those seeking abortion care.

Read more from Politico:

Republicans celebrate end of mask mandates on airplanes

Tuesday 19 April 2022 18:43 , John Bowden

While advocates for Americans with disabilities and other various health conditions decry a ruling from a Trump-appointed federal judge striking down the CDC’s mask mandate for airplanes and buses, Republicans are cheering their latest legal victory.

Rep Jim Jordan put his feelings succinctly in a tweet, writing: “Trump judges matter”, an apparent provocative nod to the Black Lives Matter movement and slogans.

A Trump loyalist running for Congress in Nevada, Annie Black, added: “A ruling from a single Trump-appointed judge ended the entire mask regime overnight. I encourage all the liberals angry at this to boycott airlines so that the rest of us have an even more enjoyable flying experience.”

Tuesday 19 April 2022 17:47 , John Bowden

The head of a major ethics watchdog in Washington says that the Justice Department should investigate the hours-long gap in the White House call logs from January 6 for criminal wrongdoing.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) president Noah Bookbinder urged as much to the Justice Department in a letter this week.

Read more from The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg:

Trump call log gap could be investigated for criminal misconduct

Watchdog calls on DoJ to investigate Trump for “willfully mutilating and destroying records"

Tuesday 19 April 2022 16:39 , Andrew Naughtie

Donald Trump’s time in office reportedly saw him routinely tearing up pieces of paper that should legally have been preserved, obliging his staff to tape them back together as best they could – and since he left the White House, it has emerged that he took multiple boxes of records with him to Mar-a-Lago in a possible violation of the Presidential Records Act.

It has also transpired that the White House phone records from 6 January 2021 show hours of empty space where it is well-established that Mr Trump was in the building and communicating by phone with people on the outside, raising the question of whether and where his communication records can actually be found.

As pressure on those two fronts continues to mount, the longtime watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has written to the Department of Justice to call for an investigation into the 45th president for “Violating federal law by wilfully mutilating and destroying records”.

Read the full letter here.

Trump announces upcoming Nebraska rally

Tuesday 19 April 2022 16:18 , Andrew Naughtie

Donald Trump is upping the frequency of his campaign-style rallies across the US, and has today confirmed he will be holding another in Nebraska on 29 April. So far, the only guest speaker listed is gubernatorial candidate Charles W. Herbster.

Recent rallies have seen Mr Trump keep up his usual pace of bizarre, false and incendiary remarks, but some have pointed out that the size of the crowds seems to be waning, not waxing.

GOP strategist says Trump’s dwindling rally crowds show base disappearing

Analysis: Trump slams a wrecking ball into Arizona’s Senate race

Tuesday 19 April 2022 15:55 , Andrew Naughtie

Donald Trump has already driven one viable candidate out of the race to unseat sitting Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, one of Republicans’ top targets this year – and now, he is going after the party establishment’s next best hope.

As Eric Garcia writes, this is a sign of how politics has changed in a state that has lately turned blue at the national level even as its Republican Party hurtles off to the fringe:

Read his analysis below.

Trump just slammed a wrecking ball into Arizona’s Senate race

Republicans teeing up boycott of presidential debates

Tuesday 19 April 2022 15:23 , Andrew Naughtie

Donald Trump has participated in a total of five presidential debates against Democratic rivals (it would have been six had he not refused another against Joe Biden), and the performances he put in were not well received. That is probably why, in advance of his expected 2024 run, the Republican Party is saying it will refuse to put forward candidates for the debates unless changes are made.

That said, Bloomberg columnist Hussein Ibish has another take...

Capitol Police calm nerves before training exercise

Tuesday 19 April 2022 14:44 , Andrew Naughtie

The US Capitol Police, whose lack of preparedness was one of the most shocking things on display on 6 January 2021, are tongiht conducting a “routine training exercise” on the grounds of the complex they protect – and are cautioning people not to be alarmed at the sight of what might look like an emergency situation. Keep an eye out this evening for tweets misrepresenting what’s going on, deliberately or otherwise.

JD Vance trades on Trump endorsement

Tuesday 19 April 2022 14:15 , Andrew Naughtie

JD Vance, the Hillbilly Elegy author and Trump critic-turned-hardcore-Trumpist, is celebrating the late-in-the-game Trump endorsement he’s secured as he struggles to gain traction in the Ohio Senate primary.

Before he transformed himself into a belligerent right-wing culture warrior, Mr Vance was an extremely caustic critic of the former president. A resurfaced 2016 message in which he described Mr Trump as as “America’s Hitler” has been making the rounds since the endorsement came through.

Kimberly Guilfoyle meets with 6 January committee

Tuesday 19 April 2022 13:45 , Andrew Naughtie

Kimberly Guilfoyle, a sometime Fox News host and Trump advisor who is also Donald Trump Jr’s fiancee, has reportedly met with the 6 January select committee as its members interview the former president’s closest associates – including family members.

She was subpoenaed last month having previously cut short a voluntary interview because she object to the presence of lawmakers. Ms Guilfoyle spoke at the White House rally that preceded the attack on the US Capitol, and also bragged about raising millions of dollars to help fund it.

AP source: Kimberly Guilfoyle meets with Jan. 6 committee

Notorious Trump lawyer claims attorney-client privilege over vast email cache

Tuesday 19 April 2022 13:14 , Andrew Naughtie

John Eastman, the attorney whose memo outlining a plan for Mike Pence to throw out the election result has become a key part of the investigation into the Capitol riot, entered a court filing yesterday in which he claimed attorney-client privilege over some 37,000 emails being sought by the 6 January committee.

As reported by Politico’s Kyle Cheney, the emails stem from his time as a professor at Chapman University, a post he departed shortly after the insurrection. The judge adjudicating the dispute between Mr Eastman and the select committee over his communications with Mr Trump has already ruled that the lawyer and the former president “more likely than not” committed crimes in their effort to block the election result from being certified.

Read more below.

Marjorie Taylor Greene says effort to bar her from ballot

Tuesday 19 April 2022 12:45 , Andrew Naughtie

Appearing on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show last night, Marjorie Taylor Greene laid into the effort to bar her from the ballot in November over her past support for people who participated in the 6 January insurrection.

She has denied taking part in or helping plan the attack on the US Capitol, and in the interview, she blamed the effort on “New York attorneys” who “hate the people in my district”.

Analysis: Are MAGA Republicans losing their fundraising mojo?

Tuesday 19 April 2022 12:13 , Andrew Naughtie

Even as Republicans are heavily favoured to take back the House of Representatives and thought likely to wrest control of the Senate, it seems that the supply of campaign cash for hardcore right-wingers may be drying up.

John Bowden writes that the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Madison Cawthorn and Lauren Boebert are still raising more than they’re spending, the combination of ebbing cash flow and in some cases viable primary challengers is raising questions about what could happen between now and November:

Read his analysis below.

MAGA wing of the GOP posts dismal fundraising numbers. Are they still safe in 2022?

Former Dem senator says her party has “failed” on Trump messaging

Tuesday 19 April 2022 11:45 , Andrew Naughtie

Claire McCaskill, the former Democratic Senator turned MSNBC contributor, has given her thoughts on her party’s efforts to counter the Republican Party’s attacks on democracy – and drawn an unflattering comparison with the GOP’s dogged and largely successful efforts when the boot was on the other foot.

Trump crashes into Arizona senate race

Tuesday 19 April 2022 11:19 , Andrew Naughtie

Arizona Republicans are preparing to duking it out for the chance to take on Democratic Senator Mark Kelly in November – and in a pattern that’s repeated itself nationwide, the party’s Washington establishment has another headache on its hands thanks to Donald Trump.

Having already obstructed a run by outgoing Governor Doug Ducey, whom he has blackballed for refusing to endorse the false claim that the 2020 election was stalling, Mr Trump has now salted the earth for sitting Attorney General Mike Brnovich with a statement laying into him for similar apostasy. And ominously for Republicans worried about the chance of an extreme candidate throwing Mr Kelly a lifeline, the ex-president has announced he will be endorsing someone soon...

Marjorie Taylor Greene ballot challenge can go ahead

Tuesday 19 April 2022 10:50 , Andrew Naughtie

Campaigners trying to get Madison Cawthorn barred from the ballot in North Carolina over his support for 6 January rioters suffered a setback in their effort earlier this year, but a similar case against Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene saw a breakthrough yesterday when a federal judge denied Ms Greene’s request for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order.

As the New York Times reports, the case rests on a provision in the post-Civil War 14th Amendment that reads:

Ms Taylor Greene insists she did not participate in or help plan the 6 January attack on the US Capitol, but she has repeatedly defended people arrested and charged for taking part in it and has also helped spread conspiracy theories about what happened on the day – part of a pattern of behaviour that includes calling for violence against Democrats.

Flashback: When Trump told Zelensky to make a deal with Putin

Tuesday 19 April 2022 09:58 , Andrew Naughtie

Back in 2019 Aaron Rupar, whose clips of Donald Trump’s speeches and ramblings have made him an essential follow for anyone watching US politics on Twitter, shared select clips from the then-president’s press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he tried to extort into investigating the Bidens by withholding military aid.

The thread has now been recirculating, and given the context of events in Ukraine today, one particular clip stands out...

Mr Trump has lately been trying to walk back at least some of his myriad approving comments about Vladimir Putin, but his image in Russian media has hardly suffered as a result.

Georgia rep shares JD Vance’s screenshot calling Trump 'America’s Hitler’

Tuesday 19 April 2022 09:30 , Stuti Mishra

Georgia representative Josh McLaurin shared a screenshot of a message from the Senate candidate and his old roommate, JD Vance, where he calls Donald Trump “America’s Hitler”.

Mr Vance, who secured the former president’s endorsement last week, seems to be explaining his rise to the presidency following the 2016 election.

Sharing the screenshot of the “unfiltered explanation”, Mr McLaurin, who went to Yale with Mr Vance, alleges that the Senate candidate is “trying to exploit” the same politics that he criticised once.

“The screenshot below is @JDVance1’s unfiltered explanation from 2016 of the breakdown in Republican politics that he now personally is trying to exploit,” he wrote in the tweet on Monday.

“The “America’s Hitler” bit is at the end. The public deserves to know the magnitude of this guy’s bad faith.”

In the message seen in the screenshot, Mr Vance writes: “I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical asshole like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler. How’s that for discouraging?”

Mr Vance is set to campaign with Don Jr in Ohio before Mr Trump himself visits this weekend.

Where Truth Social went wrong

Tuesday 19 April 2022 09:08 , Andrew Naughtie

The outage at Trump-backed social media platform Truth Social has further tarnished the app’s already besmirched reputation. Dogged from the start by technical problems, business difficulties and personnel changes – as well as questions over whether its claims to be “censorship-free” are true – Truth Social has so far failed to attract the former president himself as a user, robbing it of one of its main USPs.

Here, Vishwam Sankaran explains where things went awry.

As Truth Social is branded ‘disaster,’ what went wrong for Trump’s new platform?

Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr’s fiancée, speaks to 6 January committee

Tuesday 19 April 2022 08:30 , Stuti Mishra

Kimberly Guilfoyle, the fiancée of Donald Trump Jr, met with the House panel on the 6 January Capitol riot for nine hours on Monday, a report says.

Ms Guilfoyle, who was called in to speak about her conversations with the former president on the day of the riot and about her fundraising activities, arrived for a meeting with committee investigators at around 10 am on Monday and left nine hours later, according to a report by CNN.

Ms Guilfoyle reportedly raised $3 million for the former president’s 6 January rally, that preceded the violent Capitol riot.

Biden admin won’t enforce mask mandate after Trump-appointed judge strikes it down

Tuesday 19 April 2022 06:45 , Stuti Mishra

The Biden administration will stop enforcing a mask mandate for travel on planes and trains after a Trump-appointed federal judge ruled against the Centers for Disease Control’s order requiring face coverings to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday called the decision by a Florida federal judge “disappointing” and said federal officials were evaluating the ruling.

Andrew Feinberg has more on this:

Biden admin won’t enforce mask mandate on planes and trains after ruling

US border arrests rise to highest point in 20 years

Tuesday 19 April 2022 06:00 , Stuti Mishra

Arrests and expulsions by US officials at the Mexican border have risen to their highest level in at least two decades, with more than one million migrants detained in the past six months, writes Io Dodds.

Statistics released by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) showed that its agents made 209,906 arrests along the country’s southern border in March, on top of 803,6 since October, making for a six month total of 1,013,513.

During the pandemic, both US president Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump used Title 42 to expel migrants en masse.

Read more from The Independent:

The US has arrested more than 1 million migrants at the Mexican border in six months

Trump says Ukraine and Russia should ‘figure out’ a solution ‘now'

Tuesday 19 April 2022 05:15 , Stuti Mishra

Former president Donald Trump released a statement on the Ukraine war on Monday, saying “it doesn’t make sense” why Moscow and Kyiv haven’t yet come to an “agreement.”

“It doesn’t make sense that Russia and Ukraine aren’t sitting down and working out some kind of an agreement,” Mr Trump said in the Monday statement. “If they don’t do it soon, there will be nothing left but death, destruction, and carnage.”

“This is a war that never should have happened, but it did,” the former president continued. “The solution can never be as good as it would have been before the shooting started, but there is a solution, and it should be figured out now — not later — when everyone will be DEAD!”

Mr Trump had earlier praised Vladimir Putin’s move to invade Ukraine, calling it “genius”.

Trump’s Truth Social goes down for hours

Tuesday 19 April 2022 04:33 , Stuti Mishra

Former US president Donald Trump’s new social media platform, Truth Social, was down for hours, hit with a series of outages on Monday.

Outages were reported from just after 7:00am EST to around 3:30pm, according to DownDetector.

My colleague Vishwam Sankaran has more on this here:

Troubled Trump app Truth Social goes down

ICYMI: Psaki vs Doocy (again)

Tuesday 19 April 2022 03:15 , Andrew Naughtie

White House press secretary Jen Psaki had harsh words for Fox News’s White House correspondent Peter Doocy last week.

Suggesting on Pod Save America that Fox News “provides” the journalist with the questions he peppers Ms Psaki with at her daily briefings, Ms Psaki explained: “He works for a network that provides people with questions that, nothing personal to any individual including Peter Doocy, but might make anyone sound like a stupid son of a b****.”

Read more from The Independent’s Gustaf Kilander:

Psaki says Peter Doocy ‘sounds like a stupid son of a b****’ because of Fox questions

Trump lashes out at investigation into his taxes, saying NYC authorities should focus on subway shooting and other crimes instead

Tuesday 19 April 2022 02:15 , John Bowden

Donald Trump on Monday doubled down and referred to New York’s attorney general as “racist” in a lengthy statement urging her to focus on other crimes and desist in her office’s investigation into his company for fraud charges.

The ex-president bizarrely claimed in his statement that his real estate company had “probably done more for New York than virtually any other person or group”.

Read more from The Independent:

Trump lashes out at tax probe, says NY AG should focus on street crime instead

ICYMI: JD Vance scores Trump endorsement in Ohio Senate contest

Tuesday 19 April 2022 01:15 , John Bowden

Author JD Vance is Donald Trump’s pick to win the Ohio Senate primary, a surprise move that could reinvigorate the campaign of Mr Vance who is currently trailing some rivals in the Republican field including Josh Mandel, the presumed frontrunner.

Mr Vance was called the “best chance for victory” against Democrats in the fall for control of the Senate seat, held by retiring Republican Rob Portman.

Read more from The Independent’s Eric Garcia:

Trump endorses longshot Republican JD Vance – despite concerns from GOP allies

Why is the GOP so obsessed with Hunter Biden?

Tuesday 19 April 2022 00:16 , John Bowden

Donald Trump and his allies spread false claims and vicious rumours about Joe Biden’s son Hunter during the 2020 election, including attacking him for his past struggles with drug addiction.

Those attacks have not even slowed down since Joe Biden won the election, as Republicans turn away from kitchen-table issues in favour of ginning up excitement with their base with the prospect of punishing one of the GOP’s political boogeymen.

Read more from The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg:

The truth about Hunter Biden and the charges he faces

Former GOP governor deals blow to party’s efforts to win in Wisconsin

Monday 18 April 2022 23:15 , John Bowden

A former Republican governor of Wisconsin announced that he would not run for office again on Monday, ending speculation that he could challenge Tony Evers, the state’s Democratic incumbent governor.

Tommy Thompson’s entrance into the race would have come more than two decades since his last run for office. A crowded field of GOP candidates remain, several of whom have echoed Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election.

Read more from the Associated Press:

Tommy Thompson decides against run for Wisconsin governor

ICYMI: Trump’s scandal-plagued EPA head is running for Senate

Monday 18 April 2022 22:17 , John Bowden

Scott Pruitt, former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, is running for Senate. He announced his bid for the seat currently held by retiring Sen James Inhofe of Oklahoma last week, joining a crowded GOP field for the seat which is likely to remain in Republican hands.

Mr Pruitt resigned as head of the EPA amid scandals surrounding his use of employees to perform personal tasks and lavish spending habits.

Read more from The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg:

Scott Pruitt, scandal-plagued Trump-era EPA head, is running for Senate in Oklahoma

Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene sees fundraising lag

Monday 18 April 2022 21:40 , John Bowden

An ally of Donald Trump is seeing her fundraising lag as she campaigns for reelection in Georgia.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a top promoter of Mr Trump’s conspiracies in the House, oversaw a campaign that spent more than $300,000 more in the first quarter of 2022 than it raised. She faces several GOP primary challengers in her deep-red district, and polls showed her tied with one of her challengers in January.

Read more from The Independent’s Oliver O’Connell:

Marjorie Taylor Greene sees first fundraising loss

Tucker Carlson hosts two butchers who believe aliens landing in UFOs are mutilating cattle: ‘Thank you for the reality check’

Monday 18 April 2022 21:21 , John Bowden

Fox News host Tucker Carlson ended an interview on his Fox Nation show with two UFO theory promoters who posited that cattle were being found “mutilated” in New Mexico, allegedly by extraterrestrials, by thanking the men for providing a “reality check” for his viewers.

Adding no doubt that he was being serious in his support for the men’s claims, he added: “Based on the evidence I think you put it really clearly”.

Watch the clip, and read more from The Independent’s Gino Spocchia:

Two butchers tell Tucker Carlson aliens are mutilating cattle

Kimberly Guilfoyle testifies to Jan 6 committee

Monday 18 April 2022 20:27 , John Bowden

Kimberly Guilfoyle, the partner of Donald Trump Jr., was in Washington on Monday and was spotted in the offices of the January 6 committee where she apparently testified before the committee’s members.

CBS News first reported her appearance at the committee’s offices on Monday.

“Ms. Guilfoyle met with Donald Trump inside the White House, spoke at the rally that took place before the riot on January 6th, and apparently played a key role organizing and raising funds for that event. The Select Committee is seeking information from her about these and other matters. Because Ms. Guilfoyle backed out of her original commitment to provide a voluntary interview, we are issuing today's subpoena that will compel her to testify. We expect her to comply with the law and cooperate,” said the panel last month.

Trump-appointed federal judge strikes down interstate mask mandate on planes and trains

Monday 18 April 2022 20:06 , John Bowden

A federal judge appointed to the bench by Donald Trump just halted the CDC’s mask mandate for trains and planes, handing conservative foes of Covid-related public health measures a victory.

The ruling by US District Judge Kathryn Mizelle could mean the end of the years-long requirement that all Americans remain masked while in airports, on planes, in train stations and other modes of public transportation.

Read more from The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg:

Trump-appointed Florida federal judge strikes down mask mandate on trains and planes

Letitia James fires back at Trump: I won’t be ‘bullied'

Monday 18 April 2022 19:32 , John Bowden

New York’s attorney general, whose office has become a target of the former president’s ire due to the investigation into claims that his company committed fraud, fired back on Monday vowing not to be “bullied” by Donald Trump after he referred to her as a “racist”.

Letitia James issued the following statement on Monday after Mr Trump used his Easter message to attack her and followed up on Monday in a lengthier statement inferring that her office was focused on investigating his company because he is white.

“Like all Americans, Donald J. Trump is entitled to defend himself in court. However, this attorney general will not be bullied or intimidated by the former president. The courts have ruled time and time again that the office’s investigation into Mr. Trump and his financial dealings is legitimate and lawful, and Attorney General James will continue to follow the facts and the law wherever they may lead. Nothing will dissuade her from pursuing justice,” said Ms James.

Tucker Carlson’s new doc on testosterone levels mocked for ‘homoeroticism’ and ‘testicle tanning’ segment

Monday 18 April 2022 18:41 , John Bowden

Fox News host Tucker Carlson is raising eyebrows with a segment on his new documentary which examines testosterone levels in men that describes a process known as “testicle tanning”.

In the segement, Mr Carlson interviews a fitness professional who advocates for “testicle tanning”, in which the full body is treated with “red light therapy” to allegedly raise testosterone levels.

Read more from The Independent’s Johanna Chisholm:

Tucker Carlson film promo mocked for ‘homoeroticism’, segment on ‘testicular tanning’

Trump nodded after Roger Stone called Ron DeSantis a ‘piece of s***'

Monday 18 April 2022 17:35 , John Bowden

Longer video has just been surfaced of Roger Stone’s reunion with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend.

Mr Stone originally posted a clip of the meeting on Saturday. In it, he is seen telling the former president that Florida’s Trump-endorsed governor, Ron DeSantis, is a “piece of s***”.

Watch the clip above, and read more in The Independent:

Roger Stone tells Trump that DeSantis is ‘a piece of s***’ at Mar-a-Lago reunion

Trump doubles down, attacks ‘racist’ Letitia James

Monday 18 April 2022 17:19 , John Bowden

Donald Trump doubled down on Monday after using his Easter greetings to attack the New York attorney general for a fraud investigation her office launched into his businesses.

In a statement released through a spokeswoman, Mr Trump accused Ms James of being a “racist”, apparently inferring that her office was investigating him because he is white.

Read more in The Independent:

Trump lashes out at tax probe, says NY AG should focus on street crime instead

Biden releases tax returns after Trump went four years without doing so

Monday 18 April 2022 15:45 , John Bowden

Joe Biden released his tax returns on Friday, marking both the traditional federal income tax filing deadline and a significant change of pace for the White House after four years of Donald Trump’s refusal to do so.

Mr Trump, a millionaire and longtime real estate developer, came under pressure first in 2015 to release his tax returns and at the time claimed he would do so when a supposed federal audit concluded. He never did; in late 2020, just over a month before voters decided not to reelect him, The New York Times finally obtained a copy mailed anonymously.

Read more from The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg:

Biden tax returns reveal how much money the president and first lady made last year

ICYMI: Trump jokes about his weight loss at event

Monday 18 April 2022 15:09 , John Bowden

Donald Trump joked to his supporters last week that he doesn’t “have time to lose weight” after Dr Mehmet Oz, his favoured candidate in the Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary, suggested he do so years ago on his show.

‘Can you believe I weigh 208?’ the former president told his laughing supporters. ”Now maybe a little more.”

“Dr Oz has said you should lose weight. I told him, ‘I don’t have time to lose weight,” he said.

Dr Oz has leaned into the endorsement from the former president, who remains banned from Twitter and Facebook due to his conspiracies about the 2020 election and the violence that resulted from those claims on January 6.

Trump complains about weight gain: ‘I don’t have time to lose it’

Trump’s attempted coup to be in focus in US House hearings, says Raskin

Monday 18 April 2022 14:30 , Stuti Mishra

Donald Trump’s attempted coup on 6 January 2021 will be the centrepiece of committee hearings in Congress next month, said Democrat Jamie Raskin, a committee member who led the prosecution of Mr Trump’s second impeachment.

“This was a coup organised by the president against the vice president and against the Congress in order to overturn the 2020 presidential election,” Mr Raskin said in an interview with Reuters, National Public Radio and The Guardian newspaper when asked what he has learned so far from the committee’s probe.

“We’re going to tell the whole story of everything that happened. There was a violent insurrection and an attempted coup and we were saved by Mike Pence’s refusal to go along with that plan,” said Mr Raskin, a member of the House special committee.

It was unclear whether Mr Raskin, during the interview, was expressing only his thoughts or the thinking also of fellow lawmakers serving on the special committee made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans.

Historian says only a successful criminal prosecution can deflate Trump’s ‘personality cult'

Monday 18 April 2022 13:45 , Stuti Mishra

Election defeats alone cannot stop Donald Trump; a successful criminal prosecution is the sure way to deflate the power of his “personality cult”, a historian has said.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, who is an expert on authoritarian leaders and has written Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present told Politico in a lengthy interview over the weekend that Mr Trump checks all the boxes for history’s authoritarians.

“It takes prosecution and conviction to deflate their personality cults,” Ms Ben-Ghiat said. “That’s what it takes.”

“I just predicted that he [Trump] wouldn’t leave in a quiet manner” after he lost the election, said Ms Ben-Ghiat, a professor of history and Italian studies at New York University. “He’s an authoritarian, and they can’t leave office. They don’t have good endings and they don’t leave properly.”

She said Mr Trump’s lies over election results “maintains him as their [his supporters’] hero, as their winner, as the invincible Trump — but also as the wronged Trump, the victim. Victimhood is extremely important for all autocrats,” she noted. “They always have to be the biggest victim.”

Trump endorses longshot Republican JD Vance

Monday 18 April 2022 13:00 , Stuti Mishra

Former president Donald Trump endorsed author JD Vance for the Republican nomination in Ohio’s Senate race, which the best-selling author and venture capitalist hopes could revive his lagging Senate campaign.

Mr Vance seeks to replace the retiring Senator Rob Portman, who won re-election and outran Mr Trump in the Buckeye State in 2016. Previously a swing state, Ohio has moved hard right in recent years and the winner of the primary will be the favourite to win the general election come November.

Eric Garcia has more details below:

Trump endorses longshot Republican JD Vance – despite concerns from GOP allies

Marjorie Taylor Greene sees first fundraising loss

Monday 18 April 2022 12:15 , Stuti Mishra

The campaign committee for Marjorie Taylor Greene has reported its first net loss since she was elected, according to its most recent filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Oliver O’Connell has more details:

Marjorie Taylor Greene sees first fundraising loss

Wisconsin Democrats aim to beat Ron Johnson, but how?

Monday 18 April 2022 11:30 , Stuti Mishra

A crowded field of Democrats is trying to figure out a winning strategy to unseat Republican Senator Ron Johnson, one of Donald Trump‘s most vocal — and to his opponents, most loathsome — supporters, in Wisconsin in November.

Read more:

Wisconsin Democrats aim to beat Sen. Ron Johnson, but how?

The truth about Hunter Biden and the charges he faces

Monday 18 April 2022 10:45 , Stuti Mishra

Here’s a brief explainer from Andrew Feinberg on who is Hunter Biden, what Republicans have accused him of, and what accusations may be real.

The truth about Hunter Biden and the charges he faces

SNL skewers Trump with Easter cold open sketch

Monday 18 April 2022 10:00 , Stuti Mishra

The Easter special episode of “Saturday Night Live” opened with the Easter Bunny and some special guests, including Donald Trump, to pass on special holiday messages.

Mr Trump, played by actor James Austin Johnson, began the act by complaining about his omission, claiming that it was “another example of how whites are being treated horribly in this country”.

He went on to give a rambling, discursive monologue about Cap’n Crunch, Seabiscuit and Little Caesar.

“Easter is time for basket, it’s time for bunny and frankly, bonnet,” the character of the former president said. “And let’s not forget egg.”

The sketch showed Mr Trump admitting that he did say Covid would be over by Easter. “I just didn’t say which one, okay?” he said. “So say it with me, everyone! Happy Easter!”

Click here to read the full blog on The Independent's website