Trump news - live: FBI want to know if Trump hid secret documents at other homes in NY and NJ

FBI special agents have reportedly interviewed multiple witnesses regarding whether former president Donald Trump has hidden classified or sensitive government documents at his Trump Tower home and office or his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Rolling Stone says that agents want to know if the one-term president moved documents from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to his other properties.

Earlier the woman whom Herschel Walker paid for an abortion told The New York Times that the Republican Senate nominee in Georgia, a close friend of Mr Trump, urged her to have a second abortion.

Mr Walker’s campaign also fired its political director amid the fallout after reports broke that the Republican Senate nominee in Georgia paid for a girlfriend’s abortion in 2009, CNN reported

Republican senators believed the party and its then president, Donald Trump, were “f****” during the first impeachment trial against the former president, a new book has alleged.

Claims made by the authors of Unchecked: The Untold Story Behind Congress’s Botched Impeachments of Donald Trump, also included Texas senator Ted Cruz seeming to admit that Mr Trump was guilty.

As the book’s authors, Politico’s Rachael Bade and The Washington Post’s Karoun Demirjian claim in an excerpt shared with HuffPost on Friday, Republican senator Mr Cruz told his colleagues: “Out of one hundred senators, you have zero who believe you that there was no quid pro quo. None. There’s not a single one”.

Key points

• FBI reportedly probing whether Trump stashed classified documents at his New York or New Jersey homes

• Ted Cruz admitted Trump guilty over first impeachment, book claims

• Kanye West calls Trump ‘my boy’ in Tucker Carlson interview

• Trump may still be hiding more secret documents, DoJ official believes: report

• Haberman believes Trump is going to become more ‘overt’ in racist attacks

FBI reportedly probing whether Trump stashed classified documents at his New York or New Jersey homes

23:50 , Graeme Massie

FBI special agents have reportedly interviewed multiple witnesses regarding whether former president Donald Trump has hidden classified or sensitive government documents at his Trump Tower home and office or the Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club where he has spent most summers since 2017.

Andrew Feinberg has the story.

FBI reportedly probing whether Trump stashed classified documents at Trump Tower

Dr Oz fundraiser mocked for fundraiser featuring one of Hitler’s cars

23:40 , Graeme Massie

Dr Mehmet Oz has been slammed for headlining a fundraiser featuring a car used by Adolf Hitler, which cost attendees $5,000 a plate. It was hosted in California by the in-laws of Florida Representative Matt Gaetz.

Gustaf Kilander has the story.

Dr Oz fundraiser hosted by Matt Gaetz’s in-laws featured one of Hitler’s cars

Herschel Walker’s campaign fires political director amid allegations of paying for an abortion

23:24 , Graeme Massie

Herschel Walker’s campaign fired its political director amid the fallout after reports broke that the Republican Senate nominee in Georgia paid for a girlfriend’s abortion in 2009, CNN reported.

The campaign has parted ways with Taylor Crowe, who previously worked on former Senator David Perdue’s failed primary challenge against incumbent Republican Governor Brian Kemp.

Eric Garcia has the story.

Herschel Walker’s campaign fires director amid allegations of paying for an abortion

DeSantis dodges question on climate crisis after Biden’s Hurricane Ian visit

23:01 , Graeme Massie

President Biden specifically noted the impact of the climate crisis during a visit to Florida this week.

Ethan Freedman has the story.

DeSantis dodges question on climate crisis after Biden’s Hurricane Ian visit

Cheney warns of risk to democracy in Arizona race

22:40 , Gino Spocchia

Congresswoman Liz Cheney said on Wednesday said the Republican candidates for Arizona governor and secretary of state pose a huge risk for democracy because both say they will refuse to certify election results if they don’t like the results.

Ms Cheney, a prominent critic of former president Donald Trump,, made the comments at an event organised by the McCain Institute at Arizona State University.

She failed to win her primary in Wyoming to a Trump-backed Republican candidate.

Liz Cheney says Arizona GOP candidates threaten democracy

Woman says Herschel Walker urged her to have second abortion

22:31 , Graeme Massie

The woman whom Herschel Walker paid for an abortion told The New York Times that Herschel Walker, the Republican Senate nominee in Georgia, urged her to have a second abortion.

Eric Garcia has the details.

A second woman tells The New York Times Herschel Walker urged her to have an abortion

Trump shares video mocking Kamala Harris slip-up

22:20 , Gino Spocchia

Donald Trump appeared to mock Kamala Harris on Thursday night as he shared a video of the vice president slipping-up last week while in the Korean peninsula.

Ms Harris made a diplomatic blunder as she mistakenly praised the US alliance “with the Republic of North Korea” during her trip to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), instead of South Korea’s name, the Republic of Korea.

Mr Trump shared a clip of the gaffe which ended with a clip of North Korean dictator Kim Jung-un laughing and clappging, in what was not his first attack on Ms Harris

Grame Massie had the original report:

Kamala Harris mistakenly praises ‘Republic of North Korea’ during DMZ trip

‘He’s like Ralph Lauren’, says Kanye West of Trump

21:20 , Gino Spocchia

Asked by Fox News host Tucker Carlsonon Thursday if his feelings for the 45th president have altered in the years that have passed since he left office, Kanye West paused and even eked out a smile as he seemed to reflect on the question and his feelings about the man he once called “superman”.

“Come on man, Trump’s the s**t. What do you mean? He has his own buildings. What are you talking about? He’s like Ralph Lauren. He made Ivanka,” he said to a giggling Mr Carlson.

Johanna Chisholm has more on that interview here:

Why has Kanye West turned on former pal Jared Kushner?

Trump predicated how GOP would respond to Herschel Walker allegations

20:40 , Gino Spocchia

Former president Donald Trump accurately predicted how top Republicans would have no problem with recent reports which revealed that Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker paid for a woman to have an abortion.

In her book Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, reporter Maggie Haberman writes about raising questions about Mr Walker’s checkered personal history, including allegations that he had committed domestic violence against his ex-wife, during a conversation with the ex-president in September 2021.

Mr Trump, writes the New York Times reporter, was nonplussed about what she described as Mr Walker’s “complicated personal history,” and replied to her that it was a “personal history that, ten years ago, maybe it would have been a prob- lem”.

Andrew Feinberg has more:

Trump predicted that GOP would accept Herschel Walker’s abortion scandal in interview

New book says GOP senators fumed at Trump impeachment lawyers’ incompetence: ‘We are f**ked’

20:27 , Graeme Massie

The bumbling, slapdash efforts of former president Donald Trump’s defence team during his first impeachment trial left Republican senators aghast and scrambling to prevent them from leading Mr Trump into disaster, a new book reveals.

Andrew Feinberg has the story.

‘We are f**ked’: GOP senators fumed at Trump defence incompetence, book says

Herschel Walker allegations not going away

20:10 , Gino Spocchia

There seems to be no sign that the Herschel Walker allegations are going away any time soon, after a number of reports this week about the Georgia GOP Senate candidate’s past.

As The Independent’s Eric Garcia writes: “Republicans are already trying to mount a counter-offensive. On Wednesday, Walker released an ad criticising Warnock’s campaign for highlighting his past and the allegations that he abused women.”

Continue reading here:

Herschel Walker addressed his scandals with a bizarre political ad

Kanye West calls Trump ‘my boy’ in Tucker Carlson interview

19:55 , Graeme Massie

Donald Trump was mentioned more than once by Kanye West as the rapper and songwriter sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson amid condemnation of a “White Lives Matter” t-shirt.

Speaking on Thursday, West claimed “Trump wanted nothing but the best for this country” and referred to the twice impeached former president as “my boy”, while calling the reaction to his “White Lives Matter” t-shirt at Paris Fashion Week a “setup”.

That was despite the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) classifying “White Lives Matter” as a “white supremacist phrase that originated in early 2015 as a racist response to the Black Lives Matter movement”.

The phrase has also been used by supporters of Mr Trump, including far right commentator Candance Owens, who wore a matching t-shirt with West in the French capital on Monday.

How Michael Flynn’s ‘ReAwaken’ roadshow is recruiting an ‘Army of God’

19:40 , Graeme Massie

The ReAwaken America Tour led by Donald Trump’s one-time national security adviser has carried a message of a country under siege to tens of thousands of people across the US.

How Michael Flynn’s ‘ReAwaken’ roadshow is recruiting an ‘Army of God’

Senators worked to stop witnesses at impeachment trial, book claims

19:10 , Gino Spocchia

Republican senators believed the party and its then president, Donald Trump, were “f****” during the first impeachment trial against the former president, a new book by  Politico’s Rachael Bade and The Washington Post’s Karoun Demirjian has claimed.

According to an excerpt released on Friday and reported by HuffPost, the former president’s party were scrambling behind the scenes to support Mr Trump during his Senate impeachment trial in early 2020, with some lawmakers concerned about Mr Trump’s legal team’s approach.

Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, allegedly exclaimed: “We are F*****. We are F*****!,” after Mr Trump’s lawyers fumbled over a question about calling witnesses to the trial.

The authors claim a group of senators also worked to convince “moderates” in the party to vote against calling witnesses including Mr Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton, who had claimed in a book that Mr Trump did threaten to withhold military aid to Ukraine.

Mr Trump was eventually aquitted at trial, before being impeached a second time following the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, when he was similarly acquitted.

Ted Cruz admitted Trump guilty over first impeachment, book claims

18:29 , Gino Spocchia

Texas senator Ted Cruz seemed to admit that Donald Trump was guilty during his first impeachment trial in the US Senate in early 2020, when he was accused of a “quid pro quo” over withholding military assistance to Ukraine.

According to the authors of an upcoming book about the two impeachments faced by Mr Trump, the Republican senator told his colleagues: “Out of one hundred senators, you have zero who believe you that there was no quid pro quo. None. There’s not a single one”.

The claim came in an excerpt shared with HuffPost on Friday, ahead of the publication of f Unchecked: The Untold Story Behind Congress’s Botched Impeachments of Donald Trump, by Politico’s Rachael Bade and The Washington Post’s Karoun Demirjian.

Trump may still be hiding more secret documents, DoJ official believes: report

17:40 , Gino Spocchia

Donald Trump may still be hiding more top-secret documents he took from the White House at the end of his presidency Department of Justice officials believe, a report claims.

A top official, Jay I Bratt, informed the former president’s lawyers that the government believes he has not yet returned all the material in his possession, two people briefed on the matter told The New York Times.

Graeme Massie has more:

Trump may still be hiding more secret documents, DoJ official believes: report

Kanye West takes issue with Jared Kushner

17:00 , Gino Spocchia

Kanye West took issue with an unlikely figure in his wide-ranging interview with Fox News’s Tucker Carlson: Jared Kushner.

Kanye sharply criticised Mr Kushner, a former senior White House adviser to his father-in-law, Donald Trump, insinuating that he was a person solely motivated by financial gain.

As Johanna Chisholm reports, it was one of the more zany and unexpected moments in the exchange:

Why has Kanye West turned on former pal Jared Kushner?

Trump claims he would beat Washington and Lincoln

16:20 , Gino Spocchia

Donald Trump has claimed he would beat George Washington and Abraham Lincoln “by 40 per cent”, if they teamed up as president and vice president.

The former president made the remarks during a speech at the Hispanic leadership conference in Miami, Florida on Wednesday.

Maroosha Muzaffar has the report:

Trump claims he would beat a Washington-Lincoln ticket by 40 points

Trump candidate in North Carolina due to debate rival

15:40 , Gino Spocchia

Trump backed Republican Senate candidate Ted Budd is set to appear for his first and only live televised debate with Democrat opponent Cheri Beasley on Friday night, Mr Budd, a three-term congressman, long ago received the endorsement of the former president and has touted Mr Trump’s false claims about 2020’s election.

Here’s Eric Garcia with analysis on the race:

QAnon, the Big Lie and misogyny: Inside Trump’s Wilmington rally

Trump claims agents ‘disgusted’ by ‘criminal activity’ at FBI

15:01 , Gino Spocchia

ICYMI: The one-term president took to Truth Social to make his latest claims about the agency, which was involved in the raid of his Mar-a-Lago raid in August.

“The Rank and File in the FBI is disgusted and embarrassed at the criminal activity going on within the once great FBI—including “covering” for crooks and scoundrels. The Public is angry!” he wrote on his website.

Condemnation facing Trump fan Kanye West

14:40 , Gino Spocchia

When rapper and songwriter Kanye West wore a “White Lives Matter” t-shirt at Paris Fashion Week on Monday, many pointed to the slogan’s white supremacist routes (as defined by the Anti Defamation League) and use by supporters of Donald Trump.

Following his defense of the t-shirt in a sit-down interview with Tucker Carlson on Thursday, here’s a reminder of the controversay facing West:

Kanye West branded ‘dangerously dumb’ for wearing ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt

First Proud Boys leader pleads guilty to seditious conspiracy over Jan 6 attack

14:05 , Gino Spocchia

ICYMI: A Proud Boys leader will plead guilty to seditious conspiracy over the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

Jeremy Bertino, 43, is the first member of the far-right group to make a guilty plea on those charges.

Andrea Blanco has the details:

First Proud Boys leader pleads guilty to seditious conspiracy over Jan 6 attack

Trump attacks NY attorney general on Truth Social

13:20 , Gino Spocchia

ICYMI: Mr Trump is currently being sued by Letitia James, along with the Trump Organization and his adult children for fraud.

The former president took to Truth Social on Thursday to slam Ms James and brand her “probably the worst violent crime fighter in the Nation.”

“New York is sinking to a level of criminality that nobody thought possible—and it is because of her and her policies. If New York is ever going to come back, violent crime must stop—but Letitia James is incapable of doing that,” he wrote on his social media site.

Trump calls Harris slip-up ‘one of the worst I’ve ever seen'

12:40 , Gino Spocchia

Kamala Harris’s gaffe regarding North Korea was mentioned by the former president at his rally last weekend in Michigan, when he said mistakenly calling North Korea a US ally was “one of the worst I’ve ever seen.”

In comparison, Mr Trump said while president that he wanted Americans to “sit up in attention” when he talks, in the same way North Korea‘s people do when their leader Kim Jong-un speaks.

While he later denied the seriousness of those comments, a book by author Maggie Haberman alleged that Mr Trump continued to have a “fixation” with his relationship with the North Korean leader, who Mr Trump held two summits with.

He also called the country of Belgium a “city” while president and was accused of withholding military aid to Ukraine amid the country’s war with Russia in return for an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden – which ultimately led to the Russia probe and his first impeachment – amid other geopolitical gaffes.

Trump shares video mocking Kamala Harris slip-up

12:01 , Gino Spocchia

Donald Trump appeared to mock Kamala Harris on Thursday night as he shared a video of the vice president slipping-up last week while in the Korean peninsula.

Ms Harris made a diplomatic blunder as she mistakenly praised the US alliance “with the Republic of North Korea” during her trip to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), instead of South Korea’s name, the Republic of Korea.

Mr Trump shared a clip of the gaffe which ended with a clip of North Korean dictator Kim Jung-un laughing and clappging, in what was not his first attack on Ms Harris

Grame Massie had the original report:

Kamala Harris mistakenly praises ‘Republic of North Korea’ during DMZ trip

Kanye West calls Trump ‘my boy’ in Tucker Carlson interview

11:05 , Gino Spocchia

Donald Trump was mentioned more than once by Kanye West as the rapper and songwriter sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson amid condemnation of a “White Lives Matter” t-shirt.

Speaking on Thursday, West claimed “Trump wanted nothing but the best for this country” and referred to the twice impeached former president as “my boy”, while calling the reaction to his “White Lives Matter” t-shirt at Paris Fashion Week a “setup”.

That was despite the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) classifying “White Lives Matter” as a “white supremacist phrase that originated in early 2015 as a racist response to the Black Lives Matter movement”.

The phrase has also been used by supporters of Mr Trump, including far right commentator Candance Owens, who wore a matching t-shirt with West in the French capital on Monday.

Herschel Walker defends hypocrisy claims

09:32 , Gino Spocchia

ICYMI: Senate candidate Herschel Walker of Georgia is trying to play a “Jedi mind trick” on voters in regards to an ever-growing number of scandals regarding the former football player’s unacknowledged children, according to one of the reporters who broke the story.

Josh Marcus has the story for The Independent:

Anti-abortion Herschel Walker now using ‘Jedi mind trick’ say critics

First Proud Boys leader pleads guilty to seditious conspiracy over Jan 6 attack

09:02 , Graeme Massie

A Proud Boys leader has pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy over the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

Jeremy Bertino, of North Carolina, is the first member of the far-right group to make a guilty plea on those charges. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in jail after entering a plea agreement with the prosecution, CNN reported.

Andrea Blanco has more:

First Proud Boys leader pleads guilty to seditious conspiracy over Jan 6 attack

Would Elon Musk allow Donald Trump back on Twitter?

07:58 , Gino Spocchia

ICYMI: Elon Musk moved this week to revive his bid to buy Twitter, a move that once again has people talking about the repercussions of a right-leaning billionaire taking over one of the world’s most widely-used social media platforms.

John Bowden has the story:

Would Elon Musk allow Donald Trump back on Twitter?

Trump may still be hiding more secret documents, DoJ official believes: report

07:13 , Graeme Massie

Donald Trump may still be hiding more top-secret documents he took from the White House at the end of his presidency Department of Justice officials believe, a report claims:

Trump may still be hiding more secret documents, DoJ official believes: report

Greg Abott used Covid funds for migrant bus

07:08 , Graeme Massie

ICYMI: Texas’s Gov Greg Abbott used loopholes in federal law and insufficient federal oversight to ensure that at least $1bn of federal Covid funding meant for his state’s residents actually went to his controversial efforts to fight immigration.

It’s a shocking direct decision to ignore the stated purpose of those funds that seems to have been made legal through loopholes allowing states to recoup lost revenues.

Read more in The Independent:

Texas’s Greg Abbott used Covid funding to bus migrants out of state, report says

RNC threatens to sue Google for sending its emails to people’s spam folders

06:04 , Graeme Massie

ICYMI: The Republican National Committee has threatened to sue Google over claims its emails are landing in Gmail users’ spam folder at a higher rate than do emails from Democratic-aligned groups.

RNC chair Ronna Romney McDaniel promised news about a lawsuit “soon” in an interview Thursday morning on Fox Business Network’s Mornings with Maria.

“We need to find a way to keep Big Tech’s thumb off the scale in our elections and our democracy, because they should not be able to suppress emails that we’re sending to people who asked for us to send these emails,” she said.

Read more:

RNC threatens to sue Google for sending its emails to people’s spam folders

Joe Scarborough says Walker is ‘perfect lab experiment’ to see ‘how low Republican party’ will go

05:01 , Graeme Massie

ICYMI: Joe Scarborough lambasted Republicans on Thursday morning for their unwavering defence of the GOP Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker, who in recent days has faced an onslaught of bad press after it was reported by The Daily Beast that the woman who he allegedly paid to have an abortion years before also happens to be the mother of one of his children.

“It’s almost like a perfect lab experiment to see how low the Republican Party can go with people it’s willing to put in the United States Senate,” began the Morning Joe host, before listing the reports of alleged domestic abuse, bad behaviour with his son and discrepancies with the truth that have plagued the former football star’s campaign since its inception.

“All of this comes even before we get to the fact that Republicans understand he’s not qualified to be a senator. He doesn’t know the issues. He can’t talk about any issues in a way that’s cogent, that makes any sense whatsoever,” said the MSNBC host. “This is almost the perfect lab experiment on just how low Republican voters are willing to go to quote, ‘own the libs.’ It’s not worth it.”

Feds have chargeable case against Hunter Biden: WaPo

04:10 , Graeme Massie

ICYMI: Federal agents investigating Joe Biden’s son Hunter believe they have a chargeable case against him, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

The Post reports that agents involved in the case believe they have gathered sufficient evidence to charge Mr Biden’s son with tax-related crimes as well as making a false statement while under oath to investigators regarding the purchase of a firearm.

Donald Trump has long argued that Mr Biden’s son was involved in corrupt international business practices, but these potential charges do not appear to relate to the ex-president’s longstanding criticisms.

Read Eric Garcia in The Independent for more:

Federal agents likely to charge Hunter Biden on tax and and gun purchase crimes

Jan 6 committee hearing rescheduled for next Thursday

03:03 , Graeme Massie

ICYMI: The House select committee investigating January 6 will hold a public hearing next Thursday afternoon, rescheduling a meeting that was called off due to the landfall of Hurricane Ian in one member’s home state.

Committee members announced on their website that the hearing would be held on 13 October at 1pm est.

Read more:

Jan 6 committee angles for Fox News coverage with next public hearing

Trump boasts that claim he assaulted Secret Service agent made him look ‘tough’

02:03 , Graeme Massie

ICYMI: Former president Donald Trump on Wednesday boasted to a group of supporters that an ex-aide’s congressional testimony regarding his alleged assault of a Secret Service agent made him appear “physically tough”.

The moment occurred as Mr Trump was attending the Hispanic Leadership conference in Miami. Mr Trump told a crowd of listeners that he “almost didn’t want” to dispute the accusation made by former aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows during her sworn testimony to the January 6 committee.

“You know, I almost didn't want to dispute it because a lot of people said I never knew you were that physically tough,” he told the crowd.

Read more from Andrew Feinberg:

Trump boasts that claim he assaulted Secret Service agent made him look ‘tough’

Trump may still be hiding more secret documents, DoJ official believes: report

01:32 , Graeme Massie

Donald Trump may still be hiding more top-secret documents he took from the White House at the end of his presidency Department of Justice officials believe, a report claims.

A top official, Jay I Bratt, informed the former president’s lawyers that the government believes he has not yet returned all the material in his possession, two people briefed on the matter told The New York Times.

Trump may still be hiding more secret documents, DoJ official believes: report

Inside the nastiest and potentially most important Senate race in the country

01:01 , Graeme Massie

A race that could determine control of the Senate, and the direction of the country for at least the next four years, was always going to be fiercely fought. But even in the cut-and-thrust of Trump-era politics, few could have predicted just how bitter the campaign for Pennsylvania’s seat would become.

With one month to go until election day, the race between Democrat John Fetterman and his Republican opponent Mehmet Oz has the dubious honour of becoming the nastiest in the country, and there is little sign that either side is slowing down.

Eric Garcia has the story.

John Fetterman and Dr Oz: Inside the nastiest Senate race in the country

What has Hunter Biden been accused of, and what comes next?

Friday 7 October 2022 00:25 , Graeme Massie

The Washington Post reported stunning news on Thursday — federal investigators believe they have a chargeable case against Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden.

Even more interestingly, they have felt that the case is sufficient to go to court for the past several months, according to the Post.

John Bowden has the story.

What has Hunter Biden been accused of, and what comes next?

Trump mocks Ben Sasse and brands him ‘lightweight'

Thursday 6 October 2022 23:50 , Graeme Massie

The former president attacked the US Senator from Nebraska, who is one of just seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump over the January 6 insurrection.

“Great news for the United States Senate, and our Country itself. Liddle’ Ben Sasse, the lightweight Senator from the great State of Nebraska, will be resigning,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“If he knew he was going to resign so early in his term, why did he run in the first place? But it’s still great news! The University of Florida will soon regret their decision to hire him as their President….”

Ben Sasse, one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump, to resign from the Senate

Thursday 6 October 2022 23:32 , Graeme Massie

Nebraska lawmaker was simultaneously a critic of the former president but also someone who frequently voted with him.

Eric Garcia has the story for The Independent.

Ben Sasse, one of seven Republican Senators who voted to convict Trump, to resign

Ben Sasse to announce he is leaving US Senate, says report

Thursday 6 October 2022 21:08 , Graeme Massie

Ben Sasse, one of only seven GOP US Senators to vote to convict Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 riot, is set to announce he is standing down, according to a report.

Mr Sasse, a Senator from Nebraska, is expected to take up a job at the University of Florida, according to Politico.

He has been a regular critic of the former president during his two terms on the job.

Geraldo Rivera warns DeSantis will ‘feel the wrath of Latino voters’

Thursday 6 October 2022 15:40 , Johanna Chisholm

Fox News political commentator Geraldo Rivera has sent a scathing message to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis after his political stunt involving Venezuelan migrants.

Rivera took to Twitter and predicted that Mr DeSantis will face serious consequences at the ballot box for sending two flights of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard last month.

“Governor DeSantis will soon feel the wrath of Florida’s Latino voters outraged by his toying with the lives of those Venezuelan refugees he exploited,” Rivera tweeted in reference to the more than 40 migrants who were told they were being sent to Boston to obtain work papers through a programme sponsored by the Florida government.

Andrea Blanco has more here:

Geraldo Rivera warns DeSantis will ‘soon feel the wrath of Latino voters’

Elon Musk doubles down on ‘pro-Putin’ tweets after challenge from Lindsey Graham

Thursday 6 October 2022 15:20 , Johanna Chisholm

Elon Musk has doubled down on his “pro-Putin” tweets after US senator Lindsey Graham called the Tesla billionaire’s comments on the Ukraine invasion “dumb” on Twitter.

“With all due respect to Elon Musk – and I do respect him – I would suggest he needs to understand the facts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Mr Graham said in a Twitter thread on Wednesday.

“Suggesting we end the Russian invasion by simply giving Russia parts of Ukraine – after all the suffering – is dumb. It is also an affront to the bravery of the Ukrainians fighting to defend their homeland,” he added.

Keep reading the full report from Maroosha Muzaffar:

Elon Musk doubles down on ‘pro-Putin’ tweets after challenge from Lindsey Graham

Herschel Walker’s son strikes out at father on Twitter in wake of latest scandal

Thursday 6 October 2022 15:00 , Johanna Chisholm

Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s son, Christian Walker, who has become ensnared in his father’s latest scandal after it was reported by The Daily Beast that the Republican nominee allegedly paid for the abortion of a woman he later reportedly had a child with, had some choice words for the former football player.

“Wear a condom, damn,” tweeted the 23-year-old social media influencer, who has been taking to Twitter in recent days to air his grievances about his father and the scandals that have plagued his campaign in recent weeks.

Mr Walker, who has been endorsed by former president Donald Trump, has run on a platform of family first values and has repeatedly voiced his support for a pro-life agenda.

Liz Cheney says she’d be voting Democrat if she lived in Arizona

Thursday 6 October 2022 14:40 , Johanna Chisholm

As GOP nominees in Arizona for secretary of state and governor have put denying the results of the 2020 election at the front of their campaigns, Republican Liz Cheney has said that it would motivate her - who has voted Republican “for almost 40 years” - to vote for a Democrat if she lived in the southwest state.

“I don’t know that I have ever voted for a Democrat,” said Ms Cheney while speaking Wednesday night at an event at Arizona State University. “But if I lived in Arizona now, I absolutely would ... for governor and for secretary of state.”

Ms Cheney urged voters to steer clear of placing their ballot with Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake and Mark Finchem, the GOP nominee for secretary of state, both of whom have closely aligned their campaigns and platforms with Donald Trump, who has graced each of them with his endorsement.

“If you care about democracy and you care about the survival of our republic, then you need to understand — we all have to understand — that we cannot give people power who have told us that they will not honour elections,” said Rep Cheney.

Haberman believes Trump is going to become more ‘overt’ in racist attacks

Thursday 6 October 2022 14:04 , Johanna Chisholm

While promoting her newly released book about Donald Trump on CNN, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman confided in Don Lemon that she believes the former president’s racist attacks are likely only going to get worse.

Ms Haberman made her remarks while appearing on Don Lemon Tonight, after the CNN host brought up the recent incident in which the ex-president made a racist comment about his former cabinet member, cabinet official Elaine Chao, where he called her Coco Chow.

“Are we going to see more of this, you think?” Mr Lemon asked the veteran White House reporter, to which she responded, “I think so”.

“He’s leaning into it pretty aggressively. He has been much more since he left office. He was doing things like this in office as we know, but he seems to be leaning into racist statements,” said Ms Haberman.

Mr Lemon pointed out that during Trump’s tenure in the White House, he had come out and called the then-president racist, a comment that he was widely criticised for, as he pointed out on Wednesday night. He then put the question to Ms Haberman, pointedly asking: “Do you believe that he’s racist?”

In response, Ms Haberman said everything except outright agreeing with the CNN host.

“I’ve gotten this question a lot in the last couple of days. I think that he has made a series of racist statements over a very long period of time, and he has incorporated racial paranoia into his public persona and his political persona for decades now,” she said, adding that she’d uncovered certain “pieces of information” in her reporting of Confidence Man. “His backers will say, no, no, no. He’s being misunderstood. How many times is someone misunderstanding him?”

Donald Trump Jr stumps for JD Vance in Ohio

Thursday 6 October 2022 13:40 , Johanna Chisholm

Republican Senate candidate JD Vance got a leg up from his MAGA-endorsed base on Wednesday night after Donald Trump Jr parachuted into Ohio for an event to prop up the Hillbilly Elegy author.

“(Vance is) someone that’s outside of that establishment mold of Washington, DC,” Trump Jr said at an event in Columbus. “I think we’ve seen that you can get results from that. You’re not going to get results from the establishment − on either side, frankly.”

Mr Vance’s Democratic rival in the race, Rep Tim Ryan, took to Twitter to air his grievances about the former president’s son stumping in the state for the Donald Trump-endorsed candidate, calling him a “right-wing mouthpiece”.

“Right-wing mouthpiece Donald Trump Jr. is in Ohio TODAY campaigning with JD Vance. Republicans are so terrified of losing here, they’re pulling out all the stops in a last-ditch effort to defeat us. Bring it on, Don. Will you help us raise $50K toward our Rapid Response Fund,” tweeted Mr Ryan.

Pennsylvania congresswoman compares Oz to Trump: ‘He’s a fraud'

Thursday 6 October 2022 13:20 , Johanna Chisholm

Congresswoman Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania compared the state’s Republican Senate candidate - Dr Mehmet Oz - to Donald Trump, claiming that the two are one of the same in that they both are “frauds”.

“Dr Oz is very much Trump. He’s a snake oil salesman and made money selling snake oil and diet supplements,” said the Democratic lawmaker while appearing on MSNBC’s The Mehdi Hasan Show. “He’s not from Pennsylvania. He’s a fraud,” she added, while highlighting her fellow Democrat and challenger to Dr Oz, John Fetterman.

The race between the two Senate candidates, which for most of the summer seemed like an easy win for Mr Fetterman, has recently tightened. The RealClearPolitics average of polls shows the Democrat with only a 4.3 per cent lead against Dr Oz within the statistical margin of error in two recent polls, while the Cook Political Report recently changed its rating from “Lean Democrat” to “Toss Up.”

Rep Dean, however, believes that will all change in the next few weeks.

“I think that will widen and to the favour of John Fetterman winning,” the Democratic congresswoman said on Mehdi Hasan’s show on Wednesday night.

ICYMI: Journalist Maggie Haberman says Trump is driven to run again by desire for ‘revenge’ on Biden

Thursday 6 October 2022 13:00 , John Bowden

Moving on from his searing hatred for Hillary Clinton that was evident during the 2016 election, New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman says the former president is now motivated to make a White House bid in 2024 due to a desire for revenge against the man who beat him: Joe Biden.

According to Haberman, Donald Trump “misses the pomp and legal protections that the presidency afforded him”, and also “wants revenge on Biden, and on the media, and on a whole range of people” for his embarrassing 2020 defeat.

The ex-president continues to publicly hint at all of his rally appearances that he does indeed plan to run again. Few Republicans, with the notable exception of Florida’s Ron DeSantis, poll within the double digits against him in hypothetical polled matchups of the 2024 GOP primary.

Read more in The Independent:

Maggie Haberman says Trump is driven to run again by desire for revenge on Biden

Georgia election probe enters new phase with search warrants

Thursday 6 October 2022 12:40 , Johanna Chisholm

Just as Donald Trump is dealing with the fallout from the shocking FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago, a new investigation’s very similar consequences appear to be looming on the horizon.

A court order from the judge overseeing the grand jury investigation in Fulton County into the Trump campaign’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election revealed this week that the prosecutor leading the case is now seeking search warrants.

It isn’t yet clear who the targets of those potential warrants could be, but it is known that a number of members of Donald Trump’s legal team including Rudy Giuliani are targets of the overall investigation.

Read more in The Independent:

Georgia election probe enters new phase with search warrants

Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes says app greatest achievement of Trump’s career

Thursday 6 October 2022 12:20 , Johanna Chisholm

Ex-congressman Devin Nunes said during an interview that Truth Social, the social media platform owned by Trump Media and Technology Group that was founded by Donald Trump after he was banned from Twitter following the Capitol riot, that it is perhaps the shining achievement of the former president’s entire career.

“Can you imagine where we would be had Trump not went out and created Truth Social?” said Mr Nunes, who left his position from the House of Representatives to become the app’s chief executive officer. “We would be in a very, very dark spot.”

The interview with Mr Nunes on Wednesday night arrived shortly after shares of Digital World Acquisition Cord, the special-purpose acquisition company seeking to take Mr Trump’s media company public, dropped after Elon Musk announced Tuesday that he would reverse course and continue to go through with his deal to buy Twitter.

Shares of the SPAC fell more than 5 per cent after the Tesla CEO’s news was announced to $17.10. “Maybe the most important creation in Donald Trump’s whole career will be the creation of Truth Social,” the ex-congressman added.

GOP plans to sue Google because its emails keep going into people's spam folders

Thursday 6 October 2022 12:00 , Johanna Chisholm

Fundraising and get out out the vote emails from GOP officials are allegedly being redirected to people’s spam folders on Google, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel claims.

Because of this, she told Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo, the RNC is planning on pursuing legal action against the tech giant, telling her on Wednesday morning that it should be viewed as a warning sign to Big Tech to keep its “thumb off the scale in our elections and our democracy.”

“We are very seriously looking at how we can sue Google,” said the RNC chair, noting that the California-based company controls 53 per cent of the emails in the US.

“We know this: For the past ten months, the last four days of every month, all of our emails go undeliverable, 0 per cent deliverability,” she claimed. “This is outrageous. It is voter suppression by Big Tech, and we have to find a way to hold them accountable,” she added before announcing that the “RNC is looking to sue” and that they hoped to have an announcement on that “soon”.

Trump calls for the death penalty in human traffickers, drug dealers

Thursday 6 October 2022 11:35 , Johanna Chisholm

Among the more wild suggestions made during a nearly hourlong keynote speech on Wednesday night in front of a roomful of conservative Latino voters in Miami, Donald Trump suggested that the crime rate in the country would drop significantly if only the US implemented a death penalty for offences like drug dealing and human trafficking.

“I’m calling for the death penalty for drug dealer and human traffickers and you’re gonna stop crime in this country,” he said. “Crime will go down, in my opinion, over 80 per cent in one day if it’s a meaningful death penalty,” he added, without specifying how a “meaningful death penalty” would differ from other death penalties.

Dr Oz refuses to comment on report his research killed more than 300 dogs as Fetterman calls him ‘puppy killer’

Thursday 6 October 2022 11:15 , Johanna Chisholm

Trump-backed Dr Mehmet Oz has clearly been taken off guard by a new report claiming that his past medical research was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of animals, including dogs.

Earlier this week, Jezebel reviewed 75 studies published in academic journals involving Dr Oz's teams at Columbia University and found Dr Oz's team had conducted experiments on at least 1,027 live animals. Of these experiments, 34 resulted in the deaths of at least 329 dogs, two killed 31 pigs, and 38 killed 661 rabbits and rodents.

The Pennsylvania Senate candidate, fighting to keep a retiring GOP senator’s seat red, has yet to address the report as his Democratic challenger has hammered him on the issue for days.

Read more from Greg Graziosi:

Dr Oz refuses to comment on report his research killed more than 300 dogs

Trump calls for a return to paper ballots, blasts the US voting system as a ‘laughing stock’ of the world

Thursday 6 October 2022 11:02 , Johanna Chisholm

Former President Donald Trump gave a wide-ranging interview on the right-wing media network Real America’s Voice where he eviscerated the US for a voting system that he characterised as the “laughing stock” of the world and called for a return to paper ballots.

“I call them the fake vote store. That’s the mail in ballots. We shouldn’t have mail in ballots, unless somebody’s very, very sick or it’s military far away,” the ex-president said during an interview that aired on Wednesday night on Just the News, No Noise.

The one-term president compared the US voting system to the one in France, where he lauded the European nation for its practise of using paper ballots - something French President Emmanuel Macron tried to change in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic to allow for more electoral participation but was ultimately rejected by a conservative majority Senate.

“We should go to paper ballots, like they did in France. Thirty-six million people (voted) and they had no disputes. Everyone had paper ballots, and it was one-day voting,” Mr Trump said to his host, Amanda Head. “They didn’t store them over there in the corner, and you see the boxes moving all over the place.”

The twice-impeached president went on to decry that the US is, by his assessment, “a laughingstock all over the world”, claiming that people from across the globe find themselves “laughing at our stupid elections.”

When pressed about whether he was considering a bid for president in 2024, Mr Trump coyly dodged giving a straight answer but highlighted that he is still drawing large crowds for his rallies where he stumps for Republican candidates running for Congress and the Senate in the upcoming midterms.

“You’ve seen the rallies, I think they’re bigger than ever,” he said, before taking a swipe at Democrats campaigning for the November midterms who he believed were handing Republicans a victory based on some candidates’ platforms on police reform.

“These people (Democrats) still want, and they still talk about defunding the police. So I think it really should be very good for Republicans.”

Trump claims he would beat a Washington-Lincoln ticket by 40 points

Thursday 6 October 2022 10:26 , Johanna Chisholm

Donald Trump cited a pollster and claimed he would beat George Washington and Abraham Lincoln “by 40 per cent”, if they teamed up as president and vice president.

The former president made the remarks during a speech at the Hispanic leadership conference in Miami, Florida on Wednesday.

Mr Trump said “famous pollster John McLaughlin” told him just before the pandemic that “if George Washington and Abraham Lincoln came alive from the dead and formed a president, vice president team, you would beat them by 40 per cent”.

Read the full story from Maroosha Muzaffar here:

Trump claims he would beat a Washington-Lincoln ticket by 40 points

Report: Mom of Walker's child says he paid for her abortion

Thursday 6 October 2022 10:00 , John Bowden

The woman who says Mr Walker paid for her abortion in 2009 is not unknown to the Georgia Senate candidate — she’s the mother of one of his other children, The Daily Beast reported on Wednesday.

It’s another shocking twist in the story which has dominated headlines since it dropped this week. And it’s a new headache for Mr Walker, whose own son Christian has gone on the attack on social media, pointing out in a viral Twitter video that his father has four children from four separate women.

Read more in The Independent:

Report: Mom of Walker's child says he paid for her abortion

Trump claims friendly pollster said he’d beat Washington, Lincoln

Thursday 6 October 2022 09:00 , John Bowden

Donald Trump made an appearance at the Hispanic Leadership conference in Miami on Wednesday where he made a bold declaration about his electability.

The twice-impeached former president told a crowd that pollster John McLaughlin had told him he could defeat a ticket consisting of reanimated George Washington and zombie Abraham Lincoln — a conversation he said occurred “just prior to the plague coming in”, apparently referring to Covid-19.

There may be a few reasons to doubt that claim, not least given that Mr McLaughlin’s firm has a “C/D” rating by FiveThirtyEight and according to the aggregator calls less than 75 per cent of its races correctly.

‘Dark Brandon’ trends after Biden declares: ‘No one f***s with a Biden'

Thursday 6 October 2022 08:00 , John Bowden

Joe Biden may have just poured gasoline on the aging “Dark Brandon” memes with his appearance in Florida.

The president was overheard on a hot mic — long his adversary throughout a decades-long political career — telling a local official that “no one f***s with a Biden” as he toured hurricane-damaged areas in Florida.

The “Dark Brandon” meme term was trending with thousands of tweets Wednesday evening after the video was posted.

New poll shows Georgia Senate race trending away from Republicans

Thursday 6 October 2022 07:00 , John Bowden

A poll published on Wednesday from InsiderAdvantage/Fox 5 Atlanta shows a startling six-point swing in favour of the incumbent, Senator Raphael Warnock, in just a month.

Mr Warnock now leads his opponent by three points in the survey, the same margin by which he trailed Mr Walker in the same firm’s survey from early September.

Read more at The Hill: