Trump says ‘liberal jews’ voted to ‘destroy America’ as he refuses to answer Jan 6 question - latest news
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Donald Trump decided to mark the Jewish New Year by sharing an antisemitic message stating that “liberal Jews” voted to “destroy America and Israel” by supporting President Joe Biden.
The former president shared an image wishing Jewish Americans a happy new year on Rosh Hashanah on Truth Social on Sunday.
“Just a quick reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed in false narratives!” the image said. “Let’s hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward! Happy New Year!”
Meanwhile, Mr Trump gave his first network TV interview since leaving office to Kristen Welker, the new moderator of Meet the Press at the weekend.
The wide-ranging questioning turned to Mr Trump’s movements and actions on January 6, with Ms Welker asking why he did not do more to stop the violence as his supporters battled with police and stormed Congress.
“Tell me how you watched this all unfold. Were you in the dining room watching TV?” Ms Welker asked, referring to accounts of the day from people at the White House.
“I’m not going to tell you,” Mr Trump responded. “I’ll tell people later at an appropriate time.”
Key Points
Lauren Boebert attacked by her own party for ‘lewd sex acts’ at Beetlejuice show
Donald Trump Jr backs Russell Brand after comedian is accused of sexual assault
Iran frees five wrongfully detained Americans as part of Biden-brokered deal
Ron DeSantis under fire for ‘abortion tourism’ remark
Trump marks Rosh Hashanah with antisemitic post
Is Hunter Biden’s gun case a test for the Second Amendment?
21:00 , Alex Woodward
Following a five-year federal investigation, a grand jury has indicted President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden on three charges connected to a gun purchase in 2018, a time period during which the president’s son has admitted to using drugs.
Federal law prohibits people who use drugs from buying firearms, but questions surrounding the constitutionality of that law could throw the case into jeopardy following a landmark US Supreme Court decision that opened a wave of litigation under the court’s expansive Second Amendment lens.
That’s if the case survives the political maelstrom targeting the Biden family, with congressional Republicans eager to prosecute the president’s son and impeach his father in parallel probes separate from a US Department of Justice special counsel investigation facing GOP pressure.
That partisan scrutiny comes as the leading candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination for president faces four sprawling criminal trials of his own, including charges for serious crimes allegedly committed while serving as 45th president. Republican officials and campaigns are eager to draw a false equivalence and dominate airtime with investigations surrounding the younger Biden instead.
Ironically, a Supreme Court decision celebrated by Republicans last year may have set a precedent that could protect Hunter Biden from prosecution.
Read more:
Is Hunter Biden’s gun case a test for the Second Amendment?
VIDEO: Donald Trump could pick a female running mate for 2024 election
20:30 , The Independent
Donald Trump Jr backs Russell Brand after comedian is accused of sexual assault
20:00 , Bevan Hurley
Donald Trump Jr has come out in support of Russell Brand after the comedian was accused of the rape and sexual assault of four women.
The former first son posted a meme to his 6.5 million followers on Instagram from the “Censored Men” Twitter account which compared Brand to Julian Assange, Andrew Tate and his father Donald Trump along with the words: “Notice a pattern?”.
“One day they’ll be coming for you,” Mr Trump Jr wrote in a caption. “I don’t believe in this much coincidence and neither should you.”
Brand was accused of rape, sexual assault and emotionally abusing four women between 2006 and 2013 in a joint investigation by UK broadcaster Channel 4 and The Times.
The actor and internet personality strongly denied the allegations in a video posted to his social media account on X/Twitter on Friday, before the stories were published.
Read more:
Donald Trump Jr backs Russell Brand after comedian is accused of sexual assault
Iran frees five wrongfully detained Americans as part of Biden-brokered deal
19:30 , Andrew Feinberg
Five US citizens who have spent years being wrongfully detained in Iran have been released from custody and are heading home, President Joe Biden has said.
In a statement, Mr Biden said the five “innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran” were “finally coming home” and will “soon be reunited with their loved ones—after enduring years of agony, uncertainty, and suffering”.
The president thanked the leaders of Qatar and Oman for helping facilitate the prisoner release deal “over many months of difficult and principled American diplomacy” and said the Iranian government must still “give a full account” of what happened to Robert Levinson, an ex-FBI and DEA investigator who disappeared in Iran while working for the CIA in 2007.
“The Levinson family deserves answers,” said Mr Biden, who added that the US government would be levying sanctions on ex-Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence under a US law which bears Mr Levinson’s name. He also warned US nationals against travelling to Iran, citing a State Department warning that Americans there are at high risk of arbitrary arrest and detention.
Read more:
Iran frees five wrongfully detained Americans as part of Biden-brokered deal
VIDEO: 4 months from Iowa caucuses, GOP candidates court evangelical voters
19:00 , The Independent
Ron DeSantis under fire for ‘abortion tourism’ remark
18:30 , John Bowden
Democrats fumed at Ron DeSantis on Twitter after the Florida governor chose to wade in to the ongoing fight in the Senate over Senator Tommy Tuberville’s holdup of military promotions over an abortion-related policy.
The upper chamber of Congress has lost some of its bipartisan amity in recent days over a hold placed by the Alabama senator on officer promotions until the Department of Defense ceases a policy that allows service members to have their travel reimbursed if they choose to abort a pregnancy. The far right has taken aim at this policy in the wake of the end of federal abortion protections undone by the Supreme Court last year.
Mr Tuberville’s actions have been condemned by Democrats and even some in his own party, like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, as well as top leaders of America’s military branches.
“I think holding these non-policymaking career military [officials] who can’t be involved in politics at all is a mistake, and we continue to work on that and I hope at some point we can get it clear,” Mr McConnell told reporters this past week.
But he has found an ally in Ron DeSantis, the culture war-obsessed governor of Florida who is seeking to unseat Donald Trump as frontrunner for the 2024 GOP nomination by championing every right-wing cause he can.
Read more:
Ron DeSantis under fire for ‘abortion tourism’ remark
Hunter Biden sues IRS claiming they unlawfully shared his tax information
18:00 , Gustaf Kilander
Hunter Biden has sued the IRS, arguing that the government agency unlawfully released his private tax information.
The son of the president is also alleging that the tax agency failed to safeguard his private records.
The younger Mr Biden is seeking all the files linked to the disclosure of tax information, as well as $1,000 for every improper disclosure, and legal fees, in addition to other requests, CNN reported.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington DC. It doesn’t name the two IRS whistleblowers as defendants, but it’s focused on information shared by the agents – Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler – as well as their lawyers in testimony to Congress, interviews, and public statements.
“Despite clear warnings from Congress that they were prohibited from disclosing the contents of their testimony to the public in another forum, Mr. Shapley and Mr. Ziegler’s testimony only emboldened their media campaign against Mr. Biden,” the legal filing notes. “And finally, since their public testimony before the House of Representatives on July 19, 2023, the agents have become regular guests on national media outlets and have made new allegations and public statements regarding Mr. Biden’s confidential tax return information that were not previously included in their transcripts before the Committee on Ways and Means.”
Read more:
Hunter Biden sues IRS claiming they unlawfully shared his tax information
VIDEO: Donald Trump Attempts to Mock Biden for His ‘Cognitive Ability’
17:30 , The Independent
Trump marks Rosh Hashanah with antisemitic post
17:12 , Gustaf Kilander
Donald Trump decided to mark the Jewish New Year by sharing an antisemitic message stating that “liberal Jews” voted to “destroy America and Israel” by supporting President Joe Biden.
The former president shared an image wishing Jewish Americans a happy new year on Rosh Hashanah on Truth Social on Sunday.
“Just a quick reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed in false narratives!” the image said. “Let’s hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward! Happy New Year!”
Read more:
Trump marks Rosh Hashanah with antisemitic post
Judge to hold hearing on ex-DOJ official's request to move Georgia election case to federal court
17:00 , Kate Brumback, AP
A federal judge who rejected efforts by former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to move his charges in the Georgia election subversion case to federal court is set to hear arguments Monday from former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark on the same issue.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has accused Clark and Meadows, along with former President Donald Trump and 16 others, of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential election victory and keep Trump in power. The 41-count indictment includes charges under the state’s anti-racketeering law. All 19 defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Clark is one of five defendants seeking to move his case to federal court. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones, who will preside over Monday’s hearing, rejected Meadows’ attempt for removal earlier this month, saying the actions outlined in the indictment were taken on behalf of the Trump campaign and were not part of his official duties. While the ruling could signal an uphill battle for Clark and the others, Jones made clear he would assess each case individually.
Read more:
Judge to hold hearing on ex-DOJ official's request to move Georgia election case to federal court
Republican legislatures flex muscles to maintain power in two closely divided states
16:30 , Nicholas Riccardi, Gary Robertson, AP
In 2020, North Carolina seemed the model of an evenly-divided swing state. Then-President Donald Trump barely won, beating Democrat Joe Biden by just over a percentage point. Meanwhile, the state’s Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, won reelection by a relatively comfortable 5 points.
Even last year, as Republicans won two seats on the state Supreme Court, North Carolina’s congressional delegation split evenly between Democrats and the GOP.
But it’s the Republican Party that is making the decisions in the state, thanks to recent seat gains in the legislature and aggressive stances from GOP lawmakers. It has passed voting changes over Democrats’ objections and this week could vote to wrest power from the governor over how the state’s elections are run.
In both cases, Republicans are expected to override the governor’s veto thanks to their legislative supermajorities.
Those major changes will come on the heels of similar power plays by the Republican legislative majority in Wisconsin, another battleground state where the GOP has lost a series of statewide races.
Read more:
Republican legislatures flex muscles to maintain power in two closely divided states
Trump legal team continues to argue for DC Judge’s recusal from 2020 election interference case
16:05 , Gustaf Kilander
Donald Trump’s lawyers continued to argue for Judge Tanya Chutkan’s recusal in the federal election interference case against the former president.
The office of the Special Counsel responded to the Trump team’s initial motion arguing for recusal, saying there’s no valid basis for her to step aside.
Responding to the government on Sunday, the Trump legal team wrote in an 11-page filing that “The Court should overrule the government’s objections and grant the Motion”.
“Additionally, to ensure the Court is fully apprised on this crucial motion, President Trump respectfully requests the Court schedule a hearing at the earliest opportunity,” they added.
VIDEO: Former President Trump speaks out on possibility he may go to jail
16:00 , Gustaf Kilander
Trump clashes with Kristen Welker over what he was doing on Jan 6: ‘Why would I tell you?’
15:30 , Oliver O'Connell
There was a tense moment during Donald Trump’s interview with new Meet the Press moderator Kirsten Welker over his movements on 6 January 2021 as the Capitol riot was underway.
The interview — which ahead of broadcast received much criticism for giving the former president a platform from which he could repeat known falsehoods — was pre-recorded on Thursday and aired on Sunday morning on Welker’s first show as the new moderator.
The wide-ranging questioning turned to Mr Trump’s movements and actions on January 6, with Welker asking why he did not do more to stop the violence as his supporters battled with police and stormed Congress.
“Tell me how you watched this all unfold. Were you in the dining room watching TV?” Welker asked, referring to accounts of the day from people at the White House.
“I’m not going to tell you,” Mr Trump responded. “I’ll tell people later at an appropriate time.”
Read more:
Trump clashes with interviewer over what he was doing on Jan 6: ‘Why would I tell?’
‘I didn’t respect them’: Trump says he ignored lawyers who told him he lost the election
15:00 , John Bowden
Donald Trump said this week that he was within his rights to continue attempting to thwart Joe Biden from becoming president after his own advisers told him that his claims of election fraud were false, explaining that he did not respect his own attorneys’ legal opinions.
The ex-president was speaking with Kristin Welker, new host of NBC’s flagship Sunday programme Meet the Press, when he was questioned about why he went through with efforts to interfere in the certification of the 2020 election after his court challenges failed and his White House attorneys advised him against doing so.
“I didn’t respect them as lawyers,” Mr Trump explained.
“You’d hired them,” Welker pointed out.
Read more:
Trump ignored lawyers who told him he lost the election: ‘I didn’t respect them’
VIDEO: Kristen Welker fact-checks Trump comments on indictments
14:30 , Gustaf Kilander
Trump clashes with Welker over what he was doing on Jan 6
14:00 , Oliver O'Connell
There was a tense moment during Donald Trump’s interview with new Meet the Press moderator Kirsten Welker over his movements on 6 January 2021 as the Capitol riot was underway.
The interview — which ahead of broadcast received much criticism for giving the former president a platform from which he could repeat known falsehoods — was pre-recorded on Thursday and aired on Sunday morning on Welker’s first show as the new moderator.
The wide-ranging questioning turned to Mr Trump’s movements and actions on January 6, with Welker asking why he did not do more to stop the violence as his supporters battled with police and stormed Congress.
Here’s what happened next...
Trump clashes with interviewer over what he was doing on Jan 6: ‘Why would I tell?’
Explained: Trump, January 6 and a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election
13:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Alex Woodward explains how a sprawling Justice Department probe into the former president and his allies yielded four criminal charges in a stunning indictment outlining a path to power at whatever cost...
The federal investigation into Trump and January 6, explained
Kristen Welker defends against Trump ‘Meet the Press’ interview backlash
13:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker, in her first appearance since taking over the flagship NBC News political show, defended the decision to do a pre-recorded interview with Donald Trump.
There had been significant backlash and calls for a boycott of the show after clips were released earlier this week that appeared to show little pushback to the former president’s lies about falsehoods on a number of topics ranging from January 6 to abortion.
During its full airing, there were breaks in the interview in which Welker extensively fact-checked Mr Trump’s statements. There was also a fact-checking breakdown of what was said on NBCNews.com.
After the conclusion of the pre-recorded portion — filmed earlier this week at the former president’s Bedminster, New Jersey golf club and summer home — Welker led a panel discussion to dissect his answers from a legal and political standpoint.
As part of that, Welker asked Peter Baker, The New York Times White House correspondent, to explain the reasoning for interviewing Mr Trump and why it has news value.
Read what he said below...
New ‘Meet the Press’ host Kristen Welker defends against Trump interview backlash
Boebert attacked by her own party for ‘lewd sex acts’ at Beetlejuice show
12:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Republican firebrand Lauren Boebert has come under fire from her own party after she and her date were caught on video fondling each other in a crowded theater last weekend before being kicked out.
Footage captured the Colorado congresswoman’s heavy petting with her rumoured boyfriend as they attend a showing of “Beetlejuice” in Denver on 10 September. The pair were ejected for “causing a disturbance”.
Several within her own party criticised the lawmaker’s behaviour as hypocritical, given her opposition to LGBTQ+ rights, like furthering claims that drag performances will expose children to lewd sexual acts. She wrote last June, “Take your children to CHURCH, not drag bars.”
“She lectures everyone about the LGBT community being a threat to children while getting caught performing a lewd sex act in a public theatre where children possibly were,” Meghan McCain wrote on X. “This is ‘family values’? This is why people think the GOP are all hypocrites.”
Read more of the outrage directed at the Colorado lawmaker...
Lauren Boebert attacked by her own party over ‘lewd acts’ at Beetlejuice show
Will Trump go to prison?
11:00 , John Bowden
Donald Trump faces four criminal indictments in three separate jurisdictions. Nearly 100 felony criminal charges are levelled against the former president, who remains the odds-on favourite to win the 2024 Republican primary.
As his legal battles grow more complex by the day, a serious question has emerged: Whether Mr Trump will win the nomination and campaign for the general election as a convicted criminal.
That possibility, in turn, raises another, simpler question: Will the 45th President of the United States go to prison?
Between his 91 felony counts, Mr Trump faces a total of roughly seven centuries in total jail time, spread between dozens of various charges of differing seriousness. Obviously, Mr Trump is not going to be sealed inside a federal penitentiary for all eternity, but the increasingly wide range of actions for which he is now being prosecuted is slowly chipping away at the likelihood that he will evade the inside of a cell forever.
Here, we take a look at the four prosecutions Mr Trump currently faces, and how each affects his chances of campaigning behind bars next year:
Will Donald Trump go to prison?
DeSantis under fire for ‘abortion tourism’ remark
09:30 , John Bowden
Democrats fumed at Ron DeSantis on Twitter after the Florida governor chose to wade in to the ongoing fight in the Senate over Senator Tommy Tuberville’s holdup of military promotions over an abortion-related policy.
The upper chamber of Congress has lost some of its bipartisan amity in recent days over a hold placed by the Alabama senator on officer promotions until the Department of Defense ceases a policy that allows service members to have their travel reimbursed if they choose to abort a pregnancy. The far right has taken aim at this policy in the wake of the end of federal abortion protections undone by the Supreme Court last year.
Mr Tuberville’s actions have been condemned by Democrats and even some in his own party, like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, as well as top leaders of America’s military branches.
When will Melania join Trump on the 2024 campaign trail?
05:30 , Oliver O'Connell
“When it’s appropriate, but pretty soon,” the former president told Kristen Welker in the Meet the Press interview on Sunday.
Kelly Rissman reports.
Trump says Melania will join him on the campaign trail ‘pretty soon’
Senate’s bipartisan approach to government funding puts pressure on a divided House
03:30 , AP
On one side of the Capitol, two senators have steered the debate over government funding mostly clear of partisan fights, creating a path for bills to pass with bipartisan momentum.
Steps away, on the House side of the building, things couldn’t be more different.
House Republicans, trying to win support from the far-right wing of the party, have loaded up their government funding packages with spending cuts and conservative policy priorities. Democrats have responded with ire, branding their GOP counterparts as extreme and bigoted, and are withdrawing support for the legislation.
The contrary approaches are not unusual for such fights in Congress. But the differences are especially stark this time, creating a gulf between the chambers that could prove difficult to bridge. The dynamic threatens to plunge the United States into yet another damaging government shutdown, potentially as soon as the end of September when last year’s funding expires.
Leaders in both chambers are trying to project strength as they enter negotiations that will determine the fate of billions of dollars in government programs, military aid for Ukraine and emergency disaster recovery funds.
When is Trump going on trial?
02:30 , Ariana Baio
Donald Trump’s 2024 calendar is quickly booking up with court dates corresponding to his plentiful criminal indictments and civil lawsuits.
The ex-president and his legal team are preparing for a busy year ahead as they attempt to juggle the many trial dates while Mr Trump continues his campaign for 2024 president.
So far, Mr Trump has been criminally indicted four times – two of which are on the federal level and two are on the state level. This is on top of two civil lawsuits the ex-president is involved in New York City.
Though Mr Trump’s legal team has continuously pushed judges to delay trial dates until after the 2024 election, nearly all of the dates for his criminal indictments have been set for next spring.
Here are the trial dates for Mr Trump thus far.
When is Donald Trump going on trial?
Do Americans need ID to buy bread?
01:30 , Oliver O'Connell
No.
But someone seems to think so...
Trump mocked for claiming Americans need ID to buy a loaf of bread
Florida GOP won’t require loyalty pledge to run in presidential primary in victory for Trump
Monday 18 September 2023 00:30 , AP
The Republican Party of Florida voted Friday against requiring candidates running in the state’s presidential primary to pledge to support the eventual nominee, ensuring former President Donald Trump won’t have to sign an oath to compete in the March election alongside Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The decision is seen as a victory for Trump, who has refused to take a similar pledge required for candidates to participate in national GOP debates. The state party had just instituted the pledge requirement in May.
Since then, Trump has maintained dominance over the Republican field while DeSantis, whom he has long targeted as his chief rival, has faltered and had to lay off dozens of staffers. Trump and DeSantis have a particularly fierce rivalry in their shared home state of Florida.
Trump jokes about mugshot as he promotes voter ID
Sunday 17 September 2023 23:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Former president Donald Trump joked on Friday about having his mugshot taken in Fulton County, Georgia when he spoke about the need for voter identification in elections.
The former president spoke at the Concerned Women for America’s National Summit in Washington, DC. During that time, he repeated his lies that he won the 2020 presidential election and called for the passage of a voter ID law.
Eric Garcia reports Mr Trump’s Friday night remarks.
Trump jokes about his mugshot as he promotes voter ID in speech
GOP presidential hopefuls generally overlook New Hampshire in effort to blunt Trump in Iowa
Sunday 17 September 2023 22:30 , AP
Once upon a time, the moderates, the mavericks and the underdogs in presidential politics had a chance to break through in New Hampshire.
Former Sen. John McCain, an independent-minded Republican, resurrected his anemic campaign with a victory in the state’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary in 2008. Bill Clinton, a centrist Democrat from Arkansas, became the “comeback kid” by exceeding expectations here in 1992. And little-known Georgia peanut farmer, Jimmy Carter, would go on to claim the presidency after winning the state’s 1976 Democratic primary.
But this year, New Hampshire’s primary tradition may be little more than a fairy tale as the presidential field largely overlooks the Granite State.
GOP senator calls fellow Republicans ‘stupid’ for trying to defund the FBI
Sunday 17 September 2023 22:00 , John Bowden
A Republican senator condemned members of his party making “stupid” comments about the FBI and Department of Justice in response to the agencies’ prosecutions of Donald Trump.
Chuck Grassley of Iowa was speaking with a local PBS station on Friday when he was asked about Republicans in his party, including presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy, who have staked out various extreme positions against federal law enforcement agencies as they carry on a naked effort to court supporters of Donald Trump, who currently faces criminal charges stemming from two federal cases.
Mr Ramaswamy has taken perhaps the most extreme position: Support for eliminating the FBI entirely.
Continued...
GOP senator calls fellow Republicans ‘stupid’ for trying to defund the FBI
ICYMI: Trump rants at ‘deranged’ Jack Smith hours after request for partial gag order
Sunday 17 September 2023 21:30 , Alex Woodward
Federal prosecutors are asking the judge overseeing a case targeting Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election to help stop his wave of “inflammatory” attacks.
Following a grand jury’s indictment in the case, the former president has “repeatedly and widely disseminated public statements” attacking Washington DC residents as well as members of the court, prosecutors and prospective witnesses, according to a filing in US District Court on 15 September.
His statements threaten “to undermine the integrity of these proceedings and prejudice the jury pool,” prosecutors warned. Shortly after a request from US Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith for the partial gag order, the former president lashed out on his Truth Social platform and called him “deranged”.
Read more...
Trump rants at ‘deranged’ Jack Smith hours after he requests partial gag order
‘I didn’t respect them’: Trump says he ignored lawyers who told him he lost the election
Sunday 17 September 2023 21:15 , John Bowden
Donald Trump said this week that he was within his rights to continue attempting to thwart Joe Biden from becoming president after his own advisers told him that his claims of election fraud were false, explaining that he did not respect his own attorneys’ legal opinions.
The ex-president was speaking with Kristin Welker, new host of NBC’s flagship Sunday programme Meet the Press, when he was questioned about why he went through with efforts to interfere in the certification of the 2020 election after his court challenges failed and his White House attorneys advised him against doing so.
“I didn’t respect them as lawyers,” Mr Trump explained.
“You’d hired them,” Welker pointed out.
Trump clashes with Welker over what he was doing on Jan 6
Sunday 17 September 2023 21:00 , Oliver O'Connell
There was a tense moment during Donald Trump’s interview with new Meet the Press moderator Kirsten Welker over his movements on 6 January 2021 as the Capitol riot was underway.
The interview — which ahead of broadcast received much criticism for giving the former president a platform from which he could repeat known falsehoods — was pre-recorded on Thursday and aired on Sunday morning on Welker’s first show as the new moderator.
The wide-ranging questioning turned to Mr Trump’s movements and actions on January 6, with Welker asking why he did not do more to stop the violence as his supporters battled with police and stormed Congress.
Here’s what happened next...
Trump clashes with interviewer over what he was doing on Jan 6: ‘Why would I tell?’
Watch: McCarthy tells Bartiromo Trump will be nominee in swipe at DeSantis
Sunday 17 September 2023 20:45 , Oliver O'Connell
DeSantis under fire for ‘abortion tourism’ remark
Sunday 17 September 2023 20:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Democrats fumed at Ron DeSantis on Twitter after the Florida governor chose to wade in to the ongoing fight in the Senate over Senator Tommy Tuberville’s holdup of military promotions over an abortion-related policy.
The upper chamber of Congress has lost some of its bipartisan amity in recent days over a hold placed by the Alabama senator on officer promotions until the Department of Defense ceases a policy that allows service members to have their travel reimbursed if they choose to abort a pregnancy. The far right has taken aim at this policy in the wake of the end of federal abortion protections undone by the Supreme Court last year.
Mr Tuberville’s actions have been condemned by Democrats and even some in his own party, like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, as well as top leaders of America’s military branches.
Continued...
Ron DeSantis under fire for ‘abortion tourism’ remark
Secret Service: Protester ‘no impact’ on protectees’ movements
Sunday 17 September 2023 19:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Armed protester reported outside Biden’s Delaware home
Sunday 17 September 2023 19:10 , Oliver O'Connell
A man who appeared to have a holstered firearm was spotted near the Wilmington home of President Joe Biden in Delaware on Sunday.
In a pool report, a reporter on the scene described the man “wearing a neon yellow and orange safety vest, khaki cargo shorts, tan boots and socks” walking “down the road toward the Biden home”. According to the reporter, the unidentified person appeared to have a gun holstered to their beltline.
A sign he was holding bore messages related to the GOP ongoing investigation into supposed criminal activity by the Biden family — an investigation that has drawn criticisms from numerous members of the Republican Party for jumping to conclusions based on thin evidence.
Read Kristen Welker’s fact-checks about Trump’s indictments and Biden impeachment inquiry
Sunday 17 September 2023 19:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Kristen Welker, moderator, Meet the Press:
Now, as you just heard former president Trump referred to the federal indictments against him as Biden indictments, the indictments have been charged by a special counsel. And according to the White House, President Biden has not spoken to the Attorney General about them, and the White House found out about them from news reports.
As for the impeachment inquiry, so far, congressional investigators have not presented any evidence that President Biden has profited off of Hunter Biden’s business dealings.
Why are American white nationalists are fleeing US social media sites for Russian platforms?
Sunday 17 September 2023 18:30 , Gustaf Kilander
American extremists are popping up on Russian social media platforms for two reasons: One – they’re there. Two – they’re much less moderated.
That’s the simple outline physics professor Neil Johnson at Georgetown University gave to The Independent over a video call.
On Facebook, far-right communities are “like a PG 13 version of what they can do on other sites just because of moderation,” the Harvard-educated Brit says. “Certain kinds of symbols, hate speech, and activities can get them shut down. And since they rely on followers and support, they don’t want to be shut down.”
The extremists instead post links on Facebook directing users to Russian platforms.
Continued...
American white nationalists are fleeing US sites for Russian platforms. Here’s why
New poll: Biden and Trump rematch tightens
Sunday 17 September 2023 18:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Watch: Kristen Welker fact-checks Trump
Sunday 17 September 2023 17:41 , Oliver O'Connell
Boebert attacked by her own party for ‘lewd sex acts’ at Beetlejuice show
Sunday 17 September 2023 17:30 , Kelly Rissman
Republican firebrand Lauren Boebert has come under fire from her own party after she and her date were caught on video fondling each other in a crowded theatre last weekend before being kicked out.
Footage captured the Colorado congresswoman’s heavy petting with her rumoured boyfriend as they attended a showing of “Beetlejuice” in Denver on 10 September. The pair were ejected for “causing a disturbance”.
Several within her own party criticised the lawmaker’s behaviour as hypocritical, given her opposition to LGBTQ+ rights, like furthering claims that drag performances will expose children to lewd sexual acts. She wrote last June, “Take your children to CHURCH, not drag bars.”
More...
Lauren Boebert attacked by her own party over ‘lewd sex acts’ at Beetlejuice show
What is the news value of interviewing Trump?
Sunday 17 September 2023 16:31 , Oliver O'Connell
Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker closed out Sunday’s show by asking Peter Baker, New York Times White House correspondent, to explain the reasoning for interviewing Donald Trump and why it has news value.
“This is a huge challenge for American journalists, of course, right? It cannot be that a person can run for president of the United States, be a front-runner in his party, and possibly win without ever being challenged by a tough, independent interviewer. And that’s, I think, an important part of our system,” said Baker.
“Now, obviously the challenge for us because he is just going to spout out one thing after another, and fact check in real-time, is a real hard thing. But what you’ve done here is edit it and make sure people understand what he’s what’s real.”
Pence asked about Trump’s mental accuity
Sunday 17 September 2023 16:09 , Oliver O'Connell
Trump still considering Jan 6 pardons
Sunday 17 September 2023 16:00 , Oliver O'Connell
‘Meet the Press’ under fire for Trump interview
Sunday 17 September 2023 15:53 , Oliver O'Connell
While Donald Trump was happily promoting Sunday morning’s interview on Meet The Press with a 1.39am post on Truth Social, there are calls for a boycott of NBC News’s flagship political Sunday morning show.
The anger comes from giving a platform to the former president’s lies, with accusations that the interview is “normalising a maniac”.
In promoting the interview, the show’s newly-appointed moderator Kristen Welker has also been accused of “whitewashing Trump’s depravity” with social media users asking “Is it 2015?” and “What is wrong with you, NBC?”
Read more...
New ‘Meet the Press’ host Kristen Welker under fire for Trump interview
Trump refuses to say on ‘Meet the Press’ how he watched the Jan 6 attack unfold
Sunday 17 September 2023 15:37 , AP
Former President Donald Trump repeatedly declined in an interview aired Sunday to answer questions about whether he watched the Capitol riot unfold on television, saying he would “tell people later at an appropriate time.”
Trump, the current front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, refused to say on NBC‘s “Meet the Press” how he spent Jan. 6, 2021, once the insurrection began and whether he made phone calls as his supporters stormed the seat of American democracy.
“I’m not going to tell you. I’ll tell people later at an appropriate time,” Trump told moderator Kristen Welker after she asked if he spent that afternoon watching the attack on television in a dining room at the White House.
Trump’s former aides have said he sequestered himself in the room off the Oval Office to watch, at times even rewinding and rewatching some parts.
Trump denies pushing for Biden impeachment inquiry
Sunday 17 September 2023 15:28 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has denied playing a role in the GOP’s effort to impeach President Joe Biden after reports that he secretly met with MAGA Republicans to discuss the topic.
The alleged meeting between Mr Trump and House Republican leadership was said to have taken place before House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced a formal impeachment inquiry into the president.
However, speaking to NBC’s Kristen Welker “Meet the Press” in an interview aired Sunday, Mr Trump said he didn’t “have to talk” to anyone about supporting the inquiry because “they’re more proactive than I am”.
Read more...
Trump denies pushing for Biden impeachment inquiry in secret meetings
Trump marks Ken Paxton impeachment acquittal — with a meme
Sunday 17 September 2023 15:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Former president Donald Trump has congratulated Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on surviving his impeachment.
Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social: “I want to thank the great Lt. Governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, who served as Judge in the Ken Paxton Trial, and the Republican State Senators, for showing great Professionalism and Fairness.”
“Attorney General Paxton was fully acquitted on all 16 Impeachment Articles brought by the Texas Republican House. It is time that Speaker Dade Phelan resign after pushing this Disgraceful Sham!” he added.
“Congratulations to Attorney General Ken Paxton on a great and historic Texas sized VICTORY. I also want to congratulate his wonderful wife and family for having had to go through this ordeal, and WINNING!”
The former president also reposted a meme from a follower...
Trump celebrates Ken Paxton impeachment acquittal — with a meme
Trump touts ‘Meet The Press’ interview amid anger and calls for boycott of show
Sunday 17 September 2023 14:16 , Oliver O'Connell
While Donald Trump was happily promoting this morning’s upcoming interview on Meet The Press with a 1.39am post on Truth Social, there are calls for a boycott of NBC News’s banner political Sunday morning show.
The anger comes from an apparent lack of pushback on the former president’s lies from newly-appointed host Kristen Welker, with accusations that the interview is “normalizing a maniac”.
In promoting the interview, Welker has also been accused of “whitewashing Trump’s depravity” with X users asking “Is it 2015?” and “What is wrong with you, NBC?”
Trump serves up chaotic ‘word salad’ of a speech at DC event
Sunday 17 September 2023 14:00 , Oliver O'Connell
In his latest gaffe-laden speech, Donald Trump appeared to suggest former President Barack Obama was running in 2024 as he warned that “cognitively impaired” President Joe Biden could lead the country into “World War Two” if he wins re-election.
During his remarks at the Washington DC Pray Vote Stand Summit on Friday, the former president said: “We have a man who is totally corrupt and the worst president in the history of our country, who is cognitively impaired, in no condition to lead, and is now in charge of dealing with Russia and possible nuclear war.”
“Just think of it. We would be in World War Two very quickly if we’re going to be relying on this man, and far more devastating than any war,” he continued as dramatic music swelled in the background.
“There will never be a war if that happens— there will never be a war like this. It will obliterate everything there is, everybody, it will obliterate every country.”
In the past, Mr Trump has frequently said that Mr Biden would lead the country into the Third World War and the gaffe may have gone unnoticed had he not continued to stumble over his words confusing his political opponents with each other.
Read more...
Trump serves up chaotic ‘word salad’ about ‘World War Two’ and running against Obama
Trump rants at ‘deranged’ Jack Smith hours after special counsel requests partial gag order
Sunday 17 September 2023 13:00 , Alex Woodward
Federal prosecutors are asking the judge overseeing a case targeting Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election to help stop his wave of “inflammatory” attacks.
Following a grand jury’s indictment in the case, the former president has “repeatedly and widely disseminated public statements” attacking Washington DC residents as well as members of the court, prosecutors and prospective witnesses, according to a filing in US District Court on 15 September.
His statements threaten “to undermine the integrity of these proceedings and prejudice the jury pool,” prosecutors warned. Shortly after a request from US Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith for the partial gag order, the former president lashed out on his Truth Social platform and called him “deranged”.
Continued...
Trump rants at ‘deranged’ Jack Smith hours after he requests partial gag order
Ken Paxton was acquitted at his impeachment trial. He still faces legal troubles
Sunday 17 September 2023 12:00 , AP
For years, the powers and protections that come with being Texas’ top lawyer have helped Ken Paxton fend off ethics complains, criminal charges and an FBI investigation.
With the Texas Senate’s Saturday vote to acquit Paxton of corruption charges at his impeachment trial the Republican has once again demonstrated his rare political resilience. And he retains the shield of the attorney general’s office in legal battles still to come.
After being cleared, Paxton, 60, thanked his lawyers for “exposing the absurdity” of the “false allegations” against him, and he promised to resume doing legal battle with the administration of President Joe Biden.
Trump mocked for claiming Americans need ID to buy bread
Sunday 17 September 2023 10:00 , Oliver O'Connell
He has said it before and he has said it again.
Does the former, and potentially next, president of the United States really believe you need ID to buy a loaf of bread?
Donald Trump joked on Friday evening about having his mugshot taken in Fulton County, Georgia when he spoke about the need for voter identification in elections.
Speaking at the Concerned Women for America’s National Summit in Washington DC, Mr Trump repeated his lies that he won the 2020 presidential election and called for the passage of a voter ID law.
“You have ID to buy a loaf of bread,” he said. “You have ID to buy a loaf of bread. You have everything.”
Read more about the former president’s bizarre claim...
Trump mocked for claiming Americans need ID to buy a loaf of bread
Timeline from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment to his acquittal
Sunday 17 September 2023 08:00 , AP
A timeline of events that led to acquittal of three-term Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton during his impeachment trial in the state Senate. The trial started Sept. 5 and ended Sept. 16. The overwhelming impeachment vote in May by the GOP-controlled Texas House of Representatives suspended the 60-year-old Paxton from office.
The acquittal allows him to resume his duties as attorney general.
Continued...
Timeline leading to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's acquittal in his impeachment trial
Trump won’t say how he watched Jan 6 unfold at the US Capitol
Sunday 17 September 2023 19:27 , AP
Former President Donald Trump repeatedly declined in an interview aired Sunday to answer questions about whether he watched the Capitol riot unfold on television, saying he would “tell people later at an appropriate time.”
Trump, the current front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, refused to say on NBC‘s “Meet the Press” how he spent Jan. 6, 2021, once the insurrection began and whether he made phone calls as his supporters stormed the seat of American democracy.
“I’m not going to tell you. I’ll tell people later at an appropriate time,” Trump told moderator Kristen Welker after she asked if he spent that afternoon watching the attack on television in a dining room at the White House.
Trump’s former aides have said he sequestered himself in the room off the Oval Office to watch, at times even rewinding and rewatching some parts.
Boebert changes tune on Beetlejuice behaviour as new video reveals heavy petting with date
Sunday 17 September 2023 06:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert has issued an apology for not telling the truth about an incident that saw her thrown out of a production of Beetlejuice.
The apology comes as new footage from security cameras at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts shows that Rep Boebert was not just vaping, singing, and taking flash photos during the performance, but also appeared to engage in heavy petting with her male companion.
Her latest statement reads: “The past few days have been difficult and humbling, and I’m truly sorry for the unwanted attention my Sunday evening in Denver has brought to the community. While none of my actions or words as a private citizen that night were intended to be malicious or meant to cause harm, the reality is they did and I regret that.”
Read more...
Lauren Boebert issues apology as new video reveals heavy petting at Beetlejuice
GOP presidential hopefuls generally overlook New Hampshire in effort to blunt Trump in Iowa
Sunday 17 September 2023 04:00 , AP
Once upon a time, the moderates, the mavericks and the underdogs in presidential politics had a chance to break through in New Hampshire.
Former Senator John McCain, an independent-minded Republican, resurrected his anaemic campaign with a victory in the state’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary in 2008. Bill Clinton, a centrist Democrat from Arkansas, became the “comeback kid” by exceeding expectations here in 1992. And little-known Georgia peanut farmer, Jimmy Carter, would go on to claim the presidency after winning the state’s 1976 Democratic primary.
But this year, New Hampshire’s primary tradition may be little more than a fairy tale as the presidential field largely overlooks the Granite State.
Trump says Melania will join him on the campaign trail... soon
Sunday 17 September 2023 02:00 , Oliver O'Connell
As former President Donald Trump is basking in the attention from the media, supporters, his legal team and courtrooms across the country, there’s one person who seems to have not been giving him attention recently: his wife, Melania Trump.
The question of “Where’s Melania?” has become so pervasive that a banner asking exactly that flew across Iowa last week while Mr Trump was watching a football game. Mocked-up “missing” posters of the former first lady were also posted.
After “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker asked the 2024 hopeful if “we’ll see (Melania) on the trail soon,” Mr Trump gave a less than firm date.
Kelly Rissman reports.
Trump says Melania will join him on the campaign trail ‘pretty soon’
Trump marks Ken Paxton impeachment acquittal — with a meme
Sunday 17 September 2023 01:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Former president Donald Trump has congratulated Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on surviving his impeachment.
Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social: “I want to thank the great Lt. Governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, who served as Judge in the Ken Paxton Trial, and the Republican State Senators, for showing great Professionalism and Fairness.”
“Attorney General Paxton was fully acquitted on all 16 Impeachment Articles brought by the Texas Republican House. It is time that Speaker Dade Phelan resign after pushing this Disgraceful Sham!” he added.
“Congratulations to Attorney General Ken Paxton on a great and historic Texas sized VICTORY. I also want to congratulate his wonderful wife and family for having had to go through this ordeal, and WINNING!”
The former president also reposted a meme from a follower...
Trump celebrates Ken Paxton impeachment acquittal — with a meme
Senate’s bipartisan approach to government funding puts pressure on a divided House
Sunday 17 September 2023 00:00 , AP
On one side of the Capitol, two senators have steered the debate over government funding mostly clear of partisan fights, creating a path for bills to pass with bipartisan momentum.
Steps away, on the House side of the building, things couldn’t be more different.
House Republicans, trying to win support from the far-right wing of the party, have loaded up their government funding packages with spending cuts and conservative policy priorities. Democrats have responded with ire, branding their GOP counterparts as extreme and bigoted, and are withdrawing support for the legislation.
The contrary approaches are not unusual for such fights in Congress. But the differences are especially stark this time, creating a gulf between the chambers that could prove difficult to bridge. The dynamic threatens to plunge the United States into yet another damaging government shutdown, potentially as soon as the end of September when last year’s funding expires.
Texas AG Ken Paxton escapes impeachment over corruption charges
Saturday 16 September 2023 23:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been acquitted on 16 impeachment articles brought before the state Senate.
A jury of 30 state senators, comprised of 19 Republicans and 12 Democrats, voted to acquit Mr Paxton on the articles accusing him of on abuse of power, bribery and other charges on Saturday morning.
Mr Paxton, who was elected to attorney general in 2015, will now go back to his office after none of the articles received the necessary two-thirds majority vote for conviction.
The Texas House impeached Mr Paxton in May on 20 articles - four of which were not voted on by the Senate on Saturday but were then dismissed in a follow-up vote.
