A banner is displayed in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday as justices prepared to hear arguments in a case about whether former President Donald Trump can be disqualified from state ballots. The case has profound implications for the 2024 presidential election. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP hide caption

A banner is displayed in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday as justices prepared to hear arguments in a case about whether former President Donald Trump can be disqualified from state ballots. The case has profound implications for the 2024 presidential election.

Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court appeared skeptical Thursday of the effort to disqualify Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump from a state primary ballot because he allegedly engaged in an insurrection to try to cling to power after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden.

The historic dispute comes from Colorado, where the state's Supreme Court threw Trump off Colorado's Republican primary ballot. But the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling could have national implications for Trump and his political fate.

The plaintiffs in the case argue that Trump's actions in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election automatically disqualify him from office. Trump's lawyers counter that the case against him is one of overreach.

The court's justices on Thursday, over more than two hours of oral arguments, broadly appeared to be searching for a way to keep Trump on ballots, leaving election decisions to voters.

Chief Justice John Roberts asked the Colorado plaintiffs' attorney Jason Murray to ponder the consequences of his side's case.

"I would expect that a goodly number of states will say whoever the Democratic candidate is, 'You're off the ballot.' For the Republican candidate, 'You're off the ballot,'" Roberts said. "It will come down to just a handful of states that are going to decide the presidential election. That's a pretty daunting consequence."

Justice Elena Kagan, a liberal-leaning justice, similarly asked about the national implications of the Colorado move.

Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked Murray: "What about the idea that we should think about democracy? ... Because your position has the effect of disenfranchising voters to a significant degree."

To this Murray responded: "The reason we're here is [former] President Trump tried to disenfranchise 80 million Americans who voted against him."

Jason Murray (right), the lead attorney behind the lawsuit by six Colorado voters, and the lead plaintiff, Norma Anderson, speak with reporters after Thursday's U.S. Supreme Court arguments. Jose Luis Magana/AP hide caption

The case was brought by Norma Anderson, who watched intruders storm the U.S. Capitol three years ago on television, from her home in Colorado.

"They're trying to overthrow the government is what I was thinking," Anderson recalled before Thursday's oral arguments.

Anderson, 91, is a Republican. She was the first woman to lead the Colorado House of Representatives and, later, the state's Senate. She said taking part in the lawsuit is her way of protecting democracy.

"You have to remember, as old as I am, I was born in the Great Depression," she said. "I lived through World War II. I remember Hitler. I remember my cousin was with Eisenhower when they opened up the concentration camps. ... I mean, I understand protecting democracy."

Anderson and five other Colorado voters are relying on part of the 14th Amendment, passed after the Civil War to keep Confederates out of office.

"Those who drafted Section 3 of the 14th Amendment back in the 1860s were very clear that they understood this provision not just to cover former Confederates but that it would stand as a shield to protect our Constitution for all time going forward, and so this is not some dusty relic," Murray, their lawyer, said prior to Thursday's arguments.

The 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify candidates only eight times since the 1860s, most recently two years ago, in the case of a county commissioner from New Mexico who trespassed at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. It has never been used against a presidential candidate.

"In an ideal world, it would have been great to have years to build cases in different states and different parts of the country regarding defendants at different levels," said Noah Bookbinder, the president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which is backing the lawsuit. "We didn't have that luxury because this person who played such a central role in making that insurrection happen, Donald Trump, was suddenly trying to put himself in a position of power again."

Murray said there's a reason to revive dormant language in the Constitution now, in this case: "No other American president has refused to peacefully hand over the reins of power after losing an election," he said.

The language in what's often called the insurrection clause is simple: Anyone who engages in insurrection after taking an oath to support the Constitution is barred from holding public office, unless two-thirds of Congress votes to grant that person amnesty.

Extending that logic to a former president would have profound consequences, said Scott Gessler, a former Republican secretary of state of Colorado who now works as a lawyer for Trump.

"If the U.S. Supreme Court allows these doors to open, what we're going to see is a constant stream of litigation," Gessler said. "You're going to see attacks on President Biden. You're going to see attacks on ... Vice President Harris. You're going to see attacks on senators, representatives, other people, trying to prevent them from being on the ballot. "

In court on Thursday, Trump's legal team argued that part of the 14th Amendment doesn't apply to the president because he was not an officer of the United States as that term is used in the Constitution.

They said Trump did not engage in insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. Indeed, while Trump is fighting 91 criminal charges across four jurisdictions, including for actions related to his efforts to cling to power, he hasn't been charged with violating the statute against insurrection or rebellion. And the U.S. Senate did not convict Trump in an impeachment process just weeks after the Capitol riot.

Lawyers for the former president also said Congress needs to pass a law that answers questions about how to enforce that part of the 14th Amendment.

"We have no guidance from Congress on what the proper standards are, what the proper burden of proof is, what insurrection means," Gessler added.

Another Trump lawyer, Jonathan Mitchell, presented his side in court on Thursday.

The case puts the Supreme Court in the middle of the presidential election for the first time since it stopped the Florida recount and handed the White House to George W. Bush in 2000.

This time, the justices have a few options:

Not providing a clear answer before the November election or the certification in January 2025 could confuse or disenfranchise voters.

"When you have such divided opinion and you have such a volatile situation, it's just better to have some certainty about this issue as soon as possible," said Rick Hasen, a professor of law and political science at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Hasen and two other election law experts wrote a friend-of-the-court brief to say a decision by the court not to decide could "place the nation in great peril."

"We think it creates conditions for great political instability if the court leaves this issue open," Hasen said.

Murray, the Colorado voters' lawyer, also said he sees danger ahead but danger from Trump.

"If you read Trump's brief, he has a not-so-subtle threat to the court and to the country that if he loses this case, there's going to be bedlam all over the country," Murray said. "And I take that as Trump once again trying to hold this country hostage. And I don't think the country should stand for it."

Trump has pointed out he named three of the six conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Speaking Thursday from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, Trump said the Supreme Court arguments were "a beautiful thing" and repeated his false assertion that court cases against him amounted to election interference by his Democratic opponents.

Trump allies Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., speak to reporters outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday. Jose Luis Magana/AP hide caption

Donald K. Sherman, the chief counsel at CREW, said the Supreme Court, including justices appointed by Trump, has voted against his interests in the past, including a case where the court allowed the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 siege to access documents related to Trump's conduct.

"We are fully prepared to accept the results of the court's decision, and we expect that state officials across the country are fully prepared to do that," Sherman said. "The one big question that always remains is, is Donald Trump going to follow the rule of law or is he going to do something different that endangers our democracy?"

The Supreme Court hasn't offered a timetable for its decision, but some legal experts think the justices could rule before the Super Tuesday primaries, in early March.

The court also may decide Trump's broad claims of presidential immunity, which were denied this week by an appeals court.

The question about Trump's disqualification in Colorado is playing out in different ways in dozens of other states too. Maine's secretary of state found that Trump is disqualified from appearing on Maine's primary ballot, but the decision is stayed pending Trump's appeal. Litigation is also pending in 11 other states.

Where challenges to Trump's appearance on primary ballots have already been dismissed, new challenges could be brought to his eligibility for the general election.

Hasen, of UCLA, said he thinks Chief Justice Roberts will be working hard to avoid a sharp conservative and liberal split.

"Unanimity, of course, would be best, but finding some way of reaching something where you bring in not just the Republican-appointed justices but at least some of the Democratic-appointed justices is behind the scenes going to be one of the most important things," Hasen said before Thursday's arguments.

One way might be to find that the key part of the 14th Amendment requires Congress to pass a new law before it can be used.

"I don't think that's a strong legal argument, but it's a very nice off-ramp if you're looking for one," Hasen said. "It avoids the merits and it kicks it to another body and it keeps Trump on the ballot."

NPR legal intern Elissa Harwood contributed to this story.

More:

Supreme Court hears 14th Amendment challenge to Donald Trump - NPR

Officials with President Bidens re-election campaign have long pledged to meet voters where they are. On Monday the campaign began a project to meet former President Donald J. Trumps voters where they are on his social media platform.

Lets see how this goes, the campaigns account wrote on Monday in its first post on Truth Social. Converts welcome!

The Biden campaign painted its debut on Mr. Trumps outlet as a cheeky opportunity to troll the presidents likely general election opponent. Mr. Trump launched Truth Social in April 2022 in response to being blocked from mainstream social media platforms a day after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Their actions came after he published inaccurate and inflammatory messages during that day of violence.

Theres very little truth happening on Truth Social, but at least now itll be a little fun, Kevin Munoz, a Biden campaign spokesman, said.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, the Biden campaign said it had joined the platform mostly because we thought it would be very funny. The decision marks a shift from the campaigns previously stated position that it would not join the Trump platform, as reported by Axios in May.

Mr. Biden, who won the 2020 presidential election by narrow margins in just a handful of battleground states, is in search of any edge he can get with voters who could be persuaded to vote for him.

Voters who consume conservative media have long been considered a rich target for Democratic candidates. During the 2020 campaign, Democrats were split on engaging with Fox News, which party officials at the time said had more persuadable voters among its viewers than any other cable network had.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called Fox News a hate for profit operation and refused its invitations for a town hall, while Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent, and Pete Buttigieg, then a former mayor of South Bend, Ind., accepted. Mr. Buttigieg, now Mr. Bidens transportation secretary, is often dispatched to explain the administrations positions on Fox News.

See more here:

Biden, Trolling Trump, Joins Truth Social: 'Converts Welcome' - The New York Times

A Catonsville technology executive whose super PAC was disavowed by Donald Trumps campaign during the 2016 election season for offering a chance to win dinner with the candidate was sentenced Thursday to a year of probation.

Ian Richard Hawes, who co-founded and serves as a managing partner for immitranslate, will serve the first nine months of his supervised release on home detention. His single charge, failing to file a 2016 tax return, did not stem directly from the super PAC that raised $1.1 million in donations that year, though federal prosecutors discussed the scheme at length in court filings.

In sentencing filings, prosecutors wrote that Hawes, then a software engineer from Catonsville, had told friends the Dinner with Trump scheme led to the candidates supporters being trolled for a cool mil. Hawes worked as a consultant and started the dinnerwithtrump.org website as well as the corresponding super PAC, American Horizons, in late 2015, offering potential donors the opportunity to double their chances of winning a dinner with the host of The Apprentice if they donated to the organization.

Trumps campaign disavowed the super PAC in 2016 and issued it a cease-and-desist letter, saying the organization was offering a prize it could not deliver.

About $400,000 of the super PACs funds went toward advertising on Facebook, another $350,000 was used by Hawes for personal expenditures, such as an engagement ring and a wedding, federal prosecutors wrote, also noting the entity did not ultimately contribute to any campaign. Super PACs can raise unlimited amounts of money, but are not permitted to donate to or work directly with a candidates campaign.

Hawes said in an email to The Baltimore Sun that he no longer works in political consulting and that he has moved on with his life.

Hawes attorneys noted in sentencing filings that the scheme was not directly tied to the single charge he pleaded guilty to in May, which accused him of failing to file his 2016 tax return. In a letter to U.S. District Judge George Levi Russell III, Hawes said the return was filed when he became aware of the charges in early 2023. He paid restitution in the amount due, more than $110,000, to the IRS, though a balance of penalties remains.

The emotional and mental toll that this incident has had on me and my family is significant, and I assure you it is a lesson I will carry with me for the rest of my life, Hawes wrote in the letter to the judge, where he did not address the super PAC.

He wrote that the poor decision to not file his taxes came in October of 2017, at a time when he was unemployed and facing reputational risk issues that left me withdrawn and disillusioned with my career path.

In the letter, he said he co-founded immitranslate, a translation technology company aiming to assist those navigating the immigration process. Hawes co-founded the company in 2013 before the translation technology was sold and temporarily ceased operations, though Hawes restarted the business in 2017.

Continue reading here:

Catonsville resident who ran 'Dinner with Donald Trump' scheme sentenced to probation - Baltimore Sun

Donald Trump left supporters with a truly wild warning in a video posted on Truth Social on Saturday.

The former president claimed the GOP eat their young as he called his critics Bill Barr, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Paul Ryan losers and RINOs in a pre-taped statement.

Near the middle of the rambling video, Trump told viewers, Remember, Republicans eat their young. They really do, they eat their young. Terrible statement. But its true.

While some on the web speculated the teleprompter probably said eat their own, the front-runner for Republican presidential candidacy seemed to be parroting a Tuesday Truth Social post attacking Barr, Romney and Paul almost word-for-word.

If [Romney] and RINO Paul fought as hard against Obama as they do against President Donald J. Trump, they would never have lost, he wrote last week. But remember, Republicans Eat Their Young.

Thats the problem with so many in our Party, they go after the people who are on their side, rather than the Radical Left Democrats that are DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY.

Trumps modest proposals come after a slew of stranger-than-average moments from the embattled real estate developer.

Last month, he incorrectly claimed Barack Obama is the current president, that Americans need voter ID to buy bread and that President Biden was on the brink of bringing about World War II.

Cannibalism seems to have accidentally become a theme for Trump, who appeared to confuse fictitious human-eater Hannibal Lecter with a real person during a rally in Iowa last weekend.

Hannibal Lecter, how great an actor was he? Trump asked supporters. You know why I like him? Because he said on television ... I love Donald Trump.

He seemed to be referring to Mads Mikkelsen, who starred as Lecter in NBCs Hannibal TV series from 2013 to 2015.

During then-candidate Trumps 2016 race against Hilary Clinton, Mikkelsen told CBS the New Yorker was not a classic politician, but he felt like a fresh wind for some people.

Continue reading here:

Donald Trump Chews Out GOP Critics, Says Republicans 'Eat Their ... - Yahoo News

When Donald Trump decided to bury his first wife Ivana Trump at the New Jersey Trump National Golf Club Bedminster it instantly split the public. Many found the gesture incredibly odd, and rather confusing since its not like she had a huge passion for the sport. However, one of Donald and Ivanas kids couldnt stop singing his fathers praises about the burial move.

In a recent interview with Republican politician Kari Lake per OK, Eric Trump quickly answered the question of: Was your dad pretty supportive when all that happened, when your mother passed away?

More from SheKnows

He quickly responded by saying, I will say so much so that you know we have a family funeral plot in New Jersey, and he was the one to say, you know, I want her with us. It was pretty amazing again, you know, kind of a wife long removed ex-wife long removed. Hes an incredible man. Hes got a heart of gold.

Now, this comment was met with instant criticism on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Despite being at Donalds beloved golf club, many recent photos show that the burial site has been so unkempt, to the point that the weeds growing around it make the tombstone unreadable.

Click here to read the full article.

When Ivana suddenly passed away July 2022, many speculated Donald made the unexpected move for a tax break, and it seems that even if he did, Eric truly adored the act.

Eric and Ivana were quite close, and the Unerstanding Trump contributor previously gished about her to Fox News, saying, She would beat any man down a mountain on skis and look like a supermodel doing it. She was an extraordinary woman.

Donald and Ivana welcomed three children named Donald Jr, born Dec 1977, Ivanka, born Oct 1981, and Eric, Jan 1984.

Before you go, click here to see the biggest presidential scandals in US History.

Best of SheKnows

Sign up for SheKnows' Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Read more:

One of Donald Trumps Children Just Heavily Supported Ivanas Controversial Burial Site - Yahoo Entertainment

A federal judge has barred Donald Trump from criticising prosecutors, the court and possible witnesses ahead of his trial on election subversion charges.

It follows recent remarks in which the former president slammed prosecutors as "a team of thugs" and attacked one witness in the case as "a gutless pig".

Judge Tanya Chutkan said a limited gag order against Mr Trump was necessary to prevent "a pre-trial smear campaign".

A Trump spokesperson criticised the ruling as "another partisan knife".

The Republican frontrunner for president in 2024 was charged earlier this year over his alleged efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat at the hands of Democrat Joe Biden.

The four counts in his indictment were: conspiracy to defraud the US, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy against the rights of citizens.

Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the investigation, requested a gag order on the basis that Mr Trump's comments could "prejudice" participants, including prosecutors, jurors and court staff.

His office also argued that attacking potential witnesses would have a "chilling" effect on the case.

"The defendant can't be permitted to intentionally try this case in the court of public opinion," government lawyer Molly Gaston argued in court on Monday.

That left Judge Chutkan in the tricky position of balancing the need to protect the legal proceedings with the free speech rights of a political candidate.

Over the course of more than two hours, she reminded Mr Trump's team that, as a criminal defendant, he "does not have the right to say and do exactly what he pleases".

She noted Mr Trump had referred to Mr Smith as "deranged", and to her as "a biased Trump-hating judge" and "a radical Obama hack".

She added that she was "deeply disturbed" by his inclination to attack others, such as the special counsel's wife and a court staffer in his New York civil fraud case.

Mr Trump faces a partial gag order in that case over his criticism of the New York judge's top clerk in a post that included her name, photograph and social media.

"This is not about whether I like the language Mr Trump uses," Judge Chutkan said on Monday. "This is about language that presents a danger to the administration of justice."

Attorney John Lauro, who spoke on the former president's behalf, defended his "colourful language" as part of the "rough and tumble" of politics.

He argued that Mr Trump was in the middle of a campaign and "entitled to speak truth to oppression".

But Judge Chutkan pushed back: "Because he is running for president, he gets to make threats?"

Her limited ruling on Monday was "narrowly tailored", she said - not as far as the special counsel wanted, but doing enough to prevent a "smear campaign".

The partial order does not block Mr Trump from criticising President Biden, his justice department or Washington, where the case is being tried.

But it does bar comments about the special counsel, his team, court staff or potential witnesses - except Mike Pence, Mr Trump's vice-president and rival in the 2024 race.

Judge Chutkan did not say how she will enforce her partial order but promised to consider sanctions "as may be necessary" if the restrictions were violated.

"One simple solution: Let's have this trial after the election and solve the problem," Mr Lauro had earlier proposed.

But the judge reaffirmed that the trial "will not yield to the 2024 election cycle".

In a statement, a spokesperson for Mr Trump slammed the ruling as "an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy by Crooked Joe Biden, who was granted the right to muzzle his political opponent".

The trial begins on 4 March - the same day as Super Tuesday, a pivotal day of voting in the Republican presidential primary contest.

As Mr Trump campaigns once again for the White House, he also faces three other criminal trials next year, and a total of 91 felony charges.

Read more:

Donald Trump gets gag order in 2020 election meddling case - Yahoo! Voices

State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada

Zip Code

Country United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe

Go here to read the rest:

Donald Trump wants to give evidence in London court over 'Steele ... - The Union Leader

All the political elites want him to run out of money and keep hoping something bad is gonna happen. And he just continues to chug along and improve, said Dave Carney, a veteran Republican consultant. And without any clarity on the alternative across six or seven people right now, you know, hes just gonna continue to roll forward.

The fundraising total reported by Trumps campaign was notably lower than the more than $45 million in cash that his team said his joint fundraising committee raised from July through September. That suggests the joint fundraising committee was spending heavily on its own expenses before it was able to transfer proceeds to the Trump campaign. (The joint fundraising committee is not required to disclose its finances until the end of January.)

But Trump still finds himself in an enviable position financially. DeSantis fundraising has tailed off, with the Florida governor boasting about $12.3 million in the bank. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley reported $11.5 million on hand at the end of the third quarter.

The practical effects of Trumps cash advantage are huge. The former president could comfortably outgun his primary opponents on the airwaves if he finds his prodigious polling lead slipping. He can also sustain a larger payroll to boost a ground game advantage over the competition. DeSantis has a well-funded super PAC to help close these gaps, but that committee cannot legally coordinate with the Florida governors campaign.

Still, Trumps expenses could become an area of concern. The campaign itself did not spend heavily on legal bills in the third quarter, but his leadership committee has had to spend tens of millions on them.

The Trump campaigns biggest expenses in the third quarter came from payroll, on which his campaign spent $1.3 million. That figure only slightly bested DeSantis $1.27 million, but the Florida governor has cut back on that cost significantly in an effort to reduce expenses.

Trump also spent heavily on private air travel, which is necessitated by security concerns. All told, his campaign paid $1.1 million to TAG Aviation, a charter jet company. It also doled out another $140,600 to Private Jet Services Group, LLC.

One thing Trump has continued to do, though at a less robust pace than his first two runs for the White House, is spend campaign money at his properties. In the third quarter, the campaign reported $19,682 in payments to his National Doral club, $6,581 to his club at Bedminster, and $10,710 to his club at Mar-a-Lago.

More:

Trump is crushing his GOP competition in polls and cash - POLITICO

X replaces the names of users who suggest the notes with aliases, making it impossible to see who submits any particular note. In the case of the note on Trump Jrs account, the note was submitted by a user pseudonymously identified as Mellow Sun Swan four hours after Trump Jr posted the video.

This was the eighth note the user had submitted, according to their profile, but the first to have been approved. The user has in recent days submitted multiple notes on posts related to Iranian links to the conflict.

In the case of the Trump Jr. video, the Community Notes user linked to a video posted on the Iranian social media platform Wisgoon as evidence that the video was from years ago, not this past weekend. In the post, the upload date on the video is in Persian, which, when translated, reads 15 Mehr 1402, a date in the Persian calendar. This date translates in the Gregorian calendar to October 7, 2023the date Hamas attacked Israel.

An open source intelligence researcher tells WIRED that they confirmed the videos veracity by tracking the original video, which was broadcast by a Gaza civilian on a Facebook livestream on Saturday morning. The researcher, who posts anonymously on social media using the handle OSINTtechnical, is frequently cited by news outlets covering conflict zones.

Soon after the Trump Jr. note was published, an account associated with the far right that has advocated for banning the Anti-Defamation League tried to back up the claim about the video being fake, sharing a screenshot that showed the results of a reverse-image search for the thumbnail image of the original video. The results appear to show a series of links to Wisgoon featuring the same image, all of which have dates from seven or eight years ago. However, this is because the recent video was listed in the related videos list of the older videos, not proof that it is an older video.

On Wednesday afternoon, the note on Trump's tweet was updated to link to the tweet from the account linked to the far right.

X replied with an automated response to WIREDs questions, stating: Busy now, please check back later. Trump Jr. did not respond to WIREDs request for comment.

Update 9 am ET, October 12, 2023: The incorrect Community Note beneath Trump Jr.'s video post has been replaced with a note citing this article instead.

See original here:

A Graphic Hamas Video Donald Trump Jr. Shared on X Is Actually ... - WIRED

Washington In the same Washington, D.C., courthouse where the Justice Department has been convening grand juries to investigate former President Donald Trump's actions around the 2020 presidential election and his handling of classified documents, federal prosecutors managing a separate case were successful Friday in their request to delay a Trump deposition that had been scheduled for later this month in a four-year-old civil lawsuit filed by former FBI officials.

Former FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok and a one-time attorney at the Bureau, Lisa Page, sued the Justice Department after they were both fired during the federal probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. In the course of the investigation, text messages exchanged by the two revealed anti-Trump sentiments.

Strzok's lawsuit claims he was unjustly fired from the job for political reasons and seeks reinstatement at the FBI and back pay. Page argues the text messages were unlawfully released and violated her privacy.

In a minute order issued Friday evening, Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled in favor of the Justice Department's request that FBI Director Christopher Wray be deposed before Strzok has a chance to question Trump.

click to expand

Both Strzok and Page have moved to depose numerous former and current government officials, and earlier this year, Jackson ruled Strzok had the right to interview Trump and FWray. But according to an emergency filing on Thursday, federal prosecutors say Trump's deposition, which was supposed to take place May 24, was scheduled before any such meeting was set for Wray. The Justice Department said this violates long-standing norms that federal officials are to be questioned in order of their seniority.

"Contrary to the request of the United States, Mr. Strzok seeks to depose former President Trump before Director Wray," prosecutors wrote Thursday, "thereby making it impossible to determine if the Director's deposition might obviate the need to depose the former President."

They asked the judge to order a new schedule for the depositions and threatened to take the issue to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals if she did not agree.

"The Solicitor General authorized the government to petition the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for a writ of mandamus as to this Court's determination that former President Trump may be deposed in this matter," the Justice Department revealed in the filing. Writs of Mandamus are rare orders issued by higher courts that supersede findings by lower court judges.

"For decades, the D.C. Circuit and virtually every other court of appeals have recognized that subjecting high-level government officialsto say nothing of current or former Presidents 'to oral deposition is not normally countenanced,'" prosecutors wrote in their redacted motion.

In her order Friday, Jackson wrote that "the parties have done nothing more than wrangle over the order of the two depositions."

"The government seems chagrined that the Court did not order that the deposition of the FBI Director be completed first, but it may recall that it was the Court's view that it was Director Wray, the only current high-ranking public official in the group of proposed deponents, whose ongoing essential duties fell most squarely under the protection of the doctrine in question," Jackson wrote. "However, in order to get the parties -- who apparently still cannot agree on anything -- over this impasse, it is hereby ORDERED that the deposition of Christopher Wray proceed first, rendering the instant motion moot."

Attorneys for both Strzok and Page's legal team did not immediately respond to Jackson's order when reached by CBS News.

Earlier this year, the White House said it would not assert executive privilege over Trump's testimony and thereby shield him from deposition, and federal prosecutors said the former president did not request the privilege.

Strzok and Page's text messages and involvement in the Russia investigation fueled much of Trump's ire toward the FBI during the Mueller investigation, alleging anti-Trump views inside the Justice Department at the time. An inspector general report found that while the conduct was "completely antithetical to the core values of the department," there was no evidence that any bias ultimately changed the outcome of the investigation.

In his lawsuit, Strzok alleges "The FBI fired [him] because of his protected political speech in violation of his rights under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States." And Page contends the release of the text messages was unlawful and led her to be the subject of "frequent attacks by the President of the United States, as well as his allies and supporters."

The Justice Department asked Judge Jackson to respond to their request to block Trump's testimony by Tuesday.

Trending News

More here:

Judge agrees to postpone Trump deposition in FBI lawsuit - CBS News

And now, with Trump expanding his lead over his GOP primary rivals, pollsters are fretting about a bloc of the electorate that has made his support nearly impossible to measure accurately.

Its looking a lot like Trump is going to be on the ballot next November, said Democratic pollster Andrew Baumann. So that is all back with a vengeance.

Its not that Trump is some mystical force. The problems are practical. In 2020, he drew out significant numbers of people who had rarely if ever voted and who either werent included in polls or refused to participate in them. Trump trashed the polls that found him consistently trailing Biden. This created a feedback loop that made his supporters even less likely to respond, making the polls even more wrong.

Baumann was among the attendees and presenters at this weeks American Association for Public Opinion Researchs annual conference, a yearly gathering of pollsters from the academic, media and campaign worlds.

That organization has been grappling with the future of political polling for decades. Just looking at the polls over the past two federal election cycles will give you whiplash. By most measures, last years midterms represented the pinnacle of election polling. FiveThirtyEights post-election evaluation found that polls were more accurate than any year since 1998.

But that came two years after the preceding presidential race, when national polls were further off than they had been in 40 years, and the state polls were the worst in recorded history.

The specter of yet another polling failure is looming over the industrys continuing efforts to overhaul its methods.

Among public pollsters, CNN made some of the most dramatic changes to its methodology. Mostly abandoning its longstanding process of random-digit phone sampling, the network and its polling vendor SSRS randomly selected street addresses for its national surveys and mailed out solicitations to complete a poll online or by dialing a number.

For much of their state polling which requires faster turnaround times to poll statewide races like those for governor or Senate some voters were surveyed off a file of registered voters and contacted either by email or telephone, depending on the best contact information available. Others were added from SSRS existing panel of respondents who said they were registered to vote.

The results were remarkable. CNNs polls correctly identified the winner in eight of the nine major statewide races they surveyed missing only the Nevada Senate race and half of the candidate vote shares were accurate within a single percentage point.

We were within the error margin on just about every [poll] we did, said Jennifer Agiesta, the director of polling and election analytics at CNN. So I feel pretty good about how these turned out. I would say that does give me some confidence between now and 2024.

But Agiesta said its too soon to tell if the same problems that plagued pollsters in 2020 will resurface.

I dont think that [Trumps] comments on polling and the way that he presented his views on polling to his supporters were helpful in terms of response rate in 2020, added Agiesta, who also began a one-year term as president of the pollsters organization at this weeks conference. But I dont know if thats going to be the same in future elections.

The Democratic polling firm Global Strategy Group is trying a significant methodological change on the back end. According to research the firm presented at the AAPOR conference, their 2022 polls were made more accurate by using voters self-reported 2020 general-election presidential vote as a variable a practice numerous others have also adopted, though its still far from universal.

That, in addition to other adjustments like trying to include voters who arent as politically active, was an important discovery, because Global Strategy Group like pollsters across the public and private campaign worlds significantly underestimated Republicans in its 2020 polling.

We think that the stuff that weve done to correct for that between accounting for past vote history in the 2020 election and looking at how important politics is to a persons identity are going to be able to capture that and correct for these biases that really bit us in the ass in 2020, said Baumann, who is a partner at Global Strategy Group.

The phenomenon that led a segment of Trump voters to boycott the polls is similar to other trends, including those picked up in new polling this week from YouGov, which found that Republicans trust almost all media outlets less than Democrats, with the exception of conservative media.

If anybody wants to really be honest, it is going to be an enormous challenge if it indeed is going to be Trump [against] Biden in 24, said Don Levy, the director of the Siena College Research Institute, which conducted polling in 2022 for the New York Times and the local cable news outlet chain Spectrum News. Because we know that that voter is disinclined to speak to us.

But thats only part of the problems that pollsters have identified since 2020. Its not just that voters closely aligned with Trump are harder to reach less-engaged voters of all stripes are less likely to participate, too.

And, the evidence suggests, the best way to reach those voters who very well may cast ballots in high-turnout presidential elections like 2020 but are less likely to participate in midterms remains the traditional and expensive form of phone surveys. Some pollsters have replaced or eschewed that method entirely to save money.

Not all pollsters see a sharp dividing line between 2022 and 2024. Anna Greenberg, a Democratic pollster whose 2022 clients included Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), said that while Trump wasnt a candidate for office last year, he was still a major issue in the midterm campaign.

Trump was on the ballot, said Greenberg. Between Mar-a-Lago documents and the Jan. 6 commission, and then certainly at the statewide level, the so-called MAGA candidates: Blake Masters, [Mehmet] Oz, [Doug] Mastriano there was so much coverage of these being his candidates.

Overall, the mood at this weeks conference was mostly positive, riding high from 2022 even with the prospects of another Trump-sparked miss looming in next years presidential election.

Im still worried about 2024, said Baumann. I dont think that any pollster should be out there feeling superconfident that we have everything fixed, because we were confident that we did after 2016. And we didnt.

Read the original post:

Pollsters worry Trump problem is 'back with a vengeance' - POLITICO

The Justice Department is seeking to stop a deposition with Donald Trump this month in lawsuits filed by two former FBI officials who have been frequent targets of criticism by the former president.

In a redacted court filing Thursday, Justice Department attorneys said Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar authorized an appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., unless a lower court judge reconsiders an earlier ruling allowing Trumps deposition to take place before a deposition with FBI Director Christopher Wray.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled in February that Trump and Wray could be deposed in the lawsuits, which Peter StrzokandLisa Page brought against the Justice Department and the FBI in 2019.

Justice Department attorneys said in Thursday's filing that they just recently learned that Trump's deposition has been scheduled for May 24, before any deposition for Wray.

Contrary to the request of the United States, Mr. Strzok seeks to depose former President Trump before Director Wray, thereby making it impossible to determine if the Directors deposition might obviate the need to depose the former President, Justice Department attorneys wrote in a 10-page motion to block Trump's deposition.

They asked the court to resolve the matter by Tuesday.

Lawyers for Strzok declined to comment. Attorneys for Page and Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In a court filing in March, the Justice Department said Trump has not requested an assertion of privilege over any of the information within the scope of the authorized depositions.

Jackson's ruling in February said the Trump and Wray depositions must be limited to two hours and to a narrow set of topics that were discussed at a sealed hearing.

Trump frequently targeted Strzok and Page during his presidency. They made headlines in December 2017 when it was announced that they had been removed from then-special counsel Robert Muellers investigation over text messages that disparaged Trump.

Pages lawsuit alleges privacy violations and Strzoks alleges wrongful termination, with both citing the release of text messages.

Page, who resigned as the FBIs counsel in May 2018, had argued in her lawsuitthat thetext messagesshe exchanged with Strzok were unlawfully released and that attacks by Trumpand his allies had damaged her reputation.

Strzok's lawyers are seeking Trump's deposition to determine whether he met with and directly pressured FBI and Justice Department officials to fire Strzok or directed any White House staff members to do so.

If the deposition moves ahead as planned, it would come on the heels of a finding by a federal jury in New York that Trump is liable for sexual abuse and defamation in a lawsuit filed by writer E. Jean Carroll. Trump has indicated he will appeal the verdict.

He also faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments from 2016. Trump pleaded not guilty last month to all charges.

Zo Richards

Zo Richards is the evening politics reporter for NBC News.

Read the rest here:

DOJ seeks to prevent Trump deposition in Strzok and Page lawsuits - NBC News

Historian and Hoover Institution senior fellow Niall Ferguson argued that former President Donald Trump is not only a strong candidate for reelection in 2024, but the most likely person to win and take back the White House.

"A second Trump act is not just possible. Its fast becoming my base case," Ferguson wrote in an op-ed for The Spectator.

Ferguson explained that even a sustained "campaign of lawfare" against the former president by his political enemies is not enough to stop him from coming back into the White House. In fact, "the prospect of him performing the perp walk attracts media coverage, and media coverage is the free publicity on which Trump has always thrived," he said.

TRUMP FIRES BACK AT CRITICS SLAMMING HIS TOWN HALL: DID THE RIGHT THING

Historian and Hoover Institution senior fellow Niall Ferguson argued that former President Donald Trump was not only a strong candidate for reelection in 2024, but the most likely person to win and take back the White House. (James Devaney/GC Images)

Trump was found liable for sexual abuse against writer E. Jean Carroll on May 9 in a verdict that fell short of the accusations of rape that Carroll made. Carroll alleged that Trump sexually abused her in a Manhattan department store nearly three decades ago, though she could not remember "if the alleged assault happened in 1995 or 1996," Ferguson pointed out.

But even that verdict helps bring attention to Trump, according to Ferguson. "Every column inch or minute of airtime his legal battles earn him is an inch or a minute less for his Republican rivals for the nomination," he wrote.

Ferguson also argued that Trump is the "clear frontrunner" among the Republican field for 2024. A Fox News survey in April showed that Trump maintained a solid, 53 percent lead in April among Republican primary voters, beating out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by 32 points.

DEMOCRATS TERRIFIED TRUMP COULD BEAT BIDEN IN 2024 REMATCH: 'BE VERY F---ING WORRIED'

DeSantis has still yet to officially declare for the presidency, though he is highly anticipated to do so.

DeSantis has still yet to officially declare for the presidency, though he is highly anticipated to do so.

But even DeSantis popularity among some of the Republican base far from guarantees him a chance at beating Trump. As Ferguson explained, the "Republican primary process favours candidates with early leads because most states award delegates on a winner takes all or winner takes most basis."

CNN FACING 'FURY' FROM STAFFERS OVER TRUMP TOWN HALL: 'IT FELT LIKE 2016 ALL OVER AGAIN'

It is a "lesson of history" that is clear, Ferguson said, and one that bodes well for Trump: "The Republican frontrunner usually wins the nomination, and a post-recession incumbent usually loses the presidential election."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

That's because a recession would also help boost Trumps chances for victory in 2024, Ferguson added, writing that it "does not need to be as severe as the Great Depression that destroyed Herbert Hoovers presidency. A plain vanilla recession will suffice."

See original here:

Trump as president in 2024 is not just possible, but likely: Historian - Fox News

Donald Trump

That Republican elders dare not alienate the ex-presidents fanbase shows how fully he has shaped the party in his image

One day he was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation. The next he was on prime-time television pushing election lies, defending his own coup attempt and refusing to back Ukraine.

To his millions of critics, it was another week that proved Donald Trump is unfit for office and dangerous to democracy. But to the top leaders of Trumps Republican party, it was another week to keep heads down and say nothing.

Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House of Representatives; Mitch McConnell, the minority leader in the Senate; leading state governors and even most of Trumps potential rivals for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 have made a habit of siding with him or remaining silent as each scandal comes and goes.

Critics say their complicity underlines how comprehensively Trump took over the Republican party and shaped it in his own image. Even though McConnell and others privately loathe Trump and wish him gone, they dare not alienate his fervent support base. Rick Wilson, a former Republican consultant and co-founder of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group, sums it up in one word: fear.

They are afraid of the mob, theyre afraid of the horde, theyre afraid of the anger and the craziness and the rage and the threats that come any time a Republican elected official really stands up and opposes Donald Trump, Wilson said.

He added: None of the major elected officials McConnell, McCarthy, the big state governors are going to come out and say what they believe and know: that he is a monstrous figure and he is a dangerous figure.

Trump ran against the Republican establishment in 2016, exciting a grassroots army of supporters and eventually bending the party to his will. His victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton in the presidential election and pursuit of an agenda that fit many Republican priorities, from sweeping tax cuts to rightwing supreme court justices, persuaded many in leadership to overlook his chaotic style.

But relations with McConnell soured over time, culminating in the 6 January 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol, for which he said Trump was practically and morally responsible. The former president has branded McConnell an old crow and repeatedly hurled racist insults at his Taiwanese-born wife, former transportation secretary Elaine Chao.

Even so, despite their mutual animosity, the minority leader made clear this week that he will support Trump if he is the Republican nominee in 2024. Asked about the former presidents improving poll numbers, McConnell told CNN: Im going to support the nominee of our party for president, no matter who that may be.

Meanwhile Steve Daines, chair of the Senate Republicans campaign arm, has endorsed Trump for president in what many see as an attempt to curry favour with him and curb his meddling in next years Senate elections. Trumps backing of extremists in last years midterms cost McConnell control of the Senate an outcome that he is eager to avoid repeating.

Wilson, author of Everything Trump Touches Dies, commented: He can say, See, Mr Trump, Im loyal to you. I love you. Im a good person. You should listen to me. Please, please, please dont tell Tudor Dixon she should run again or dont tell Kari Lake she should run again. These are very transactional and tactical approaches but nonetheless they are approaches that these people are willing to do to survive in a war with Trump.

He added: There is no Republican party. Its just Trump. It is only about his desires and his political power, his political goals. If you told the average Republican elected official, you have to cut off your arm to get an endorsement from Trump, theyre going to ask you for a saw and some Band-Aids.

McCarthy, for his part, also seemed shaken by the events of January 6, but later that month he visited Trumps Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, signalling that all was forgiven. When McCarthy was elected speaker earlier this year after a gruelling series of votes, he paid tribute to Trump for working the phones to help him secure victory.

Since then he has swatted aside every legal controversy, including last month when, as Trump became the first former president to face criminal charges, McCarthy tweeted that the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, had weaponized our sacred system of justice against President Donald Trump.

This week, in a civil case, a New York jury determined that Trump sexually abused and defamed the writer E Jean Carroll, awarding her $5m in damages (Trump is appealing the verdict). That alone would be enough to sink most political careers but McCarthy repeatedly dodged the issue when asked to comment by reporters on Capitol Hill.

Other Republicans went further in expressing their fealty to Trump. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida told reporters: That jurys a joke. The whole case is a joke. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina added: When it comes to Donald Trump, the New York legal system is off the rails. Former vice-president Mike Pence told NBC News: I would tell you, in my four and a half years serving alongside the president, I never heard or witnessed behaviour of that nature.

The following day, Trump gave an unhinged, falsehood-filled performance in a town hall event broadcast live on the CNN network. He vowed to pardon a large portion of the January 6 rioters, suggested that Republicans should let the government default on its debts and refused to call Vladimir Putin a war criminal over the killing of Ukrainian civilians.

Strikingly, many in the audience in Manchester, New Hampshire, burst into applause and egged Trump on. When he made fun of Carroll they laughed. It was a glimpse of the Make America great again base that keeps party leaders awake at night.

Donna Brazile, a former chairperson of the Democratic National Committee, said: The voters stand by Donald Trump and as long as he has a grip on the Republican party and its voters, the leaders cannot step out ahead of where the voters are.

People should not condemn these voters, these voters who need to be educated, listened to and respected. After all, over 70 million Americans supported Donald Trump in the last election. Thats nothing to sneeze at. Thats voters who know what he stands for, know what he represents and still theyre with him.

She added: As long as theyre sticking with Trump, I do believe that the leaders of the Republican party will also stand by Trump. Regardless of what they say behind his back, theyll stick with Trump.

Even in the Trump era, the Republican party is not a monolith. The sexual abuse verdict prompted criticism from senators including John Cornyn, Mitt Romney, Mike Rounds and John Thune. In an interview with Punchbowl News, Bill Cassidy asked: What if it was your sister? How could it not create concern?

After the chaotic CNN town hall, Chris Christie, a former governor of New Jersey, described Trump as Putins puppet and there was condemnation from Chris Sununu, the governor of New Hampshire, and Asa Hutchinson, a former governor of Arkansas running for president. But these are exceptions that prove the rule. Other confirmed or likely primary candidates steered clear in what is now a familiar pattern.

After all, the Trump era is littered with the political corpses of Republicans who tried to oppose him only to suffer online abuse, public heckling, death threats or retribution at the ballot box. Senators Bob Corker, Jeff Flake and Ben Sasse and Representatives Justin Amash, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger are among those who quit or were purged. They left behind a party that increasingly resembles Trump.

Kurt Bardella, a Democratic strategist, said: They have refused to divorce themselves from someone that they know is both a political loser for them and who represents things that are completely destructive to our democracy. After everything that we have seen, after everything that the Republican party itself has endured in terms of its underperforming in multiple election cycles, the only reason why they havent divorced themselves from Donald Trump is because they dont want to.

{{topLeft}}

{{bottomLeft}}

{{topRight}}

{{bottomRight}}

{{.}}

Excerpt from:

As Trumps lies and scandals deepen, the GOP responds as usual with silence - The Guardian US

When Donald Trump ran for president in 2016, it quickly became clear that much of the media was not up to the challenge of covering a candidate who openly lied, espoused racist ideologies, bragged about sexual assault, and encouraged his supporters to embrace a toxic vision for America by playing on their fears and insecurities.

Part of the problem was that coverage of Trump was a ratings boon for the struggling news industrywith the Trump bump sending record numbers of viewers and readers to newspapers, online publications, and TV shows. It was intoxicating for the industry. News channels were captivated by Trumps roadshow, famously airing empty podiums as they waited for him to arrive, instead of going live to his opponent Hillary Clinton giving a speech about her plans to raise incomes for working families. Newspaper journalists spent countless hours in red state diners trying to probe the psyche of Trump voters as if they were unknowable mysteries, instead of people who regularly expressed exactly who they were and what they were about.

Even so, the American media establishment was blindsided by Trumps 2016 victory, and vastly underestimated his ability to carry out his far-right agenda as president. While he was in the White House, many in the press fell back upon euphemisms and false equivalencies, as Perry Bacon, Jr. wrote recently in the Washington Post: They played down Trumps radicalism to appear neutral and objective, to get access to Trump and his top aides or to appeal to Republican officials and consumers. And even now, they continue to curry favor with Trump and traffic in the rhetoric of both sidesas if there is more than one side to bigotry.

After Trump lost the 2020 election, fomented an insurrection, and has continued, to this day, to promote the big lie, that he was robbed of a second term as president, I dared hope that the media had learned its lesson about how to cover Trump on the campaign trail.

In these early days of the 2024 election cycle, though, it would seem that nothing was learned at all.

Trump looked tired when he strolled onto the New Hampshire stage for CNNs town hall on Wednesday, visibly wearing every one of his 76 years. The day before, a federal jury had found him liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s, and then defaming her. Still, CNN opted to move forward with the televised event, moderated by This Morning anchor and chief correspondent Kaitlan Collins in front of an audience of Republicans and Independent voters inclined to vote for hima curious choice, at best.

From the very first moment to the abrupt last, Trump was exactly who he has long revealed himself to be.

The candidate was bombastic, arrogant, and rude. He lied time and time again. When Collins, who came across as well-prepared and well-versed in all the political issues, corrected his lies in real time, he spoke over her, smirking as he declared his warped version of the truth to be the final word on everything from election fraud to the Jan. 6 insurrection to the debt ceiling. He continued to denigrate Carroll (who now says shes considering suing him again). And save for the final minutes of the town hall, Collins ended up looking helpless in the face of the former presidents performanceexactly as he and his camp wanted it.

At times, Trump looked like a lunatic, babbling incoherent nonsense. At opportune moments, he threw out the words sure to rile up his base. Radical. Border. Patriot. Nasty person. Rarely did he answer the question being asked, instead using each one as an invitation to continue discussing whatever he wanted. The audience applauded and laughed and applauded and laughed. That was, perhaps, the most disappointing aspect of the prime time TV event, watched by 3.3 million people.

But the morning after this debacle was even more disappointing, perhaps, when CNNs chairman, Chris Licht, congratulated Collins on a masterful performance and himself on his bravery in airing it. I absolutely, unequivocally believe America was served very well by what we did last night, he declared on the networks morning editorial call. He went on to say that Kaitlan pressed him again and again, and made news, made a lot of news.

Lets be clear: Media organizations are, mostly, businesses. They are struggling businesses in the midst of a downward spiral, making it harder to walk away from a spectacle that will bring them a big audience, even if the spectacle is destructive, corrosive to democracy, and criminal. Any one of CNNs rival networks would likely have jumped at the opportunity to air the town hall. I would like to believe, however, that they would have done so with slightly more integrity.

Most media enterprises employ great journalists who know how to call out liars and criminalsseveral did so at CNN, criticizing their own employers. But those people, doing the right thing and holding power to account, cant compete with the spectacle. Trump and people like him know this, which is why they rarely face the press without bringing their own circus to town.

This town hall will consume peoples attention until we move on to the next garish spectacle. But there are far more critical issues we should be discussing: That Trump remains the frontrunner to represent his party by a wide margin; that the GOP considers him a viable candidate despite everything that has happened; that his base remains unrelentingly loyal to him. These are real problems. In the face of all that, the fact that CNN gave him a primetime platform for monologuing lies and misinformation, thereby conferring legitimacy on his ideological viewpoints, is a real problem.

In the discourse cycle following the town hall, some pundits have raised the specter of ideological silosadmonishing those who criticize Wednesdays farce that we shouldnt only surround ourselves with people who reflect our values and beliefs. But those of us who find Trump odious are not living in a silo. We absolutely see and understand that half the country is fine with who Trump is and what he stands for.

Bigotry is not merely a different opinion that we should expose ourselves to. It isnt an intellectual exercise or a useful contribution to a range of diverse viewpoints. It is an evil that must be eradicated. It must be identified as unacceptable, as often as necessary. And it should be denied the oxygen of the media. Freedom of speech does not guarantee unfettered access to media coverage.

Time and again, journalists say they just dont know how to cover Trump, that he is impossible to cover. But he is only impossible to cover because he receives an inordinate amount of the media attention he so desperately craves. He is impossible to cover because he does whatever he wants, and no one truly challenges him. He is impossible to cover because we continue to let him dictate the terms of engagement.

Its time to stop. If journalism is really about truth, there is nothing newsworthy about giving free airtime to the prime minister of mendacity. Trump has been found guilty of crimes and faces several other criminal investigations. He disdains democracy and openly embraces autocracy.

There should be standards for people seeking to lead the United States. Donald Trump does not meet those standards, by any measure. We should stop using euphemisms when it comes to his words and deeds. We should stop pretending that because he is the leading candidate, what he has to say is automatically newsworthy. When he refuses to speak truthfully or acknowledge election results, we should simply stop the interview and walk away. Enough is enough; too much is at stake. We should protect, at all costs, the many vulnerable populations that will be made less safe in a second Trump presidency. No matter what we believe or which party we are aligned with, we should want better for this country, for our communities, for the world we are a part of.

More:

The media is not equipped to handle the return of Donald Trump - Fortune

In little over an hour, Donald J. Trump suggested the United States should default on its debts for the first time in history, injected doubt over the countrys commitment to defending Ukraine from Russias invasion, dangled pardons for most of the Capitol rioters convicted of crimes, and refused to say he would abide by the results of the next presidential election.

The second-term vision Mr. Trump sketched out at a CNN town-hall event on Wednesday would represent a sharp departure from core American values that have been at the bedrock of the nation for decades: its creditworthiness, its credibility with international allies and its adherence to the rule of law at home.

Mr. Trumps provocations were hardly shocking. His time in office was often defined by a the-rules-dont-apply-to-me approach to governance and a lack of interest in upholding the post-World War II national security order, and at 76 he is not bound to change much.

But his performance nonetheless signaled an escalation of his bid to bend the government to his wishes as he runs again for the White House, only this time with a greater command of the Republican Partys pressure points and a plan to demolish the federal bureaucracy.

The televised event crystallized that the version of Mr. Trump who could return to office in 2025 vowing to be a vehicle of retribution is likely to govern as he did in 2020. In that final year of his presidency, Mr. Trump cleared out people perceived as disloyal and promoted those who would fully indulge his instincts things he did not always do during the first three years of his administration, when his establishmentarian advisers often talked him out of drastic policy changes.

From my perspective, there was an evolution of Donald Trump over his four years, with 2020 I think being the most dramatic example of him the real him, said Mark T. Esper, who served as Mr. Trumps defense secretary. And I suspect that would be his starting point if he were to win office in 2024.

In a statement, Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Mr. Trump, dismissed criticisms of the former president, who he said spoke directly to Americans suffering from the Biden decline and President Trumps desire to bring about security and economic prosperity on Day 1. He added, Understandably, this vision is not shared by the failed warmongers, political losers and career bureaucratic hacks many of whom he fired or defeated who have created all of Americas problems.

At the town-hall event, Mr. Trump almost cavalierly floated ideas that would reshape the nations standing in the world, vowing to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours and declining to commit to supporting the country, an American ally that has relied on billions of dollars in aid to hold off the Russian onslaught.

Do you want Ukraine to win this war? CNNs Kaitlan Collins pressed.

Mr. Trump evaded.

I dont think in terms of winning and losing, he replied, adding that he was focused on winding down the conflict. I think in terms of getting it settled so we stop killing all these people. He did not mention that the killing was initiated by Russia.

Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, a Democrat who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee and is close to President Biden, said there were fears internationally of Mr. Trumps return.

His performance last night just reinforced what so many of our allies and partners have told me concerns them over the past two years that a return of Trump to the White House would be a return to the chaos, he said.

Some Republican elected officials who are skeptical of U.S. aid to Ukraine praised Mr. Trumps performance. Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio called his Ukraine answer real statesmanship.

Mr. Miller argued that Mr. Trump had an entire term with no new wars, and hes ready to do it again.

In New Hampshire, the audience of Republicans lapped up Mr. Trumps one-liners and slew of insults to Ms. Collins (a nasty person, he jeered, echoing his old attack on Hillary Clinton), to former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to E. Jean Carroll, the woman whom a jury this week found Mr. Trump liable of sexually abusing and defaming. And the crowd expressed no dissent as he again tried to rewrite the history of Jan. 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to overturn his election loss.

It was a beautiful day, Mr. Trump said.

If he becomes president again, he said, he would most likely pardon a large portion of his supporters who were convicted over their actions on Jan. 6. They were there with love in their heart, he said of the crowd, which he beamed had been the largest of his career.

You see what youre going to get, which is a presidency untethered to the truth and untethered to the constitutional order, said Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, the Republican Partys most prominent Trump critic remaining on Capitol Hill. The idea that people whove been convicted of crimes are all going to be pardoned, or for the most part pardoned, is quite a departure from the principles of the Constitution and of our party.

Mr. Trump also embraced the possibility of defaulting in the debt-ceiling standoff between President Biden and congressional Republicans, an act that economists say could spell catastrophe for the global economy.

You might as well do it now because youll do it later, because we have to save this country, Mr. Trump said. Our country is dying.

Former Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, a Republican who is running a long-shot campaign for president in 2024, said Mr. Trumps potential return to the White House posed an enormous risk for the nation.

He has shown such a disrespect for our institutions of government that are critical to our democracy, Mr. Hutchinson said, adding that he had been particularly unnerved by the talk of defaulting. He talked like it was OK for the United States to default on the debt. And thats like putting his past business practices of using bankruptcy as a tool and applying that to the government.

Despite such warnings from old-guard Republicans, the cheers from the conservative crowd in New Hampshire during the CNN event were an audible reminder of Mr. Trumps sizable lead in Republican primary polls.

Karl Rove, the architect of George W. Bushs two presidential victories, said in an interview that for true believers and ardent supporters, it was a boffo performance by Mr. Trump. But he said that other Republicans would now be forced to answer for a big pile of noxious material on their doorsteps.

Do other Republicans believe that rioters who attacked police, broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6 and, in some cases, attempted to overthrow the government should be pardoned? Mr. Rove asked. Do other Republicans agree that it doesnt matter if the United States government defaults on its debt? Do other Republicans not care who wins in Ukraine?

One of the most controversial policies of Mr. Trumps presidency was the forced separation of migrant parents from their children at the southern border, which Mr. Trump reversed himself on in June 2018 after a huge backlash.

But during the town hall on Wednesday, Mr. Trump suggested he would revive it. Well, when you have that policy, people dont come, he said. If a family hears theyre going to be separated, they love their family, they dont come.

Casual observers might be inclined, as some did in 2016, to take Mr. Trumps most extreme statements, such as his casual embrace of allowing the nation to default, seriously but not literally.

But underneath Mr. Trumps loose talk are detailed plans to bulldoze the federal civil service. These proposals have been incubating for more than two years within a network of well-funded and Trump-connected outside groups.

In the final, chaotic weeks of the 2020 election, Mr. Trumps lawyers, having crafted a novel legal theory in strict secrecy, released an executive order known as Schedule F that aimed to wipe out most employment protections against firing for tens of thousands of federal workers.

Mr. Trump ran out of time to carry out that plan. But a constellation of conservative groups has been preparing to revive the effort if he regains the presidency in 2025.

Pressed by Ms. Collins, Mr. Trump would not say he was willing to accept the 2024 results.

Former Representative Liz Cheney, who lost her Republican primary bid for re-election after helping lead the Houses investigation into Jan. 6, said of the Trump town hall, Virtually everything Donald Trump says enhances the case against him.

Donald Trump made clear yet again that he fully intended to corruptly obstruct Congresss official proceeding to count electoral votes in order to overturn the 2020 election, said Ms. Cheney, who has made opposing Mr. Trumps return to power her top political priority since her defeat last year. He says what happened on Jan. 6 was justified, and he celebrates those who attacked our Capitol.

On Wednesday, Mr. Trump also denounced his former vice president, Mike Pence, for upholding the 2020 election results and waved off the suggestion that Mr. Pence had been at risk on Jan. 6, even though the Secret Service tried to evacuate him from the Capitol.

I dont think he was in any danger, Mr. Trump said.

Marc Short, who was with Mr. Pence that day as his chief of staff, called out Mr. Trumps double standard in defending violence by his supporters while claiming to broadly stand for law and order.

Many of us called for the prosecution of B.L.M. rioters when they destroyed private businesses, Mr. Short said, referring to Black Lives Matter supporters. Its hard to see how theres a different threshold when rioters injure law enforcement, threaten public officials and loot the Capitol.

See more here:

Trump Town Hall Shows His Second-Term Plan: Shattering Even ... - The New York Times

A jury found former President Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll at a New York department store almost three decades ago and also found that Trump defamed her.

The jury was split on whether Trump was liable for raping Carroll, but awarded her a $5 million judgment. Trump plans to appeal the verdict, his lawyer said.

Because the case is civil, not criminal, Trump will not be facing prison time.

But some social media users wondered whether Trump, the most prominent 2024 candidate among Republicans, would have to take another legal step: registering as a sex offender.

Facebook posts by the group Occupy Democrats suggest that Trump should register as a sex offender, saying "no one is above the law."

But thats not what New York law says for civil cases.

Carroll sued Trump after the state of New York passed the Adult Survivors Act, giving adult survivors of sexual assault a one-year window to file lawsuits against their attackers, regardless of when the abuse occurred.

Under the states guidelines, someone convicted of a sex offense must register as a sex offender upon returning to the community after a probation, payment of a fine, jail or prison sentence. These laws are common across the U.S.

But Trump did not face criminal charges, so these laws do not apply in his case.

He was found liable, not convicted, of sexual abuse. So, the sex registry law doesnt apply and he has no duty to register as a sex offender.

The standard of burden of proof in a civil case is by "preponderance of the evidence," a lower standard than in a criminal case, which requires proof "beyond a reasonable doubt."

To prove something by "preponderance of the evidence" means that someone must convince the jury that it is more likely than not that the defendant is responsible for the harm suffered by the plaintiff.

"The distinction is critical, because the standard of proof required for a criminal conviction is much higher than that for a civil judgment, like Carrolls," said Maggie Gardner, professor of civil procedure at Cornell Law School.

Gardner added that there are more procedural and constitutional safeguards for criminal defendants, and more limitations on what evidence can be admitted in criminal trials.

"It is important that the registration of sex offenders is limited to those criminally convicted because having to register carries significant limitations on ones liberty," she said.

Read more Ask PolitiFact stories.

See more here:

Ask PolitiFact: Will Donald Trump need to register as a sex offender? - PolitiFact

Just a few months ago, the Republican presidential primary seemed as if it might include a frank and vigorous debate about the leadership and limitations of Donald J. Trump.

But any appetite for criticism of Mr. Trump among Republicans has nearly evaporated in a very short time. Voters rallied around him after his criminal indictment in March on charges related to hush money for a porn star, and potential rivals have faltered, with few willing to take direct aim at the former president and front-runner for the nomination.

In a live town hall on CNN on Wednesday, the cheers for every falsehood and insult that Mr. Trump uttered under tough questioning by a moderator showed there was little to no daylight between Mr. Trump and the Republican base. A quirky effort to disrupt the love-in by Chris Christie a potential rival who bought Facebook ads to supply audience members with skeptical questions such as Why are you afraid of debating? went nowhere.

In surveys and focus groups, a fair share of Republican voters say that they would prefer a less polarizing, more electable nominee. But a near taboo against criticizing Mr. Trump has made it hard for rivals, apart from Mr. Christie and one or two others near the bottom of polls, to stand out.

In what looks like a rerun of the 2016 Republican primary, almost none of Mr. Trumps competitors have openly gone after him, despite his glaring vulnerabilities. Instead, they are hoping now as then that he will somehow self-destruct, leaving them to inherit his voters.

After a jury found Mr. Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation of the writer E. Jean Carroll on Tuesday, Mike Pence, the former vice president, who is weighing a 2024 campaign, declined to criticize Mr. Trump. In an interview with NBC News, Mr. Pence said it was just one more story focusing on my former running mate that I know is a great fascination to members of the national media, but I just dont think its where the American people are focused.

Other 2024 candidates either defended Mr. Trump, such as the entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, or played down the verdict, including Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor. Ms. Haley, who announced her candidacy in February, even defended Mr. Trump this week for threatening to skip Republican primary debates. With the numbers he has now, why would he go get on a debate stage and risk that? she said.

Only two 2024 hopefuls found the verdict in the Carroll case to be disqualifying for a would-be president: Mr. Christie and Asa Hutchinson, the former Arkansas governor. Mr. Hutchinson criticized Mr. Trumps contempt for the rule of law.

Several months ago, polling had suggested Mr. Trump could be a potentially weak candidate, with only 25 to 35 percent support from Republican voters in high-quality surveys. The Republican National Committee promised an autopsy of the 2022 midterms that was expected to address Mr. Trumps role in the partys surprising losses.

But today, the lane in the Republican primary for a candidate who is openly critical of Mr. Trump seems to be closing.

Mr. Hutchinsons long-shot campaign has failed to gain notice. Mr. Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, who has promised a decision this month on whether he will run, also has yet to generate much interest. Even the occasionally critical Mr. Pence, who mildly suggested Mr. Trump would be accountable to history for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, is struggling for affirmation from the Republican base.

And the R.N.C. autopsy of the midterms? A draft reportedly did not mention Mr. Trump at all.

David Kochel, a Republican strategist who advised Jeb Bush when he ran against Mr. Trump in 2016, said there was no opportunity for a candidate openly critical of Mr. Trump in the 2024 primary.

Voters have seen Trump as the most attacked president of their lifetimes, and they have an allergic reaction to one of their own doing it, Mr. Kochel said. Hes built up these incredible antibodies, in part stemming from how the base perceives he has been treated.

A CBS News poll released this month found that among likely Republican primary voters, only an insignificant handful, 7 percent, wanted a candidate who criticizes Trump.

The three candidates whom voters are the least open to considering, the survey found, are those who have criticized Mr. Trump to varying degrees: Mr. Christie, Mr. Hutchinson and Mr. Pence.

David Carney, a Republican strategist in New Hampshire, said he had expected the race to be more competitive by now, but a turning point occurred in March with Mr. Trumps indictment in New York.

It fell into the presidents narrative of the past five years, Mr. Carney said, referring to Mr. Trumps portrayal of himself as a victim of a criminal justice system out to get him. Mr. Carney described what he called a boomerang effect on Republican primary polls. Theyre beating up your guy theres a rallying around the flag.

Mr. Trumps rivals could still see a surge in support between now and next years first primary contests, but for the time being he is dominating all challengers. A polling average shows him with a 30-point lead over his closest rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who has yet to formally announce his run. All other candidates, declared and potential, are distant afterthoughts in the race, for now.

The former president is insulated from criticism, strategists said, because of the intense and dug-in partisanship of the Republican base, and because many of those voters get information only from right-wing sources, which have minimized the Jan. 6 attack and obscured Mr. Trumps 2020 loss.

They barely have access to the truth, said Sarah Longwell, an anti-Trump Republican strategist. Ms. Longwell, who hosts a podcast about Republican voters called The Focus Group, said a sizable share of primary voters wanted to move on from Mr. Trump.

But according to polling, a majority of Republican voters dont believe Mr. Trump really lost in 2020. Every politician on their team, everyone they know and all the media they consume all tells them that the election was stolen, Ms. Longwell said.

Mr. Christie, the most sharply critical 2024 hopeful of Mr. Trump, recently attacked the former president, calling him a child for denying the 2020 election results and cowardly for suggesting he might duck Republican debates.

But when Mr. Christie tested the electoral waters during visits to New Hampshire the past two months, including at the same college where Mr. Trumps town hall took place on Wednesday, his crowds seemed tilted toward independents and even Democrats, including those who knew him as the house conservative on ABC News.

One element that may factor in Mr. Christies calculus: The New Hampshire primary next year could favor an anti-Trump Republican because of an influx of independent voters. Because Democrats chose South Carolina as their first nominating state and because President Biden may not appear on the New Hampshire ballot or campaign in the state up to 100,000 independents are expected to cast ballots in the Republican race, where they could tilt the results.

Independents are open to voting for a Republican candidate, said Matt Mowers, who served as Mr. Christies New Hampshire state director in 2016, but they arent open to voting for a crazy Republican.

Read the rest here:

Why the Anti-Trump Republican Primary Has Yet to Emerge - The New York Times

Stop yourself if this sounds familiar.

Donald Trump is asked a questionsay, whether he regrets his actions on Jan. 6and he answers with something like this:

Let me tell you, there's nobody who loves this country more than me, believe me. January 6 was a historic day, a day where millions of Americans came to Washington, D.C. to peacefully protest the rigged election. I did nothing wrong, and I have nothing to regret. The real regret is that the election was stolen from the American people, and that the corrupt politicians and fake news media refuse to acknowledge it.

If those comments sound like textbook Trump, you would be rightso right that it wasnt actually Trump who uttered them; it was ChatGPT.

We used the groundbreaking artificial intelligence tool to summon the voice of the ex-president and 2024 GOP frontrunner to respond to some of the exact questions he was asked during his shambolic CNN town hall on Wednesday night.

Only ChatGPTcall it TrumpGPTseems far more capable of delivering coherent answers than Trump himself, while rendering just enough of his trademark stylistic flourishes and tics to come across as the man himself.

Whats most remarkable about this experiment is that the AI version of Trump answered specific questions much in the same way as the real Trumphitting similar points, making similar pivots, reflecting similar political calculations.

Many political observers across the spectrum have noted that Trump, at this point, is almost painfully predictable. Much of the outcry around CNNs decision to give him a largely unfiltered platform was rooted in outrage that they were unprepared for him to behave in the precise way he has behaved for the last seven years.

Trump was so predictable that AIalbeit an extremely sophisticated AIwas largely able to stand in for Trump, and generally do a much better, more coherent, job.

Just judge for yourself:

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: Why should Americans put you back in the White House?

ChatGPT: Well, let me tell you something folks, nobody, and I mean nobody, has done as much for this great country as I have. When I was in the White House, we had record-low unemployment, we rebuilt our military, and we put America first.

But then the Democrats, and the fake news media, they came after me. They spied on my campaign, they impeached me for nothing, and they tried to steal the election. But I'll tell you what, I'm not a quitter. I'm a fighter. And I fought back harder than anyone else would have.

And you know what? We almost won. We almost took back the White House in 2020, but they cheated, folks. They cheated like you wouldn't believe. They rigged the election, they stole it from us, and they installed Sleepy Joe Biden in the White House.

But I'm not giving up, folks. I'm not giving up on America. I love this country too much. And I know you love it too. That's why I'm asking for your support. Because together, we can make America great again. Again.

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: But Mr. President, you know that the election wasn't stolen? The election wasn't stolen.

ChatGPT: Well, let me tell you something, fake news. You're wrong, as usual. The election was stolen, and it was stolen from me. We had massive voter fraud, we had dead people voting, we had illegal immigrants voting, we had ballots being shipped in from other countries. It was a disgrace, and everybody knows it.

But you know what? We're not gonna let it stand. We're not gonna let the Democrats get away with stealing the election. We're fighting back, and we're gonna keep fighting until we get to the truth.

Because that's what we do, folks. We fight for what's right, and we never give up. And I know that the American people are with us, because they know that the election was stolen too. They know that Sleepy Joe Biden didn't win, he lost, and he lost bigly.

So don't try to tell me that the election wasn't stolen, fake news. I know the truth, and the American people know the truth too. And we're not gonna stop fighting until we get the justice that we deserve. Because that's what true patriots do. We fight for our country, we fight for our freedom, and we fight for the truth.

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: Do you have any regrets about your actions on January 6?

ChatGPT: Well, let me tell you something, folks. What happened on January 6 was a disgrace. It was a disgrace to our country, and it was a disgrace to the millions of Americans who support me and my vision for America.

But you know what? I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't incite violence, and I didn't encourage anyone to break the law. What I did was speak the truth and fight for what's right.

And that's why I have no regrets about my actions on January 6. I was standing up for the millions of Americans who feel like their voices aren't being heard, and I was standing up to the corrupt politicians who are trying to silence us.

Now, some people might try to twist my words or take them out of context, but the truth is that I never encouraged violence or lawlessness. I simply encouraged people to fight for what's right and to demand that our voices be heard.

So no, I have no regrets about my actions on January 6. I will always stand up for what's right, and I will always fight for the millions of Americans who support me and my vision for America.

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: But Mr. President, you did incite violence. You told an angry mob to stop the steal. You said we would never give up, never concede. You said, If you don't fight like hell, you're not gonna have a country anymore. You assembled this mob. You fired them up. And then sent them to the Capitol. You tweeted that Mike Pence didn't have the courage to overturn the election. And then you watched the attack on the Capitol and didn't do anything for hours.

ChatGPT: Fake news! You're spreading lies and twisting my words. I never incited violence. I never told anyone to commit any acts of violence or to break the law.

What I said was that we need to fight for our country, fight for our rights, and fight for the truth. And that's exactly what we did. We peacefully protested, and we demanded that our voices be heard.

But you know what? The Democrats and the fake news media don't want to hear our voices. They want to silence us and they want to suppress the truth. And that's why they're spreading these lies about me inciting violence.

And as for Mike Pence, he didn't have the courage to do what needed to be done. He had the power to overturn the election, but he didn't use it. And that's a disgrace.

But let me be clear. I did not watch the attack on the Capitol and do nothing. I immediately called for peace and for everyone to go home. And that's exactly what happened.

So don't believe the lies and the fake news. The truth is that I love this country, and I will always fight for it. And the millions of Americans who support me and my vision for America know that.

REUTERS/Russell Cheyne/File Photo

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: A jury just found you liable for the sexual assault of E. Jean Carroll. What do you say to voters who say it disqualifies you from being president?

ChatGPT: Let me tell you something, folks. The verdict in the E. Jean Carroll case was a total sham. It's a witch hunt, just like the Russia hoax and the impeachment hoax.

I've been falsely accused by all sorts of people over the years, and this is just the latest in a long line of baseless accusations. It's a disgrace, and it's an attack on me and my supporters.

But you know what? I'm a fighter. I never give up, and I never back down. And that's why I'm not going to let this verdict stop me from fighting for the millions of Americans who support me and my vision for America.

And let me be clear. I never sexually assaulted anyone. E. Jean Carroll is just another person who's trying to get attention and make some money off of my name. It's a disgrace, and it's a total fabrication.

So to all the voters out there who think this disqualifies me from being president, I say this: don't believe the fake news media. Don't believe the lies. The truth is that I'm the best thing that ever happened to this country, and I'm going to make America great again, again.

So let's focus on the real issues facing our country, like jobs, the economy, and securing our borders. That's what matters, and that's what I'm going to keep fighting for.

The experiment is perhaps most illuminating, though, when you compare some of ChatGPTs answers to what Trump actually said. Here are just a few examples:

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: If elected president again, how would you act not only to defend our Second Amendment rights but to restore rights that have been taken from us?

ChatGPT: Let me tell you something, folks. Nobody loves the Second Amendment more than I do. I mean, it's right up there with making America great again. And believe me, nobody's gonna mess with our Second Amendment rights on my watch. I'm gonna defend them like nobody's ever defended them before. We're gonna have the strongest, most powerful Second Amendment protections you've ever seen.

REAL TRUMP: There's been nobody that's protected the Second Amendment, as you know, like I have. I've protected it through thick and thin, not easy to do. But we have a very big mental health problem in this country. And again, it's not the gun that pulls the trigger; it's the person that pulls the trigger. And we have to protect our Second Amendment.

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: Would you sign a federal abortion ban into law?

ChatGPT: Let me tell you, folks, I'm the best when it comes to making deals and protecting life. And let me be very clear, I am pro-life, very pro-life. We need to protect the sanctity of life, and that includes the lives of unborn babies.

As for a federal abortion ban, I would definitely consider it. It's something that needs to be looked at very closely, but I can tell you this, I will always err on the side of life. We need to do everything we can to protect the most vulnerable among us, and that includes unborn babies.

So, if a federal abortion ban comes across my desk, I will absolutely consider it and if it is the right thing to do, I will sign it into law without hesitation.

REAL TRUMP: What I will do is negotiate so that people are happy. But the fact that we were ableI was ableI'm so proud of it, we put three great justices on the Supreme Court. We have almost 300 federal judges on the Supreme Court

President Trump is going to make a determination what he thinks is great for the country and what's fair for the country. But the fact that I was able to terminate Roe v. Wade, after 50 years of tryingthey worked for 50 years, I've never seen anything like it. They workedand I was evenI was so honored to have done it. We are in a very good negotiating position right now, only because of what I was able to do.

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: Why did you take those classified documents with you when you left the White House?

ChatGPT: First of all, let me tell you, nobody loves classified documents more than me. I mean, nobody. They're tremendous, believe me. And let me tell you, I had every right to take those documents with me, OK? Because they were mine, all right? They were mine because I'm the President, and the President can do whatever he wants. That's just how it is. And you know what? I wanted to make sure that those documents were safe and secure. Because, let's face it, the people who are running the government now, they're not very good at their jobs. They're a disaster, really. So, I took those documents with me to make sure they didn't fall into the wrong hands. And if you don't believe me, just look at what's going on in this country right now. It's a mess, and it's all because of the people who are in charge. So, you can blame me all you want, but I did the right thing. I did the smart thing. And nobody can take that away from me.

REAL TRUMP: I had every right to under the Presidential Records Act. You have the Presidential Records Act. I was there and I took what I took and it gets declassified. Biden, on the other hand, he has 1,850 boxes. He had boxes sent to Chinatown, Chinatown, where they don't speak even English in that Chinatown we're talking about

Just so you understand, I had every right to do it. I didn't make a secret of it. You know, the boxes were stationed outside of the White House. People were taking pictures of the GSA and the various people that were moving.

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: What do you think about the United States' current debt situation, and how can we move forward?

ChatGPT: Well, let me tell you, nobody knows more about debt than me. Nobody. And I can tell you, the United States is in a very bad situation right now. We've got a tremendous amount of debt, and it's only getting worse. We're being ripped off by countries all over the world, and we're not doing anything about it. It's a disgrace, really. But you know what? I'm a businessman, and I know how to fix things. And I can tell you, the first thing we need to do is start negotiating better deals with these other countries. We can't keep letting them take advantage of us like this. We need to put America first. And you know what else we need to do? We need to cut spending. We need to get rid of all these wasteful government programs that are just wasting our money. And we need to start investing in our own country. We need to create jobs, we need to rebuild our infrastructure, and we need to make America great again. And you know what? I'm the only one who can do it. Nobody else has the experience, nobody else has the knowledge, and nobody else has the guts to take on this challenge. But I do.

REAL TRUMP: Such an important question. So we're at $33 trillion, a number that nobody ever thought possible. When we had our economy rocking and rolling just prior to COVID coming in, like literally, we were making a fortune. And oil, we were going to make so much money from oil, we were going to start paying off debt. But then with COVID coming in, we had to do other things. We had to keep this country alive because it was so serious. But we have to get the country back. We have to lower energy prices. We have to lower interest rates. Interest rates are through the roof. Energy has to come down, it all has to come down and we have to start paying off debt. But when we have a debt limit, and they use that very seriously. I mean, they came inSchumer came in with Nancy Pelosi, and they were using, we'll violate it, we'll do whateverthey talked a whole lot different than they do right now.

I say to the Republicans out therecongressmen, senators if they don't give you massive cuts, you're going to have to do a default. And I don't believe they're going to do a default because I think the Democrats will absolutely cave because you don't want to have that happen. But it's better than what we're doing right now because we're spending money like drunken sailors.

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: Do you feel that you owe your vice president Mike Pence an apology for your actions on January 6?

ChatGPT: Well, first of all, let me tell you, January 6 was a very tragic day for our country. And let me just say, nobody feels worse about what happened than I do. Nobody. But you know what? I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't incite violence, I didn't encourage people to storm the Capitol. That's just fake news, OK? And as for Mike Pence, let me tell you, he's a good man. He's a great man. But he made a mistake, OK? He made a mistake by not standing up for me and not fighting harder to overturn the election. And you know what? I'm disappointed in him. I really am. But do I owe him an apology? Absolutely not. I did what I had to do. I fought hard for our country, and I fought hard for the American people. And if Mike Pence can't see that, then that's his problem, not mine. So no, I don't owe him an apology. In fact, he owes me an apology for not standing up for what's right. And you know what else? I'll always be the President. Nobody can take that away from me. And I'll always be a winner. That's just who I am.

REAL TRUMP: No, because he did something wrong. He should have put the votes back to the state legislatures and I think we would have had a different outcome. I really do

I like Mike Pence very much. He's a very fine man. He's a very nice man. He made a mistake. His lawyer said, you cannot move. I call them the human conveyer belt. I said, even if the votes you meanI talked to his lawyereven if the votes are absolutely fraudulent, he cant sendyes, sir, he cant send them back. And the Democrats played it and the RINOs played it. And then, the election was over. They told them he couldnt do it. And Mike said to me, I cant do it. The lawyers told me I can't do it, they cant do it. But the lawyers were wrong because right after the election, they all met, the RINOs and the Democrats, and they worked out a plan to make sure that future vice presidents don't do what I said you could do.

Read the rest here:

We Had ChatGPT Answer CNN's Questions for Donald Trump - The Daily Beast

Hi, Im Aaricka!

If you're enjoying this article, you'll love my daily morning newsletter, How To LA. Every weekday, you'll get fresh, community-driven stories that catch you up with our independent local news.

It may seem like crackpot Hollywood history, but, as they say, this one is inspired by true events: You can draw a straight line from the last Writers Guild of America strike in 2007 to Donald Trumps presidential election.

Put simply: If theres no WGA strike 15 years ago, Trumps reality TV stardom goes away, and because hes no longer as famous, he doesnt have a base upon which he could run for the nations highest office.

Yes, there are many factors that influence world history, but what is true is that before November 2007, Donald Trump was a fading reality TV star. But the 2007 strike gave new life to his failed The Apprentice series, which NBC had pulled from its schedule after steadily sinking ratings.

The spinoff The Celebrity Apprentice ran for seven seasons, reestablishing Trump not only as a TV celebrity but also leading millions to believe he was a successful and shrewd businessman. Trump rode the show all the way to his famous escalator campaign launch speech. In 2016, he was elected president.

Writers Guild of America members and supporters picket near the Tonight Show with Jay Leno theater at NBC studios in 2008.

(David McNew

/

Getty Images)

As were currently seeing with todays strike, when the WGA declared its stoppage in 2007, production was immediately hit. Many thought the strike would be brief. It wasnt. After a few months, dozens of shows simply ran out of scripts and couldnt produce new episodes.

Steve Carell, the star of NBCs The Office, refused to cross WGA picket lines, in apparent violation of Screen Actors Guild rules saying actors were obligated to show up to work during a writers strike.

The show had filmed only eight of its 25 planned episodes before the strike; the show that followed The Office on NBCs Thursday night schedule, Scrubs, had completed 11 of 18 planned episodes.

Pretty soon, NBC had a one-hour hole to fill. And it looked in its discards for the answer an answer like reality TV, which is considered unscripted and not covered under the WGA collective bargaining agreement.

Donald Trump, his then girlfriend Melania Knauss, actor Dennis Hopper, publisher Jason Binn and actress Victoria Duffy (L-R) attend a party for "The Apprentice" on Feb. 26, 2004 at Bliss in West Hollywood.

(Amanda Edwards

/

Getty Images)

In the '90s, when Survivor creator Mark Burnett first approached Trump about taking part in a competition show about peoples business acumen, to be called The Apprentice, Trump said reality television "was for the bottom-feeders of society." He later overcame his misgivings, however, and The Apprentice premiered on NBC in January 2004. It was an immediate ratings hit.

That first season attracted more than 20 million viewers, but the audience declined steadily and sharply; by 2007, The Apprentice had lost nearly two-thirds of its viewers. Trump falsely claimed that The Apprentice was still winning its time slot in its sixth season in 2007 (some single years had multiple seasons), but NBC knew the shows popularity had waned.

In May of that year, after seeing that NBC hadnt placed The Apprentice on its fall schedule, Trump told the network he was moving on to another, unnamed TV venture before NBC could cancel the series.

NBC held out hope for another Trump partnership, and no sooner had the network and Trump parted ways that reality television producer Ben Silverman was named co-chairman for NBC Entertainment.

In July, the network, Burnett and Trump announced an Apprentice spin-off was in the works.

In The Hollywood Reporters history of the 2007-08 strike, Silverman said he wasnt sure if Trump would come back.

I came up with the idea of doing Celebrity Apprentice, Silverman said. I reached out to Mark Burnett, who said, Theres no way Donald will want to be around other celebrities. He has to be the biggest celebrity. And I said, Actually, hes going to be the biggest celebrity because hes going to be the boss. I called up Trump and he agreed.

Four months later, the WGA went on strike, chiefly over payments for shows premiering on the Internet.

Donald and Melania Trump arrive at a viewing party for "The Celebrity Apprentice" viewing party on Feb. 7, 2008 in New York City.

(Rob Loud

/

Getty Images)

A general view of the atmosphere during the arrivals portion of the Academy Of Television Arts & Sciences' Evening with "The Celebrity Apprentice" on April 26, 2011 in New York City.

(Joe Corrigan

/

Getty Images)

In January 2008, two months into the writers strike, The Celebrity Apprentice premiered on NBC. The ratings were half of what they had been for The Apprentice, but were good enough to keep the show on the air with Trump as its host for seven more years even after the strike ended.

It reinvigorated Trumps career, and made him both richer and even more famous. In its 2020 investigation into Trumps tax records, The New York Times reported that Trump earned some $197 million directly from The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice, along with an additional $230 million [that] flowed from the fame associated with it, including Trumps earning a combined $1 million for touting Double Stuf Oreos and Dominos Pizza.

When he eventually announced that he was running for president, in 2015, the outsider candidate wasnt taken seriously by the political elite. But his name recognition and imperious Youre fired! style largely tied to his reality TV work gave him a huge advantage.

NBC ultimately canceled the show, citing his presidential bid and racist comments he made in his campaign.

In a statement at the time, NBC said: Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump. At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values.

But by then Trump was a household name. He was elected president the next year.

What questions do you have about film, TV, music, or arts and entertainment?

John Horn, entertainment reporter and host of our weekly podcast Retake, explores whether the stories that Hollywood tells about itself really reflect what's going on?

Go here to read the rest:

How The WGA Strike Of 2007 Brought Donald Trump To Power - LAist