Category Archives: Republicans

Senate Democrats block Republican police reform bill – live

Posted on by

Speaking at his joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda, Trump confirmed he would be drawing down the US troop presence in Germany.

The US president told reporters gathered in the Rose Garden that his administration would reduce troop numbers in Germany from 52,000 to 25,000 and would probably then send some of those troops to Poland.

"They'll be paying for the sending of additional troops" -- Trump announces that Poland has bought US troops that have been stationed in Germany pic.twitter.com/4DnhvNQrcv

Trump does Putin's bidding by blaming Obama and Joe Biden for Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014 pic.twitter.com/MvYiK7W62Z

A grand jury has indicted three men on murder charges in connection to the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, who was fatally shot while jogging in a Georgia neighborhood.

Cobb district attorney Joyette M. Holmes announced that a Glynn county grand jury has indicted Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael and William R. Bryan on malice and felony murder charges in the February 23 death of Arbery.

Continue reading...

Roger Stone case: Trump ally given special treatment, Congress hears

Posted on by

Aaron Zelinsky says prosecutors were under pressure to go easy on Stone because of his relationship with the president

A federal prosecutor who was part of Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation told Congress on Wednesday Roger Stone, a close ally of Donald Trump, was given special treatment before sentencing because of his relationship with the US president.

Related: US appeals court orders judge to dismiss case against Michael Flynn

Continue reading...

Trump and Navarro condemn John Bolton’s China claim

Posted on by

The White House fired back at John Bolton on Sunday, seeking to rubbish a key claim in the former national security adviser’s bombshell new book, that Donald Trump asked Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, for help in winning re-election.

Related: Trump's Berman-SDNY disaster suggests William Barr is not so smart after all | Lloyd Green

Continue reading...

Peter Navarro: Trump call to slow Covid-19 testing was ‘tongue-in-cheek’

Posted on by

Trade adviser also claims without foundation that the virus ‘was a product of the Chinese Communist party’

White House adviser Peter Navarro claimed Donald Trump was being “tongue-in-cheek” when he claimed to have asked public health officials to slow down coronavirus testing.

Related: Donald Trump sows division and promises 'greatness' at Tulsa rally flop

Continue reading...

Brad Parscale faces Trump ‘fury’ after Tulsa comeback rally flops

Posted on by

Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Brad Parscale, was under pressure on Sunday after claiming hundreds of thousands of people had applied for tickets to the president’s return to the campaign trail in Tulsa, only for the rally to attract a sparse crowd.

Related: Trump 'played' by K-pop fans and TikTok users who disrupted Tulsa rally

Continue reading...

The Room Where It Happened review: John Bolton fires broadside that could sink Trump

Posted on by

The ex-national security adviser is no hero or martyr and certainly no prose stylist either. What counts is how damaging his memoir will be

John Bolton’s near-600-page tome is the most damning written account by a Trump administration alumnus, the one that stands to haunt the president come November. In the author’s judgment, “I don’t think he’s fit for office. I don’t think he has the competence to carry out the job.” Joe Biden couldn’t say it better himself.

Related: John Bolton: judge declines to block tell-all Trump book

Continue reading...

Trump set for Tulsa rally amid coronavirus fears and as protests continue – live

Posted on by

It has been seven weeks since Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis took a coronavirus “victory lap”, pressing ahead with a swift reopening program while berating the media for a “doom and gloom” approach he said bore little relation to reality.

“We haven’t seen an explosion of new cases,” DeSantis insisted during a 29 April news conference, a day on which the state’s Covid-19 tally increased by 347.

Robert Mueller and his investigators thought it possible Donald Trump lied to them about conversations with Roger Stone, according to previously redacted sections of the special counsel’s report which were were released on Friday night.

The release, part of litigation over portions of Mueller’s findings which remain secret, was largely overshadowed by US attorney general William Barr’s announcement of the resignation of the attorney for the southern district of New York, Geoffrey Berman, who then denied he was stepping down.

Continue reading...

Trump was willing to halt criminal investigations as ‘favor’ to dictators, Bolton book says

Posted on by

Donald Trump was willing to halt criminal investigations to “give personal favors to dictators he liked”, according to a new book written by his former national security adviser John Bolton.

Related: How Trump's missteps undermined the US's recovery from pandemic

Continue reading...

Virginia Republican who officiated gay wedding loses nomination for Congress

Posted on by
  • Denver Riggleman beaten in convention in state’s fifth district
  • Hardliner Bob Good could face strong Democratic challenge

A Virginia Republican congressman who angered social conservatives in his district when he officiated a gay wedding has lost his party’s nomination.

Related: The Skywalker window: what Democrats must do to destroy Trump's Death Star

Continue reading...

Pandemic, what pandemic? Trump sees mass rallies as path to re-election

Posted on by

Tens of thousands of Americans are dead from Covid-19, millions have lost their jobs but the president hopes adoring crowds will change the narrative

On the day that America reached a world record 2m coronavirus infections, Donald Trump announced a campaign rally and his deputy, Mike Pence, posted (then deleted) a tweet of campaign staff gathered indoors without face masks or physical distancing.

Related: It's the economy, stupid – but will Trump or Biden win the argument?

Continue reading...

ABC News executive placed on leave after allegations of racist remarks – live

Posted on by

The Fulton county district attorney’s office has opened an investigation into an incident in which Atlanta police shot and killed a man on Friday night. Police responded to reports that a man had fallen asleep in his car at a Wendy’s drive-thru and was blocking traffic. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) says the man was shot and killed after police tried to take him into custody. One report says the man tried to grab a police taser. The GBI is conducting its own investigation. Unverified reports on social media say the man who died was black.

JUST IN: The #FultonCounty DA’s statement about the @Atlanta_Police involved shooting Friday night. pic.twitter.com/Z3mwwvOnNz

Athletes at the University of Texas have asked the school song to be changed along with the names of buildings on campus.

“The recent events across the country regarding racial injustice have brought to light the systemic racism that has always been prevalent in our country as well as the racism that has historically plagued our campus,” the athletes said in a statement.

Continue reading...

Biden predicts military will intervene if Trump refuses to accept election loss

Posted on by
  • Biden says biggest fear is Trump will ‘try to steal the election’
  • Democratic challenger leads president in opinion polls

Joe Biden has predicted the military will escort Donald Trump from the White House should the president lose November’s election but refuse to leave office.

Biden, speaking to the Daily Show’s Trevor Noah, said that his single greatest concern is that the president will “try to steal this election”.

Continue reading...

Trump takes note as the far right lobbies for violent crackdown on peaceful protests

Posted on by

Republican politicians, media personalities and rightwing activists suggest a show of force to George Floyd protesters – and the result could be severe

As protests over the police killing of George Floyd continue across the US, a slew of influential rightwing figures have been urging an ever more violent crackdown on the demonstrations – and it appears Donald Trump is listening.

Republican politicians, media personalities and rightwing activists have floated ideas including deploying specific units of the military, while one Republican candidate for Congress has even suggested she will shoot protesters.

Continue reading...

Trump hankers for roar of the crowd while Biden takes campaign virtual

Posted on by

Despite the pandemic, the president can’t wait to get back packed rallies while his Democratic rival practices caution. Each thinks he has a winning strategy

Donald Trump wants to be nominated by a Republican national convention with all the trappings of a normal, packed event: the thronging crowds, the balloon drop, the scores of sideshow events. Meanwhile, former vice-president Joe Biden and senior Democratic officials are strongly considering a partially or completely virtual convention.

Related: Can Joe Biden convince protesters he would be a 'transformational' president?

Continue reading...

Can Republican Steve King keep his seat after becoming a ‘pariah inside the party’?

Posted on by

Abandoned by mainstream Republicans for his racist rhetoric, the Iowa congressman finds himself in a nightmare situation

This might actually be the year Iowa Republican congressman Steve King loses re-election.

King, the conservative congressman who’s been repeatedly reprimanded by leaders in his own party for racist rhetoric and interactions with white nationalists, finds himself in a nightmare situation for an incumbent congressman.

Continue reading...

America’s seniors ebb away from Trump as coronavirus response disappoints

Posted on by

The country’s most reliable voting bloc are also the most vulnerable to the virus, which looks to be benefiting Biden

At a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden last week, a maskless Donald Trump appealed directly to a constituency that could determine his political fate in November’s election: America’s seniors. 

Related: Biden sets solemn tone as Trump waits 15 hours to mark Covid-19 milestone

Continue reading...

Trump justice department forces out top FBI lawyer in Flynn case – report

Posted on by

A top FBI lawyer who was criticised on Fox News for his role in the investigation of Michael Flynn has resigned after being asked to do so by senior figures at the Department of Justice, NBC News reported on Saturday.

Related: What is 'Obamagate' and why is Trump so worked up about it?

Continue reading...

‘A national crisis’: how the killing of George Floyd is changing US politics

Posted on by

As people protest across the US, Donald Trump and Joe Biden have offered divergent responses that point to a divisive political debate on race relations

Riots in Minneapolis and across the US triggered by video footage showing George Floyd, a black man, killed under the knee of a police officer, has caused a dramatic shift in the national political debate in America and thrust race to the center of the stage.

Donald Trump and Joe Biden offered divergent responses that point to an even more divisive political debate on race relations and between Democrats and Republicans playing out in the months ahead.

Continue reading...

George Floyd killing: Trump calls protesters ‘thugs’ as fires erupt in Minneapolis on third night of unrest – live

Posted on by

Completely surreal. Watching the Third Precinct burn surround by thousands of people in complete anarchy. pic.twitter.com/qNVNAJIlA7

Reports that Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey will hold a press conference shortly.

Mayor Frey will hold a news briefing, set to start in a few minutes, about tonight's protests/burning of the 3rd Precinct. @ChaoStrib will have the livestream.

Continue reading...

Biden sets solemn tone as Trump waits 15 hours to mark Covid-19 milestone

Posted on by

As the toll of Americans killed by the coronavirus passed 100,000, the president was lashing out at Twitter for factchecking his posts

Four hours after Johns Hopkins University recorded that 100,000 American lives were lost to the coronavirus, Joe Biden released a solemn speech.

“My fellow Americans, there are moments in our history so grim, so heart-rending, that they are forever fixed in each of our hearts as shared grief. Today is one of those moments,” said Biden, speaking directly to the camera from an office adorned with American flags.

Continue reading...