How Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is taking over the Republican party

Rhetoric that was widely seen as echoing Hitler was not enough for some senior Republicans to break ranks with the former president

Donald Trump has the tacit blessing of senior Republican figures as he seeks to put border security front and center of the 2024 election by deploying fascistic language to fire up his support base, political analysts warn.

The frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 has called for a sharp crackdown on immigration and asserted at a weekend rally that migrants are “poisoning the blood of our country”.

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Trump lawyers urge supreme court to reject fast-tracking immunity decision

Federal 2020 election interference trial is currently set for 4 March, the day before Super Tuesday

Lawyers for Donald Trump on Wednesday urged the US supreme court to reject a request from the special counsel to expeditiously decide whether he was immune from prosecution over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, contending prosecutors lacked standing to bring the petition.

The argument from the ex-president was that prosecutors had no basis to appeal a lower court ruling that was favorable to them, and should instead defer intervening in the case until a federal appeals court issued its own judgment first.

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‘Texas, we’ll see you in court’: migrant law sparks outcry and opposition

Democrats call on attorney general to halt state law, while Mexican president and ACLU both say they will challenge it

As a group of Texas and Hispanic Democrats demanded the US attorney general block what they called “the most extreme anti-immigrant state bill in the United States”, signed by the Texas governor, Greg Abbott, on Monday, the president of Mexico and the American Civil Liberties Union also vowed to fight the law.

“Texas, we’ll see you in court,” the ACLU said.

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Judge temporarily bars removal of Confederate memorial in Virginia

Restraining order issued after a group filed a lawsuit and a letter that was signed by more than 40 Republican congressmen

A Confederate memorial was blocked on Monday from being removed from Arlington National Cemetery in northern Virginia, with a court order setting back the push to remove symbols that commemorate the Confederacy from military-related facilities.

A federal judge on Monday issued a temporary restraining order barring removal of a memorial to Confederate soldiers at the nation’s foremost military cemetery. A group called Defend Arlington, affiliated with a group called Save Southern Heritage Florida, filed a lawsuit Sunday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, seeking the restraining order. A hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday.

The Associated Press contributed reporting

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Republican royalty to liberal heroine: Liz Cheney finds an anti-Trump niche

The ex-congresswoman is unapologetically conservative, but her decision to put democracy before party has made her an unlikely heroine

It was a moment that a visitor from the year 2010 might have found impossible to comprehend. As Liz Cheney, arch-conservative and daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney, walked on stage in deeply liberal Washington, the audience applauded and cheered for a full 45 seconds.

“They’re standing, Liz, wow!” exclaimed moderator Mark Leibovich, a journalist and author. “You could probably be elected to Congress from the District of Columbia if they had representation.”

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Bernie Sanders demands answers on Israel’s ‘indiscriminate’ Gaza bombing

Senator introduces resolution to investigate ‘humanitarian cataclysm … being done with American bombs and money’

The US’s support for Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza is facing new scrutiny in Washington following a resolution by the independent senator Bernie Sanders that could ultimately be used to curtail military assistance.

It is far from clear whether Sanders has the support to pass the resolution, but its introduction in the Senate this week – by an important progressive ally of the US president Joe Biden – highlights mounting human rights and political concerns by Democrats on Capitol Hill.

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Rudy Giuliani defamation trial: jury deliberating on damages for former election workers – as it happened

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Michael Gottlieb, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, said that he will not provide the jury with a number for damages to be paid, Law & Crime’s Brandi Buchman reports.

Instead, he said that they must reach that number by weighing the humiliation, indignity and suffering Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss experienced based on the evidence provided.

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Biden condemns impeachment inquiry: ‘a baseless political stunt’

House Republicans rally behind investigation authorized by party-line vote as Democrats stand united in opposition

The House on Wednesday authorized the impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, with every Republican rallying behind the politically charged process despite lingering concerns among some in the party that the investigation has yet to produce evidence of misconduct by the US president.

The 221-212 party-line vote put the entire House Republican conference on record in support of an impeachment process that can lead to the ultimate penalty for a president: punishment for what the constitution describes as “high crimes and misdemeanors”, which can lead to removal from office if convicted in a Senate trial.

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House votes to formally authorize Biden impeachment inquiry

Republicans have failed to produce evidence showing president financially benefitted from family business dealings

The House voted Wednesday to formally authorize the impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, even as Republicans have failed to produce evidence showing that the president financially benefitted from his family’s business dealings.

The House voted on partisan lines, 221-212 to launch the inquiry. The vote came hours after the president’s son, Hunter Biden, defied a subpoena to appear for a closed-door deposition with House members. Instead choosing to hold a press conference on Capitol Hill, Hunter Biden reiterated his willingness to testify publicly, an offer that House Republicans have rejected.

This story was amended on 13 December 2023 to accurately reflect the House votes for the inquiry to 221-212.

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Giuliani’s defamatory claims have ‘significant, negative and long-lasting impact’ on election workers, expert witness says – live

Ashlee Humphreys, a Northwestern professor, testifies that Giuliani’s claims against plaintiffs have significant effects on their reputations

Ashlee Humphreys said in court that prior to 3 December, 2020, there was almost no search traffic for “Ruby Freeman”, the Guardian’s Sam Levine reports.

Afterwards, there was an increase, she said.

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Giuliani defamation trial: election worker testifies ex-Trump lawyer’s 2020 lies ruined her life – as it happened

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The Giuliani defamation trial is one of the first tests of the many prongs pro-democracy groups are using in the courts to try to hold purveyors of election lies accountable.

Several lawsuits use anti-defamation laws in civil lawsuits against big names who joined with Trump to deny the results of the 2020 election, including Giuliani, Mike Lindell and Dinesh D’Souza.

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Mitt Romney says his endorsement in 2024 race would be ‘kiss of death’

Republican senator also declines to rule out voting for Biden, and added he wishes Joe Manchin would ‘be the Democratic nominee’

Utah senator Mitt Romney declined to rule out voting for Joe Biden next year and said he hasn’t offered an endorsement in the Republican race because his backing would probably be a “kiss of death”.

“If I endorsed them, it would be the kiss of death – I’m not going to do that,” Romney said during an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press.

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Liz Cheney: Speaker Mike Johnson can’t be trusted to defend the constitution

Former congresswoman makes comments as she continues to warn of dangers that a second Trump presidency would present

US House speaker Mike Johnson and his fellow Republicans who comprise a majority in the chamber cannot be trusted to protect the American constitution, former congresswoman Liz Cheney said Sunday.

Cheney made the comments on ABC’s This Week as she continued to warn of the dangers that a second Donald Trump presidency would present following the release of her book Oath and Honor: A Warning and a Memoir. In the book, she is deeply critical of Johnson, who played a key role in Trump’s legal strategy to contest the election and organized an amicus brief signed by 126 US House members urging the supreme court to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election won by Joe Biden.

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Casey DeSantis encourages Republicans nationwide to vote in Iowa caucus

On Fox News, wife of Ron DeSantis mistakenly invites ‘moms and grandmoms’ to cross state lines and illegally vote in caucus

Casey DeSantis, the wife of Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis, has upset party officials in Iowa by urging her husband’s supporters from around the US to “descend” on the state and illegally take part in next month’s caucuses.

The former television news reporter, who has become the Florida governor’s chief supporter on the campaign trail, made the faux-pas during an appearance with him on Fox News on Friday, in which she wrongly stated it was legal for out-of-state residents to participate.

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Jamaal Bowman on his censure: ‘This Republican House is unserious and unproductive’ – as it happened

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Here is the moment House speaker Mike Johnson announced the votes on the censure of New York’s Democratic representative Jamaal Bowman:

The House has voted to censure Jamaal Bowman with 214 yeas and 191 nays.

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Democrats decry House censure vote as ‘attempt to silence’ Jamaal Bowman

Republican-led resolution against Democrat who pulled fire alarm called a waste of time and another attack on person of colour

Democrats accused Republicans of wasting time and pursuing “another attempt to silence a person of colour”, after the New York progressive Jamaal Bowman was formally censured for pulling a fire alarm in a congressional office building.

“This censure of Representative Bowman is yet another attempt to silence a person of colour in this chamber,” the Michigan representative Rashida Tlaib said.

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Nikki Haley says TikTok makes people ‘17% more antisemitic, more pro-Hamas’

Republican presidential contender mocked for claim about Chinese-owned app during primary debate on Wednesday night

The former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley claimed during the Republican presidential primary debate on Wednesday that watching TikTok made people “17% more antisemitic, more pro-Hamas” every 30 minutes.

“We really do need to ban TikTok once and for all and let me tell you why,” Haley said. “For every 30 minutes that someone watches TikTok every day they become 17% more antisemitic, more pro-Hamas based on doing that.”

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Georgia prosecutors predict jail sentences in Trump 2020 election case

Exclusive: Fulton county prosecutors say in emails their legal careers will continue long after defendants go to jail

Fulton county prosecutors have signaled they want prison sentences in the Georgia criminal case against Donald Trump and his top allies for allegedly violating the racketeering statute as part of efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, according to exchanges in private emails.

“We have a long road ahead,” the Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, wrote in one email. “Long after these folks are in jail, we will still be practicing law.”

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Kevin McCarthy, ousted House speaker, says he will leave Congress at end of the year – US politics live

McCarthy, who was ousted from the House weeks ago, said in his announcement, ‘I’m leaving the House but not the fight’

Former speaker Kevin McCarthy has announced that he will resign from the House at the end of the year.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published on Wednesday and titled “I’m leaving the House but not the fight,” McCarthy said that he had decided to depart the House at the end of this year and “serve America in new ways”.

I know my work is only getting started. I will continue to recruit our country’s best and brightest to run for elected office. The Republican Party is expanding every day, and I am committed to lending my experience to support the next generation of leaders.”

“I never could have imagined the journey when I first threw my hat into the ring. I go knowing I left it all on the field—as always, with a smile on my face. And looking back, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Only in America.”

“Common sense should dictate that we need to secure our own border in addition to helping Ukraine and Israel secure theirs. In the greatest country on Earth, we do not have to choose between protecting our homeland and defending our allies.

My support for Israel and Ukraine is unwavering but it does not supersede my commitment to my own country. We need major, structural reforms to limit the number of illegal crossings at our southern border and regain operational control.

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White House condemns protest targeting Philadelphia Jewish restaurant as ‘completely unjustifiable’ – as it happened

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Back in Philadelphia, Brendan Boyle, a Democratic congressman representing the city, condemned the protest outside Jewish restaurant Goldie as “despicable”.

From his account on X:

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