Category Archives: Republicans

What does Republicans’ break from the presidential debate commission mean?

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The US presidential debate has been thrown into doubt – and the move is proof of the RNC’s eagerness to do Trump’s bidding

One of the marquee moments of any US presidential election – the televised debate – has been thrown into doubt by the Republican party’s decision on Thursday to withdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) grumbled that the group that has run the debates since 1988 is biased and refuses to enact reforms. It promised to “find newer, better debate platforms” in future.

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Scott Pruitt, Trump’s scandal-ridden environment chief, to run for US Senate

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Former EPA administrator is seeking seat being vacated by Republican senator Jim Inhofe in Oklahoma

Scott Pruitt, who had a scandal-ridden spell in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency under Donald Trump, filed on Friday to run for an open US Senate seat in Oklahoma.

Pruitt, 53, a former state senator and Oklahoma attorney general, is seeking the seat being vacated by the longtime Republican senator Jim Inhofe.

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Zelenskiy reportedly asks Biden to name Russia a state sponsor of terrorism – as it happened

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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has made a direct request to Joe Biden that the US designates Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, the Washington Post reports.

This would be a rare and radical sanction, but Zelenskiy has been firm in putting pressure on the west to assist in Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s invasion, and this is no exception as his country endures atrocities from its northern neighbor.

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Biden heads to North Carolina in effort to reset stalled agenda – live

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Elon Musk has launched an audacious bid to buy Twitter for more than $40bn, saying he wants to release its “extraordinary potential” to boost free speech and democracy across the world.

The Tesla chief executive and world’s richest person revealed in a regulatory filing on Thursday that he had launched a hostile takeover of Twitter. The news came just days after he bought a 9.2% stake in the social media company and was subsequently offered a seat on the board, but then refused to take up the position.

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McConnell will ‘make Biden a moderate’ if Republicans retake Congress

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Senate minority leader projects ‘pretty good beating’ for Biden administration in November midterms

The Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, said on Sunday Republicans will force Joe Biden to govern as a “moderate” if the GOP retakes Congress in November.

Speaking to Fox News Sunday, McConnell attacked Biden on subjects including reported crime increases in large US cities, the decision to extend a moratorium on repaying student loan debts, and the administration’s attempt to lift a Trump policy that allowed border patrol agents to turn away migrants at the southern border, ostensibly to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

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‘TV is like a poll’: Trump endorses Dr Oz for Pennsylvania Senate nomination

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Former president enthuses about TV doctor in statement and at rally but many on far right doubt conservative credentials

Donald Trump has endorsed Dr Mehmet Oz for the Republican nomination for Senate in Pennsylvania, an expression of support for a fellow TV star which could test the former president’s grip on his party.

Being on TV was “like a poll, that means people like you,” the former president and Celebrity Apprentice star said of Oz, a heart surgeon turned daytime host.

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Kentucky and Idaho measures severely restricting abortions are halted

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Measures’ constitutionality brought into question amid flurry of abortion restrictions passed in US states

Two measures that severely restrict abortions were halted on Friday, one by Kentucky’s governor and a second by Idaho’s supreme court.

In Kentucky, Democratic governor Andy Beshear vetoed a Republican-priority bill on Friday that would ban abortions in the state after 15 weeks of pregnancy and regulate the dispensing of abortion pills.

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‘We have made it’: Ketanji Brown Jackson ‘honored’ to become supreme court’s first Black female justice – live

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The White House celebration for Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the US supreme court is under way, with vice-president Kamala Harris making the opening remarks.

“Today is indeed a wonderful day as we gather to celebrate the confirmation of the next justice of the United States supreme court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson,” she said.

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Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmed as first Black woman on US supreme court – as it happened

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Joe Biden’s nominee is confirmed by Senate in 53-47 vote

Here’s a handy explainer, courtesy of CNN, about how the supreme court confirmation process works. Essentially, Judge Ketanji Brown’s lifetime appointment to the bench will be confirmed by a simple majority vote of the 100 US senators in the chamber this afternoon.

The US Senate is currently evenly split, between 50 Republicans, and the 48 Democrats and two independents who usually vote with them. In the event of a 50-50 tie in the Senate confirmation vote, the Democratic vice-president Kamala Harris would be called upon to break the tie and promote Jackson to the supreme court.

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Republicans’ ugly attacks on Ketanji Brown Jackson show lurch to far right

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The QAnon-tinged questioning at the hearings for the supreme court justice displayed a party in thrall to conspiracy theories

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson reached a historic milestone on Thursday, becoming the first Black woman ever appointed to the US supreme court. But before Jackson could be confirmed, she first had to navigate a brutal opposition campaign from far-right critics who challenged her credentials and outlandishly accused her of supporting child abuse.

The bareknuckle tactics used by some Republicans to discredit Jackson underscored just how far to the right the party has drifted and may foreshadow a new, disturbing “normal” for American politics.

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US rightwing figures in step with Kremlin over Ukraine disinformation, experts say

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False narratives pushed by Tucker Carlson and key Republicans in Congress have been embraced and recycled by Moscow

False and conspiratorial narratives pushed by some American conservative politicians and media figures about Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine have bolstered and created synergies with the Kremlin’s legendary disinformation machine, experts on information manipulation say.

But even though Russia has embraced and promoted American disinformation, as well as the Kremlin’s own much larger stock of Ukraine war falsehoods, both brands have been widely debunked by experts and most media outlets, underscoring Moscow’s setbacks in the information war.

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‘Feels like the good old days’: Joe Biden welcomes Barack Obama back to White House – live

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Ivanka Trump will testify before the January 6 committee this afternoon.

The Guardian confirmed that former president Donald Trump’s oldest daughter, and former senior White House adviser, will speak to the panel virtually.

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Fourth House Republican who voted to impeach Trump announces retirement

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Ex-president issues mocking statement after Congressman Fred Upton of Michigan says he will not stand in midterms

The Michigan congressman Fred Upton has become the fourth of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump over the Capitol attack to announce his retirement in November.

The others are Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a member of the January 6 committee, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio and John Katko of New York. The retirements are seen as further boosting Trump’s power and influence with Republicans.

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Two more Republicans back Ketanji Brown Jackson for supreme court

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Nomination advances in Senate after judiciary committee vote splits along party lines

Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney on Monday brought to three the number of Republican senators to say they would vote in favor of supporting Ketanji Brown Jackson as Joe Biden’s nominee to the US supreme court.

Murkowski of Alaska put out a statement on Monday evening saying: “After multiple in-depth conversations with Judge Jackson and deliberative review of her record and recent hearings, I will support her historic nomination to be an Associate Justice on the US supreme court.”

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Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation vote is ‘making history’, says senator – as it happened

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The Senate judiciary committee meets today, beginning a week expected to conclude with the confirmation of the first black female supreme court justice

Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina, is an unsurprising no on Ketanji Brown Jackson. The conservative senator has been vocally against Jackson - he flounced out of her confirmation hearing after wrongly accusing her of having called George W Bush and the former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld “war criminals”.

Following the devastating reports coming out of the Kyiv region, which was retaken by Ukrainian forces last week, Joe Biden is calling for a war crimes trial against Vladimir Putin, the Associated Press is reporting.

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Republican governor blasts Trump as ‘crazy’ during Washington roast

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Chris Sununu of New Hampshire makes remarks at event noted for tradition of roasting politicians with cutting comedy speeches

A Republican governor has blasted Donald Trump as “fucking crazy” and said if he was ever committed to a mental institution “he ain’t getting out”.

Chris Sununu of New Hampshire delivered the remarks at Saturday’s Gridiron Club dinner in Washington DC, an event noted for its tradition of roasting politicians with satirical and often cutting comedy speeches.

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Republican Senate hopeful overstated academic achievements for years

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Herschel Walker, frontrunner for party nomination in Georgia, claimed to have graduated in top 1% – but never actually graduated

A Republican Senate candidate in Georgia said for years that he graduated in the top 1% of his university’s class – but actually never graduated college at all.

Herschel Walker, a former pro football player who is running as a Republican in Georgia’s US Senateprimary, has publicly stated multiple times that he graduated in the top 1% of his class at University of Georgia despite never completing his degree.

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Sarah Palin announces run for US Congress in Alaska

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The former governor says she will ‘combat the left’s socialist, big-government, America-last agenda’

Sarah Palin has announced her run for Alaska’s only seat in the US House of Representatives, marking her first run for public office in over a decade.

“America is at a tipping point,” Palin said in a statement released on her Twitter account announcing her candidacy. “As I’ve watched the far left destroy the country, I knew I had to step up and join the fight.

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US ends Trump-era policy of blocking asylum seekers on Covid grounds – live

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention terminates Title 42 from 23 May, ending policy widely criticized as pretext to keep migrants out

• Senate deal on drastically pared-down Covid aid package may be imminent

US adds 431,000 jobs as hiring spree cuts unemployment rate to 3.6%

• Disney staff stage walkouts over ‘don’t say gay’ bill

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The late supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is to be honoured by having a US navy ship named after her.

The yet-to-be-built fuel tanker will join a fleet of John Lewis-class “replenishment oilers” named for historical figures in human and civil rights. The navy took delivery of the first of the fleet, a tribute to the former Democratic congressman, last summer.

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Congressman Madison Cawthorn under fire over claims of DC drugs and orgies

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Republican faces condemnation from House minority leader over podcast remarks but will not face immediate discipline

The North Carolina congressman Madison Cawthorn will not face immediate disciplinary action over his claim to have been invited to orgies and to have seen Washington figures using cocaine.

After meeting Cawthorn on Wednesday, the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, told reporters the comments were “unacceptable”.

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