Category Archives: US elections 2024

How one Wisconsin man plagued election offices and stoked mistrust

Posted on by

Peter Bernegger has brought at least 18 lawsuits against election clerks and offices over alleged fraud – now he faces criminal charges

Peter Bernegger has spent the last three and a half years bombarding local election offices in Wisconsin with litigation and accusations of fraud. He’s brought at least 18 lawsuits against election clerks and offices in state court, and on social media, he has relentlessly promoted his litigation and circulated false claims about election fraud in the swing state.

His campaign has recently landed him in legal trouble – Bernegger now faces criminal charges for allegedly falsifying a subpoena in connection with a lawsuit against the state’s top election office.

Continue reading...

US has seen evidence of attempts by China to influence election, says Blinken

Posted on by

Secretary of state met Xi Jinping in Beijing and warned of sanctions over China’s support for Russian arms industry

Washington has seen evidence of attempts by Beijing to “influence and arguably interfere” in this year’s US elections, the secretary of state has said during a trip to China, also warning that Chinese companies face new sanctions if they do not stop supplying material and equipment to the Russian arms industry.

Antony Blinken told CNN that he had reiterated Joe Biden’s message to Xi Jinping not to interfere in November’s vote – a warning that reportedly received assurances from the Chinese president that he would not do so. Asked whether China was keeping to its promise, Blinken said: “We have seen, generally speaking, evidence of attempts to influence, and arguably interfere, and we want to make sure that that’s cut off as quickly as possible.

Continue reading...

‘Waiting for Trump’: Viktor Orbán hopes US election will change his political fortunes

Posted on by

Exclusive: Hungary’s PM and EU’s most isolated leader says he is pursuing ‘friendship with everybody’ – particularly the former US president

Europe’s most isolated leader was beaming.

Standing in a hallway in Brussels, Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister, spoke excitedly about the politician he hopes will change his political fortunes – Donald Trump.

Continue reading...

Billionaire Jeff Yass linked to $16m in donations to anti-Muslim and pro-Israel groups

Posted on by

The TikTok investor is also linked to funding challenges to progressive politicians and against Obama’s Iran nuclear deal

Top Republican donor and TikTok investor Jeff Yass is connected to over $16m in funding to anti-Muslim and pro-Israel groups that have advocated for a US war with Iran and other militaristic policies in the Middle East, according to an investigation by the Guardian and Responsible Statecraft.

Media reports on Yass, the billionaire co-founder of Susquehanna International Group, a trading and technology firm, have focused on his outsized role in the Republican party, to which he is now the largest political donor in the 2024 election cycle, contributing more than $46m thus far.

Continue reading...

Summer Lee wins Pennsylvania primary in victory for progressives

Posted on by

The significant victory for the ‘Squad’ member comes amid concerns of pro-Israel funding targeting pro-ceasefire candidates

Summer Lee, a Pennsylvania congresswoman, easily beat back a primary challenge on Tuesday, delivering progressives one of their most significant victories yet of this election cycle as they brace for a wave of pro-Israel funding targeting pro-ceasefire candidates.

The Associated Press called the 12th district Democratic primary at 9.21pm, roughly an hour and an half after Pennsylvania polls closed at 8pm ET.

Continue reading...

Biden and Trump clinch Pennsylvania primaries shortly after polls close

Posted on by

State’s voters still had options in presidential contests, with tallies to provide window into how state will swing in November

Joe Biden and Donald Trump both won their primaries in Pennsylvania shortly after polls closed.

Pennsylvanians had gone to the polls on Tuesday to cast ballots in the state’s primary races – the results provide a window into where voters in the crucial battleground stand roughly six months out from the general election.

Continue reading...

Tulsi Gabbard repeats false Hillary Clinton ‘grooming’ claim in new book

Posted on by

Ex-Democrat, reported contender for Trump running mate, sued Clinton for Russia remark but dropped case

Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman, has repeated a discredited claim about Hillary Clinton that previously saw Gabbard lodge then drop a $50m defamation suit in a new book published as she seeks to be named Donald Trump’s running mate for US president.

Accusing Democrats of making up “a conspiracy theory that [Trump] was ‘colluding’ with the Russians to win the election” in 2016, Gabbard claims: “Hillary Clinton used a similar tactic against me when I ran for president in 2020, accusing me of being ‘groomed by the Russians’.”

Continue reading...

Pro-Israel US groups plan $100m effort to unseat progressives over Gaza

Posted on by

Aipac and other groups targeting candidates critical of Israel’s war in Gaza – but progressives are not going down without a fight

Pro-Israel groups are pumping millions into this year’s heated congressional races, singling out progressives who have voiced criticism of the Israeli government and its relentless campaign in Gaza.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) is betting that $100m will be enough to fight back a wave of progressive dissent over Israel’s war in Gaza this election cycle. After investing heavily in the 2022 midterms, Aipac is now doubling down on its electoral efforts.

Continue reading...

Aipac: the pro-Israel group planning to spend millions in US elections

Posted on by

The lobby group has been a powerful force in American politics – but has Israel’s war in Gaza changed the equation?

A handful of pro-Israel groups fund political campaigns in support of individual candidates in US elections, led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), a powerful force in American politics. Before the 2024 election, Aipac plans to spend tens of millions of dollars against congressional candidates, primarily Democrats, whom it deems insufficiently supportive of Israel.

Aipac and other pro-Israel lobby groups have recruited and supported challengers to a number of lawmakers and candidates – most notably members of the Squad, the group of progressive representatives who are particularly vocal in their criticism of Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

Continue reading...

Trump cancels North Carolina rally due to storm in first public address since New York trial

Posted on by

Former president told thousands of supporters gathered at Wilmington airport the event would be rescheduled ‘bigger and better’

Donald Trump called for debates with Joe Biden before cancelling his own appearance at a planned rally in Wilmington, North Carolina as a rain storm approached the airport where it was staged on Saturday.

Trump called as he was approaching the international airport to tell rally goers that the event would be rescheduled “bigger and better”. This would have been the first time he addressed supporters in public after a week of relative silence in a New York courtroom.

Continue reading...

Melania Trump to hit campaign trail for husband after early absence

Posted on by

The enigmatic former first lady to appear at fundraiser on Saturday, marking a return to her husband’s side as he seeks re-election

Her biggest fashion statement as first lady was a green jacket emblazoned with the words “I really don’t care, do u?” More recently, Melania Trump has given the impression that she doesn’t care whether her husband, Donald, returns to the White House. That is about to change.

On Saturday Melania, 53, will appear at a fundraiser at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, for the Log Cabin Republicans, the biggest Republican organisation dedicated to representing LGBT conservatives. It will be her first appearance at a political event since Trump, 77, launched his bid to regain the presidency.

Continue reading...

Kennedy family members endorse Biden in stinging rebuke to RFK Jr

Posted on by

Siblings appear on stage with president at campaign event in Philadelphia and offer full-throated support of White House run

Prominent members of the Kennedy political dynasty delivered a full-throated endorsement of Joe Biden’s re-election campaign on Thursday, a pointed message that was in equal measure a stinging repudiation of their relative Robert F Kennedy Jr, who is making an independent run for the White House.

Kerry Kennedy, one of six siblings of the controversial candidate on stage at a Biden campaign event in Philadelphia, called the US president “my hero” as she celebrated a litany of his achievements she said would have pleased her father, the late former US attorney general Robert F Kennedy and late uncle and president John F Kennedy.

Continue reading...

Alabama chooses candidates for new Black congressional district

Posted on by

After a contentious redrawing of Alabama’s congressional map, two candidates will compete in November for a seat, and perhaps congressional control

Shomari Figures, an attorney and Obama White House executive from a politically-prominent civil rights family, has won the Democratic nomination to run in Alabama’s redrawn second congressional district Tuesday night, defeating state representative Anthony Daniels.

The runoff election has been closely watched because of its implications for control of Congress in November, and for the effect of supreme court orders requiring southern states to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act and eliminate racial gerrymandering.

Continue reading...

Robert F Kennedy Jr claims Trump had asked him to be running mate

Posted on by

The assertion followed the launch of a website attacking the independent presidential candidate calling him a ‘leftist radical’

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the prominent conspiracy theorist and independent presidential candidate, claimed on Monday he had turned down an offer from Donald Trump to be his running mate for the White House.

The assertion followed the launch earlier in the day of a website attacking Kennedy, published by a pro-Trump political action committee called Make America Great Again Inc (Maga Inc).

Continue reading...

Biden’s renewed embrace of Israel threatens to deepen Democratic divide

Posted on by

Iran’s attack may give the president a reason to return to his default position of ‘ironclad’ Israeli support – could that hurt him in November?

“Ironclad,” said Joe Biden. “Ironclad,” said Lloyd Austin, the defense secretary. “Ironclad,” said the Senate leader Chuck Schumer, the House leader Hakeem Jeffries and the Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer.

In the wake of Saturday’s attack by Iran, Democrats united around a single word in expressing their commitment to Israel’s security. It was a sentiment that papered over, at least for now, cracks in the party over Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza.

Continue reading...

US news organizations urge Biden and Trump to agree to TV election debates

Posted on by

CNN, NBC and Fox News among outlets to make plea as Trump campaign calls for earlier debates and Biden remains uncommitted

Twelve US news organizations are urging Joe Biden and Donald Trump to agree to TV debates ahead of the November presidential vote, a typical feature of an election year and one that can sometimes play a crucial role.

“If there is one thing Americans can agree on during this polarized time, it is that the stakes of this election are exceptionally high,” the organizations including ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, PBS, NBC, NPR and the Associated Press said in a statement.

Continue reading...

Democrats bank on abortion in 2024 as Arizona and Florida push stakes higher

Posted on by

Focus on reproductive rights has yielded big wins and Democrats hope threat of more Republican bans will mobilize voters

Kamala Harris’s Friday visit to Arizona was planned before the state’s top court upheld a 160-year-old law that bans almost all abortions. But the news galvanized the vice-president’s message, one that has already yielded stunning victories for liberals since Roe v Wade fell nearly two years ago.

That message is simple: abortion bans happen when Republicans are in charge.

Continue reading...

Trump boasts ‘We broke Roe v Wade’ as abortion dogs GOP election hopes

Posted on by

Republican presumptive nominee struggles to articulate position on divisive issue after meeting with House speaker

Facing the press alongside the House speaker, fellow Republican Mike Johnson, Donald Trump bragged: “We broke Roe v Wade.”

The former president made the stark admission about his dominant role in attacks on abortion rights at the end of a week in which the rightwing Arizona state supreme court ruled that an 1864 law imposing a near-total ban could go back into effect.

Continue reading...

Trump and Mike Johnson push for redundant ban on non-citizens voting

Posted on by

Planned bill to ban already illegal practice is latest Republican step to spread falsehoods about immigration and voter fraud

Donald Trump and the House speaker, Mike Johnson, plan to push for a bill to ban non-citizens from voting, the latest step by Republicans to falsely claim migrants are coming to the country and casting ballots.

Voting when a person is not eligible – for instance if they lack US citizenship – is already illegal under federal law. It is unclear what the bill Johnson and the former president will discuss in their Friday press conference at Mar-a-Lago will do to alter that. But it is one more way for the former president to focus on election security and to ding the Biden administration over the situation at the US-Mexico border, a key issue for likely Republican voters this November.

Continue reading...

Trump says he would not sign abortion ban if elected as Republicans backpedal on reproductive rights – live

Posted on by

Former president says Arizona abortion ban went too far as Democrats note he appointed justices who ended Roe

The Arizona supreme court decision upended Donald Trump’s gambit on abortion, a day after the former president sought to neutralize the political issue by declining to support a national abortion ban.

Trump had hoped that his announcement on Monday would keep abortion rights mostly out of the conversation ahead of the November elections, but Tuesday’s ruling showed just how difficult it will be to do that, the Washington Post’s Dan Balz writes.

All abortion politics are national, not local. Abortion developments – new laws, new restrictions, new stories of women caught up in heart-wrenching and sometimes life-threatening decisions – are no longer confined to the geography where they take place. They are instantly part of the larger debate.

There is no safe harbor for Trump and the Republicans at this point. The abortion issue is no less complex and no less difficult for many Americans than it was while Roe was in force. But politically the winds have shifted, and done so dramatically.

Continue reading...