Trump, battered by January 6 testimony, mulls 2024 run – and not all Republicans are happy

Republicans are odds-on to take back the House and Senate in November, and the last thing the party needs, experts say, is a Trump distraction

On Thursday the Trump campaign sent out a begging-bowl email to hundreds of thousands of supporters, previewing the former president’s rally in Arizona this weekend and teasing the recipients with a portent of momentous things to come.

Donald Trump “wants to make sure it’s one of his best rallies yet”, his loyal followers were told. “He is preparing the speech that he will give in front of the American people.”

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Republicans block bill on right to travel across state lines for abortions – as it happened

Republican senator claims Democrats’ proposal would encourage ‘abortion tourism’

Republican-led states are moving swiftly to ban abortion outright or retaliate against patients seeking the care and the doctors providing it to them. But the message of a new Morning Consult/Politico poll of voters gauging support for these policies might be: not so fast.

The survey found that of 13 state-level proposals, only two weren’t opposed by a majority of voters. Banning all abortions without exception is the most disliked, with 73 percent opposing it, while criminalizing abortion seekers and people who travel out of state for care both came in with 70-percent disapproval. Proposals to fine or criminalize abortion providers also polled poorly, as did the idea to allow people to sue anyone involved in abortions.

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AOC refuses to endorse Biden for 2024 as Democrats doubt his ability to win

Congresswoman says she’s focused on trying to preserve Democrats’ congressional majority in November’s midterms

Left-wing congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday refused to endorse Joe Biden for another run at the White House, adding to growing anxiety in Democratic circles over the president’s ability to run in and win the 2024 election.

The powerful progressive New Yorker said she could not commit to supporting Biden during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, saying she was more focused on trying to preserve Democrats’ congressional majority in November’s midterms.

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Shapiro: ‘Dangerous’ Republican rival Mastriano could override will of voters

Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania governor says if Mastriano wins he could wield power to choose his own slate of electors and overturn presidential election results

Josh Shapiro, who was nominated this week as the Democrats’ candidate for governor in the electorally critical state of Pennsylvania, has accused his Republican rival of intending to override the democratic will of voters and pick his own winners in future elections.

Shapiro launched his attack on Doug Mastriano in an interview on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. He called Mastriano, a far-right state senator, “dangerous and divisive” and warned that were he to become Pennsylvania’s governor he could wield power to choose his own slate of presidential electors as a means of overturning the results of the 2024 presidential election.

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Texas attorney general says state bar suing him over bid to overturn 2020 election – live

Here are more pictures from Jill Biden’s trip to Romania and Slovakia, where she will visit with Ukraine refugees over Mother’s Day weekend.

In addition to serving food, Biden also brought ketchup for personnel stationed overseas, as many have run out of different comforts from home like the condiment.

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Trump or no Trump: Asa Hutchinson mulls run for president in 2024

Republican Arkansas governor says he would not be deterred by former president in party in wrong over January 6 insurrection

The Arkansas governor, Asa Hutchinson, is considering a run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 and would not be deterred if Donald Trump made an expected bid to return to the White House.

“No, it won’t [deter me],” Hutchinson told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.

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

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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Barr: Trump should not be president but ‘lesser of two evils’ compared to US left

Ex-attorney general excoriates old boss in book but refuses to budge from vow to vote for him if he is Republican nominee again

Doubling down on his vow to vote for Donald Trump if he is the Republican nominee in 2024 despite writing in his new book that Trump is dangerously unsuited for the job, William Barr said: “Elections are binary choice, and unfortunately sometimes it’s choosing the lesser of two evils.”

Speaking to NBC’s Meet the Press, Trump’s second attorney general added: “I believe that the progressive wing of the Democratic party is dangerous for the United States.”

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William Barr: Trump is full of bull – but I’ll vote for him

Barr’s book reveals he told Trump he was ‘like a bull in a bull ring’ – in return, Trump calls his former attorney general a ‘horse’

Donald Trump’s second attorney general, William Barr, told the former US president he was “like a bull in a bull ring” and “someone’s going to come and put a sword through your head”.

In return, Trump called Barr a “horse” who had been “broken” by the radical left.

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Trump ignores Farage – and risks midterm elections farrago – with insistence on big lie

Analysis: His British friend tried to help but the former president did not want to forget his voter fraud obsession and focus on the future. CPAC loved it but Republicans hoping to take Congress know they are courting disaster

The sagest advice given to Donald Trump all week came from a man who is neither a Republican nor an American.

Nigel Farage, the British politician, broadcaster and demagogue whose Brexit campaign coincided with Trump’s rise to power, warned his old pal against endlessly fixating on the 2020 election.

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Tim Scott, only Black Senate Republican, hints he could be Trump running mate

South Carolinian tells Fox News ‘Everybody wants to be on President Trump’s bandwagon, without any question’

The only Black Republican in the Senate, Tim Scott of South Carolina, has indicated a willingness to be Donald Trump’s running mate should the former president mount another White House campaign.

Asked by Fox News if he would consider joining a Trump ticket in 2024, Scott said: “Everybody wants to be on President Trump’s bandwagon, without any question.”

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Quiet part loud: Trump says Pence ‘could have overturned the election’

In statement protesting against reform of Electoral Count Act, ex-president appears to admit Joe Biden won

Donald Trump was accused of “saying the quiet part loud” on Sunday night, when he protested that Mike Pence, his former vice-president, could have overturned his election defeat by Joe Biden.

Though he has appeared to admit Biden won before, Trump usually insists he won and his opponent stole the election through voter fraud – the “big lie” which animates rallies like one in Conroe, Texas, on Saturday.

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Trump pardon promise for Capitol rioters ‘stuff of dictators’ – Nixon aide

  • Trump makes promise at rally in Texas on Saturday
  • John Dean: ‘Failure to confront tyrant encourages bad behavior’

Donald Trump’s promise to pardon supporters who attacked the US Capitol on January 6 2021 was “the stuff of dictators”, Richard Nixon’s White House counsel warned.

Trump made the promise at a rally in Conroe, Texas, on Saturday.

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Republicans are shamelessly working to subvert democracy. Are Democrats paying attention?

Voting rights activists say the country has not fully awakened to the threat

A dry run. A dress rehearsal. A practice coup. As the first anniversary of the 6 January insurrection at the US Capitol approaches, there is no shortage of warnings about the danger of a repeat by Republicans.

But even as Donald Trump loyalists lay siege to democracy with voting restrictions and attempts to take over the running of elections, there are fears that Democrats in Washington have not fully woken up to the threat.

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‘The testing ground’: how Republican state parties grow Trumpism 2.0

In Oklahoma, Idaho, Wyoming and California, the next generation of GOP extremists are passing laws, picking their own voters … and preparing for power

The website of the Oklahoma Republican party has a running countdown to the 2024 presidential election measured in “Maga days”, “Maga hours”, “Maga minutes” and “Maga seconds” – Maga being shorthand for Donald Trump’s timeworn slogan, “Make America great again”.

The state party chairman, John Bennett, a veteran of three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, has described Islam as a “cancer in our nation that needs to be cut out” and posted a yellow Star of David on Facebook to liken coronavirus vaccine mandates to the persecution of Jewish people in Nazi Germany.

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Trump holds Iowa rally as poll in early voting state shows strong support

Donald Trump returned to Iowa on Saturday for a campaign-style rally, on the heels of a poll showing strong support in the state which traditionally kicks off presidential elections.

Trump has not announced a second run for the White House.

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If Trump wins in 2024 ‘he will be about revenge’, says former press secretary

Stephanie Grisham, Trump’s third press secretary, says he will run for president again and presents a greater threat to democracy

The former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham thinks Donald Trump will run for president again in 2024, and will present a significantly greater danger to US democracy should he win than at any time in his four years in office.

“He’s clearly the frontrunner in the Republican party,” Grisham told ABC’s Good Morning America on Monday. “Everybody’s showing their fealty to him. He’s on his revenge tour, for people who dared to vote for impeachment.

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Donald Trump returns to campaign trail with rally targeting Ohio Republican

As New York legal troubles mount, ex-president hints at 2024 run and targets those who voted for impeachment

Donald Trump was set to return to the campaign trail with a rally in Ohio on Saturday night, campaigning against a Republican who voted for his impeachment and trailing his own candidacy for president in 2024.

Related: Trump Organization could face criminal charges in New York next week

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Liz Cheney refuses to rule out run for president in bid to thwart Trump

  • Leading Republican vows to do ‘whatever it takes’ to stop Trump
  • Cheney: ‘It’s an ongoing threat. Silence is not an option’

Liz Cheney has refused to rule out running for US president if it would prevent Donald Trump from ever taking charge of the White House again, saying she will do “whatever it takes” to stop her fellow Republican.

Cheney, who on Wednesday was ousted as House Republican conference chair by her colleagues, in a voice vote behind closed doors, was asked three times on NBC’s Today show in an interview aired on Thursday whether she would run to stymie a comeback by the former president.

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Trump reportedly told Republican party to stop using his name for fundraising

Party bodies have used former president’s name while fundraising for Republicans who voted for his impeachment

Donald Trump has told the Republican National Committee and other party bodies to stop using his name and likeness in fundraising efforts, it was reported on Saturday.

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