The Racist Trope That Won’t Die

The comedian Roseanne Barr resurrected one of the oldest and most profoundly racist slanders in American history when she referred to Valerie Jarrett, an African-American woman who served as an adviser to President Barack Obama, as the offspring of an ape. This depiction - promoted by slave traders, historians and practitioners of "scientific" racism - was used to justify slavery, lynching and the creation of the Jim Crow state.

Taxi Drivers in New York Are Struggling. So Are Uber Drivers.

After a growing furor among Uber drivers in New York City in 2016 over plunging incomes, Uber relented and made a rare concession: It agreed to recognize a local driver group. The group, the Independent Drivers Guild, was not quite a union, but it would meet regularly with Uber management and advocate for drivers .

Trump Taps Kraninger for Consumer Protection Post

U.S. President Donald Trump plans to nominate Kathy Kraninger, associate director of the Office of Management and Budget, to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which seeks to prevent financial abuses to consumers. In a statement Saturday, the White House said Kraninger would continue the efforts of the current CFPB chief, Mick Mulvaney, to scale back the agency's regulatory ambitions while continuing efforts to keep financial fraud in check.

Grassley: Too soon to declare North Korea summit a success

Sen. Chuck Grassley is encouraged by President Donald Trump's meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but said it's too soon to declare success. "I would be very cautious," Grassley told reporters Wednesday, adding later that despite the historic nature of the summit, it's also premature to talk about a Nobel Peace Prize for the president.

Trump says possible he will meet Putin this summer

Moscow does not rule out a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump this summer, RIA news agency reported on Friday, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. WASHINGTON/MOSCOW: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday it was possible he could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin this summer, and Moscow did not rule out a meeting.

The Bubble: How would conservatives have reacted to Obama meeting with Kim, liberals ask

Each week, USA TODAY's OnPolitics blog takes a look at how media from the left and the right reacted to a political news story, giving liberals and conservatives a peek into the other's media bubble. This week, commentators debated the significance of President Donald Trump's historic meeting with North Korean despot Kim Jong Un in Singapore.

The Obama-Trump grand strategy

One of the paradoxes of Donald Trump's election was that it seemed like a dramatic repudiation of Barack Obama - after the first black president, a birther; after a cool liberal academic, a roaring populist; after a multicultural "world man," an American nationalist - and yet it happened at a time when Obama was quite popular.

New book details the inside story of Obama’s birth certificate and the birth of fake news

Dan Pfeiffer, former assistant and senior adviser to President Barack Obama, thinks he knows the exact date the modern era of fake news was born: April 27, 2011. "I had walked into the briefing room that morning with 50 copies of Barack Obama's birth certificate," Pfeiffer recalls in a memoir, " Yes We Can: Politics in the Age of Obama, Twitter, and Trump ," set to be published next week.

Report on FBI actions in Clinton email case set for release

The Justice Department's internal watchdog is expected to criticize the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, stepping into a political minefield while examining how a determinedly nonpartisan law enforcement agency came to be entangled in the 2016 presidential race. The inspector general's report, set for release Thursday afternoon, is expected to be painstakingly detailed and represents the culmination of an 18-month review into one of the most consequential FBI investigations in recent history.

Wait, What? Matthews Compares Republicans to Jonestown Followers, North Korean Soldiers

A day after MSNBC's Hardball host Chris Matthews called out President Trump for "coming out like a kiss butt" in dealing with North Korea's Kim Jong-un, the liberal pundit reveled on Wednesday in comparing Republicans to North Korean soldiers and comments by Tennessee Republican Senator Bob Corker that GOPers are part of a "cult" for enthusiastically backing President. Not surprisingly, Matthews seemed a little confused about whether to make the Republican comparison to those who committed mass suicide in Jonestown by first ruling at 7:21 p.m. Eastern that "Corker's not exactly a bomb thrower and he's not comparing this guy to James Jones and drinking the kool-aid and cults and that's pretty deep."

Lawmakers to challenge Trump administration over pre-existing conditions

In a turn of events, Republicans - despite multiple attempts over the last decade to repeal and replace President Barack Obama's signature health care legislation - are now coming to the beleaguered law's defense. Add Donald Trump as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Donald Trump news, video, and analysis from ABC News.

Why some evangelicals don’t want Vice President Pence to speak at their meeting

A conservative Christian and longtime culture warrior, Pence shares many of Southern Baptists' faith commitments and some of their political views. With more than 15 million members, Southern Baptists are the country's largest evangelical denomination, and more than 80% of white evangelicals voted for the Trump-Pence ticket.

Opinion: Beware the Dog Days of August

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walks to his Capitol office after the Republican Senate policy lunch that took place at the National Republican Senatorial Committee on Tuesday. Nothing happens in August, right? At least that's always the usual explanation for the mass exodus that leaves Washington nearly uninhabited for much of D.C.'s dog days.

Barack Obama-linked group targets Scott Walker re-election bid, race to succeed Paul Ryan

A Democratic group backed by former President Barack Obama plans to invest millions of dollars in state-level elections in a dozen states, including Wisconsin, with the goals of "flipping the governor's seat and the state Senate." A Democratic group backed by former President Barack Obama plans to invest millions of dollars in state-level elections in a dozen states, including Wisconsin, with the goals of "flipping the governor's seat and the state Senate."

Who lost the South China Sea?

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has spoken out against China's strategy of "intimidation and coercion" in the South China Sea, including the deployment of anti-ship missiles, surface-to-air missiles, and electronic jammers, and, more recently, the landing of nuclear-capable bomber aircraft at Woody Island. There are, Mattis warned, "consequences to China ignoring the international community."