Category Archives: US Politics

Nikki Haley was swatted twice within days amid ‘spike’ in threats to officials

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Police responded to fake calls targeting Republican presidential candidate, along with several other high-profile politicians

Nikki Haley was targeted by a second “swatting” attempt on New Year’s Day – just two days after authorities responded to a similar call regarding Haley, according to Reuters.

This time, the call was made by someone who said Haley’s daughter had been shot and was lying in a pool of blood. The caller, who told police her name was Rose, also said she was on the phone with Haley, who was threatening to shoot herself.

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E Jean Carroll aims to give defamation money ‘to something Trump hates’

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Former Elle columnist tells Good Morning America: ‘If it’ll cause him pain for me to give money to certain things, that’s my intent’

E Jean Carroll intends to spend the $83m awarded to her in her defamation trial against Donald Trump on something the former president “hates”, she revealed just days after the judgment.

On Friday, the jury in Carroll’s case decided that she should receive $18.3m in compensatory damages and $65m punitive retribution in the case pitting her against Trump. Of the $18.3m, Trump was told to pay Carroll $11m to fund a reputational repair campaign and $7.3m for the emotional harm caused by statements he made against her in 2019.

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Three US service members killed in ‘despicable’ drone attack in Jordan, Biden says

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Iranian backed militia took credit for attack that injured 34 troops and killed first US soldiers in battle since start of the Gaza conflict

The spectre of a direct US-Iranian military conflict drew closer on Sunday when the US president Joe Biden announced three US servicemen have been killed and more than 34 injured following a drone attack on a US service base on the border of Jordan and Syria. Biden blamed Iranian backed militia mainly based in Iraq for the “despicable” attack and vowed revenge.

Responsibility for Saturday’s attack on Tower 22, a military outpost on the Jordanian Syrian Iraqi borders was claimed by the Iranian backed umbrella group Islamic Resistance, and the US made no attempt to disguise its belief that Iran was ultimately responsible.

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The search for Trump’s running mate: ‘like auditions for The Apprentice’

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At issue is whether potential vice-presidents, from Elise Stefanik to Tim Scott, could assume control – and whether Trump cares

The last person who occupied the job of US vice-president ended up the target of a violent mob calling for him to be hanged. Even so, as Donald Trump closes in on the Republican nomination for 2024, there is no shortage of contenders eager to be his deputy.

It is safe to assume that Mike Pence, who was Trump’s running mate in 2016 and 2020, will not get the job this time. His refusal to comply with his boss’s demand to overturn the last election caused a permanent rift and made Pence a perceived traitor and target of the January 6 insurrectionists.

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‘Out of control’: Congresswoman sounds alarm over ‘unchecked’ gambling boom

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Andrea Salinas warns of ‘upstream problem’ in US mental health crisis and proposes tax revenue be used for treatment

America’s “unchecked” gambling boom risks exacerbating a nationwide mental health crisis, according to a congresswoman pushing for federal government support. The industry is pushing back hard.

Operators must be held “accountable” for rising addiction rates, Andrea Salinas told the Guardian, after lawmakers proposed legislation that – if approved – would provide tens of millions of dollars in funding to help those affected.

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Mitt Romney: Trump’s call to stonewall Democrats on immigration ‘appalling’

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Utah senator accuses ex-president of exploiting issue for political gain by directing Republicans to block deal

Donald Trump’s directive to congressional Republicans to not agree to a deal with Democrats on immigration and border control is “appalling”, Mitt Romney said.

“I think the border is a very important issue for Donald Trump,” Romney, the Republican senator from Utah, told reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday.

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Trump seeks to disqualify Fani Willis from prosecuting him in Georgia

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Motion comes after Fulton county district attorney made remarks decrying allegations of affair with one of her deputies

Donald Trump accused on Thursday the Fulton county district attorney of inflaming racial animus to distract from allegations relating to an an affair with one of her deputies, as he joined a motion seeking to disqualify her from prosecuting him for 2020 election interference in Georgia.

The filing, submitted to Fulton county superior judge Scott McAfee, adopted and added to an earlier motion to have the district attorney Fani Willis and her entire office thrown off bringing the case.

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US border policy deal within reach despite efforts by Trump to derail it, senators say

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Outlook had appeared grim following reports McConnell was walking away, but now lawmakers say text could be released in coming days

Congressional negotiators said a border deal was within reach on Thursday, despite efforts by Donald Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill to derail the talks.

With the fate of US aid for Ukraine hanging in the balance, the outlook for border compromise had appeared grim following reports on Wednesday night that the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, was walking away from a compromise that he suggested could “undermine” Trump’s chances in a November general election against Joe Biden. But by Thursday afternoon, senators involved in the discussions were insisting that the opposite was true: an agreement was in sight and legislative text could be released in the coming days.

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Ex-Trump adviser Peter Navarro to be sentenced for contempt of Congress

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Navarro, trade adviser during Trump presidency, convicted over refusal to comply with subpoena from January 6 committee

The former Trump adviser Peter Navarro faces sentencing on Thursday on two counts of contempt of Congress, arising from his refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the January 6 attack on Congress.

The mandatory minimum sentence is two months in prison, one for each count. Prosecutors in the case, which saw Navarro convicted in federal court in Washington DC in September, asked for 12 months prison time and a $200,000 fine.

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Tim Scott’s behaviour around Trump is ‘humiliating’, says the Rev Al Sharpton

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‘It was humiliating to watch,’ civil rights leader tells MSNBC after senator appeared with ex-president in New Hampshire

The South Carolina Republican senator Tim Scott’s behaviour around Donald Trump is “humiliating”, the civil rights leader Rev Al Sharpton said.

“It was humiliating to watch what Tim Scott did as a sitting senator,” Sharpton told MSNBC, for which he hosts a show, after Scott appeared with Trump in New Hampshire, where the former president won the Republican presidential primary on Tuesday.

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Nikki Haley vows to fight on after Trump’s victory in New Hampshire – US politics live

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Donald Trump double digit win makes November rematch with Joe Biden more likely, but Haley says ‘this race is far from over’

Eric Bradner at CNN writes that it is difficult to see where a Nikki Haley victory is coming from, despite them promising big spending. He said:

What is not clear is where Haley could actually notch a victory against Trump. She isn’t participating in the Nevada caucuses on 8 February (she will instead be on the state’s primary ballot, which won’t lead to her winning any delegates), and polls in her home state of South Carolina – where the 24 February primary will be the next major showdown – show Trump with a huge lead.

Haley is likely to face immense pressure to depart the race in coming days. She’ll face questions about whether she’ll follow a path similar to Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, who vowed to continue on after his second-place finish in last week’s Iowa caucuses – and then he dropped out days later.

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Trump-Biden rematch increasingly inevitable after New Hampshire primary

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Ex-president in strong position to seize Republican nomination after sweeping first two contests of 2024 primary season

A sweep of the first two nominating contests on the 2024 primary season left Donald Trump in a strong position to seize the Republican party nomination, and made a rematch with Joe Biden even more inevitable.

Trump’s Republican rival, Nikki Haley, vowed to fight on despite her second place finish in New Hampshire, a state where she had hoped for an upset, and her third place finish in the Iowa caucuses. But she faces long odds. There is no precedent for a candidate winning the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary and losing their party’s nomination.

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Trump turns into sinister playground bully in New Hampshire victory lap

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Ex-president follows up his Iowa win with victory over Nikki Haley – and makes threats against his last Republican primary rival

The cruelty is the point.

As Joe Biden acknowledged on Tuesday night, Donald Trump now has the Republican presidential nomination sewn up. But like a Roman emperor or mob boss, Trump used his victory speech in New Hampshire to humiliate his former opponents – and make sinister threats against his last primary rival.

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Joe Biden wins New Hampshire’s Democratic primary with write-in votes

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Incumbent refused to campaign in the state and had to rely on write-in campaign powered by his allies and surrogates

Joe Biden has won New Hampshire’s Democratic presidential primary, even though the incumbent refused to campaign in the state and had to rely on a write-in campaign powered by his allies and surrogates to secure a victory.

Leading up to election day in New Hampshire, much more attention was paid to the Republican presidential primary, in which Donald Trump easily defeated Nikki Haley. But the results of the Democratic primary could provide additional clues about the general election in November.

Trump wins Republican primary in New Hampshire

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Nikki Haley chases upset in bitter New Hampshire face-off with Trump

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Polls open in state’s primary in what may be last chance Republicans have to stop ex-president from securing nomination

New Hampshire held its primary on Tuesday, seen by many as the last chance for Republicans to stop Donald Trump seizing their presidential nomination for a third time, as Nikki Haley chased an upset.

Would New Hampshire voters stand by Trump, the winner in Iowa last week, or would they put Haley in striking distance or even hand her a win?

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‘We want everybody walking out’: UAW chief outlines mass strike for May 2028

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Shawn Fain, the United Auto Workers president, reaffirms general strike on 1 May 2028, saying ‘members need to come together’

Shawn Fain, the United Auto Workers president, criticized Donald Trump on Monday but declined to back Joe Biden as he reaffirmed plans to lead a general strike in the US in 2028.

Speaking to union members at the UAW national political conference in Washington DC, Fain said it was time for union members to come together.

Reuters contributed reporting

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OpenAI bans bot impersonating US presidential candidate Dean Phillips

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Company removes account of developer saying ChatGPT bot violated policies on political campaigning

OpenAI has removed the account of the developer behind an artificial intelligence-powered bot impersonating the US presidential candidate Dean Phillips, saying it violated company policy.

Phillips, who is challenging Joe Biden for the Democratic party candidacy, was impersonated by a ChatGPT-powered bot on the dean.bot site.

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Ron DeSantis put nearly all his eggs in the basket of a ‘war on woke’

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The Florida governor, once billed as Trump without the baggage, ended up making a series of bad gambles

It began in a glitch-filled disaster on Twitter. It ended with a misattributed quotation on X. Just like Elon Musk’s social media platform, efforts to rebrand Ron DeSantis’s US presidential election campaign could not mask its fundamental flaws.

When in May the Florida governor announced his run during a chat with Musk on Twitter Spaces, the platform’s audio streaming feature, there were technical breakdowns that drew comparisons with one of Musk’s space rockets blowing up on the launchpad.

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Ron DeSantis drops out of Republican presidential race

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Hard-right Florida governor at one point thought to be future of party ends campaign to be GOP nominee

Ron DeSantis, the hard-right governor of Florida, has ended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination and endorsed Donald Trump.

“It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” he said in a statement posted on X. “He has my endorsement because we can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of warmed over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents.”

Adam Gabbatt contributed reporting from New Hampshire

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Biden abortion ad marks campaign shift to emphasize reproductive rights

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Campaign ad, titled Forced, is designed to tie Donald Trump directly to the abortion issue

The Biden re-election campaign rolled out a new campaign ad Sunday, signaling a shift in emphasis to reproductive rights that the White House hopes will carry and define Democrats through the 2024 election cycle.

The campaign ad, titled Forced, is designed to tie Donald Trump directly to the abortion issue almost 18 months after his nominees to the supreme court helped to overturn a constitutional right to abortion enshrined in Roe v Wade, which would have turned 51 this week.

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