Category Archives: US Politics

How huge London far-right march lifted the lid on a toxic transatlantic soup

Posted on by

Tommy Robinson’s ‘free speech’ protest attracted more than 100,000 people – and it was easy to find links to key political figures and events in the US

A young man in a suit made of union jacks held up a framed photograph of their hero above his head. The crowd loudly chanted the name.

The focus of this acclamation was not Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, the organiser of the so-called “free speech” march in central London last Saturday.

Continue reading...

Trump at first says he is ‘not familiar’ with Minnesota Democrat’s assassination

Posted on by

President says he would have ordered half-staff flags for Melissa Hortman if Tim Walz had asked him to do so

In response to a question about why he did not order flags lowered to half-staff to honor Melissa Hortman, the Democratic speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives who was assassinated alongside her husband this summer, Donald Trump initially said he was “not familiar” with the case.

The question came up during a briefing in the Oval Office on Monday, in light of the president’s order last week to lower flags in response to the killing of rightwing activist Charlie Kirk.

Continue reading...

Trump to send national guard to Memphis and says Chicago is ‘probably next’

Posted on by

Move is latest push by administration to expand military-led response to urban crime in Democratic-run cities

Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order that would send national guard troops into Memphis, in a “replica” of the administration’s expanding military-led response to urban crime in Democratic-run cities.

The move was welcome by Tennessee’s Republican governor, Bill Lee, who stood behind Trump in the Oval Office as he signed a presidential memo establishing a Memphis Safe Task Force.

Continue reading...

Arthur Sze named as new US poet laureate

Posted on by

Library of Congress, which has been under fire from Trump administration, appoints author and translator, 74

At a time when its leadership is in question and its mission challenged, the Library of Congress has named a new US poet laureate: the much-honored author and translator Arthur Sze.

The library announced on Monday that the 74-year-old Sze had been appointed to a one-year term, starting this fall. The author of 12 poetry collections and recipient last year of a lifetime achievement award from the library, he succeeds Ada Limón, who had served for three years. Previous laureates also include Joy Harjo, Louise Glück and Billy Collins.

Continue reading...

US right capitalizes on fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee in North Carolina

Posted on by

Far right points to lax criminal justice system and racist narratives, not mental health system failures as experts say

The random and unprovoked killing of a young woman in North Carolina several weeks ago has become a viral video, a political football, and a powerful rightwing talking point – even as the horror and anger her death has provoked obscures what experts say is a vital story about the failures of the American mental health system.

The alleged perpetrator, Decarlos Brown Jr, 34, has a long history of problems with the law and mental health issues. He had been arrested 14 times and served a five-year stint for armed robbery. Brown had also come to believe that there was something alien and malevolent inside him – a “man-made material”, he told people, possibly a computer chip implanted by the government that was fighting him for control of his body.

Continue reading...

Trump insists foreign workers are ‘welcome’ days after arrest of hundreds of South Koreans

Posted on by

US president says he doesn’t want to ‘disincentivize investment’ after images of workers chained and handcuffed caused widespread alarm in South Korea

President Donald Trump has said foreign workers sent to the United States are “welcome” and he doesn’t want to “frighten off” investors, 10 days after hundreds of South Koreans were arrested at a work site in Georgia.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: “I don’t want to frighten off or disincentivize investment.

Continue reading...

Utah campus open carry permit under fresh scrutiny after Kirk shooting

Posted on by

HB 128, passed in August, allows people with the proper permit to openly carry firearms on college campuses

As authorities at the federal and state levels parse the details of the fatal shooting of far-right activist Charlie Kirk at a university in Utah, a recently passed state bill that allows people with concealed-carry permits to carry firearms openly on college campuses has drawn fresh scrutiny.

Utah has allowed for permitless open and concealed carry of weapons since 2021. But before the passage of HB 128, firearms had to be concealed when carried on college campuses. The law allowed people with the proper permit to carry them openly.

Continue reading...

Teen Colorado school shooting suspect reportedly fixated on Columbine attack

Posted on by

Desmond Holly also expressed neo-Nazi views online before a shooting critically injuring two students, ADL says

A teenager suspected in a shooting attack at a suburban Denver high school that left two students in critical condition appeared fascinated with previous mass shootings including Columbine and expressed neo-Nazi views online, according to experts.

Since December, Desmond Holly, 16, had been active on an online forum where users watch videos of killings and violence, mixed in with content on white supremacism and antisemitism, the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism said in a report.

Continue reading...

Rubio in Israel for talks to limit diplomatic damage over Qatar strikes

Posted on by

US secretary of state says Trump ‘not happy’ about Israeli attack that targeted Hamas officials in Doha for Gaza talks

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has held talks in Israel with Benjamin Netanyahu aimed at limiting the diplomatic damage to both countries by Israel’s attempt to assassinate Hamas leaders in Qatar, its continued demolition of Gaza, and the accelerated expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli prime minister took Rubio on a tour of the Western Wall, where both men placed written prayers between the stones, before taking his American visitor underground to view archeological excavations.

Continue reading...

Leaked plans show Pentagon eyeing Louisiana to deploy national guard

Posted on by

Documents show intent to deploy 1,000 troops to conduct law enforcement operations in urban centers

Donald Trump’s administration has drafted a proposal to deploy 1,000 Louisiana national guard troops to conduct law enforcement operations in the state’s urban centers, the Washington Post reported Saturday, citing military planning documents it had obtained.

Trump has made crime a major focus of his administration even as violent crime rates have fallen in many US cities. His crackdown on Democratic-led municipalities has fueled legal concerns and spurred protests, including a recent demonstration by several thousand people in Washington DC.

Continue reading...

Rubio calls Russian drones over Poland ‘unacceptable’ but declines to say it was intentional

Posted on by

Nato announces plans to beef up defense as Poland rejects Trump’s suggestion drones were sent by mistake

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, on Saturday said the incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace this week was unacceptable but that it remained unclear whether Russia had deliberately sent the drones into Polish territory. Nato announced plans to beef up the defense of Europe’s eastern flank on Friday, after Poland shot down the drones that had violated its airspace, the first known shots fired by a member of the western alliance during Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“We think it’s an unacceptable and unfortunate and dangerous development,” Rubio told reporters before departing on a trip to Israel and Britain.

Continue reading...

Several people fired after clampdown on speech over Charlie Kirk shooting

Posted on by

Teachers, firefighters and military personnel among those who lost jobs after posting their opinion on social media

Reactions on social media to the murder of far-right activist Charlie Kirk have cost multiple people their jobs as authorities in numerous states clamp down on critical commentary.

Among those to have been fired, suspended or censured in recent days for their opinions include teachers, firefighters, journalists, politicians, a Secret Service employee, a junior strategist at Nasdaq and a worker for a prominent NFL team.

Continue reading...

Six great reads: rebels in Nazi Germany, how creativity works and Europe’s biggest pornography conference

Posted on by

Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the past seven days

Continue reading...

Trump declines to call for unity after Charlie Kirk killing in stunning move

Posted on by

President tells Fox News ‘the radicals on the left are the problem’ and refuses to seek common way forward

Donald Trump has declined to call for the US to come together as a way of fixing the country’s divisions in the wake of the assassination of his close associate, the rightwing activist Charlie Kirk, preferring to cast “vicious and horrible” radicals on the left of US politics as the sole problem.

In an interview on Fox & Friends on Friday morning, the US president was asked what he intended to do to heal the wounds of Kirk’s shooting in Utah. “How do we fix this country? How do we come back together?” he was asked by the show’s co-host Ainsley Earhardt, who commented that there were radicals operating on the left and right of US politics.

Continue reading...

Charlie Kirk shooting: new video of suspect released by FBI amid urgent appeal for help from the public

Posted on by

FBI reward of $100,000 and direct appeals for public support appear to signal law enforcement’s continued struggles to identify the killer of Trump ally

US officials have issued an urgent appeal for help from the public as they continue to search for the shooter of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, releasing new videos and photos from the scene of the attack in Utah.

More than 24 hours after Kirk was shot while speaking in front of thousands of people at a Utah university, the state’s governor, appearing alongside FBI director Kash Patel and other officials, said “we need as much help as we can possibly get.”

Continue reading...

Trump blamed ‘radical left’ for Charlie Kirk’s death – even as shooter’s identity remains unknown

Posted on by

In Oval Office address, president decried the demonization of political opponents, ignoring his own past rhetoric

In his Oval Office address on Wednesday, Donald Trump sought to blame the “radical left” for Charlie Kirk’s killing while the shooter’s identity and motivations remained unclear. Trump promised an unspecified crackdown that could also target “organizations” that he claimed contributed to political violence.

Trump’s speech underscored an aggressive effort to pin the attack on the left while ignoring his own role in fomenting politically motivated violence.

Continue reading...

Trump to award Charlie Kirk a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom

Posted on by

During a 9/11 memorial address, the president honored the far-right activist who was fatally shot on Wednesday

Speaking at the Pentagon on Thursday morning for memorial services marking the 24th anniversary of the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks, Donald Trump said he would be awarding rightwing activist and close ally Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot on Wednesday, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Kirk was a “giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people”, Trump said. “Our prayers are with his wonderful wife, Erika and his beautiful children, fantastic people they are. We miss him greatly, yet I have no doubt that Charlie’s voice and the courage he put into the hearts of countless people, especially young people, will live on.”

Continue reading...

‘We are in a war’: rightwing media vow retribution for Charlie Kirk killing

Posted on by

Furious reaction from media figures and Donald Trump blames left for shooting of conservative activist

The killing of Charlie Kirk prompted a furious reaction from rightwing media on Wednesday, with prominent figures claiming “we’re in a war” and vowing “retribution” for Kirk’s death.

It was a reaction that will heighten fears about political violence in the US, coming hours after Kirk, the rightwing activist and provocateur, was shot and killed during an event at Utah university.

Continue reading...

‘Despicable’: Republicans and Democrats condemn violence after Charlie Kirk killing

Posted on by

US lawmakers, in bipartisan rebuke, say violence has no place in America as Trump orders flags lowered

The killing of the rightwing activist Charlie Kirk at a Utah college on Wednesday afternoon prompted outrage from Democrats and Republicans over the latest act of political violence in the United States, with Donald Trump lamenting the loss of a key ally.

“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” the US president posted on his Truth Social platform.

Continue reading...