Category Archives: US Politics

Trump holds rally in India while Steyer qualifies for South Carolina debate – live

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Coming off his landslide Nevada victory, Bernie Sanders is now investing in South Carolina, which will hold its primary on Saturday.

Seeing an opening in South Carolina after their big win in Nevada, the @BernieSanders campaign is upping their presence here. They’ve launched a five day statewide ad buy, investing $500k in the closing days of the primary.

The latest numbers are in, and Mike Bloomberg has spent more than $500 million so far on his presidential campaign.

.@MikeBloomberg's current total for all media types: $509,512,884 or, in other words, half a billion dollars. #Election2020

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Democratic party grapples with rising likelihood of Sanders as the nominee

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In the aftermath of Bernie Sanders’ victory in Nevada and as the South Carolina primary looms, the Democratic party establishment continues to grapple with the increasing likelihood that the Vermont senator, a self-proclaimed socialist, will be its nominee for president.

Related: Trump holds rally in India while Steyer qualifies for South Carolina debate – live

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Trump’s approval rating rises, boosting chances of winning second term

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New Gallup poll gives Trump a 49% rating, first net positive for the president since January 2017

Donald Trump’s popularity rating is improving at a key moment in election year – boosting his chances of winning a second term in the White House.

Related: Nevada caucuses: Bernie Sanders wins in resounding victory

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Bernie Sanders’ rivals applaud his Nevada caucus win – video

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Strong results in New Hampshire and Iowa helped the senator achieve a landslide victory. He is clearly in the lead to win the democratic nominations and take on Donald Trump in a presidential election. Sanders’ rivals congratulated him but galvanised their supporters as they looked ahead to the South Carolina race and Super Tuesday in March, when 14 states will vote

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Bernie Sanders celebrates thunderous Nevada caucuses win – video

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Bernie Sanders has celebrated a huge win at the caucuses in Nevada, putting him clearly in front of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination a week before the South Carolina primary and then Super Tuesday on 3 March, when 14 states will vote.

Sanders, who had already moved on to San Antonio Texas, celebrated a win that 'brought together a multigenerational, multiracial coalition' after winning in Nevada, a state that is nearly 30% Latino, 10% black and has a rapidly growing Asian American community

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Buoyed by Latino voters in Nevada, Sanders cements his frontrunner status

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Saturday’s caucuses were the first real test of Latino support in the Democratic primary – and the result was promising for Sanders

The senator from one of the whitest states in the US on Saturday trounced his rivals in the first primary of the 2020 election cycle that actually reflects the racial diversity of the country and the Democratic party.

The Vermont senator Bernie Sanders won a resounding victory in Nevada, buoyed by strong support among Latino voters. Sanders’ victory in the desert state strengthens his position as the party’s frontrunner and sends him into the next, high-stakes phase of the primary with a burst of momentum.

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Trump reportedly calls John Bolton a ‘traitor’ and wants to block his book

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  • President said book shouldn’t be published before election
  • Key impeachment witness Marie Yovanovitch to release memoir

John Bolton is “a traitor” and his book should not be published before the election in November, Donald Trump reportedly told aides and media figures.

The president’s views on news of a book deal for Marie Yovanovitch, another key figure in the Ukraine scandal which led to Trump’s impeachment, were not immediately clear.

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Nevada caucuses: Bernie Sanders wins in resounding victory

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The Vermont senator Bernie Sanders won the caucuses in Nevada, solidifying his frontrunner status in the race for the Democratic nomination.

“We’ve brought together a multigenerational, multiracial coalition that is not only going to win Nevada, it’s going to sweep this country,” Sanders told supporters in San Antonio, Texas, after the Associated Press and several US networks projected his win.

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Bernie Sanders denounces Russia’s reported efforts to aid his campaign – live

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Frontrunner condemns interference and says: ‘Unlike Trump, I do not consider Vladimir Putin a good friend. He is an autocratic thug’

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US officials told Bernie Sanders that the Russian government is working to help him secure the Democratic nomination, the Washington Post reported Friday.

And new reports are emerging that Sanders knew a month ago about the interference. Asked why the news is only coming out now, Sanders pointed to the Nevada caucuses and suggested media was to blame.

Sanders tells reporters he learned about Russian interference in his campaign about a month ago.

But asked why it came out now, Sanders points to the fact that the NV caucuses are a day away. And adds sarcastically, "Washington Post? Good friends."

That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Mario Koran, will take over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

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Trump dismisses reports of Russian interference in 2020 election as ‘disinformation’ – video

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Donald Trump has dismissed reports of Russian interference in the 2020 presidential election to his benefit as 'disinformation' at a rally in Las Vegas the day before the democrats are due to hold the Nevada caucuses

Trump had previously cast doubt on the intelligence community’s conclusion that the Kremlin interfered in the 2016 election to help him beat Hillary Clinton

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Roger Stone is a friend of Trump – does that mean he’s above the law?

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Stone, sentenced to 40 months for lying to Congress, is an ally of the president – and in the US in 2020 that carries a lot of weight

Any other convict, in Roger Stone’s place, might find cause for despair.

Sentenced by Judge Amy Berman Jackson to 40 months in federal prison on Thursday, Stone, 67, the piratical politico, was also on the receiving end of a stern rebuke for making threatening social media posts during the trial and for generally acting as if the rules did not apply to him.

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House members reportedly told Russia is working to get Trump re-elected – as it happened

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  • President ‘berated’ intelligence chief over briefing – New York Times
  • Roger Stone asks for Trump pardon after 40-month sentence
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It was another evening of late-breaking news. Here’s a summary as our live politics coverage ends for the night:

Elizabeth Warren is not done with her demans that Michael Bloomberg, billionaire former New York mayor and late entrant into the 2020 Democratic primary, release former employees who have brought lawsuits against Bloomberg and his company from their nondisclosure agreements.

The goal, Warren has said: allowing women to talk candidly about the behavior that prompted the lawsuits, and ensuring transparency in the primary.

Elizabeth Warren opens her CNN town hall by saying she brought something with her -- a contract she wrote up that she says would release former Bloomberg employees from NDAs.

"I used to teach contract law... All he has to do is sign it. I’ll text it."

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US intelligence warned House members Russia is working to get Trump re-elected – reports

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Briefing to members of Congress is said to have led to abrupt removal of acting director of national intelligence

US intelligence officials are reported to have warned members of Congress last week that Russia was trying to interfere in the 2020 election campaign in favour of Donald Trump, in a briefing that led to the abrupt removal of the acting director of national intelligence.

When Trump heard about the briefing, he railed at the acting DNI, Joseph Maguire, in the Oval Office, over what the president saw as disloyalty, the Washington Post reported. Until then, Maguire had been a leading candidate to become permanent DNI and is understood to have told colleagues he expected to stay on in the position.

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Roger Stone has ‘very good chance of exoneration’, says Trump – video

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Donald Trump said his longtime ally Roger Stone had a ‘very good chance of exoneration’, addressing the case for the first time since his former associate was sentenced at a Las Vegas event on Thursday 20 February. Trump also said the jury foreman in Stone’s case was ‘totally tainted’ and an an ‘anti-Trump activist’. After he issued a series of commutations and pardons earlier this week, speculation that Trump will pardon Stone has intensified

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Debate shows Bernie Sanders could win most votes but be denied nomination

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The Vermont senator was alone in saying he would back whoever won a plurality of delegates – with others open to superdelegates tipping the balance for another candidate at the convention

Amid the Mike Bloomberg pile-on and the Pete Buttigieg-Amy Klobuchar squabbling, there was a key point that slipped by almost unnoticed during Wednesday’s tumultuous Democratic debate – one that could potentially prevent Bernie Sanders from becoming the nominee.

Towards the end, each of the six candidates was asked if – at the Democratic national convention this summer in Milwaukee – they would support the person who has won the most delegates – even if that person hasn’t achieved a majority.

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Democratic rivals attack Bloomberg in punishing debate debut – video

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Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg fiercely attacked Mike Bloomberg on his first Democratic debate appearance.

Senator Warren led the assault, challenging the former New York mayor to release women at his company from non-disclosure agreements they signed while settling lawsuits. Bloomberg defended his record, saying: 'In my company, lots and lots of women have big responsibilities.'

Here are the key clashes from the ninth Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas

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John Bolton rebuked for withholding Trump testimony in new public event

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  • Ex-national security adviser criticized by Obama official
  • ‘I would feel like I was shamefully violating the oath I took’

Former national security adviser John Bolton faced a roasting from one of his predecessors on Wednesday night, in his second public appearance since the conclusion of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.

Related: Democratic debate: Warren brands Bloomberg 'a billionaire who calls people fat broads' – live

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Bloomberg roundly attacked by rivals in fiercest Democratic debate so far

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  • Billionaire’s record on policing and discrimination condemned
  • Centrists Buttigieg and Klobuchar rip into each other
  • Warren gives spirited display and likens Bloomberg to Trump

The top six Democratic presidential candidates faced off in Las Vegas on Wednesday in the most combative debate of the election and days before the high-stakes caucuses in Nevada.

It was the first debate for Mike Bloomberg, and the former New York mayor’s rivals in the Democratic race for president immediately took aim – attacking him for his legacy on racist policing and reports of sexist comments and discrimination at his companies.

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Roger Stone’s sentencing to move ahead after judge refuses new trial request

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  • Trump ally guilty on seven counts, including lying to Congress
  • President claims conviction ‘should be thrown out’

Roger Stone, a longtime ally of Donald Trump and a self-described political dirty trickster, is set to be sentenced on Thursday for his attempts to sabotage a congressional investigation that posed a political threat to the president.

The sentencing will go ahead despite an 11th-hour request by Stone’s defense team for a new trial following Trump’s claim that the conviction “should be thrown out”.

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