Trump calls Jan 6 a ‘beautiful day’ during CNN town hall
As competition builds for the Republican Party 2024 presidential nomination, Donald Trump’s legal woes also continue to mount.
This week, his attorneys called for a meeting with Attorney General Merrick Garland in the clearest sign yet that an indictment could be on the horizon over the former president’s handling of classified documents.
In a further development in that case, The Washington Post reports that two members of Donald Trump’s staff moved boxes of documents just a day before the Department of Justice visited Mar-a-Lago.
The timing of the move is suspicious and a sign that obstruction may have taken place, according to the paper, which also reports a “dress rehearsal” of such a move took place even before a subpoena for the boxes was issued.
Mr Trump also appeared in court by video for a second hearing in his criminal hush money case on Tuesday, and E Jean Carroll has amended an outstanding defamation case against the former president to include remarks he made on CNN after he was found liable for her sexual assault in a civil case.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump has been busily mocking his new 2024 Republican rival Ron DeSantis for the glitchy rollout of his campaign.
Trump lawyers ignite speculation of further indictment with letter to Garland
Arpan Rai reports.
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2023 18:00
Steve Bannon trial set for May 2024
Steve Bannon, the conservative strategist and longtime all of Donald Trump, will stand trial next May on charges that he duped donors who gave money to build a wall along the U.S. southern border, a judge said Thursday.
Bannon’s trial in the “We Build the Wall” case will start May 27, 2024, right after the former president is scheduled to stand trial in the same Manhattan courtroom in an unrelated criminal case.
Read more…
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2023 17:30
‘Just call me winner’: DeSantis laughs off Trump’s endless list of nicknames
Newly-announced presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis laughed off name-calling from his top rival Donald Trump, saying the former president can call him whatever he likes as long as he ‘calls me winner’.
Fresh off the heels of a glitchy announcement about his bid for the Republican nomination for 2024, Mr DeSantis was asked about Mr Trump’s myriad nicknames for him (which include, but are not limited to, Meatball Ron, Ron DeSanctimonious, Tiny D, and RonDishonest) and laughed them off.
Read more…
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2023 17:00
DeSantis’s glitchy 2024 launch shows he could be more dangerous than Trump
John Bowden reports on last night’s Twitter launch of the DeSantis 2024 campaign.
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2023 16:30
Trump campaign launches new ad after DeSantis formally enters 2024 race
Donald Trump’s campaign launched a new ad on Twitter taking aim at Ron DeSantis moments after the Florida governor announced his formal bid for the 2024 presidency.
The ad includes images of Mr DeSantis with President Joe Biden and asks: “Why would we ever settle for Trump imposters?”
It also includes a clip of Mr DeSantis sitting with a child and pointing to a Trump campaign sign as the governor is heard reading, “Make America Great Again.”
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2023 16:00
How the Trump and DeSantis relationship deteriorated
It wasn’t always this way.
Before Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis were leading rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, they were allies.
Trump gave DeSantis’ gubernatorial bid an early boost by tweeting his support even before DeSantis formally entered the race. In his 2018 victory speech, DeSantis made sure to thank the president, saying, “I think we’ll have a great partnership.”
Here’s how DeSantis and Trump’s relationship has evolved — and broken down — as the two face off to take on Democrat Joe Biden:
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2023 15:30
‘Trump is just so damned undeservedly lucky’
MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan tweeted on Wednesday night following Mr DeSantis’s disastrous Twitter Spaces campaiugn launch: “What a lucky man Donald Trump is.”
“Consider his CNN Town Hall versus DeSantis’s Twitter Spaces ‘launch’ tonight. Trump is just so damned undeservedly lucky,” he added.
“Congratulations to DeSantis’s crack comms team, @BryanDGriffin, @ChristinaPushaw, and @JeremyRedfernFL, for organizing a totally effective and non-humiliating campaign launch for their boss with tech genius @elonmusk. Bravo! Remember, their pitch is ‘Trump but competent.’ Lol,” he said earlier in the night.
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2023 15:15
Hitler, George Soros, the devil? Trump posts fake DeSantis Twitter Spaces video
The former president went on the attack against the Florida governor before, during and after the hotly-anticipated launch event, as the two men prepare to go head-to-head for the Republican nomination.
In one of his most bizarre attacks, Mr Trump posted a two-minute video on his Truth Social page which had been doctored to look like Mr DeSantis’ Twitter Spaces event.
Rachel Sharp reports.
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2023 15:00
CNN to host Pence for town hall
CNN will host a third Republican town hall on 7 June in Iowa.
Mr Pence is yet to officially enter the 2024 race for the party’s nomination.
On 4 June, the network will host a town hall moderated by senior Washington correspondent Jake Tapper for the former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, also in Iowa. Ms Haley like Mr Trump has officially declared her candidacy for the GOP nomination.
Former Vice President Mike Pence
(Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2023 14:41
Can DeSantis beat Trump in the Republican primaries?
Andrew Feinberg and Eric Garcia write:
He’s a ubiquitous presence in conservative media with a reputation as an anti-woke warrior who has used a compliant state legislature to make Florida a mecca for Trump-era Republicanism.
But if Ron DeSantis wants to be president, he has to defeat Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and prominent Florida politicians aren’t so sure either of those things will ever happen.
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2023 13:15
