Evelyn Reynolds

Chuck Schumer, the US Senate leader and a top ally of Joe Biden, on Thursday broke with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of the invasion of Gaza and called for Israel to hold new elections, in comments that upset its ruling party and allies on Capitol Hill.The shift by Schumer, the Democratic Senate majority leader and the highest-ranking Jewish official in the United States, came as he continued to press lawmakers to pass a military assistance package for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, the countries Biden has named as America’s top national security priorities.In remarks from the Senate floor, Schumer said he had a longstanding relationship with Netanyahu but believed he “has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel”.Noting the prime minister’s inclusion of far-right officials in his government, Schumer said Netanyahu “has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows. Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah”.Israel’s ruling Likud party responded to Schumer by defending the prime minister’s public support and saying Israel is “not a banana republic”.“Contrary to Schumer’s words, the Israeli public supports a total victory over Hamas, rejects any international dictates to establish a Palestinian terrorist state, and opposes the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza,” it said in a statement.“Senator Schumer is expected to respect Israel’s elected government and not undermine it. This is always true, and even more so in wartime.”The Republican Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, struck a similar tone. “Israel is not a colony of America whose leaders serve at the pleasure of the party in power in Washington. Only Israel’s citizens should have a say in who runs their government,” he said from the chamber’s floor, shortly after Schumer spoke.“Either we respect their decisions, or we disrespect their democracy.”Republican speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who has refused to allow a vote on the military assistance package despite its passage in the Senate, said Schumer’s remarks were “highly inappropriate” and accused him of playing “a divisive role in Israeli politics”.Schumer’s appeal comes amid rising concern among Biden’s Democratic allies over the civilian deaths in Gaza, which recently passed 30,000, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run administration. Biden threw his support behind Israel following Hamas’s 7 October terror attack, causing a domestic backlash that has seen protesters disrupt his speeches and tens of thousands of people cast protest votes in the Democratic primaries, including in swing states that will be crucial to his re-election in November.Biden says he supports the implementation of a temporary ceasefire in Gaza that would accompany the release of the remaining hostages taken by Hamas on 7 October. This month, US planes began airdrops of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and Biden says the military will construct a pier to deliver assistance by sea, as humanitarians warn the enclave could soon face a famine.Schumer has positioned himself as a strong ally of Israel’s government, visiting the country days after Hamas’s attack. But in a sign of how much his thinking has shifted, Schumer on Thursday declared: “The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7. The world has changed – radically – since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.”He listed Netanyahu, who has long opposed Palestinian statehood, as among several roadblocks to implementing the two-state solution supported by the United States, alongside rightwing Israelis, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas.“These are the four obstacles to peace, and if we fail to overcome them, then Israel and the West Bank and Gaza will be trapped in the same violent state of affairs they’ve experienced for the last 75 years,” Schumer said.He added that the US could not dictate the outcome of an election in Israel, but “there needs to be a fresh debate about the future of Israel after October 7”.Netanyahu’s cabinet is dominated by ultranationalists who share the prime minister’s opposition to Palestinian statehood and other aims that successive US administrations have seen as essential to resolving Palestinian-Israeli conflicts in the long term.The US vice-president, Kamala Harris, Schumer and other lawmakers met last week in Washington with Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet and a far more popular rival of Netanyahu – a visit that drew a rebuke from the Israeli prime minister.Gantz joined Netanyahu’s government in the war cabinet soon after the Hamas attacks. But Gantz is expected to leave the government once the heaviest fighting subsides, signaling that the period of national unity has ended. A return to mass demonstrations could ramp up pressure on Netanyahu’s deeply unpopular coalition to hold early elections.At the White House, the national security spokesperson, John Kirby, did not comment on Schumer’s statement, saying the Biden administration was concentrating on getting agreement on a temporary ceasefire.“We know Leader Schumer feels strongly about this and we’ll certainly let him speak to it and to his comments,” Kirby said. “We’re going to stay focused on making sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself while doing everything that they can to avoid civilian casualties.” More

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party has responded to Chuck Schumer’s calls for new elections, saying that Israel is “not a banana republic”.It went on to say, “Contrary to Schumer’s words, the Israeli public supports a total victory over Hamas, rejects any international dictates to establish a Palestinian terrorist state, and opposes the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza.”“Senator Schumer is expected to respect Israel’s elected government and not undermine it. This is always true, and even more so in wartime,” it added.Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s hush-money case said they were not opposed to a 30-day delay in the trial, currently set to begin on 25 March, due to a recent disclosure of thousands of pages of documents by federal prosecutors.
Kamala Harris visited a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota, marking what her office said was the first time a president or vice-president has toured a facility that performs abortions, as the White House escalates its defense of reproductive rights in this year’s election.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer called for Israel to hold new elections, saying he believed the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had “lost his way” and risked turning the country into a pariah with its bombardment of Gaza and the worsening humanitarian crisis it caused. Schumer also called for Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas to step down.
Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell hit back at Schumer’s comments calling for new Israeli leadership, describing them as “grotesque and hypocritical”. Republican House speaker Mike Johnson said Schumer’s comments were “highly inappropriate”. House Republican conference chair Elise Stefanik said Schumer “does not stand with Israel”.
Israel’s ruling Likud party responded to Schumer by defending Netanyahu’s public support and saying Israel is “not a banana republic”.
Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, said Schumer’s remarks were “unhelpful” and “counterproductive to our common goals”.
Dozens of American Muslim and Palestinian-American organizations and leaders in Chicago turned down a White House meeting over the lack of policy change on Israel’s ongoing killings in Gaza.
Donald Trump attended a hearing in Fort Pierce, Florida, as a federal judge heard arguments from the former president’s lawyers to dismiss the classified documents prosecution.
Jim Jordan, the chair of the House judiciary committee, threatened Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis with contempt of Congress if she does not comply with his committee’s investigation into her office.
Joe Biden came out in opposition to the planned sale of Pittsburgh’s US Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office said they will not oppose Donald Trump’s request to delay his hush money trial by 30 days, citing newly disclosed evidence from the US attorney’s office.Jury selection was scheduled to begin on 25 March, marking the former president’s first criminal trial. But in a court filing on Thursday, Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg wrote:
Although the People are prepared to proceed to trial on March 25, we do not oppose an adjournment in an abundance of caution and to ensure that defendant has sufficient time to review the new materials.
The Biden administration imposed sanctions on three extremist Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank who are accused of harassing and attacking Palestinians.Two Israeli outposts were also targeted in the latest sanctions, which the US state department said had been bases for violence against Palestinians.Washington has repeatedly asked Israel to hold violent settlers accountable and complained that its actions allowing settlement expansion diminish hopes for a two-state solution.In response, Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the sanctions were “further proof that the US administration does not understand who is an enemy and who is its supporter”, adding:
The settlers are the best of our sons who build, settle and bring security to the country, they deserve a salute not a knife in the back.
Dozens of American Muslim and Palestinian-American organizations and leaders in Chicago have turned down a White House meeting over the lack of policy change on Israel’s ongoing killings in Gaza.In a letter sent to White House officials, the organizations said:
“First, there is no point in more meetings … With a genocide that has flattened Gaza … the White House has not only refused to call for a ceasefire, but also enabled this blatant campaign of ethnic cleansing to take place by providing financial and military means, as well as diplomatic support at the United Nations. A meeting of the minds is nowhere in sight.
Second, there is no confusion as to our consistent demand for an immediate and permanent ceasefire to end the mass murder of civilians and stave off the worst humanitarian crisis in modern times. We believe another meeting would only act to whitewash months of White House inaction followed by meek handouts …
… we demand, at minimum, an immediate and permanent ceasefire, complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, ultimately ending the siege and blockade of Gaza, allowing the natural flow of humanitarian aid, reinstating funding to UNRWA, a cessation of weapons sales or transfers to Israel, and accountability measures for all war crimes, crimes against humanity, the crime of genocide, and justice and liberation for the Palestinians.
That is what history will judge us by, not more token meetings when every day is of the essence.”
In addition to his calls for new Israeli elections, Chuck Schumer is also calling for Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas to step down.According to Schumer, Abbas must step down for a “new generation of Palestinian leaders who’ll work towards attaining peace with a Jewish state”.“The PA under new leadership must reform to viably serve as the basis for a Palestinian state with the trust of the people,” he added.Schumer has already sparked backlash among Republican leaders and the Israeli government over his calls from earlier today for new elections in Israel.In a series of tweets on Thursday, Chuck Schumer is maintaining his calls for new Israeli elections, saying Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence”.Schumer went on to accuse Netanyahu of pushing support for Israel “to new lows” and said that Israel “can’t survive if it becomes a pariah”.Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party has responded to Chuck Schumer’s calls for new elections, saying that Israel is “not a banana republic”.It went on to say, “Contrary to Schumer’s words, the Israeli public supports a total victory over Hamas, rejects any international dictates to establish a Palestinian terrorist state, and opposes the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza.”“Senator Schumer is expected to respect Israel’s elected government and not undermine it. This is always true, and even more so in wartime,” it added.Chuck Schumer is continuing to defend his calls for new Israeli elections, writing in another post on X:
“People on all sides are turning away from a two-state solution—including Israel’s PM Netanyahu who has been rejecting Palestinian statehood and sovereignty.
As the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in America and a staunch defender of Israel, I say:
This is a grave mistake.”
House Republican conference chair Elise Stefanik has joined a handful of Republican leaders who have criticized Chuck Schumer over his calls for new Israeli elections.In a statement on Thursday, Stefanik said: “Instead of meddling in elections of a sovereign nation, Chuck Schumer should follow House Republicans’ lead in supporting our ally in their darkest hour. The obstacle to peace is … Chuck Schumer … Chuck Schumer does not stand with Israel. House Republicans do.”Since 7 October, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet have faced increasing opposition and condemnation over their handling of the hostage crisis and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza where its forces have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians while forcibly displacing about 2 million survivors.Despite fierce criticisms from Republican leaders, Chuck Schumer is sticking to his word over his calls for new Israeli elections. In a post on X, Schumer wrote:
“At this critical juncture, I believe a new election in Israel is the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel, at a time when so many Israelis have lost their confidence in the vision and direction of their government.”
John Cornyn, the Republican senator of Texas, said Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer was “out of line” in his comments calling for Israel to hold new elections.Schumer was “undermining” America’s “closest ally and the only democracy in the Middle East,” Cornyn posted to X. He added:
This is a blatant attempt to appease extremists in his party to the detriment of our relationship with Israel. More

Kamala Harris visited a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic on Thursday, becoming what is believed to be the first vice-president ever to do so.Harris stopped by a clinic in Minnesota, a state where abortion remains legal following the overturning of Roe v Wade, as part of her nationwide tour to highlight the impact of Roe’s downfall. Harris also toured the clinic, which remained open to patients as the nation’s first female vice-president made her historic visit.“Walking through this clinic, that’s what I saw, … people who have dedicated their lives to the profession of providing healthcare in a safe place that gives people dignity,” Harris told reporters after her tour. “And I think we should all want that for each other.”Protesters had already assembled outside the clinic by the time of Harris’s arrival. They carried signs with messages such as “Planned Parenthood = abortion” and “abortion is not healthcare”.Harris and Joe Biden are banking on outrage over Roe to help propel them to a second term in the White House come November. Anger over the landmark decision’s demise was credited with helping stop a much-promised “red wave” of Republican victories in the 2022 midterms, as well as leading abortion rights to triumph in multiple ballot initiatives, including in red states such as Kentucky, Kansas and Ohio.One in eight voters now say that abortion is their top issue in the 2024 elections, according to a KFF poll released last week. Harris and Biden have said that they would like to codify Roe’s protections into law – legislation that is unlikely to move anytime soon, given the degree of inaction and polarization in the US Congress.Biden’s record on and ability to talk about abortion rights dims in comparison to his running mate’s. Biden, a devout Catholic, has said that he is personally “not big” on abortion. And while Biden highlighted the threat to “reproductive freedom” in his State of the Union address to Congress last week, he did not say the word “abortion”.In contrast, Harris has spoken far more openly about the issue. On Thursday, she mentioned “abortion care” and said that the overturning of Roe has led to a “healthcare crisis”.“Elections matter,” Harris told reporters. “When it comes to national elections and who sits in the United States Congress, there’s a fundamental point on this issue that I think most people agree with, which is that one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling women what to do with her body.”Asked about her role in this issue, Harris said: “My role is to do what I just did, which is to articulate exactly these points and to continue to articulate them, and to organize folks around what I know is an issue that is impacting more people than you will ever really know.” More

Democrats working to boost a Trump-endorsed Republican candidate for the US Senate in Ohio, as a way to boost their own progressive senator, should be careful, an aide to the Republican said, lest such efforts backfire and they lose a precious seat.Such tactics have been used by Democrats before – when they support a more extreme Republican to be nominated out of a calculation that that candidate will then stand less chance of winning against a Democrat in a general election. Of course, such tactics could backfire and see extremists elected.“Democrats constantly underestimate the America First movement at their own peril,” Reagan McCarthy, communications director to Bernie Moreno, told news outlets.“They thought President Trump would be easy to beat in 2016 and then they got their clocks cleaned when he demolished Hillary Clinton. The same thing is going to happen to Sherrod Brown this year.”Democrats control the US Senate by 51 seats to 49. Republicans have high hopes of retaking the chamber, with Ohio on their list of targets.Brown, 71, is a major presence on the Democratic left, first elected to the Senate in 2006 when he beat Mike DeWine.DeWine is now the Republican governor of a former battleground state that has trended right. In the last Senate election, the bestselling author JD Vance, a self-described “conservative knuckle-dragger”, took the other seat.This year’s Republican Senate primary sees Moreno, a businessman also endorsed by Vance, facing Matt Dolan, a state senator backed by DeWine, and Frank LaRose, the secretary of state. Polling indicates a close race with Dolan leading. Election day is next Tuesday.On Thursday, multiple outlets reported that Duty and Country, a group linked to the Democratic Senate Majority political action committee, was spending about $2.7m on an ad to run across the state, meant to boost Moreno among Republicans by calling him “ultraconservative”, “too conservative for Ohio” and “too aligned” with Trump.“Donald Trump needs Bernie Moreno,” said the ad, titled Maga Fighter, in reference to Trump’s endorsement.“Ohio doesn’t.”The aim is to give Brown a better chance in the general election, against a candidate Democrats can portray as too extreme, linked to attacks on reproductive rights and democracy itself, key themes for Democratic campaigns from Joe Biden down.Hannah Menchhoff, a spokesperson for the Senate Majority Pac, said: “When Ohio voters head to their polling place, they deserve to know the truth about Bernie Moreno – and the truth is that Moreno is a Maga extremist who embraced Donald Trump just like he embraced his policies to ban abortion nationwide and repeal” the Affordable Care Act.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionA similar Democratic effort recently succeeded in California. In an open primary for a US Senate seat, the former US House intelligence chair Adam Schiff successfully boosted the Republican Steve Garvey past other Democrats, making for what should be an easy victory in November.Democrats in Pennsylvania – much more of a battleground than deep-blue California – have also enjoyed success with such tactics. In 2022, they played up the conservative credentials of Doug Mastriano, a Trump-endorsed candidate for governor with far-right links and views. The Democrat, Josh Shapiro, won the election with ease.Reed Galen, a Republican operative turned co-founder of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group, said that such tactics were “relatively common but not always sound.“The risk of course is that you lose to the Trumpier guy. But it’s hardball – something Democrats aren’t typically known for,” he said.Galen also pointed to Brown’s strength even when targeted by national Republicans, saying the senator had a “better than average” chance of re-election.According to polling released on Wednesday by Emerson College Polling and the Hill, Brown is indeed well placed to retain his seat. In hypothetical match-ups, the Democrat led LaRose 39% to 33%, Moreno 39% to 34% and Dolan 37% to 34%.“He’s an institution,” Galen said of Brown. More

Steven Mnuchin is putting together an investor group to try to buy TikTok, he told CNBC on Thursday.The former US treasury secretary’s comment comes just a day after the US House of Representatives passed a bill that would give the app’s Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest TikTok’s US assets or face a ban. If it did not do so, app stores including the Apple App Store and Google Play would be legally barred from hosting TikTok or providing web-hosting services to ByteDance-controlled applications.TikTok had called the bill a “ban” and urged senators to listen to their constituents before taking any action.“I think the legislation should pass and I think it should be sold,” Mnuchin told CNBC’s Squawk Box on Thursday. “It’s a great business and I’m going to put together a group to buy TikTok.”Discussions of banning TikTok in the US have circulated for years, spurred by fears the China-based company could collect sensitive user data on American citizens – an allegation TikTok has repeatedly denied. Donald Trump attempted a ban in 2020, which did not succeed.The recent bipartisan push to force the company to divest marks the most serious challenge to the app yet, however, and now faces an uncertain vote in the Senate. The House voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday in favor of a ban, with 352 members of Congress voting yes on the bill and only 65 opposed. The company has called the bill unconstitutional.TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, said on Wednesday that the company will exercise its legal rights to prevent a ban. He warned in a video message that the bill threatened to consolidate power in the hands of other big tech platforms while risking American jobs. TikTok users have flooded Congress’s phone lines to advocate against a ban, while the company has called on the Senate to reject the bill.“This process was secret and the bill was jammed through for one reason: it’s a ban,” a TikTok spokesperson said. “We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents, and realize the impact on the economy, 7m small businesses, and the 170 million Americans who use our service.”Although other big tech firms could feasibly attempt to purchase TikTok, companies such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google are already facing intense scrutiny over allegations of antitrust violations and consolidation of power. Microsoft previously offered to buy TikTok in 2020, amid Trump’s attempt to ban the app.Mnuchin served as treasury secretary in the Trump administration, where he oversaw sweeping tax cuts that benefited the wealthy and his department became mired in corruption scandals. Although Mnuchin at one time discussed using the 25th amendment to remove Trump from office after 6 January, he told CNBC last week that he would consider serving again in a second Trump administration.Mnuchin’s private equity firm, Liberty Street Capital, also recently led a group of investors in a $1bn injection of funds into New York Community Bank as its shares plummeted and internal turmoil gripped the institution.China’s ministry of foreign affairs spokesman, Wang Wenbin, said the House’s vote to force a sale used “robber’s logic” in a harsh statement on Thursday morning.“When you see other people’s good things, you must find ways to own them,” Wang said.Despite passing in the House, the potential ban faces an uncertain future. So far, not enough senators have said they would vote in favor of the bill for it to pass. Chew announced that he would head to Congress to speak with senators. TikTok has likewise said it is not clear whether the Chinese government would approve a sale to a US company.The bill that passed in the House on Wednesday is the latest salvo in an ongoing political battle over the platform, which exploded in popularity after its emergence in 2017. The popular app has faced a number of bans and attempted bans in recent years, starting with an executive order by Donald Trump in 2020, which was ultimately blocked by courts on first amendment grounds. Trump has since reversed his stance, now opposing a ban on TikTok. Joe Biden, by contrast, has said he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk. More

A political operative and two companies that facilitated a fake robocall using AI to impersonate Joe Biden should be required to pay thousands of dollars in damages and should be barred from taking similar future actions, a group of New Hampshire voters and a civic action group said in a federal lawsuit filed on Thursday.The suit comes weeks after Steve Kramer, a political operative, admitted that he was behind the robocall that spoofed Biden’s voice on the eve of the New Hampshire primary and urged Democrats in the state not to vote. Kramer was working for Biden’s challenger Dean Phillips, but Phillips’s campaign said he had nothing to do with the call and Kramer has said he did it as an act of civil disobedience to draw attention to the dangers of AI in elections. The incident may have been the first time AI was used to interfere in a US election.Lawyers for the plaintiffs – three New Hampshire voters who received the calls and the League of Women Voters, a voting rights group – said they believed it was the first lawsuit of its kind seeking redress for using AI in robocalls in elections. The New Hampshire attorney general’s office is investigating the matter.Two Texas companies, Life Corporation and Lingo Telecom, also helped facilitate the calls.“If Defendants are not permanently enjoined from deploying AI-generated robocalls, there is a strong likelihood that it will happen again,” the lawsuit says.The plaintiffs say Kramer and the two companies violated a provision of the Voting Rights Act that prohibits voter intimidation as well a ban in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act on delivering a prerecorded call to someone without their consent. They also say the calls violated New Hampshire state laws that require disclosure of the source of politically related calls.The plaintiffs are seeking up to $7,500 in damages for each plaintiff that received a call that violated federal and state law. The recorded call was sent to anywhere between 5,000 and 25,000 people.“It’s really imperative that we address the threat that these defendants are creating for voters,” Courtney Hostetler, a lawyer with the civic action group Free Speech for People, which is helping represent the plaintiffs, said in a press call with reporters on Thursday.“The other hope of this lawsuit is that it will demonstrate to other people who might attempt similar campaigns that this is illegal, that there are parties out there like the League of Women Voters who are prepared to challenge this sort of illegal voter intimidation, and these illegal deceptive practices, hopefully make them think twice before they do the same,” she added.NBC News reported Kramer paid a street magician in New Orleans $150 to create the call using a script Kramer prepared.“This is a way for me to make a difference, and I have,” he said in the interview last month. “For $500, I got about $5m worth of action, whether that be media attention or regulatory action.”Mark Herring, a former Virginia attorney general who is helping represent the plaintiffs, told reporters on Thursday that kind of justification was “self-serving”.“Regardless of the motivation, the intent here was to suppress the vote, and to threaten and coerce voters into not voting out of fear that they might lose their right to vote,” he said. More

Aaron Rodgers has denied he believes the murder of 20 children in the Sandy Hook school shooting was an inside job by the US government.The New York Jets quarterback has been under increased scrutiny this week after the New York Times reported he is a potential running mate for Robert F Kennedy Jr’s independent presidential campaign.On Wednesday night, CNN ran a report in which one of its journalists said Rodgers told her in 2013 that he believed the Sandy Hook tragedy was staged. CNN quotes another person who said that Rodgers said the 2012 shooting “never happened … All those children never existed. They were all actors.” The person alleges the quarterback said the parents of the murdered children were “all making it up. They’re all actors.”Conspiracy theories around the shooting have circulated for years and have been disproven. Parents of the victims have suffered harassment by people who do not believe the murders took place.On Thursday, Rodgers issued a statement outlining his beliefs on the shooting.“As I’m on the record saying in the past, what happened in Sandy Hook was an absolute tragedy,” he wrote on X. “I am not and have never been of the opinion that the events did not take place. Again, I hope that we learn from this and other tragedies to identify the signs that will allow us to prevent unnecessary loss of life. My thoughts and prayers continue to remain with the families affected along with the entire Sandy Hook community.”Rodgers is known for promoting widely disproved fringe theories around subjects such as Covid-19, immigration, vaccines, the September 11 attacks and masking.The 40-year-old has spoken of his admiration for Kennedy, and last week called him “presidential”. Kennedy says he will announce his running mate on 26 March. In a podcast last month, Rodgers said he does not support Joe Biden or Donald Trump for president.“Trump got four years. I don’t know how much this swamp got drained,” he said on Look Into It With Eddie Bravo. “It seemed like there are certain members of the establishment who stayed in power or got to power. Biden. I mean, he’s a puppet. I don’t know who’s actually running the country, whether it’s somebody else, but he can barely put his sentences together.”Rodgers has yet to comment on whether he would be interested in being Kennedy’s vice-presidential candidate. He is guaranteed $38m in salary next season from the Jets, who would presumably object to him campaigning during the NFL season, which starts in September. In his prime, Rodgers was one of the most talented players in the NFL but he tore an achilles tendon in his Jets debut last year and missed the rest of the season. More

The Democratic Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, has said Benjamin Netanyahu has emerged as a ‘major obstacle to peace’ in Gaza, in a further sign of growing tensions between the US and its ally Israel. Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the US, accused Netanyahu of bowing to pressure from ‘extremists’ in his cabinet and appealed to Israel to ‘change course’, warning that the US would be prepared to use its leverage to shape Israeli policy if it failed to do so More