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      Republican presidential candidates clash at first 2024 debate – in pictures

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      From left to right: the former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, the former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, the former vice-president Mike Pence, Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis, the entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, the former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, Senator Tim Scott and North Dakota’s Governor Doug Burgum place their hands over their hearts during the performing of the national anthem

      Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty Images More

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      Rudy Giuliani mugshot released after he surrenders in Trump Georgia case – live

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      Hugo Lowell reports:
      Just in: A federal judge has denied former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows’ request for an emergency order to prevent his arrest at Fulton County jail while he tries to have his case removed to federal court.
      Furthermore:
      A federal judge has denied former Trump Justice department official Jeff Clark’s request for an emergency stay to avoid having to surrender at Fulton County jail, after he filed to have his case removed to federal court. Clark has until Friday at noon to travel to Atlanta for booking.
      In a fundraising email to supporters, the South Carolina senator Tim Scott offers a (very basic) taste of what he might offer on the debate stage in Milwaukee tonight.“If you had told 7-year-old Tim Scott he would one day be on a presidential debate stage, he would NOT believe you,” the email says.Seven-year-old Tim might also not have believed that his grown-up self would take his debate stage bow with just 1% support, a mere 51 points behind the frontrunner, Donald Trump. But I digress.The email continues: “I’m a child of divorce. When I was 7, my mom, my older brother, and I moved into a two-bedroom rental house that we shared with my grandparents.“My Mama and Granddaddy told me you can be bitter or you can be better. You can be a victim or you can choose victory. Well Friend, I’m ready to choose victory!“Tonight, I’ll share why the truth of my life disproves the Left’s lies and why I believe America can do for anyone what she’s done for me.”What Scott might do in the primary remains of course to be seen. He has big support from the Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison and with a big debate performance, who knows.But the signs are not particularly rosy, even when one zeroes in on Iowa, the first state to vote and one where evangelical Christians, a key Scott constituency, are strong.At the weekend, a major poll from NBC News and the Des Moines Register gave the senator third place. That was better than his position in national averages, linked to above. But though Scott had 9% support, Ron DeSantis of Florida had 19% and Trump – thrice-married and an adjudicated rapist yet still the No1 choice for Christian conservatives – had 42%.Our Washington bureau chief reports from Milwaukee, ahead of tonight’s Republican debate …Donald Trump is missing from the first Republican primary debate but his supporters are not. Nine hours before kick-off, they were roving outside the venue wearing “Make America great again” caps and brandishing signs mocking the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis.Some of the former president’s allies in the US Congress, such as Matt Gaetz of Florida and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, are also on here. Sitting in a hotel lobby, Greene told the Guardian that she backs Trump’s decision to stay away.“I told him to skip it,” the far-right congresswoman and conspiracy theorist said. “It’s a waste of his time.“He’s winning by over 60%, poll after poll depending on what state you’re looking at and the national poll. It’s a complete waste of his time to step out on a stage and be the centre of the attacks when he has a four-year record as president that everybody wants back and none of those people on the stage have anything that they can compare to him.”There has been speculation that Trump could choose Greene as his running mate.She said: “Well, I’d have to think about it and consider it. It’s talked about frequently and I know my name is on a list but really my biggest focus right now is serving the district that elected me.“That’s of course a decision that President Trump has to make. I don’t know who that person is going to be and I don’t even think they’re going to be on that debate stage. I’ll argue that. But, of course, that’s up to him. But I would be honoured and consider it. But my most important job is, of course, to serve the American people and I’ll help him do whatever in any way I can.”Greene said the three Republicans she talks to most frequently are Trump, Kevin McCarthy, speaker of the House of Representatives, and James Comer, chairman of the House oversight committee. Do they all seem to be on the same page?“A lot of times, yeah. Not all the time but a lot of times. It just depends on the issue.”Trump is expected to surrender at the Fulton county jail on Thursday evening on racketeering and conspiracy charges, over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. It is Greene’s home state but she dismisses the sweeping indictment as “garbage” and has not read it.“I wouldn’t waste five seconds of my time,” she said.Booking pictures of those Trump aides and allies who have so far surrendered in Georgia have now been released.Here is the official booking picture of Giuliani:Here are some for more of the co-defendants:Some levity, of a sort, for those wanting a slightly different angle on what until relatively recently would have been the outlandish, outrageous prospect of a former US president being booked at an Atlanta jail on charges including racketeering and conspiracy, related to an attempt to overturn an election.Bookies are offering punters the chance to bet on what Donald Trump’s recorded weight will be when he surrenders at the Fulton County Jail tomorrow. As the Daily Beast puts it, perennially pleasingly snarky…
      The line currently sits over/under 278.5lb, a far cry from the 244lb White House physician Sean Conley recorded for Trump in 2020.
      As the Beast also notes, part of punters’ interest in the former president’s avoirdupois is fueled by the purest schadenfreude, if I might overdo the pretentious italics. Trump, of course, has a habit of abusing his opponents, critics and enemies – see Christie, Chris and O’Donnell, Rosie, passim – about their body mass index.Trump’s height will also be taken. His 2020 White House physical said he was 6ft 3in tall. There is speculation, widespread, that the truth is different:Here’s a slightly fuller version of comments from Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor turned Trump attorney, after his surrender in Atlanta on charges including conspiracy and racketeering.Speaking to reporters, and laughing as he did so, Giuliani said he was “very, very honoured to be involved in this case because this case is a fight for our way of life”.“This indictment is a travesty,” he said. “It’s an attack on not just me, not just President [Donald] Trump, this is an attack on the American people. If this could happen to me, who is probably the most prolific prosecutor maybe in American history and the most effective mayor for sure, it can happen to you.”Giuliani was indeed a prolific prosecutor, back in New York before he became mayor and briefly, after leading New York on and after 9/11, dreamt of a rise to the White House.As US attorney in Manhattan, he memorably cracked down on organised crime by using racketeering statutes.It’s safe to say his current predicament in relation to similar such statutes … has been noticed by quite a few observers.I typed “Giuliani irony” into Google, and this and this and this came up. And more.Here, meanwhile, is some further reading about what Michael Cohen, another Trump attorney who turned on his old boss after being sent to jail, had to say the other day about Trump, Giuliani and the concept of payment for legal services rendered …Doug Burgum, governor of North Dakota and GOP presidential candidate, said he will consult a physician before deciding if he will participate at tonight’s debate, after injuring his leg at a basketball game yesterday.Speaking to CNN’s Dana Bash, Burgum said his debate walkthrough went well despite tearing his achilles tendon.Fulton County officials have released the mug shot of Kenneth Chesebro, the alleged architect of Donald Trump’s fake electors plot.Chesebro surrendered at the Fulton county jail earlier on Wednesday.Here’s the mug shot, as shared by CBS’ Scott MacFarlane:Rudy Giuliani claims he is being indicted because he was a lawyer for Donald Trump.The former New York mayor accuses the FBI of having “stole(n) my iCloud account the day that I began representing Donald Trump”.Rudy Giuliani says the Fulton county district office’s case against him, Donald Trump and his co-defendants is “an attack on the American people”.“If they can do this to me, they can do this to you,” he tells reporters.Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis “will go down in American history for having conducted one of the worst attacks on the American constitution”, Giuliani says.Rudy Giuliani is speaking to reporters after he surrendered to authorities at the Fulton county jail on charges that he helped lead a racketeering enterprise and conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.Asked if he regretted attaching his name to Donald Trump, Giuliani replied:
      I am very, very honoured to be involved in this because this case is a fight for our way of life.
      This indictment is a travesty. It’s an attack on not just me, not just President Trump, not just the people in this indictment, some of them I don’t even know.
      Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis sharply rejected efforts by two of Donald Trump’s co-defendants – former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Jeffrey Clark – to move their sprawling racketeering cases to federal court.From my colleague Sam Levine:Rudy Giuliani left Manhattan in the morning to travel to Atlanta with his lead lawyer, John Esposito, on a private jet, though the source of the funding for the plane remains uncertain given Giuliani has struggled financially in the wake of mounting legal bills.Giuliani’s financial trouble stemming from having to retain lawyers for the congressional and federal criminal investigations into efforts to subvert the 2020 election results have become particularly acute in recent weeks, according to two people familiar with the matter.The money problems have been exacerbated by Giuliani’s recent setbacks in court – including in a defamation case against two Georgia election workers he falsely accused of stealing ballots – and the suspension of his law license over his election subversion efforts means he has few income streams.The situation has led to Giuliani listing his Manhattan apartment for sale for more than $6m. He also travelled to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in April to ask the former president to help pay his legal bills after Trump rejected his earlier entreaties for support, the people said.When that trip failed to convince Trump to have his Save America political action committee pay for Giuliani’s legal bills, in the way that Trump has doled out $21m for aides’ legal bills tied up in the criminal investigations, Giuliani’s son Andrew made his own trip to see Trump.Trump has never explained why he has consistently refused to help Giuliani, but people in his orbit point to Trump’s complaints that Giuliani was defeated in almost every 2020 election lawsuit that he brought.But the meeting with Andrew Giuliani appears to have helped, and Trump agreed to attend two fundraisers, the people said. Trump will host a $100,000-per-person fundraiser at his Bedminster club in New Jersey next month, according to an invitation reviewed by the New York Times.Rudy Giuliani’s surrender to authorities at the Fulton county jail marks a jarring moment for Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor who made his name with aggressive racketeering cases, now facing a racketeering charge himself.Alongside Donald Trump, Giuliani faces the most charges in the sprawling 41-count indictment handed up by a grand jury last week that described how he played a principal role in marshalling fake slates of electors among other schemes to reverse Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election.The bond for Giuliani was set at $150,000 after his lawyers met with the Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis earlier in the day. The amount was slightly less than the $200,000 bond for Trump but more than the $100,000 bond for another former Trump lawyer, Sidney Powell.Meanwhile, Joe Biden and his family are on vacation in Lake Tahoe.The president, first lady and members of the Biden family “are taking a Pilates class followed by a spin class”, the White House said earlier.AP’s Seung Min Kim shared a photo of Biden after his pilates and spin classes:Democrats will be denied political oxygen on Wednesday night but hope to turn this to their advantage by framing all the Republican candidates as Donald Trump-adjacent extremists.At a press conference on the top floor of a downtown Milwaukee hotel, Jaime Harrison, chair of the Democratic National Committee, said:
      Tonight, in prime time, Americans will have an opportunity to see in action the most extreme, the most divisive, the most chaotic slate of presidential candidates in history when these Maga 2024 Republicans take the debate stage here in Milwaukee, and I don’t know if it’s going to be a debate, but more like a circus.
      They may try to differentiate themselves but the truth is that every single one of these candidates from Donald Trump on down are extreme.
      Harrison went on to list the candidates one by one, setting out their positions on abortion, pushing conspiracy theories and past associations with the Tea Party or Trump.
      No matter who you pick, this group is as extreme as it gets. A bag full of Maga apples and they are all rotten. They are wildly out of step with the American people.
      He attempted to draw a contrast between the two parties. “We believe that our better days as a nation are ahead of us, not behind us. They believe that our better days are behind us and that is the difference in this election.
      Joe Biden wakes up every day thinking about how to make the lives of the American people better. They wake up every day thinking about how do I get back in power? That is the difference between the Democratic party led by Joe Biden and a Republican party led by Maga extremists.
      Satya Rhodes-Conway, the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, accused Republicans of pushing a national abortion ban. “Let me be crystal clear about this: the 2024 Maga Republican presidential candidates are running on their extreme anti-choice records,” she said.
      I’m sure that they’re going to talk about freedom on the debate stage tonight. But what about the freedom to make my own health care decisions? I guess that their version of freedom doesn’t include women.
      Rhodes-Conway added:
      Here’s the bottom line: the American people don’t want anything to do with their abortion bans. Voters in states all across this great country, including right here in Wisconsin, have made it clear that the craven abortion bans are wildly unpopular and out of step with the American public.
      Rudy Giuliani has turned himself in at the Fulton county jail over charges tied to his efforts to help Donald Trump overturn the 2020 presidential election.The former New York City mayor and longtime Trump ally faces 13 charges that include racketeering, soliciting lawmakers to violate their oaths of office, making false statements and conspiracy counts dealing with the recruitment of fake electors.Here’s a look at the Fulton county jail records, as shared by NBC’s Blayne Alexander:Rudy Giuliani has arrived at the Fulton county jail and surrendered to authorities, according to the county sheriff’s website.The former New York mayor and lawyer for Donald Trump faces charges in the sprawling Georgia elections racketeering case. At a meeting earlier today with Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis’ team, Giuliani’s bond was set at $150,000.“I’m feeling very, very good about it because I feel like I am defending the rights of all Americans, as I did so many times as a United States attorney,” Giuliani told reporters in New York this morning. More

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      Trump co-defendant Mark Meadows seeks emergency order to protect him from arrest in Georgia – as it happened

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      From 2h agoMark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, has filed an emergency motion to a federal court to “protect” him from arrest by Fulton county law enforcement, according to court documents.The filing by Meadows’ legal team comes after he was denied a request to delay the arrest while he tries to move his case to federal court.Meadows claims that his alleged actions, including participating with Donald Trump in a phone call to Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, should be immune from state prosecution because they were performed in his capacity as a federal official.Hello again, US politics live blog readers. It’s been a very interesting day, especially in terms of a certain election-related criminal racketeering case in Georgia … This blog will be back on Wednesday for all the political news during the day but also live coverage of the first Republican debate of the 2024 election campaign in the evening. Do click join us then, but for now, this blog will close. You can read the separate story on Mark Meadows that has just launched on our site here.Here’s where things stand:
      Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff to Donald Trump, filed an emergency motion to a federal court to “protect” him from arrest by Fulton county law enforcement in Georgia.
      The majority of likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers said they believe Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election, according to a new poll.
      Jenna Ellis and Mike Roman, two of the defendants in the Georgia election subversion case against Donald Trump, entered bond agreements, for $100,000 and $50,000 respectively.
      Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, a contender for the Republican presidential nomination, attempted to clarify conspiracy-tinged remarks he made earlier this week about the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the US, and the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump hoping to overturn his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
      Jeffrey Clark, a former justice department official, and David Shafer, one of the Georgia fake electors, who were charged with Donald Trump in the election subversion case in the state, filed to move the case from state to federal court.
      Shawn Still, who was also charged in the state’s election subversion case, reached a $10,000 bond agreement with prosecutors.
      Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, and Vivek Ramaswamy will stand center stage at Wednesday night’s first Republican presidential nomination debate, according to a lineup released by the Republican National Committee.
      You can read our latest full report here:Joe Biden was briefed earlier today on the extreme weather that is affecting many parts of the US, according to the White House. The US president also talked to national security adviser Jake Sullivan on the topic and was warned of the peak of the hurricane season that is approaching.Now Biden has issued a statement and unequivocally linked the severity of the weather to the climate crisis:
      Across the country, people are experiencing the devastating impacts of extreme weather worsened by climate change. As peak hurricane season approaches, my administration continues taking action to bolster the country’s preparedness, and support response and recovery efforts.
      I continue to be briefed on Tropical Storm Harold and its potential impacts on South Texas.
      Biden said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) was deploying. Our latest story on Tropical Storm Harold is here.Biden’s statement also said:
      I have also been briefed on Tropical Storm Franklin, and I directed FEMA to pre-deploy personnel and resources to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
      Former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega is highly unimpressed with the efforts of Mark Meadows’ legal team in trying to stave off the prospect of arrest of the former chief of staff to Donald Trump if he doesn’t surrender to be booked in the Georgia election subversion case.There has been some frantic correspondence between Meadows’ team and Fulton county DA Fani Willis.And this:Meanwhile, Jewel Wicker’s recent profile of Willis is a good read, here.Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis doesn’t mince her words.There are some choice reactions from legal experts.And there was this before the latest request, after Meadows asked for his Georgia case to be moved to federal court.Donald Trump and his 18 co-defendants face a Friday deadline to surrender after being charged in the Georgia 2020 election subversion case.The Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, has set a deadline of noon on Friday, 25 August, for Trump and his co-defendants to voluntarily turn themselves in to be booked.On Monday, Trump said he plans to surrender to authorities on Thursday to face charges including criminal conspiracy, filing false documents and violating the Georgia Rico Act.The first two co-defendants have already surrendered today – Georgia bail bondsman Scott Hall and former Trump lawyer John Eastman.In the court filing, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows pointed to the Fulton county court’s plans to hold a hearing on Monday on his request that his case be moved to federal court.The filing reads:
      District Attorney Fani Willis has made clear that she intends to arrest Mr Meadows before this Court’s Monday hearing and has rejected out of hand a reasonable request to defer one business day until after this Court’s hearing.
      Absent this Court’s intervention, Mr Meadows will be denied the protection from arrest that federal law affords former federal officials, and this Court’s prompt but orderly consideration of removal will be frustrated.
      Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, has filed an emergency motion to a federal court to “protect” him from arrest by Fulton county law enforcement, according to court documents.The filing by Meadows’ legal team comes after he was denied a request to delay the arrest while he tries to move his case to federal court.Meadows claims that his alleged actions, including participating with Donald Trump in a phone call to Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, should be immune from state prosecution because they were performed in his capacity as a federal official.John Eastman, the lawyer facing criminal charges for his alleged efforts to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss, made a statement to the press after turning himself in to the Fulton county jail earlier today.Eastman, who has been charged with nine felony counts, including criminal conspiracy, solicitation, filing false documents and violating the Rico Act, said he would “vigorously” contest every count of the indictment in which he had been named.He said he was “confident that when the law is faithfully applied in this proceeding, all of my co-defendants and I will be fully vindicated”.Asked by a reporter if he still believed the 2020 election was stolen, Eastman replied:
      Absolutely. No question in my mind.
      In December 2020, Eastman reportedly helped orchestrate the plan for Georgia Republican electors to meet and sign a fraudulent certificate that said Trump won the election in what is now known as the fake electors scheme.He also drafted a six-point memo that directed former vice-president Mike Pence to refuse to certify electoral votes on 6 January 2021.The majority of likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers said they believe Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election, according to a new poll.The NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll found that 51% of likely caucus-goers said they believe Trump’s claims that he won in 2020, despite no evidence of widespread election fraud, while 41% said they don’t, and 8% said they are not sure. The poll included both Republican and independent voters.Of those who said they believed Trump’s claims were a majority of self-identified Republicans (60%), those making less than $70,000 a year (69%), evangelicals (62%) and those without college degrees (59%), the poll showed.Of those who listed Trump as their first-choice candidate, 83% said they believe he won the 2020 election.Two-thirds of respondents, or 65%, said Trump has not committed serious crimes, despite him being indicted four times over the past year.Jenna Ellis and Mike Roman, two of the defendants in the Georgia election subversion case against Donald Trump, have entered bond agreements in Fulton county, Georgia, for $100,000 and $50,000 respectively.Ellis, a Trump campaign attorney and former Colorado prosecutor, spread multiple statements claiming voter fraud during the 2020 election and sent at least two memos advising Mike Pence to reject Biden’s victory in Georgia and other states. She was ordered to appear before the special grand jury in 2022.Earlier this year, the Colorado supreme court censured Ellis for making false statements and she acknowledged making misrepresentations as part of the agreement.A former Trump campaign staffer, Roman was involved in the plot to deliver lists of fake electors to Pence on 6 January 2021 in a bid to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory.A former White House aide, he served as Trump’s director of election day operations and attempted to convince state legislators to unlawfully appoint alternate electors, according to the indictment.From Politico’s Kyle Cheney:The former Texas congressman Will Hurd, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination, did not qualify for Wednesday night’s Republican primary debate in Milwaukee, after his performance in a series of polls fell short of requirements set by the Republican national committee.Hurd has also refused to sign the party’s pledge to support its eventual nominee – another RNC requirement to take part in the debate.Hurd is one of the few GOP candidates prepared to attack Donald Trump in strong terms, not least over scheduled trials that include civil cases over defamation and a rape allegation and investigations of his business affairs.In a statement, Hurd said he was disappointed to be kept off the debate stage but said he would not be deterred.
      I have said from day one of my candidacy that I will not sign a blood oath to Donald Trump. The biggest difference between me and every single candidate who will be on the debate stage in Milwaukee is that I have never bent the knee to Trump. More

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      From abortion to January 6: where each Republican candidate in the debate stands on big issues

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      Republicans vying for the 2024 party nomination are set to take the stage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Wednesday night for the first debate of the primary season.The candidates will certainly throw punches at each other and at Donald Trump, who has a significant lead in polls but is skipping the debate. But it’s also a chance for each candidate to present their policy agenda and voice their stance on key voter issues such as abortion and aid to Ukraine.Here’s where each candidate in Wednesday’s debate stands on issues such as abortion, immigration, the economy and continued aid to Ukraine.Ron DeSantisAbortion: DeSantis has supported bills restricting access to abortion – including a six-week ban in his own state of Florida – but has stopped short of saying he would support a federal ban.Economy: In a recently released economic plan, DeSantis said he would cut individual taxes and slash government spending. He also pushed for “American energy independence” and a rollback of electric vehicles.Immigration: As governor, DeSantis has enacted some of the country’s strictest laws against undocumented immigrants, including asking hospital patients to prove their legal status. He also made the controversial move to use public funds to send newly arrived migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in a political stunt. As president, he said he would eliminate the visa lottery and limit “unskilled immigration”.Foreign policy: He opposes additional US involvement in Ukraine and has pledged to reduce economic ties with “communist China” and said the US would no longer “kowtow to Wall Street”.January 6: DeSantis said it was “unfortunate” but “not an insurrection”.More: The current governor of Florida and a former congressman was widely expected to be Trump’s main primary challenger. But his favorability among Republicans has taken many hits, starting with a glitchy Twitter Spaces event hosted by Elon Musk. He has frequently touted his opposition to gender-affirming care for trans people and other public health measures such as mask mandates.Vivek RamaswamyAbortion: Ramaswamy told a crowd at the Iowa State Fair he is “unapologetically pro-life”. But his campaign earlier confirmed he would not back a national abortion ban.Economy: The biotech entrepreneur wants to “unshackle” the energy sector, saying the US should abandon its climate goals to drive down energy costs and boost its GDP. He is also in favor of some corporate and individual tax cuts.Immigration: Ramaswamy said he wants to deport “universally” and end birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants, who would then be required to apply to become a citizen.Foreign policy: Ramaswamy has criticized US aid to Ukraine, saying it is strengthening Russia’s alliance with China.January 6: Ramaswamy condemned Trump the week after the January 6 attack but has walked back his criticism since then. Responding to a question for an Atlantic profile about what truly happened that day, Ramaswamy said: “I don’t know.” He has defended ex-president Trump across his four indictments.More: Time magazine labeled Ramaswamy a “breakout candidate”. The political outsider has steadily climbed the polls since launching his long-shot bid as an “anti-woke” patriot.Tim ScottAbortion: Scott, an evangelical Christian, is staunchly anti-abortion and said he would support a national 15-week ban.Economy: Scott supports tax cuts and stronger economic competition with China. As a senator, Scott championed legislation establishing “opportunity zones”, which are meant to increase economic development in low-income areas by incentivizing private investment, though critics say residents may not benefit from gentrification.Immigration: He is in favor of a wall along the US southern border to curb illegal migration and drug trafficking.Foreign policy: He broadly supports continued US aid to Ukraine and said Biden has not done enough. But some conservatives think he’s soft on China.January 6: Scott said he doesn’t believe the 2020 election was stolen and does not blame Trump for the violence at the Capitol.More: The South Carolina senator, who is the only Black Republican in the Senate, is an outspoken critic when it comes to teaching kids about race and gender in schools and has said: “America is not a racist country.”Nikki HaleyAbortion: The only woman on the debate stage, Haley is anti-abortion but has also called a federal abortion ban “unrealistic”.Economy: Haley wrote in an op-ed that she opposes raising the national debt limit and would “veto spending bills that don’t put America on track to reach pre-pandemic spending levels”.Foreign policy: The former US ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, Haley has labeled the Chinese Communist party an “enemy” and criticized Trump for trying to befriend the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.Immigration: Haley has vowed to tighten security at the US-Mexico border and add 25,000 patrol agents, as well as require companies to verify employees’ status online – which she signed into law in South Carolina as governor.January 6: Haley has called January 6 a “terrible day” and said Trump “went down a path that he shouldn’t have” in an interview with Politico.Chris ChristieAbortion: He has said he would not support a federal abortion ban.Economy: The former New Jersey governor has targeted “excessive government spending” as the reason for inflation and floated cuts to social security, including Medicare.Foreign policy: Christie, who has aligned himself with the hawkish, tough-on-China-and-Russia camp, visited the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a surprise trip earlier this month to affirm his support for continued US aid.Immigration: Christie said “immigrants are pouring over the border” in an attack against Trump’s campaign promise to build a border wall.January 6: Christie, who was in the running to be Trump’s VP after dropping out of the 2016 presidential race, is now Trump’s loudest critic. He broke with Trump over the January 6 Capitol attack, calling Trump a “coward” for not joining rioters.Mike PenceAbortion: The former vice-president, an evangelical Christian, is the loudest anti-abortion candidate and has condemned his opponents for refusing to back a six-week abortion ban.Economy: Pence has said his top priority is boosting the US economy and has called on the Fed to ditch its dual mandate – keeping employment high and inflation low – to focus solely on reducing inflation. He has also advocated for cutting social security benefits.Foreign policy: Pence has advocated for continued US aid to Ukraine and met with Volodymyr Zelenskiy during a surprise visit in June.Immigration: He has blasted the Biden administration’s immigration policy, describing a “stampede” from Central and South America, and has vowed to finish the border wall that began under Trump.January 6: Pence has campaigned heavily on his refusal to aid Trump in his effort to stop the certification of electoral results and has repeatedly condemned his ex-boss for his role in the Capitol attack.Doug BurgumAbortion: Burgum signed a law banning nearly all abortions in North Dakota but said he would not support a national ban.Economy: The governor of North Dakota, who is also a wealthy businessman, has touted North Dakota’s record as an energy-producing state and said he would prioritize growing the country’s tech and energy sectors.Foreign policy: Winning the “cold war with China” is a key pillar of Burgum’s message to voters.Immigration: Burgum said Biden hasn’t done enough to secure the US-southern border and supports stricter restrictions on migration.January 6: Burgum called for a stop to the violence at the Capitol on January 6 but said he thinks it’s time to “move on”.Asa HutchinsonAbortion: As governor of Arkansas, Hutchinson signed a near-total abortion ban and said he would support a national ban.Economy: He has floated extreme measures to balance the federal budget and reduce debt including cutting the federal non-military workforce by 10%.Immigration: Hutchinson supports harsh restrictions on immigration.Foreign policy: He said he would not cut economic ties with China but has advocated for more aggressive action to counter China’s threat against Taiwan. Politico describes Hutchinson’s foreign policy as a “compassionate internationalism” of the past.January 6: He said January 6 “disqualifies” Trump from running for president. More

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      Trump’s shadow hangs over Republican debates even as he refuses to attend

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      Donald Trump’s rivals for the Republican presidential nomination reacted in mostly muted fashion to his declaration that he will skip all the party’s primary debates, not just the first in Milwaukee on Wednesday.Trump’s team have strategized that as the overwhelming frontrunner, the former president would gain little from appearing on stage with his many rivals. At the same time, his legal team are probably wary Trump may be tempted to wade into subject matter at the heart of proliferating legal cases against him.Andrew Romeo, a spokesperson for Ron DeSantis, Trump’s closest if distant rival, insisted: “No one is entitled to this nomination, including Donald Trump. You have to show up and earn it.”But while Trump is betting that not showing up will not hurt him with voters – and that his son Donald Trump Jr will prove an effective media surrogate in Milwaukee – DeSantis has a pressing need to earn support. With his campaign widely seen to be tanking, the hard-right Florida governor will take the stage in Wisconsin on Wednesday with serious work to do.In a Sunday night post to his online platform, Truth Social, Trump cited a CBS News poll that gave him a 46-point national lead. Bragging of “legendary numbers”, he said: “The public knows who I am and what a successful presidency I had … I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!”Fox News will host the first debate. Executives have reportedly beseeched Trump to attend. On Monday, CNN reported that an unnamed Trump adviser said the former president could still participate in a later debate, but also that Trump has long been against participating in the second scheduled debate, at the Ronald Reagan library in California next month.Trump, 77, faces 91 criminal charges under four indictments arising from his first run for president, in 2016; his attempt to stay in power after losing to Joe Biden in 2020; and his actions after leaving the White House.The charges concern hush-money payments to a porn star, federal and state election subversion, and retention of classified documents. Trump also faces civil cases concerning his business affairs and defamation linked to an allegation of rape. Trials are due during the primary next year.Despite it all, Trump enjoys huge leads in national and key state polls. On Sunday, the national poll by CBS News showed Trump with a whopping 62% support to 16% for DeSantis and other challengers trailing. On Monday, NBC News and the Des Moines Register gave Trump a 23-point lead over DeSantis in Iowa, the first state to vote. Among evangelical Christians, a key voting bloc, the thrice-married, adjudicated rapist led by 27.On Saturday, it was reported that Trump had already recorded the interview with the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson he plans to use as counter-programming to the Milwaukee debate.Among Trump’s Republican rivals, notwithstanding a warning from the rank outsider Will Hurd that “kissing his butt is not going to help you win”, reaction to Trump’s debate avoidance plans remained muted at best.Mike Pence, formerly vice-president to Trump, echoed the chairperson of the Republican National Committee when he told ABC News: “One thing I realised about him is it’s not over till it’s over. So I’m actually still hoping he shows up.”skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionBut observers expect his father’s absence to recalibrate the dynamics of the debate, DeSantis becoming top dog on stage and therefore the top target for takedowns even from Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor who has built his campaign in opposition to Trump and who has called the former president a coward for skipping debates.On Monday, Vivek Ramaswamy, the biotech entrepreneur who has gone from wide outsider to contender for second place, aimed a warmup barb at DeSantis when he said: “We don’t need another career politician beholden to the donor class sitting in the White House. Cronyism leads to corruption. The choice for GOP primary voters: Do we want Super Pac puppets? Or patriots who speak the TRUTH?”According to Axios, James Uthmeir, DeSantis’s new campaign manager, used a memo to donors and supporters to warn that the Milwaukee debate would be other candidates’ “biggest chance yet to grab headlines by attacking the governor, so we know they will try their best”.Uthmeir also offered a touch of optimism.“We all know why our competitors have to go down this road,” he said. “Because this is a two-man race for the Republican nomination between Governor DeSantis and Donald Trump.” More

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      Pence won’t say if criminal conviction should rule Trump out as president

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      Donald Trump’s former vice-president, Mike Pence, refused to say if Trump should be barred from returning to the White House if he is convicted on any of 91 criminal charges against him.“I think that he’s to be left to the American people,” Pence told ABC’s This Week, on Sunday. “Let’s have the former president have his day in court. Let’s maintain a presumption of innocence.”Trump faces charges concerning federal and state election subversion, retention of classified information and hush-money payments to a porn star. He also faces civil cases involving defamation, alleged rape and his business affairs, contributing to a schedule of trials in the election year.Nonetheless, he leads polling by wide margins nationally and in key states.On Sunday, ahead of the first debate in Milwaukee on Wednesday, CBS News released a new poll. Among Republicans, a whopping 62% picked Trump to just 16% for Ron DeSantis, the hard-right Florida governor in second place. Pence received 5% support, placing fourth.Pence and other qualifiers for the debate – a contest Trump will skip for an interview with Tucker Carlson – have backed a Republican National Committee pledge requiring support for the nominee.On ABC, Pence was asked about the case of James Traficant, an Ohio Democrat who in 2002 became one of only five people ever expelled from the US House after being convicted on corruption charges. Then a congressman from Indiana, Pence voted for that expulsion.Pence’s host, Jon Karl, asked: “Would you hold that same standard for the White House?”Pence said: “I would tell you that it is the function of the Congress to determine membership where there’s ethical violations and I remember the Traficant case from 20 years ago, it was really quite outrageous.“But if you’re saying would I apply that to my former running mate in this race, look, I think that he’s to be left to the American people. Let’s have the former president have his day in court. Let’s maintain a presumption of innocence and in this matter, and any other matter that unfolded this week here in Georgia” – a reference to Trump’s state-level election subversion case – “but I’ve said many times, I would have preferred that these matters be left to the judgment of the American people.“No one’s above the law. But with regard to the president’s future, my hope is when we get to that debate stage, and I’m still kind of hoping maybe he’ll come, is that we can really have a debate about the challenges facing the American people.”Elsewhere, the former Arkansas governor turned Trump critic Asa Hutchinson said he had qualified for the debate and would sign the pledge. Insisting that Trump would not be the nominee, Hutchinson refused to say what he would do if he were.Speaking from Des Moines, Iowa, Hutchinson told CNN’s State of the Union: “I am pleased to announce that we have met … the polling criteria and now we have met the 40,000 individual donor criteria. We submitted to the RNC 42,000 individual donors and I’m delighted.”FiveThirtyEight.com puts Hutchinson at 0.7% support – to 53.7% for Trump.“I’ll sign the pledge,” Hutchinson said. “I’m confident Donald Trump is not going to be the nominee of the party. And I’ve always supported the nominee. So I’m gonna sign the pledge.”skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionPressed on whether he would support the man who sought to overturn the 2020 election and incited the deadly January 6 attack on Congress, Hutchinson repeated: “I’m going to support the nominee of the party. I do not expect it to be Donald Trump. And that I’m sure question will come up in the debate, so stay tuned for that.”’Conviction would not disqualify Trump from the presidency. But some say the US constitution might.Hutchinson said: “You can’t be asking us to support somebody that’s not perhaps even qualified under our constitution. I’m referring to the 14th amendment. A number of legal scholars said that [Trump] is disqualified because of his actions on January 6.”The 14th amendment says: “No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress, or elector of president and vice-president … who, having previously taken an oath … to support the constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same … ”Hutchinson said: “There would have to be a separate lawsuit that would be filed, in which there would be a finding that the former president engaged in insurrection, and that would disqualify him. That’s one avenue. The other way would be that if a specific state made that determination on their own … Either way … I think it’s a serious jeopardy for Donald Trump.”Trump’s longtime leading challenger, DeSantis, has long been falling back. No dominant alternative has emerged but Hutchinson insisted his party was not risking a repeat of 2016, when voters did not coalesce around one alternative to Trump.“I don’t see that happening,” Hutchinson told CNN. “First of all, it’s really early. I talked to voters in Iowa and New Hampshire and they’re gonna be late deciding, and that’s why you’re gonna see in Iowa, where Trump’s numbers come down first, it will be here.“… This debate is important … this is really a reduced number [of candidates] from 2016 with eight or nine on the stage. We’ll see who else qualifies for it but the voters are gonna be able to lock in on it, make decisions, and they’re not gonna be in a hurry to move. So everybody needs to be patient, including the media, and let this unfold over the next three or four months.“The right alternative to Donald Trump will surface.” More

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      Don’t be fooled by January 6 – Mike Pence is still an absolute coward | Arwa Mahdawi

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      Three things sum up the essence of Mike Pence, the former vice-president of the US: the first is that he reportedly calls his wife “Mother”. He has denied this, but he is creepy enough that the rumours have never been definitively refuted. The second is that he refuses to eat a meal alone with any woman who isn’t his wife. The third – which may be linked to the first two items – is that he doesn’t have a chance in hell of becoming president.Ever since announcing his campaign for the 2024 nomination, Pence has been polling in the single digits. But you don’t need to look at the polls to realise that the 64-year-old’s chance of being the Republican nominee, let alone the next president of the US, are nonexistent – you just need to look at him. It may be a cliche, but passing the “would I have a beer with them?” test is still an important component of getting elected as president. Vibes matter. And Pence? He has all the vibes of a resurrected corpse of a 17th-century Puritan minister.He has the politics of one as well. Pence, who is an evangelical Christian, is a reactionary zealot who spent his vice-presidency kowtowing to Donald Trump. He is the most anti-abortion mainstream presidential hopeful out there, supporting a federal ban on abortions at just six weeks and a ban on abortion even when pregnancies aren’t viable. He has spent his political career fighting to undermine LGBTQ+ rights and once argued that homosexuality was “learned behaviour”. He has downplayed the climate crisis and wants to ramp up fossil fuel use.The good news is that Pence will never be president. The bad news is, rather than being a genuine presidential run, his campaign feels like a rehabilitation tour. One that seems to be working. And why wouldn’t it? There is nothing that certain factions of the US media seem to love more than whitewashing the reputations of odious politicians. Look at George W Bush: he has gone from being an accused war criminal to being portrayed as a lovable grandpa and latter-day hero. In March, for example, on the 20th anniversary of the illegal invasion of Iraq, the New York Times published a piece about all the overlooked good stuff that Bush did, with the headline “In This Story, George W Bush Is the Hero.” It was a fascinating way to mark the anniversary of a war that displaced approximately 9 million people, directly killed at least 300,000 civilians, destabilised the Middle East, and unleashed devastating environmental contamination that is causing birth defects in Iraqi children born long after Bush announced that his mission had been accomplished.Pence doesn’t even need to wait 20 years for the “hero” treatment to begin. After all, he is the guy that, during the Capitol insurrection on 6 January 2021, bravely told Trump: “Look, mate, I’m not sure all the votes for Joe Biden were fake. I don’t think you did win the election.” During his appearance at the Iowa state fair last week, Pence played up the image of himself as the saviour of US democracy and a lot of the media seemed to buy into it. “Pence is having a moment. It’s all about Trump and Jan 6,” a Politico headline read. “In Iowa, Mike Pence delivers a powerful message against Trump,” a Washington Post piece opined.I am glad that Pence had the decency not to try to help Trump overturn the results of the 2020 election. But, let’s be clear, the fact that he refused to subvert democracy doesn’t make him a hero; it just means he did the bare minimum. One of the many pernicious legacies of the Trump era is how low he has set the bar for everyone else.Even so, Pence cannot seem to find it in himself to properly stand up to Trump or his rabid supporters. In an interview with NBC over the weekend, Pence dodged questions about whether he considers himself a Maga Republican. Trump supporters wanted Pence hanged over his refusal to overturn the election and he still can’t denounce them!Pence’s recent appearances are a profile in cowardice. He is clearly watching where the wind blows and if Trump seems to have a shot at another term I am sure we will see Pence grovelling at his feet. If Trump’s fortunes fade, then I’m sure Pence will suddenly become a lot more vociferous about his disgust at the Maga crowds. The sad thing is that there are plenty of people out there who will lap his contrition act right up. More

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      Mike Pence tours Iowa state fair in search of votes – but who is his candidacy aimed at?

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      Mike Pence and wife Karen strolled through the Iowa state fair, their little fingers locked together, as soap bubbles drifted by and chairlifts trundled overhead. The couple donned red aprons – his said “Vice President Mike Pence” – and flipped pork chops on a giant grill while smiling for photographers.Then, with a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead and settling on his cheek on a hot August day, Pence told reporters that he was the “most qualified candidate” and “most consistent conservative in the field” for the Republican nomination for US president in 2024.But the carefully choreographed scene hit a glitch. Andrew Wallace was wearing a “Make America great again” cap and “Buck Fiden” T-shirt and holding a “Trump” sign as well as Pence’s memoir So Help Me God. The 21-year-old from Wisconsin said loudly: “Mike Pence is a traitor and we all know it. He could have sent the votes back to the states but he chose not to do it because he’s a coward.”The episode offered a stark reminder that Pence, once loyal to the point of sycophancy, now stands accused of treachery by supporters of former president Donald Trump over his refusal to overturn their defeat by Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Some called for the then vice-president to be hanged as they stormed the US Capitol on January 6 2021 (this week in Iowa a man approached Pence and remarked: “I’m glad they didn’t hang you.”)Now Pence has emerged as one of the central figures in a criminal indictment of Trump over his alleged effort to overturn his 2020 election defeat. Filed earlier this month by special counsel Jack Smith, the indictment documents Trump’s many attempts to pressure Pence to disrupt the certification process on January 6. At one point, Trump allegedly told Pence, “You’re too honest.”Although constitutional experts agree that Pence had no authority to challenge the election results, his role in certifying Trump’s defeat has won him few fans with Republican voters, 70% of whom believe Biden’s win was illegitimate. That reality has complicated, if not erased, the hopes of a man seen by many as a throwback to a Republican party that has largely ceased to exist.Pence used his platform at the Iowa state fair – a rite of passage for candidates to gorge on fried food and woo middle America – to defend his actions in protecting the constitution, affirm a hawkish approach foreign policy and endorse cutting welfare benefits in the name of fiscal responsibility. He spoke of his faith in God, civility and former president Ronald Reagan. These would once have been uncontroversial, even essential foundations of any Republican candidacy, especially in religiously conservative Iowa, which holds the first-in-the-nation caucuses in January.But Trump took over the party of Reagan and transformed it from within. He attacked constitutional democracy with a barrage of lies, promoted “America-first” isolationism and ran up a huge national debt. There is nothing traditional about his approach to civility or God. All of which has left Pence out of step with the party base.One example is over the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where Pence has pledged continued US support but Trump and his allies in Congress want to halt funding. Wallace, the Trump supporter, said: “If Mike Pence was a true conservative, he would join the conservative movement and oppose the war in Ukraine.”John Rusk, a Republican who opposes Trump, retorted: “How would you like it if your country was overtaken – your democratic country was attacked, bombed, raped, murdered, looted? Come on. That’s not the American way. The American way is to stop people like that, stop tyrants.”Wallace replied: “Talk to the majority of young Republicans. They did a poll of that kind down in West Palm Beach and 96% opposed it. Those are the young people, Gen Z, millennials. If the people that are going to be fighting in a war don’t want to fight the war then why are the people like you, the older generation, fighting for us to go to Ukraine?”With that he left and Rusk shouted after him: “You want Russia to come here then, don’t you? You’d love it.”Pence is also the only major candidate who supports a federal ban on abortion at six weeks, before many women know they are pregnant. Recent voters across America suggest this could be an electoral liability. But Pence said on Friday: “I reject the notion that … standing for the sanctity of life is a political loser. There are things more important than politics but I really believe that, when we stand for the sanctity of life on principle and with compassion, the American people will rally to our cause.”Earlier, the former vice-president drew a crowd of about a hundred people to an event hosted by Iowa governor Kim Reynolds. Wearing checked shirt, blue jeans and brown boots, the white-haired Pence, once described by Trump as “central casting”, looked the part of a Republican candidate from another era. He played folksy by praising the food at the state fair, saying he would see its famed butter cow sculpture and recalling a meeting in Iowa with a cow called Chippy.Sherry Power, 78, a retired nurse from Corona, California, who said: “I love him. He’s got integrity like we don’t see any more here and he’ll build on that if he gets in. He doesn’t have bad things to say about any of the other people that are running for president and I like that. He has experience and that is the big difference between he and a lot of the other people that are running.”But Pence’s poor standing in opinion polls underscores the monumental challenge he faces. According to FiveThirtyEight’s national polling average, he stands at a distant fourth in the race, winning the support of roughly 5% of likely Republican primary voters across the country. A recent New York Times/Siena College poll showed Pence at just 3% in Iowa, which will hold its caucuses in January.In one bleak sign of his primary prospects, Pence raised a meagre $1.2m during the second quarter of the year. That haul put Pence behind two other candidates, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, who announced their campaigns the same week that he did.The Pence campaign is remaining upbeat and content with the notion that he represents traditional values. Marc Short, an adviser, said: “I would argue that he’s the only classical conservative in this race. But as he says, what the Trump-Pence era did was to build upon that, not to replace it. It took that as the foundation and there were some populist policies added on top of that. There’s a much broader number of classical Republicans still in our party and we’ll test that theory.”But political analysts regard his chances as slim. Michael D’Antonio, co-author of The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence, said: “I don’t know what he’s doing in this race other than trying to keep himself in the public eye. His candidacy is really puzzling. I don’t get it. Maybe he’s trying to recover some of the dignity he lost as vice-president.”D’Antonio suggested the former vice-president’s campaign may be intended for the history books rather than the primary voters of today. “The stand that he took on January 6 is the main thing that has distinguished him as a public official, and he could be trying to make sure that history doesn’t forget,” he said. “In a way, defying Trump’s base is similar to defying Trump himself on that day.”But in Iowa, David Stelzer, who at the Des Moines Register newspaper’s political soapbox asked Pence if he had committed treason, thinks he should have spoken out much sooner after January 6. “The sad thing is he won’t get that chapter in a future Profiles in Courage book because he didn’t finish the job and it was because he’s so worried about alienating the Trump base.”Stelzer, 63, a retired federal government employee who lives in Denver, added: “His chances in the Republican primary are zero. This is the tragedy. He will not win because the Trump base will not allow it. I mean, Jesus, they set up gallows for him.” More