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      Here’s what Trump 2.0 will bring: ignorance and vengeance in the US, chaos for world order | Gordon Brown

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      This year has been dominated by the Russia-Ukraine war, recession, the China-US standoff, and the Hamas terrorist attack and Gaza war. Yet as earth-shattering as these conflicts and tragedies are, the next two years could aggravate them and surpass them all if the threat of a second Trump presidency comes to pass. At a moment that urgently needs a firefighter to stamp out the embers of conflict, Americans and the rest of the world may find an arsonist in the White House. It is not just the survival of American democracy that will be on the ballot in 2024 but stability and progress everywhere.A second Trump administration, in which he has brazenly vowed to be a dictator on day one, would be a disaster. Domestically, Trump’s “new independence” is no longer just an economic agenda. Gone is the 2016 talk of massive deregulation, privatisation of public services and big tax cuts. Instead, his policies are based on his personal prejudices and his desire for vengeance: deporting homeless people from urban areas, imposing death sentences on drug traffickers, legitimising “shoot and kill” even for shoplifters, repatriating the children of illegal immigrants whom he accuses of “poisoning the blood of our country”, purging free-thinking academics in educational institutions, and – what he says he will make his first act – clearing out what he calls the “vermin” and “traitors”, namely those government officials who would refuse to be yes men for his grotesque policies.When Trump engages in the conspiracy-theory politics of destroying “the deep state”, what he really means is that he will rule by presidential decree and where possible undermine independent federal institutions, thus destroying the checks and balances that have for two and a half centuries been at the heart of the American constitution. No longer would we be able to say that the rule of law and democracy prevails in America, that voting is free of interference or intimidation, or that power is properly accountable. He would kill for good any ideal of the “city on the hill”, and the liberal rules-based order with the US as the model for the world to emulate.Trump has already given us a preview of what awaits in this term, or what he calls his “final battle” for an “independent America”. What is even more frightening is that while in 2016 he was wholly unprepared for the presidency, this time around, extreme-right thinktanks such as the Heritage Foundation are giving him detailed policy playbooks, like one titled Project 2025, which recommends radically reshaping government departments and consolidating power in the executive branch, that he could implement from day one.His international agenda would dramatically exacerbate the instability of an already unstable world. Trump has also boasted that he would end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, no doubt by conceding to Vladimir Putin, and so even in the run-up to the presidential election, there is no incentive for Russia to come to the negotiating table.Trump’s vision of “America First and Only” is a dark summons to an insular and isolationist America, and an “us versus them” world of zero-sum politics. He conceives of a world where nations compete – like he did as a property developer – to destroy competitors, and thus the US can only win when others lose.And because he has threatened to renege on the US commitment to Nato to treat an attack on one country as an attack on all – he wants Europe to pay the US for American weapons supplied to Ukraine – the European Council is already discussing, with its document Strategic Compass, what President Macron calls “strategic autonomy” from the US.And four more years of the man who thinks climate change is a hoax and wishes to drill and burn oil and gas anywhere would threaten the point of no return for the climate crisis.Trump’s neo-mercantilist economic agenda would have even wider ramifications for America’s allies and adversaries alike. Within days of his coming to power, he would impose a 10% tariff to place “a ring around the collar” of the US economy. While trade was once seen as the route to higher living standards, Trump favours the opposite: trade restrictions as the key to protecting living standards. The automatic overnight tripling of import duties would be a tax on US consumers, but it would at the same time destroy trading relations with every single American ally while creating a global economic downturn in the process. Indeed, the IMF estimates that a full fracturing of the global economy would wipe out 7% of global GDP. This return to mercantilism would benefit no one.Overall, he would accelerate the shift to a more protectionist and multipolar world, and with his plan to withdraw from the World Bank, the IMF and the World Health Organization, attempts at international cooperation would be blown apart. The US, which tended to act multilaterally in a unipolar era, would act unilaterally in a multipolar era.Trump has been upping the rhetoric of vengeance for some time. As he declared at a recent rally: “I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.” But his policies are based not just on vengeance, but on ignorance.It is crucial to understand that Trump cannot be defeated by narrowing the difference between him and his Democratic opponents. It would be a mistake for them to dilute or abandon progressive policies and indulge in protectionism, mercantilism and xenophobia. Recent elections in Europe, where the far right has made considerable gains, show that if moderates allow the election agenda to be captured by the far right’s anti-immigrant, anti-environmental and anti-internationalist rhetoric, the far right wins.The evidence is that those Americans most likely to switch to Trump are those who now see the US not as a land of opportunity but as an “us versus them” society – in which you can only succeed at others’ expense. There is a pessimism about the country’s future because, for many years, a low-growth America has not been delivering for working people. They want a fairer society, and meeting Trump halfway on his anti-globalisation agenda won’t defeat him, but an open dialogue with the American people that elevates the case for fairness, justice, and equality will.
      Gordon Brown was UK prime minister from 2007 to 2010 More

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      Republican debate: chaos erupts as Christie defends Haley and Ramaswamy calls her ‘fascist neocon’ with lipstick – as it happened

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      We’ve reached the shouting stage of the debate. It started with Christie trying to defend Haley against Ramaswamy – “This is a smart, accomplished woman and you should stop insulting her” – and descended into a shout-off between the two men.Ramaswamy punched back with a reference to Bridgegate and some casual fat shaming. He then seemed to compare Nikki Haley to Dick Cheney. “You can put lipstick on a Dick Cheney – it is still a fascist neocon,” he said.Haley and DeSantis, who have the most to gain or lose tonight, have bubbled back into the background.That wraps up the fourth Republican primary debate. There was shouting, there was misinformation, and there was a lot of discussion of the one candidate not in the room – Donald Trump.
      Nikki Haley delivered a relatively muted performance, ultimately presenting herself as a calm foil to Trump’s chaos. She arguably had the most to gain – or lose – tonight, given her recent momentum in polls.
      Ron DeSantis doubled down on far-right talking points on transgender rights and immigration, and was feisty in his attacks of Haley, who has been gaining on him.
      Chris Christie was one of the feistiest debaters, coming down especially hard on Trump and DeSantis, whom he accused of parroting the former president.
      Vivek Ramaswamy was characteristically on the attack, swiping especially hard at Haley.
      The moderators posed some of the sharpest questions we’ve yet seen at a Republican debate, asking direct, pointed questions about these candidates’ viability against Trump and their past equivocating.
      Read more:In the final question, the candidates were asked which former president they draw inspiration from.Christie said Ronald Reagan, because he was a “slave to the truth”. Haley said George Washington. DeSantis said Calvin Coolidge, someone who “knew the proper role of the president” and small government. Ramaswamy chose Thomas Jefferson, for his youth.DeSantis promoted the election police force he created.The force arrested 20 people. More than half of the cases have either been dismissed or have resulted in plea deals with no jail time. Several of those charged did not know they couldn’t vote and were not informed of their ineligibility.Turns out Vivek Ramaswamy is still going to be a bully. When a question about Ramaswamy’s swipes about Nikki Haley’s faith and identity as a fellow Indian American arose, he attempted to spin a response into doubts about her authenticity and then tried to redeem sexist comments from past debates.He then held up a sign that said “Nikki = Corrupt”. The audience audibly booed at Ramaswamy, and cheered when Haley said she wouldn’t bother to respond.On gender-affirming care, for example, the candidates repeatedly made reference to “genital mutilation”, baselessly implying that the gender-affirming care – which is endorsed by major medical associations – was abuse.One-upping each other, DeSantis and Haley sparred over who had been more restrictive of the rights of queer people.“I did a bill in Florida to stop the gender mutilation of minors. It’s child abuse, and it’s wrong. She opposes that bill. She thinks it’s fine and the law shouldn’t get involved with it,” DeSantis said.DeSantis took a rare swing at Trump. He said Trump didn’t use his executive powers to fire Dr Anthony Fauci and FBI head Christopher Wray, or to deport even more undocumented migrants. He then mentioned Trump’s age and said the American people shouldn’t vote for someone who is nearly 80.But Christie still pounced on DeSantis, saying he was too scared to directly take on Trump.Discussion had turned back to Trump, and his assertion that he’d restrict immigration from Muslim countries.Haley said she opposed a “straight Muslim ban”, and said policy should focus on countries that are a threat to the US. DeSantis, meanwhile, framed the issue of Muslim people immigrating to the US as a cultural issue.“Look what’s happened in Europe,” he said. “They imported mass numbers of people who reject their culture. Europe is committing suicide with the mass migration.”Echoing a common, xenophobic talking point, he baselessly implied that immigrants were responsible for antisemitism in the EU.Turning to questions of what’s ailing the economy, and what to do about it, the candidates had different theories on the former issue, but few concrete ideas on the latter.Haley said inflation and high interest rates were making it difficult for Americans seeking homeownership. DeSantis said both parties were borrowing, printing and spending too much money, while Ramaswamy said that he wanted to reduce the central bank’s headcount by 90%.Ramaswamy accused China of sending chemicals to Mexico for the manufacture of fentanyl.Here’s more context on that:Picking up a familiar line of attack, DeSantis also attacked Haley as sympathetic to China.This is something he’s attacked her on at previous debates, capitalizing on a letter she wrote to China’s ambassador to the US in 2014, thanking him for congratulating her on her re-election.After a short break, we are back with discussion of fentanyl and the southern border of the US.DeSantis, who had made this a key political issue – flying asylum seekers to Democrat-led areas – said he would make it legal to shoot suspected drug traffickers at the border, whom he would classify as terrorists.We’ve reached the shouting stage of the debate. It started with Christie trying to defend Haley against Ramaswamy – “This is a smart, accomplished woman and you should stop insulting her” – and descended into a shout-off between the two men.Ramaswamy punched back with a reference to Bridgegate and some casual fat shaming. He then seemed to compare Nikki Haley to Dick Cheney. “You can put lipstick on a Dick Cheney – it is still a fascist neocon,” he said.Haley and DeSantis, who have the most to gain or lose tonight, have bubbled back into the background.Haley, meanwhile, has had to clarify her past inscrutable responses to questions about Israel and Hamas.“You said in last month’s debate that by contrast to the Biden administration’s approach to Iran, you would ‘punch them once and punch them hard’. Were you saying that it’s time to bomb Iran?” asked Eliana Johnson.Haley said that’s not what she meant, but that the administration has been too accommodating of Iranians by weakening sanctions to secure the return of American prisoners.So far any discussion on Israel has been focused on the Israelis killed by Hamas in the deadly 7 October attack. The candidates have not mentioned the more than 16,000 people killed largely by Israeli strikes in Gaza, including thousands of children.The next set of questions is about Israel.The question comes on the same day that Senate Republicans blocked a supplemental funding bill that included financial aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and border security provisions. The vote was held up by Republicans who wanted more stringent border policies in exchange for their support.DeSantis accused the Biden administration of hurting Israel’s ability to defend itself. Christie said he would send troops to save hostages held by Hamas.Kelly is out with another biting question, this time for Chris Christie:“Your best state is New Hampshire and even there, two thirds of GOP voters say they would be angry and disappointed if you won. Respectfully, Governor, you have not stopped Mr Trump, and voters may wonder how you could possibly become the nominee of a party that does not appear to like you very much.”Christie responded that Trump (who he referred to as “Voldemort – he who shall not be named”) was the candidate that everyone here is really competing with. “I’m in this race because the truth needs to be spoken,” he said. “He is unfit. This is a guy who just said this past week that he wants to use the Department of Justice to go after his enemies when he gets in there. And the fact of the matter is, he is unfit to be president, and there is no bigger issue in this race, Megan, than Donald Trump.”“I love all the attention, fellas, thank you for that,” said Haley, as DeSantis and Ramaswamy piled on her about cybersecurity and her corporate donations.Vivek Ramaswamy made a splash in the first Republican debate, but what some considered witty, antiestablishment repartee has now been deemed bullying. A low point for Ramaswamy came after he evoked Nikki Haley’s daughter’s TikTok account in the last debate. As Ramaswamy continues to drop in polls and popularity, some are waiting to see if he will change tact. More

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      Swings, misses but no clear winner: five takeaways from the fourth Republican debate

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      The fourth Republican debate in Alabama featured just four people – winnowing the broad pool down to Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Chris Christie and Vivek Ramaswamy – but once again missing the frontrunner Donald Trump.The debate, hosted by NewsNation and moderated by Megyn Kelly, Elizabeth Vargas and Eliana Johnson, devolved into conspiracy theories and confusing personal attacks despite some clear and forthright questions.With primary elections just weeks away now, the four candidates tried to make their mark on stage yet again, but largely fell short. Here are the key takeaways.When pressed on Trump, the candidates took some swings and many misses at the likely Republican nomineeChris Christie again positioned himself as the anti-Trump candidate, pointing to Trump’s legal issues and calling him a “dictator” who would weaponize the justice department to settle his scores.Haley and DeSantis focused instead on specific policy issues. Haley said she opposed a “straight Muslim ban”. DeSantis avoided saying if Trump was unfit for office, but said the former president had not delivered on several promises, and the American people should want a young president.Christie chided his opponents for continuing to skirt around direct Trump attacks.The Israel-Hamas war once again featured heavily in the debate, largely centered on antisemitismThe candidates, other than Ramaswamy, doubled down on their aggressive, pro-Israel rhetoric. Haley said she would introduce legislation to tie anti-Israel sentiment with antisemitism and made a comparison between pro-Palestinian protests and KKK marches.DeSantis accused Biden of restricting support for Israel (Biden has requested at least $14bn in additional funding for Israel aid) and once again touted his own actions as governor of Florida.Personal attacks were common, and Vivek Ramaswamy was at either end of many of themWith four desperate candidates pulling out all the stunts, Ramaswamy once again stood out for his antics on stage. From holding up a paper saying “Nikki = Corrupt”, to making fat phobic digs at Christie, the entrepreneur attempted to stay relevant, but was met multiple times with audience boos.But there were some other attacks too. Haley and DeSantis, both struggling to save a second-place spot, called each other hypocrites on China policy, transgender issues and other conservative red meat topics.Transgender issues cycled in and out of both the answers and questions in the debate, though the issue doesn’t seem to be a decisive vote winner for most RepublicansDeSantis attacked Haley on a failed “bathroom bill” in South Carolina and touted his own anti-trans bills in Florida. Ramaswamy called transgender identity a mental health issue. Christie attempted to walk the middle road by saying he would let parents decide and stay out of the discussion on whether children should be able to get gender-affirming treatment.There was no clear winnerAll the candidates seemed to do what they were expected to do. Christie focused on his anti-Trump posturing. DeSantis focused on his wins as a governor. Haley played the role of steady conservative hand. And Ramaswamy attempted to make memes and headlines by being a bully and firebrand. More

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      in Elections

      Six Nevada Republicans charged with casting fake electoral votes in 2020

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      Six Republicans who cast fake electoral votes for Donald Trump in Nevada in 2020 were charged with two felonies each by the state’s attorney general on Wednesday.The Democratic attorney general, Aaron Ford, announced the charges, saying a grand jury had decided to charge the six fake electors with “offering a false instrument for filing” and “uttering a forged instrument” for sending documents claiming to be the state’s electors.Fake electors in Georgia and Michigan have already been charged, while others of the seven states with similar schemes are still investigating the issue. A separate civil lawsuit in Wisconsin over the fake electors settled this week, with the Republicans who claimed Trump won the state acknowledging Biden’s victory and agreeing not to serve as electors next year.“When the efforts to undermine faith in our democracy began after the 2020 election, I made it clear that I would do everything in my power to defend the institutions of our nation and our state,” Ford said in a statement. “We cannot allow attacks on democracy to go unchallenged. Today’s indictments are the product of a long and thorough investigation, and as we pursue this prosecution, I am confident that our judicial system will see justice done.”Ford had previously said the state’s laws didn’t address a situation like this. The state legislature passed a bill to make it a felony to be a fake elector, but the governor vetoed the bill.The six Nevadans charged are Michael McDonald, Jesse Law, Jim DeGraffenreid, Durward James Hindle III, Shawn Meehan and Eileen Rice.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe filing a false instrument charge is a category C felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, while the uttering a false instrument charge is a category D felony, with potential for up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine. More

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      Kevin McCarthy, ousted House speaker, says he will leave Congress at end of the year – US politics live

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      In an address today, Joe Biden urged Congress to pass his national security supplemental request, including funding to support Ukraine.Speaking from the White House’s Roosevelt Room, the president said:
      Congress has to uphold the national security needs of the United States and, quite frankly, of our partners as well. This cannot wait. Congress needs to pass supplemental funding for Ukraine before they break for the holiday recess. It’s as simple as that.
      Biden also touched on border policies, saying:
      Extreme Republicans are playing chicken with our national security, holding Ukraine’s funding hostage to their extreme partisan border policies.
      Let me be clear: we need real solutions. I support real solutions at the border. I put forward a comprehensive plan the first day I came into office. I’ve made it clear that we need Congress to make changes to fix what is a broken immigration system, because we all know it’s broken. And I’m willing to do significantly more. But in terms of changes to policy and to provide resources that we need at the border, I’m willing to change policy as well.
      The Senate has begun a procedural vote on Joe Biden’s national security supplemental funding request. Sixty votes are required surrounding the $106bn Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan funding.So far, there are 30 yes’s and 29 no’s. The voting remains underway.In an address today, Joe Biden urged Congress to pass his national security supplemental request, including funding to support Ukraine.Speaking from the White House’s Roosevelt Room, the president said:
      Congress has to uphold the national security needs of the United States and, quite frankly, of our partners as well. This cannot wait. Congress needs to pass supplemental funding for Ukraine before they break for the holiday recess. It’s as simple as that.
      Biden also touched on border policies, saying:
      Extreme Republicans are playing chicken with our national security, holding Ukraine’s funding hostage to their extreme partisan border policies.
      Let me be clear: we need real solutions. I support real solutions at the border. I put forward a comprehensive plan the first day I came into office. I’ve made it clear that we need Congress to make changes to fix what is a broken immigration system, because we all know it’s broken. And I’m willing to do significantly more. But in terms of changes to policy and to provide resources that we need at the border, I’m willing to change policy as well.
      A new school board president in Pennsylvania was sworn in on Monday on a stack of frequently banned books.In a video posted by the Recount, Karen Smith, the new Central Bucks school board president can be seen saying her vows on a stack of six banned books.According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the books include Night by Elie Wiesel, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart, All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M Johnson, Flamer by Mike Curato, and Beyond Magenta by Susan Kukin.According to the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), between 1 January and 31 August, OIF reported 698 to censor library materials and services and documented challenges to 1,915 unique titles.The ban marks a 20% increase from the same reporting period in 2022, OIF said.Four Republican presidential candidates are set to meet onstage in Alabama tonight for the fourth Republican presidential debate.The Guardian’s Lauren Gambino reports:Four White House hopefuls will meet onstage in Alabama for the fourth Republican presidential primary debate, the smallest lineup yet as the window for denting Donald Trump’s lead narrows.Wednesday night’s debate, hosted by the cable network NewsNation at the Moody Music Hall at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, offers one of the last major opportunities for the candidates to make their case to Republican voters before the party’s nominating contest begins next month.The two-hour event will feature Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, and Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina and former United Nations ambassador, who are locked in an increasingly combative scrap to be the second-place alternative to Trump. They will be joined by Chris Christie, a former governor of New Jersey and Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur, who both trail far behind.Read the full story here:Joe Biden has announced that his administration is approving another $4.8bn in student debt cancellation for 80,300 people.In a statement released on Wednesday, the president said that this brings the total debt cancellation that his administration has approved to $132bn for over 3.6 million Americans.Biden said:
      Today’s announcement comes on top of all we’ve been able to achieve for students and student loan borrowers in the past few years.
      This includes: achieving the largest increases in Pell Grants in over a decade to help families who earn less than roughly $60,000 a year; fixing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program so that borrowers who go into public service get the debt relief they’re entitled to under the law; and creating the most generous Income-Driven Repayment plan in history – the Save plan.
      The Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison has released the following statement on Kevin McCarthy’s resignation announcement in which he said the US will be “better off without Kevin in office”:
      In his short time as speaker, Kevin McCarthy managed to plunge the People’s House into chaos in the name of serving one person and one person alone: Donald Trump. At every turn, Kevin sought to give his puppet master a lifeline, even after the horrific events of January 6, and spent his embarrassing speakership bending the knee to the most extreme factions of the MAGA base. This anticlimactic end to Kevin’s political career is in line with the rest of his time on Capitol Hill – plagued by cowardice, incompetence, and fecklessness. Our country will be better off without Kevin in office, but his failed tenure in the House should serve as a stark warning to the country about the future of the GOP – no matter how much he kowtowed to the extreme right, no matter how much he kissed the ring, none of it was MAGA enough for the de facto leader of the Republican Party, Donald Trump.
      Wisconsin’s Democratic governor Tony Evers has vetoed a Republican bill that would have banned gender-affirming care including surgeries and hormone treatments for minors in the state.In a statement released on Wednesday, Evers said:
      I promised I would veto any bill that makes Wisconsin a less safe, less inclusive, and less welcoming place for LGBTQ folks and kids—and I keep my promises.
      George Santos, the expelled Republican representative from New York, is reportedly making six figures by selling Cameo videos.The Guardian’s Gloria Oladipo reports:The disgraced lawmaker George Santos is reportedly making six figures by selling videos on the platform Cameo, generating more income than his previous salary as a US congressman, Semafor first reported.Santos, a former Republican representative from New York state, was expelled from Congress last Friday following a blistering ethics report that detailed his misuse of campaign funds.Since his removal, Santos has been publishing videos on Cameo, a website that allows users to purchase personalized videos from celebrities. The disgraced congressman has drastically increased the price of his videos, now selling them for $400 a pop from his initial $75-per-video price point.Read the full story here:Here is a video Kevin McCarthy released surrounding his resignation announcement:In the video, McCarthy said:
      Traveling the country and serving with all of you, I have encountered far more people that want to build something than those who want to tear it down. I have faith in this country because America is more than a country, America is an idea.
      Today, I am driven by the same purpose that I felt when I arrived in Congress but now it is time to pursue my passion in a different arena.
      Joe Biden has responded to a question on whether he thinks there are any Democrats who could beat Donald Trump other than himself.”Probably 50 of them,” replied Biden.He then went on to say, “I’m not the only one who can beat him, but I will beat him.”In response to Kevin McCarthy’s resignation announcement, California’s Democratic representative Adam Schiff said:
      “My dad asked me recently what I thought of Kevin McCarthy. In light of his retirement, I figured I’d share …”
      He went on to post a video in which he spoke about McCarthy, saying, “I think he’s a bad egg.”South Carolina’s Republican senator Lindsey Graham has released the following statement on Kevin McCarthy’s resignation announcement:
      I wish Kevin McCarthy well in his future endeavors to help the conservative cause. Kevin has much to be proud of, rising through the ranks to Minority Leader and Speaker of the House. He navigated the Republican Party through some of the most turbulent periods in recent history, getting results in difficult circumstances.
      “He will be missed, but I am sure his contributions to the future of the Republican Party will be enormous.”
      California’s Democratic representative Eric Swalwell, who predicted earlier this week that McCarthy would leave Congress, has responded to McCarthy’s resignation with a check mark emoji.Earlier this week, Swalwell tweeted:
      “With Santos gone, you’re hearing it here first: the next GOP member to leave Congress will be@SpeakerMcCarthy. No way he stays. A guy who kidney punches his colleagues from behind is too afraid to serve out a full term with them. I bet he’s gone by end of year. What say you?”
      In an odd and fairly threatening post, Georgia’s Republican representative Majorie Taylor Greene responded to the news of Kevin McCarthy resigning, saying:
      “Well..
      Now in 2024, we will have a 1 seat majority in the House of Representatives.
      Congratulations Freedom Caucus for one and 105 Rep who expel our own for the other.
      I can assure you Republican voters didn’t give us the majority to crash the ship.
      Hopefully no one dies.”
      Kevin McCarthy’s resignation will come before the special elections which are expected to take place either next February or March to fill the vacancy left by George Santos who was expelled from the House last Friday.With McCarthy gone, there will be two Republican vacancies in the House. More

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      Four Republican presidential hopefuls to meet for fourth debate in Alabama

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      Four White House hopefuls will meet onstage in Alabama for the fourth Republican presidential primary debate, the smallest lineup yet as the window for denting Donald Trump’s lead narrows.Wednesday night’s debate, hosted by the cable network NewsNation at the Moody Music Hall at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, offers one of the last major opportunities for the candidates to make their case to Republican voters before the party’s nominating contest begins next month.The two-hour event will feature Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, and Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina and former United Nations ambassador, who are locked in an increasingly combative scrap to be the second-place alternative to Trump. They will be joined by Chris Christie, a former governor of New Jersey and Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur, who both trail far behind.The three previous debates have so far failed to pull Republican voters away from Trump, who maintains a dominant lead in national and early-state polls with six weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses launch the 2024 GOP nomination calendar.A national Monmouth University poll released on Wednesday before the debate found Trump 40 percentage points ahead of DeSantis, his next closest rival. Nodding to her momentum on the campaign trail, the poll found Haley’s standing rose the most since July, climbing 9 points from 3%.The vast majority of Republican voters said Trump would be their strongest candidate against Joe Biden, including four in 10 Republicans who currently support another candidate. Further complicating their path to the nomination, supporters of Trump’s Republican rivals are divided on whether the remaining candidates should stay in the race or coalesce around a single alternative.“We can parse these numbers until the cows come home, but the results don’t look good for any candidate not named Trump,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.DeSantis, whose campaign has stalled since he entered the race this summer, has staked his campaign’s success on a strong showing in Iowa, which holds its caucuses on 15 January.“We’re going to win Iowa,” DeSantis said during a Sunday interview on NBC’s Meet the Press. “I think it’s going to help propel us to the nomination.”DeSantis earned the high-profile endorsement of Iowa’s Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, and is touting his visits to all of the state’s 99 counties. Yet an NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll released at the end of October showed DeSantis tied for second with Haley in Iowa and lagging far behind Trump.Haley is hoping to build on her campaign’s momentum following a series of strong debate performances. In recent weeks, she has closed in on DeSantis, pulling ahead of him in New Hampshire, while winning over Wall Street donors and racking up endorsements from anti-Trump Republicans, including Americans for Prosperity Action, the political network founded by conservative billionaires, Charles and David Koch.Trump, who faces 91 federal charges in four cases, including his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost, has sought to portray himself as the inevitable nominee. A series of recent polls showed him leading Biden in several swing states even as he continues to articulate an increasingly anti-democratic vision for a second term. In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday night, Trump vowed to only be a dictator “other than day one”.To qualify for the fourth debate, candidates needed at least 6% support either in two national polls or one national poll as well as two polls from states with early nominating contests. They also needed to have at least 80,000 unique donors, up from 70,000 for last month’s debate.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionAll candidates must also have signed a pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee, which Trump has refused to do. That means the former president, who is trouncing the field in polling and fundraising, technically would not qualify for the debate, even if he chose to attend.Unlike past debates, Trump is not planning to hold a dueling rally at a location near the debate venue. Instead he will spend the evening at a fundraiser in Florida.Earlier this week, North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, who failed to qualify for the third debate and was on track to miss the fourth, suspended his campaign, denouncing the RNC’s “clubhouse debate requirements” that he said were “nationalizing the primary process”.Burgum’s departure came after Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina abruptly ended his campaign, saying that voters “have been really clear that they’re telling me, ‘Not now, Tim.’”Wednesday’s debate will be hosted by Elizabeth Vargas of NewsNation alongside conservative moderators Megyn Kelly, a former Fox News anchor and Eliana Johnson, editor-in-chief of the Washington Free Beacon. More

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      in US Politics

      Senate Republicans set to block advancement of Ukraine-Israel aid bill

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      The Senate will hold a key procedural vote on whether to advance a supplemental funding bill that includes financial aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan as well as provisions aimed at bolstering border security.The vote, which will be held on Wednesday afternoon, is expected to fail due to opposition from Senate Republicans, who have demanded stricter border regulations in exchange for their support.The vote comes one day after Senate Democrats formally unveiled the $111bn supplemental security bill, reflecting the funding request that Joe Biden issued in October to provide assistance to the US’s allies abroad.Ahead of the vote, Biden delivered an address to urge Congress to pass the bill, warning that a failure to act would only benefit Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, in the war against Ukraine.“Who is prepared to walk away from holding Putin accountable for this behavior? Who among us is really prepared to do that?” Biden said. “I’m not prepared to walk away, and I don’t think the American people are either.”Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, addressed leaders of the G7 group of nations and called on them to confound Vladimir Putin by winning “the battle of motivations” and not showing weakness.The G7 leaders met by video at short notice in a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian leader that included trying to breathe new life into the sanctions against Russia.Zelenskiy thanked G7 leaders for their support, and warned that Moscow was counting on collapse of western support for Ukraine. “Russia believes America and Europe will show weakness and will not maintain support for Ukraine at the proper level. Putin believes the free world will not fully enforce its own sanctions and the Russian elite mocks the world’s doubts about using Russian assets to compensate for damage from Russian aggression,” he said.“All these are part of a much broader issue – what can freedom do and what can dictatorships do. We must answer these questions together.”Although the bill includes a number of border security measures, Republicans in both chambers have insisted the legislation must go further in restricting migrants’ asylum and parole applications. Those proposals are a non-starter for many Democrats, making it unclear how a supplemental bill can pass the divided Congress.Biden said on Wednesday that he was willing to make “significant compromises on the border,” but he accused Republicans of taking an all-or-nothing approach to the immigration talks.“This has to be a negotiation,” Biden said. “Republicans think they can get everything they want without any bipartisan compromise. That’s not the answer.”Those tensions spilled over on Tuesday night, when a classified Senate briefing on Ukraine erupted into a shouting match. Zelenskiy was scheduled to speak at the briefing, but he was forced to cancel due to a “last-minute” issue, according to the Democratic Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer.The briefing still occurred despite Zelenskiy’s absence, but Schumer then accused Republicans of having “hijacked” the meeting to discuss border security. Republicans then criticized Schumer for refusing to address the crucial issues that created the current standoff.“Republicans are just walking out of the briefing because the people there are not willing to actually discuss what it takes to get a deal done,” Senator Mitt Romney, a Republican of Utah, said.With no resolution in sight, Senate Republicans are expected to successfully filibuster the supplemental security bill, blocking it from advancing. The impasse increases the likelihood that Congress will fail to approve more aid for Ukraine before the end of the year, as the White House has warned that Kyiv is desperately in need of more financial assistance.“I want to be clear: without congressional action, by the end of the year we will run out of resources to procure more weapons and equipment for Ukraine and to provide equipment from US military stocks,” Shalanda Young, the director of the office of management and budget, wrote in a letter to congressional leaders on Monday.“There is no magical pot of funding available to meet this moment. We are out of money – and nearly out of time.”Even as Republicans have raised serious concerns about the border provisions of the bill, the $10bn allocated for aid to Israel has sparked criticism from Bernie Sanders . In a letter sent to his colleagues on Tuesday, the progressive Vermont senator warned against providing a “blank check” to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, as the death toll in Gaza continues to climb.“No, I do not think we should be appropriating $10.1bn for the right-wing, extremist Netanyahu government to continue its current military strategy,” Sanders wrote. “What the Netanyahu government is doing is immoral, it is in violation of international law, and the United States should not be complicit in those actions.” More

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      Fake electors in Wisconsin first to admit Biden won election and face penalty

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      A group of Republican fake electors in Wisconsin acknowledged Joe Biden won the presidency and agreed they would not serve in the electoral college in 2024 as part of a settlement agreement in a civil lawsuit on Wednesday.The settlement, first reported by the Washington Post, marks the first time any of the fake electors from 2020 have formally acknowledged wrongdoing in a legal case and have faced any kind of penalty. The case was filed by two Biden electors and a Wisconsin voter last year. They sought up to $2.4m in damages, in addition to permanently barring the fake electors from ever being able to serve as presidential electors again.No money is involved in the settlement, according to a copy of the agreement that was obtained by the Washington Post. The fake electors agreed to never serve in an election in which Donald Trump is on the ballot. They also agreed to fully cooperate in any justice department investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.The lawsuit is continuing against Jim Troupis, a Wisconsin attorney who helped organize the effort there, as well as Ken Chesebro, a lawyer who was the architect of the effort to convene false slates of electors across the country.The effort to get pro-Trump slates of electors in place if allies were able to stop the certification of the presidential vote has drawn scrutiny from both federal and state prosecutors. The Michigan attorney general, Dana Nessel, has criminally charged those who served as fake electors there. Chesebro and some of the Georgia fake electors were also charged as part of the wide-ranging Rico prosecution into Trump’s efforts to overturn the election there.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe attorney general of Nevada is also reportedly investigating the fake elector slate there as is the Arizona attorney general. More