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      Trump accepted ‘some responsibility’ for Capitol attack, McCarthy audio reveals

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      Trump accepted ‘some responsibility’ for Capitol attack, McCarthy audio revealsHouse Republican leader says ex-president ‘told me he does have some responsibility’ in clips released by New York Times New audio clips reveal that the House Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, held Donald Trump responsible in the immediate aftermath of the January 6 Capitol riot, and that Trump himself accepted “some responsibility” for the insurrection.The explosive clips were released by the New York Times on Thursday and Friday after an earlier report said McCarthy and the Republican Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, initially believed Trump to be responsible for the attack, and both privately expressed anger against him.Speaking in Seattle on Friday, Joe Biden addressed the reports.“This ain’t your father’s Republican party,” the president said. “All you got to do is look what’s being played out this morning, the tape that was released …“This is the Maga [Make America Great Again] party now … these guys are a different breed of cat. They’re not like those I served with [in the US Senate] for so many years, and the people who know better are afraid to act better because they know they’ll be primaried.“They come to me and say: ‘Joe, I want to be with you on such and such but I can’t because I’ll be primaried, I’ll lose my race.’ Folks, this has got to start to change.”In one released clip, from a 10 January 2021 call with House GOP leaders, McCarthy can be heard answering a question from the Wyoming representative Liz Cheney, who had a leadership role at the time. Cheney asked McCarthy if he believed Trump would resign if Congress passed a 25th amendment resolution, which would declare Trump incapable of holding office.“My gut tells me no. I am seriously thinking about having that conversation with him tonight,” he said. “The only discussion I would have with him is I think [the resolution] will pass, and it would be my recommendation that he should resign.“That would be my take, but I don’t think he would take it. But I don’t know.”In a second clip from 11 January, McCarthy can be heard detailing a conversation with Trump where he asked the former president if he believed he had any responsibility for the attack.McCarthy says: “Well, let me be very clear to all of you, and I’ve been very clear to the president: he bears responsibility for his words and actions. No ifs, ands or buts. I asked him personally today, ‘Does he hold responsibility for what happened? Does he feel bad about what happened?’ He told me he does have some responsibility for what happened and he needs to acknowledge that.”McCarthy did not immediately respond to the release of the audio clips. Nor did Trump, though the Washington Post reported that the two men had spoken. Trump, the paper said, was “not upset about McCarthy’s remarks and … glad the Republican leader didn’t follow through” on his threat to demand Trump’s resignation, “which Trump saw as a sign of his continued grip on the Republican party”.A spokesperson for Cheney said she did not release the tape and did not know who leaked it.In a statement on Thursday, before the clip was released, McCarthy made a blanket denial of the Times report saying that it is “totally false and wrong”.“It comes as no surprise that the corporate media is obsessed with doing everything it can to further the liberal agenda,” he said. “The corporate media is more concerned with profiting from manufactured political intrigue from politically-motivated sources.“Our country has suffered enough under failed one-party Democrat rule, and no amount of media ignorance and bias will stop Americans from delivering a clear message this fall that it is time for change.”The Times story, reporting for which comes from an upcoming book. This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future, by Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, detailed scathing comments against Trump Republican leaders made in the days after the Capitol insurrection.McCarthy reportedly told colleagues in private: “I’ve had it with this guy,” adding: “What he did is unacceptable. Nobody can defend it and nobody should defend it.”McConnell reportedly told senior advisers: “If this isn’t impeachable, I don’t know what is.“The Democrats are going to take care of the son of a bitch for us,” McConnell said, according to the book.Although McConnell criticized Trump publicly for his role in the attack, he voted to acquit the former president in his impeachment trial. He also said he would support Trump should Trump be the 2024 Republican nominee.McCarthy, for his part, did a more complete about-face: he has claimed Trump was unaware of the attack until McCarthy told him it was happening. McCarthy has also condemned the special House panel that is investigating the insurrection and refused to cooperate with its inquiry on conversations he had with Trump after the attack.TopicsRepublicansUS Capitol attackUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Marjorie Taylor Greene appears in court over attempt to bar her from Congress

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      Marjorie Taylor Greene appears in court over attempt to bar her from CongressEffort, brought by voters and liberal groups, to ban Republican for aiding the Capitol attack comes under the 14th amendment

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      The far-right Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared in court in Georgia on Friday for a hearing in an attempt to bar her from Congress for aiding the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.Republican leader Kevin McCarthy considered urging Trump to quit, audio revealsRead moreA lawyer for Greene, James Bopp, tried to portray her as a “victim” of the Capitol attack, rather than an instigator.Ron Fein, for the challengers, said: “The most powerful witness against Marjorie Taylor Greene’s candidacy … is Marjorie Taylor Greene herself.”Greene, who testified, is set to appear on the Republican ballot for Georgia’s 24 May primary and has been endorsed by Donald Trump.The administrative judge overseeing the hearing will present his findings to Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, who will then determine whether Greene is qualified.Raffensperger, a Republican, stood up to Trump when the then president tried to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in Georgia. Raffensperger has said that as a result, he feared for his family’s safety.In a statement on Thursday, Trump incorrectly blamed Raffensperger and the Georgia governor, Brian Kemp, for allowing the challenge against Greene, saying she was “going through hell in their attempt to unseat her”.The effort to bar Greene from re-election was brought by a coalition of voters and liberal groups and comes under the 14th amendment to the US constitution.Passed after the civil war, the amendment was written to prevent anyone sitting in Congress if they have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or “given aid or comfort to the enemies” of the constitution.On Friday, some in the room in Atlanta cheered and applauded as Greene took her seat – prompting the judge to later say such behaviour would not be tolerated. Matt Gaetz of Florida, another far-right Republican and Trump supporter, was in the room. He tweeted: “I’m here in Atlanta to support ⁦[Greene] against the assault on democracy that is this effort to remove her from the ballot.”As the hearing began, Greene tweeted: “Only the People have the right to choose who they send to Congress.”Supporters of Trump attacked Congress on 6 January 2021 in an attempt to stop certification of his defeat by Biden, in service of Trump’s lies about electoral fraud.A bipartisan Senate committee connected seven deaths to the riot. More than 100 officers were hurt. About 800 people, including members of far-right and militia groups, have been charged, some with seditious conspiracy. Trump was impeached for inciting an insurrection but acquitted. A House investigation continues.Organisers of events on January 6 have said Greene communicated with them. Greene has denied it and said she does not encourage violence. In October, however, she told a podcast hosted by Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist: “January 6 was just a riot at the Capitol and if you think about what our Declaration of Independence says, it says to overthrow tyrants.”After the riot, Greene was one of 147 Republicans in Congress who objected to results in battleground states.An effort to use the 14th amendment against Madison Cawthorn, a Trump ally from North Carolina, was unsuccessful, after a judge ruled an 1872 civil war amnesty law was not merely retroactive. In Greene’s case, a federal judge said the 1872 law did not apply.In Atlanta on Friday, Bopp said the challengers were making a very serious charge.“They want to deny the right to vote to the thousands of people living in the 14th district of Georgia by removing Greene from the ballot,” he said, adding that Greene “did not engage in the attack on the Capitol”.Greene met Trump about objections to state results because of concerns about voter fraud, Bopp said. At the time of the riot, he said, she was at the Capitol urging people via social media to be safe and remain calm.“Representative Greene was a victim of this attack,” Bopp said, adding that she believed her life could be in danger.The challenge opened with questioning of a historian about the 14th amendment and uprisings including the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794, which was quashed by George Washington.Ron Fein, a lawyer for the voters who filed the challenge, said Greene took an oath but broke it by engaging in an insurrection. Unlike past insurrections, Fein said: “The leaders of this insurrection were among us, on Facebook, on Twitter, on corners of social media that would make your stomach hurt.”Although Greene was not on the steps of the Capitol, she played an important role in stoking Republican fury, Fein said. The day before the insurrection, Greene posted: “It’s our 1776 moment!” on the conservative-friendly Parler platform.“The most powerful witness against Marjorie Taylor Greene’s candidacy … the most powerful witness in establishing that she crossed the line into engagement in insurrection is Marjorie Taylor Greene herself,” Fein said.Bopp raised frequent objections. When Greene took the stand, the lawyer Andrew Celli became frustrated when she did not directly answer or said he was speculating.Celli asked the court “to acknowledge that this is an adverse witness” and said: “Ms Greene, I’m just asking questions.”“I’m just answering,” Greene said.Celli asked Greene about posts on social media and other statements. Greene repeatedly said she did not recall them.Whenever Celli suggested Greene endorsed the use of violence to interrupt the certification of the electoral votes, Greene said she did not support violence and was encouraging peaceful protest.Celli played a clip of an interview the day before the riot in which Greene referred to “our 1776 moment”. Asked if she was aware some Trump supporters saw that as a call to violence, Greene said that was not her intention and she was talking about plans to object to electoral votes.“I was talking about the courage to object,” she said.The Associated Press contributed reportingTopicsUS politicsUS Capitol attackRepublicansGeorgianewsReuse this content More

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      Leaked audio contradicts Kevin McCarthy’s denial that he considered asking Trump to resign – live

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      US politics liveRepublicansLeaked audio contradicts Kevin McCarthy’s denial that he considered asking Trump to resign – live
      Top House Republican denied he made such request
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      LIVE Updated 10m agoMartin Pengelly (now), Lauren Arataniand Richard Luscombe (earlier)Fri 22 Apr 2022 11.12 EDTFirst published on Fri 22 Apr 2022 09.06 EDT Show key events onlyLive feedShow key events onlyThe Marjorie Taylor Greene hearing on Atlanta is back in session now, with the far-right Republican congresswoma testifying as liberal groups and voters try to bar her from Congress under the 14th amendment to the US constitution, which bars those who have engaged in sedition or rebellion.“Please try to refrain from clapping and shouting,” an official asked attendees, after a raucous opening including clapping and cheering for Greene when she walked in.The judge agreed, saying: “That will not happen.”The hearing opened with a presentation in Greene’s defence. Those seeking to bar her from Congress began with extensive questioning of a historian about what the 14th amendment means and about past rebellions, including the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794, which was quashed by George Washington.The historical conversation continued after the break.Underlining the circus-like aspect of the hearing, the far-right Florida congressman Matt Gaetz was attending and tweeting, at one point criticising the case against Greene and calling the hearing a “Total Kangaroo Court”.House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy spoke with Donald Trump last night about the audio that was leaked to the New York Times that reveals McCarthy was considering telling Trump to resign. Citing anonymous sources with knowledge of the call, the Washington Post reports that Trump told McCarthy that he’s not mad at McCarthy (insert sigh of relief) and that he is glad McCarthy didn’t follow through on that plan. McCarthy has not responded to the leaked audio of his conversations with Republicans. The sources told the Post that House Republicans are waiting for Trump to release his official statement to determine how – and if – they should support McCarthy amid the Times’ report. “If Trump comes out and says [McCarthy] lost my faith and can’t be speaker, that is bold. That will move people. If he puts out a statement complaining — he complains about McConnell all the time and hasn’t threatened his position in leadership,” said one Republican congressional aide who asked for anonymity to discuss private conversations.The far right Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene was cheered into court in Georgia on Friday, for a hearing in an attempt by a coalition of voters and liberal groups to bar her from Congress under the 14th amendment to the US constitution, for aiding the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.Some people in the courtroom cheered and applauded as Greene took her seat.As the hearing began, Greene tweeted: “Only the People have the right to choose who they send to Congress.”The 14th amendment, passed after the civil war, says: “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath … to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”Supporters of Donald Trump attacked the US Capitol in an attempt to stop certification of his defeat by Joe Biden, an attack mounted in service of Trump’s lies about electoral fraud. A bipartisan Senate committee connected seven deaths to the riot. More than 100 law enforcement officers were hurt. About 800 people, including members of far-right and militia groups, have been charged, some with seditious conspiracy. A House investigation continues.Trump was impeached for inciting an insurrection – and acquitted when Senate Republicans stayed loyal.Organisers of events in Washington on January 6 have tied Greene to their efforts. Greene has denied such links and said she does not encourage violence.In October, however, she told a radio show: “January 6 was just a riot at the Capitol and if you think about what our Declaration of Independence says, it says to overthrow tyrants.”After the riot, Greene was one of 147 Republicans in Congress who went ahead with objections to results in battleground states.An effort to use the 14th amendment against Madison Cawthorn, a far-right Republican from North Carolina, was unsuccessful, after a judge ruled an 1872 civil war amnesty law was not merely retroactive.In Greene’s case, a federal judge said the 1872 law did not apply and allowed the hearing on Friday to proceed.Greene’s full tweet as her hearing began read as follows: “Republicans must protect election integrity. It’s one of the most important issues in our country. When the People lose their right to vote and their freedom to choose their representatives, our country is lost. Only the People have the right to choose who they send to Congress.”The hearing opened with a presentation in her defence. Matt Gaetz of Florida, another far-right Republican congressman, was pictured in the room.The hearing is streaming here.The New York Times just released another clip of Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy telling Republican leaders that he believes Donald Trump was responsible for the January 6 insurrection.In the clip, McCarthy can be heard detailing a conversation he had with Trump where he asked the former president whether he believes he had responsibility for the attack. “Well, let me be very clear to all of you, and I’ve been very clear to the president: He bears responsibility for his words and actions. No if’s, and’s or but’s. I asked him personally today, “Does he hold responsibility for what happened? Does he feel bad about what happened?” He told me he does have some responsibility for what happened and he needs to acknowledge that,” McCarthy said in the clip, which was just played live on CNN. The audio comes from a call that took place January 11, 2021.Seems like the special house panel investigating the January 6 insurrection is planning to hold its public hearings in June. The committee had previously suggested that the hearings would be held next month. Representative Jamie Raskin, a prominent Democrat on the committee, has been making the rounds hyping up the findings of the committee to the press. He recently told NBC News: “The hearings will tell a story that will really blow the roof off the House.” He also said that the committee plans on holding the hearings in June.Earlier this week, Raskin told the Guardian that the committee is “going to tell the whole story of everything that happened. There was a violent insurrection and an attempted coup and we were saved by Mike Pence’s refusal to go along with that plan.” The hearings in June will be televised and will be the first time the public will get a direct look at the investigations into the attack that are underway. About 800 people have been charged with crimes committed in relation to the Capitol attack over the last year.The Washington Post obtained records that show Donald Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows was simultaneously registered to vote in three different states – North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina – until last week.“The overlap lasted about three weeks, and it might have continued if revelations about Meadows’s voting record had not attracted scrutiny in North Carolina. Meadows is still registered in Virginia and South Carolina,” writes Glenn Kessler, writer for the Post’s “Fact Checker” column. This isn’t the first revelation that Meadows is registered to vote in multiple states. The New Yorker reported in March that the former South Carolina senator and his wife, Debra, submitted voter registration forms that linked to a mobile home in North Carolina, even though the couple did not actually live there. North Carolina recently removed Meadows from its voter rolls and is investigating potential voter fraud. The irony, of course, is that Meadows has become outspoken about the voter fraud that he believed happened in 2020. Meadows has been critical of “lowered” standards for mail-in ballots.Some analysis about the released audio clip of Kevin McCarthy considering telling Donald Trump to resign: The McCarthy tape is the same rolling crisis of bad faith going on since 2016. Large chunks of the party said, or say in private, Trump is unfit and dangerous. Every race features all MAGA candidates, the divide is who’s coded to donors and backers as secretly believing it too.— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) April 22, 2022
      “The McCarthy tape is the same rolling crisis of bad faith going on since 2016. Large chunks of the party said, or say in private, Trump is unfit and dangerous,” writes Benjy Sarlin of NBC on Twitter. This brings to mind a great piece from New York Magazine by Olivia Nuzzi that was published in October 2020, right before the presidential election. Nuzzi profiles an anonymous Republican source who, like the many anonymous sources who were prolific at talking to the media during Trump’s presidency, privately bashed Trump while publicly supporting him. While McCarthy didn’t hide behind anonymity per se, the leak of the audio clip reveals how pervasive private sentiments against Trump were, just as the breadth of anonymous sourcing that was seen during the Trump presidency demonstrated. The subject of the piece grapples with his anonymous criticism of Trump. “It’s hard to go up against the president of your own party – even if he’s not really a Republican.” And, he notes, “If you don’t like Trump, but you like money, and you’re willing to be vocal about how much we need to reelect him, there’s a lot of money to be made this year.” The source said that while some Republicans may have seen supporting Trump as a way to “prevent the worst stuff from happening”, keeping a close eye on him, he admitted that “it’s definitely self-serving.” “I mean, once you grow up, life is all about contradictions.” Good morning readers of the US politics blog, and happy Earth Day!It’s not such a happy one for the House minority leader and Donald Trump apologist Kevin McCarthy, who appears to have been caught in a lie over whether he said he would seek the former president’s resignation in the aftermath of the 6 January Capitol riot.The backstory is that yesterday, the top House Republican angrily denied claims in a new book by New York Times journalists Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin that he was so outraged with Trump’s incitement of the insurrection that he said he would push him to quit.Unfortunately for McCarthy, there’s a stunning audio recording of him saying just that to Wyoming congresswoman Liz Cheney, whom he helped oust from party leadership when she didn’t follow the would-be House speaker’s reversal back to Trump acolyte.We’ll have plenty more on that today.Developments in the Ukraine conflict can be found on our 24-hour live blog here.And here’s what else we’re watching in the US today:
      Joe Biden travels to Washington state, where he will talk about the climate crisis and reveal steps to “safeguard the nation’s forests”.
      Later, in Auburn, the president will deliver another address about his plans to lower healthcare and energy prices.
      The extremist Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is set to appear in a Georgia courtroom at a hearing to determine if she should be disqualified from seeking re-election for supporting the 6 January insurrection.
      TopicsRepublicansUS politics liveUS politicsDonald TrumpUS Capitol attackJoe BidenReuse this content More

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      Republican leader Kevin McCarthy considered urging Trump to quit, audio reveals

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      Republican leader Kevin McCarthy considered urging Trump to quit, audio revealsMcCarthy told Liz Cheney he was ‘seriously thinking about having that conversation’ with then president following Capitol attack A new audio clip reveals that House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy considered asking Donald Trump to resign as president in the immediate aftermath of the January 6 Capitol insurrection.The explosive clip was released by the New York Times and played on MSNBC Thursday night, just half a day after McCarthy released a lengthy denial of an earlier Times report that said he and the Republican Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, initially both held Trump responsible for the attack, and both privately expressed anger against him.In the clip, which is a soundbite from a call with House GOP leaders, McCarthy can be heard answering a question from Republican representative Liz Cheney, who was in party leadership at the time. Cheney asked McCarthy if he believed Trump would resign if Congress successfully passed a 25th amendment resolution, which would declare Trump incapable of holding office.“My gut tells me no. I am seriously thinking about having that conversation with him tonight,” he said. “The only discussion I would have with him is I think [the resolution] will pass, and it would be my recommendation that he should resign.“That would be my take, but I don’t think he would take it. But I don’t know.”In a statement on Thursday morning before the clip was released, McCarthy made a blanket denial of the New York Times report saying that it is “totally false and wrong”.“It comes as no surprise that the corporate media is obsessed with doing everything it can to further the liberal agenda,” the statement read. “The corporate media is more concerned with profiting from manufactured political intrigue from politically-motivated sources.“Our country has suffered enough under failed one-party Democrat rule, and no amount of media ignorance and bias will stop Americans from delivering a clear message this fall that it is time for change.”McCarthy has not responded to the release of the audio clip. A spokesperson for Cheney, who is also heard on the clip, said she did not release the tape and does not know who leaked it.The Times story, the reporting for which comes from the upcoming book This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future, by reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, detailed scathing comments against Trump that Republican leaders made in the days after the Capitol insurrection.McCarthy reportedly told colleagues in private: “I’ve had it with this guy,” adding: “What he did is unacceptable. Nobody can defend it and nobody should defend it.”Meanwhile, McConnell reportedly told two of his senior advisers: “If this isn’t impeachable, I don’t know what is.“The Democrats are going to take care of the son of a bitch for us,” McConnell said, according to the book.Although McConnell criticized Trump publicly for his role in the attack, he voted to acquit the former president in his impeachment trial. He also said he would support Trump should Trump be the 2024 Republican nominee.McCarthy, for his part, did a more complete about-face: he has claimed that Trump was unaware of the attack until McCarthy broke the news to him that it was happening. He has also condemned the special House panel that is investigating the insurrection and refused to cooperate with its inquiry on conversations he had with Trump after the attack.TopicsRepublicansUS Capitol attackUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Biden announces another $800m in military aid for Ukraine: ‘We’re in a critical window’ – as it happened

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      US politics liveUS politicsBiden announces another $800m in military aid for Ukraine: ‘We’re in a critical window’ – as it happened
      President also announces ‘Unite for Ukraine’ refugee program
      US will take in 100,000 refugees, says Biden
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       Updated 1h agoVivian Ho (now) and Richard Luscombe (earlier)Thu 21 Apr 2022 16.31 EDTFirst published on Thu 21 Apr 2022 09.22 EDT Show key events onlyLive feedShow key events only
      The Florida legislature approved a congressional map approved by governor Ron DeSantis that will severely curtail Black voting power in the state – and also passed a bill dissolving the self-governance status of Disney World. This all took place despite Democrats staging a sit-in on the legislature floor in protest of the new congressional map.
      Joe Biden is scheduled to deliver remarks momentarily in Portland, Oregon on infrastructure. He is then staying in Portland to participate in a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee, before flying to Seattle to participate in yet another fundraiser for the DNC.
      A federal judge temporarily blocked an anti-abortion law in Kentucky that was so restrictive that the two remaining abortion clinics had to halt procedures.
      A federal judge has temporarily blocked enforcement of a sweeping new anti-abortion law in Kentucky that banned abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy and called for a combination birth-death or stillbirth certificate for each abortion. The restrictive law forced Kentucky’s two remaining abortion clinics to halt procedures. NEWS: Abortions can happen again in Kentucky — for now.A federal judge has temporarily blocked the state’s sweeping new abortion law, HB3, which clinics said made it impossible to provide care.If Roe is overturned this summer, KY has a trigger ban that would outlaw abortion.— Shefali Luthra (@shefalil) April 21, 2022
      Despite the efforts of Florida Democrats, the Florida legislature approved a congressional map approved by governor Ron DeSantis that will severely curtail Black voting power in the state.Earlier today, Florida Democrats staged a sit-in on the floor of the state legislature to interrupt the special legislative session.“What we see today is an overreach, and it’s something we see as unacceptable,” Democratic representative Kamia Brown, who chairs the legislative Black caucus, told the Associated Press after the session adjourned. “Today was one thing we could not just take and stand. We’re sick and tired of being sick and tired.”The congressional map passed today favors the GOP in 20 of the state’s 28 congressional districts in an increase of four seats for the party, by eliminating two congressional districts where Black voters have the ability to elect the candidate of their choosing. One of those, the fifth congressional district, which stretches from Jacksonville to Tallahassee and has a voting population that is 46% Black, will be chopped up into four districts where Black voters comprise a much smaller share of the population. Rep. Al Lawson, whose district is on the chopping block in maps passed by FL legislation, tees off on DeSantis “Once again, DeSantis is showing Florida voters that he is governing the state as a dictator.” pic.twitter.com/TUVALHiV1S— Nicholas Wu (@nicholaswu12) April 21, 2022
      Florida will be sued. https://t.co/wkoecH0Qbb— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) April 21, 2022
      Donald Trump is in the news again, this time for…not being on the news? Trump is denying that he stormed out of a televised interview with Piers Morgan, claiming instead that the clip released yesterday promoting “the most explosive interview of the year” was misleadingly edited to give the impression that he shouted “turn the camera off” while rising from his chair in anger. Trump’s team provided audio to US media outlets that suggested that he had said “turn the camera off” after he and Morgan exchanged pleasantries at the end of the interview. “This is a pathetic attempt to use President Trump as a way to revive the career of a failed television host,” said Taylor Budowich, Trump’s spokesperson.“He says it’s a rigged election, and he now says I have a rigged promo,” Morgan said. “What I would say is watch the interview. It will all be there. We won’t be doing any duplicitous editing.”Read more here: Donald Trump denies storming out of Piers Morgan interviewRead moreIt’s been quite a day in Florida. First Florida Democrats staged a sit in on the floor of the state legislature, halting a special legislative session in which Republicans are poised to pass new congressional districts that would severely curtail Black voting power in the state. All while this was happening, the Florida legislature passed a bill dissolving the self-governance status of Disney World.BREAKING: The Florida legislature has passed the bill dissolving Disney World’s self-governance status in retaliation for Disney’s (belated) opposition to Florida’s Don’t Say Gay law. It now heads to DeSantis’ desk to be signed into law.— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) April 21, 2022
      This bill dissolving Disney World’s self-governance came after Disney’s opposition to what critics call the state’s “don’t say gay” law that bars instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.If Florida governor Ron DeSantis signs the bill into law, it could have huge tax implications for Disney – but Democrats also warned that the move could cause local homeowners to get hit with big tax bills if they have to absorb bond debt from Disney.Politico-Morning Consult poll:75% of voters consider themselves “fans” of Disney’s movies and TV shows31% have a favorable view of Ron DeSantis— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 21, 2022
      This week in FL politics:-DeSantis announces a May special session on property insurance (+ other topics?)-DeSantis adds bills affecting Disney to redistricting special session-Lawmakers take up and pass Disney bills-Democrats stage unprecedented House sit-in.It’s Thursday.— Kirby Wilson (@KirbyWTweets) April 21, 2022
      ABC News is reporting that in the coming days, Donald Trump Jr is expected to meet with the House select committee tasked with investigating the 6 January attack on the US Capitol. Sources tell ABC News that the meeting is voluntary and the committee did not have to subpoena the eldest son of Donald Trump. Trump Jr joins his sister Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, as the most recent Trump family members to speak to the panel. An auction of artwork, including pieces by Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, and other personal items owned by the late supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is expected to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars next week.Much of her collection of paintings and ceramics forms a 115-lot modern art auction hosted by the Potomack company of Alexandria, Virginia, in an online catalog. An additional collection entitled “chambers and home” features 145 more lots of miscellaneous curios, including pewter bowls, crystal vases and numerous other personal items.Ginsburg, the iconic human and civil rights pioneer who died in 2020 aged 87 from complications of pancreatic cancer, owned a multitude of artefacts spanning the last two centuries, by artists including Picasso and Warhol.One of the most valuable items is a 1953 oil painting, Presagio-Premonition, by the Mexican artist Gunther Gerzso, which is expected to raise up to $100,000.Among the most personal is a “Gartenhaus natural black mink coat” with Ginsburg’s name embroidered in a pocket. By Thursday morning, bidding for that was already above $2,000, more than twice its original estimate.Ceramics by Picasso, and a Warhol painting of a can of tomato soup, are among the other highlights.“These items are truly tangible pieces of her life and times as one of America’s greatest supreme court justices,’’ Elizabeth Haynie Wainstein, owner of the Potomack Company, told the New York Times.Read more:Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s personal art collection up for auctionRead moreThe much vaunted and heavily promoted CNN+ subscription streaming service, which the network intended to be a value-added supplement to its regular news programming, has folded, less than a month after it was launched.The decision to halt the service on 30 April will be seen as a massive humiliation for CNN, which was relying on its big-name presenters to draw in customers at $5.99 a month.Take up was slow, however, and the new corporate owners of CNN+, Warner Bros Discovery, decided to pull the plug on Thursday. The company’s hopes of 2m subscribers in the first year appeared hugely optimistic, with reports saying it had attracted barely 150,000 in the three weeks since its launch. In a statement to staff attempting to paint the abrupt closure as a reshuffle of resources, CNN’s incoming president Chris Licht said:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}While today’s decision is incredibly difficult, it is the right one for the long-term success of CNN. It allows us to refocus resources on the core products that drive our singular focus: further enhancing CNN’s journalism and its reputation as a global news leader. Breaking: CNN+, the streaming service that was hyped as one of the most signifiant developments in the history of CNN, will shut down on April 30, just one month after it launched. Here’s our initial story – more to come https://t.co/JElI3cVyDF— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 21, 2022
      Black Democrats have staged a sit-in protest in the Florida legislature to disrupt approval of Republican governor Ron DeSantis’s congressional redistricting plans, which they say seeks to eliminate representation for Black voters.According to the Miami Herald, the special legislative session called by DeSantis was adjourned just before lunchtime Thursday as the Black lawmakers began chanting, and were joined in the protest by White colleagues.The Herald reports: “The House was halfway through a three-hour debate on the map when Rep Yvonne Hinson, a Gainesville Democrat, was cut off because she had exceeded the five-minute time limit set for member debate. “As her microphone was silenced, Rep Angie Nixon, a Jacksonville Democrat, walked on the floor with a T-shirt under her suit jacket that read ‘Stop the Black Attack’ and held a sign in protest.“As Black Democrats started chanting and white Democrats joined the protest, House Speaker Chris Sprowls ordered the House in recess and stunned Republicans slowly walked off the floor.”DeSantis has proposed his own redrawn map for Florida’s congressional districts, which the Republican-controlled legislature has said it will pass without change, despite it being lawmakers’ responsibility to draw up boundaries.The governor’s proposal would chop up the fifth congressional district into four new ones where Black voters would comprise a much smaller share of the vote. Critics say his “racist” plan would eliminate the seats of two Black congress members.Read more:‘A racist move’: Florida’s DeSantis threatens Black voter power with electoral mapsRead moreJoe Biden must act to reduce mounting economic pressure by ditching “woke advisers”, Mitt Romney said.The Utah senator and former Republican presidential nominee made the demand in a column for the Wall Street Journal.“A new set of priorities requires a new set of principals,” Romney wrote. “President Biden needs to ditch his woke advisers and surround himself with people who want to get the economy working again.”Romney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about what a “woke adviser” was or who might qualify for the title. The White House did not comment. As midterm elections approach, the Biden administration faces strong economic headwinds. Inflation is at long-term highs, adding to a cost-of-living crisis fueled by the coronavirus pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.Biden’s favourability rating has plummeted as polling shows disapproval of his handling of economic affairs.Read more:Joe Biden must ditch ‘woke advisers’ to fix US economy, Mitt Romney saysRead more
      Joe Biden announced that the US would be providing another $800m military assistance package to Ukraine, in addition to $500m in economic assistance. He acknowledged that he had nearly exhausted the drawdown authority authorized by Congress in a bipartisan spending bill last month, and that he would be making a supplemental budget request in order to continue funding Ukraine as it defends itself from Russia.
      In this same address, Biden announced the creation of Unite for Ukraine, a humanitarian parole program to expedite the migration of Ukrainian refugees from Europe to the US through sponsorship.
      In addition to more sanctions announced yesterday, Biden announced that Russian-affiliated ships are now banned from American ports.
      Ukraine prime minister Denys Shmyhal is in Washington, and met briefly with Biden and some of his cabinet members before Biden gave his remarks. Shmyhal then went on to Capitol Hill, where he met with House speaker Nancy Pelosi.
      A new book by reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns has new details of the days following the 6 January attack on the US Capitol in which Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell, the two top Republican leaders in Congress, privately told associates that they believed Donald Trump should be held responsible for the insurrection. McCarthy has come out strongly against the New York Times report on the book’s findings, calling it “totally false and wrong”. My statement on the New York Times pic.twitter.com/PWi2WkoWzh— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) April 21, 2022
      Read more here: Top Republicans held ‘atrocious’ Trump responsible for Capitol attack, book saysRead moreDelta Airlines will restore flight privileges to the 2,000 customers who were barred from flights for failing to comply with the federal mask mandate, Reuters is reporting. Now that a federal judge has ruled the mandate unlawful and the Biden administration will no longer enforce it on public transit – though the justice department appealed the ruling yesterday at the request of public health officials – Delta said it will restore passengers “only after each case is reviewed and each customer demonstrates an understanding of their expected behavior when flying with us.”“Any further disregard for the policies that keep us all safe will result in placement on Delta’s permanent no-fly list,” Delta said. This will not affect the 1,000 or so passengers “who demonstrated egregious behavior and are already on the permanent no-fly list.”Delta joins United Airlines in overturning a ban on passengers who had been banned for not wearing masks on a “case by case basis.”Here’s the White House readout of the meeting between Joe Biden and Ukraine prime minister Denys Shmyhal:NEW: White House releases readout of Pres. Biden’s meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. “President Biden conveyed the continued commitment of the United States to support the people of Ukraine and to impose costs on Russia.” https://t.co/CzlbOnpowT pic.twitter.com/l0z52cIK6z— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) April 21, 2022
      Now Ukraine prime minister Denys Shmyhal is on Capitol Hill with House speaker Nancy Pelosi. Earlier, Shmyhal spoke with Joe Biden, which delayed his remarks. Ukrainian PM Denys Shmyhal is here on the Hill with Speaker Pelosi today. pic.twitter.com/s7el1TuErZ— Nicholas Wu (@nicholaswu12) April 21, 2022
      After providing an update on Ukraine, Joe Biden is now off to Portland, Oregon to talk about infrastructure and attend a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee.NewestNewestPrevious1 of 2NextOldestOldestTopicsUS politicsUS politics liveJoe BidenRepublicansDemocratsUS CongressHouse of RepresentativesUS SenateReuse this content More

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      Florida Republicans pass congressional map severely limiting Black voter power

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      Florida Republicans pass congressional map severely limiting Black voter powerPlan drawn by Ron DeSantis gives Republicans a significant boost and is one of the most aggressively gerrymandered maps in US Florida Republicans approved a new congressional map that severely curtails Black voting power in the state on Thursday, taking a final vote as Black lawmakers staged a sit-in on the floor of the legislature.The new plan, which was drawn by Governor Ron DeSantis, gives Republicans a significant boost in the state and is one of the most aggressively gerrymandered maps passed in recent months. Republicans would be expected to win 20 of the state’s 28 congressional districts, a four seat increase from the 16 they hold now. It also eliminates two of four districts where Black voters have been able to elect the candidate of their choice. DeSantis is expected to sign the districts into law, and lawsuits challenging the maps are immediately expected.“We are plainly in this map denying minority voters the ability to elect the representative of their choice,” said state representative Fentrice Driskell, a Democrat who represents the Tampa area.Black Democratic lawmakers halted the final debate of the bill Thursday morning just before noon. They took over the floor of the legislature, leading prayer and chants. One member, state representative Dianne Hart, was seen wiping tears from her eyes during the protest, according to the Miami Herald.The Sergeant at Arms removed an Associated Press photographer from the floor of the legislature while the demonstration was ongoing, the Miami Herald reported. The legislature reconvened and held a final vote on the maps while the protest was continuing, according to The Tributary.A focal point of the new maps has been the way it eliminates the fifth congressional district, which stretches from Jacksonville to Tallahassee. 46% of that district is currently Black, and it is represented by Al Lawson, a Black Democrat. DeSantis has openly called for getting rid of the district, saying it is unusually shaped and was unlawfully drawn based on race. After vetoing a proposal that would have allowed Black voters in Jacksonville to continue to elect the candidate of their choice, DeSantis’s map breaks up the district into four pieces in which Black voters comprise a much smaller share of the population.DeSantis and lawyers from his office have said the law allows them to dismantle the district, voting rights experts have said the plan brazenly disregards laws designed to protect the interests of minority voters.Republicans would be favored to win all of those districts.At one point during the debate on Thursday, Representative Randy Fine, a Republican who was the vice-chair of the redistricting committee, explained why he was opposed to drawing districts that prevented minorities from electing candidates of their choice if they don’t comprise a majority of voters.“When we guarantee that a group of people gets to select the candidate of their choice, what we’re saying is we’re guaranteeing that those who aren’t part of that group get no say. Chew on that one for a little bit,” he said. The 1965 Voting Rights Act was designed to prevent this kind of voting discrimination, ensuring that lawmakers could not split up sizable and compact minority communities to dilute their vote.“They’re trying to see what they can get away with,” said Stuart Naifeh, a lawyer at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “It’s pretextual to say that the district doesn’t make sense. He wants to dismantle a Democratic district, and in this case a Democratic district that’s been held for a Black person for a long time and that’s a majority-minority district. So it’s concerning that he’s diluting minority voting strength.”“It seems like it’s got all the hallmarks of intentional discrimination,” he said.TopicsFloridaUS voting rightsUS politicsRon DeSantisRepublicansnewsReuse this content More

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      Top two Republicans blamed Trump for Capitol attack, book says

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      Top two Republicans blamed Trump for Capitol attack, book saysNew book reveals post-insurrection anger from Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, who said of Trump: ‘I’ve had it with this guy’ In the days after the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell, the two top Republican leaders in Congress, privately told associates that they believed Donald Trump should be held responsible for the attack.A new report from the New York Times, the reporting for which comes from a forthcoming book by reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns called This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future, details private conversations that McCarthy and McConnell had with colleagues revealing the extent of their anger toward Trump.“I’ve had it with this guy,” McCarthy reportedly told a group of Republicans in the immediate aftermath of the attack.The leaders floated the idea of impeachment with their colleagues, though both men ultimately voted against holding Trump responsible in Democratic-led impeachment proceedings.On a phone call with several top House Republicans, McCarthy allegedly said that Trump had been “atrocious and totally wrong” and blamed him for “inciting people”. He inquired about invoking the 25th amendment, which involves the removal of a president from office.McCarthy, the book reports, went on to tell colleagues that his plan was to tell Trump to resign. “What he did is unacceptable. Nobody can defend it and nobody should defend it,” he said.Other top Republicans chimed in supporting the idea of moving away from Trump, including Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who said that the party should think of a “post-Trump Republican House” and Tom Emmer of Minnesota, who brought up the possibility of censuring the president. Scalise and Emmer voted against Trump’s impeachment.McCarthy also spoke of his wish that the big tech companies would de-platform Republican lawmakers, as Twitter and Facebook did with Trump following the insurrection, who had also played a role in stoking the insurrection.“We can’t put up with that,” McCarthy said. “Can’t they take their Twitter accounts away, too?”A spokesperson for McCarthy told the New York Times that McCarthy “never said that particular members should be removed from Twitter”.It appears that McCarthy and other top Republicans paid more heed to warnings that their Republican base would retaliate if House members publicly denounced Trump. Bill Johnson, a congressman from Ohio, told McCarthy that his voters would “go ballistic” if they criticized Trump.“I’m just telling you that that’s the kind of thing that we’re dealing with, with our base,” Johnson reportedly said.In a statement to the New York Times, a spokesperson for McCarthy said that he “never said he’d call Trump to say he should resign”.Meanwhile, McConnell met with two longtime advisers over lunch in Kentucky on 11 January, five days after the insurrection. He spoke to the men about the upcoming impeachment proceedings led by the Democrats.“The Democrats are going to take care of the son of a bitch for us,” McConnell said. “If this isn’t impeachable, I don’t know what is.”Several senior Republican senators believed that McConnell was leaning toward impeachment once the proceedings would get to the Senate. The Democratic Senate leader, Chuck Schumer, told associates that he believed McConnell’s frustration with Trump could push him toward impeachment, but said “I don’t trust him, and I would not count on it.”While McCarthy and McConnell acknowledged Trump’s responsibility in the immediate aftermath of the insurrection, both men quickly went back to publicly supporting Trump. In April 2021, McCarthy told Fox News that Trump was unaware that the attack was happening until McCarthy broke the news to him.“He didn’t see it, but he ended the call … telling me he’ll put something out to make sure to stop this.”As the special House panel investigating the attack prepares to hold public hearings next month, McCarthy has denounced the committee’s investigation, refusing to cooperate with its inquiry on conversations the leader had with Trump in the days after the attack.McConnell, meanwhile, has taken a more supportive stance of the committee, saying in December that he believes their investigation is “something the public needs to know”. Still, the Senate minority leader said he would “absolutely” support Trump if he was the Republican presidential nominee in 2024.TopicsUS Capitol attackUS politicsDonald TrumpRepublicansnewsReuse this content More

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      Top Republicans held ‘atrocious’ Trump responsible for Capitol attack, book says

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      Top Republicans held ‘atrocious’ Trump responsible for Capitol attack, book saysNew book reveals post-insurrection anger from Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, who said of Trump: ‘I’ve had it with this guy’ In the days after the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell, the two top Republican leaders in Congress, privately told associates that they believed Donald Trump should be held responsible for the attack.A new report from the New York Times, the reporting for which comes from a forthcoming book by reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns called This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future, details private conversations that McCarthy and McConnell had with colleagues revealing the extent of their anger toward Trump.“I’ve had it with this guy,” McCarthy reportedly told a group of Republicans in the immediate aftermath of the attack.The leaders floated the idea of impeachment with their colleagues, though both men ultimately voted to acquit Trump in Democratic-led impeachment proceedings.On a phone call with several top House Republicans, McCarthy allegedly said that Trump had been “atrocious and totally wrong” and blamed him for “inciting people”. He inquired about invoking the 25th amendment, which involves the removal of a president from office.McCarthy, the book reports, went on to tell colleagues that his plan was to tell Trump to resign. “What he did is unacceptable. Nobody can defend it and nobody should defend it,” he said.Other top Republicans chimed in supporting the idea of moving away from Trump, including Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who said that the party should think of a “post-Trump Republican House” and Tom Emmer of Minnesota, who brought up the possibility of censuring the president. Scalise and Emmer voted against Trump’s impeachment.McCarthy also spoke of his wish that the big tech companies would de-platform Republican lawmakers, as Twitter and Facebook did with Trump following the insurrection, who had also played a role in stoking the insurrection.“We can’t put up with that,” McCarthy said. “Can’t they take their Twitter accounts away, too?”A spokesperson for McCarthy told the New York Times that McCarthy “never said that particularly members should be removed from Twitter”.It appears that McCarthy and other top Republicans heeded more to warnings that their Republican base would retaliate if House members publicly denounced Trump. Bill Johnson, a congressman from Ohio, told McCarthy that his voters would “go ballistic” if they criticized Trump.“I’m just telling you that that’s the kind of thing that we’re dealing with, with out base,” Johnson reportedly said.In a statement to the New York Times, a spokesperson for McCarthy said that he “never said he’d call Trump to say he should resign”.Meanwhile, McConnell met with two longtime advisers over lunch in Kentucky on January 11, five days after the insurrection. He spoke to the men about the upcoming impeachment proceedings led by the Democrats.“The Democrats are going to take care of the son of a bitch for us,” McConnell said. “If this isn’t impeachable, I don’t know what is.”Several senior Republican senators believed that McConnell was leaning toward impeachment once the proceedings would get to the Senate. Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer told associates that he believed McConnell’s frustration with Trump could push him toward impeachment, but said “I don’t trust him, and I would not count on it.”While McCarthy and McConnell acknowledged Trump’s responsibility in the immediate aftermath of the insurrection, both men quickly went back to publicly supporting Trump. In April 2021, McCarthy told Fox News that Trump was unaware that the attack was happening until McCarthy broke the news to him.“He didn’t see it, but he ended the call … telling me he’ll put something out to make sure to stop this.”As the special House panel investigating the attack prepares to hold public hearings next month, McCarthy has denounced the committee’s investigation, refusing to cooperate with its inquiry on conversations the leader had with Trump in the days after the attack.McConnell, meanwhile, has taken a more supportive stance of the committee, saying in December that he believes their investigation is “something the public needs to know”. Still, the Senate minority leader said he would “absolutely” support Trump if he was the Republican presidential nominee in 2024.TopicsUS Capitol attackUS politicsDonald TrumpRepublicansnewsReuse this content More