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      Barr book reveals Trump’s secret to a ‘good tweet’: ‘just the right amount of crazy’

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      Barr book reveals Trump’s secret to a ‘good tweet’: ‘just the right amount of crazy’Ex-president made remark to his attorney general, according to William Barr’s forthcoming memoir Donald Trump told William Barr, his attorney general, that the secret to a “good tweet” was “just the right amount of crazy”.William Barr uses new book to outline case against Trump White House runRead moreThe detail from Barr’s forthcoming memoir leaked out on Monday, via Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post.The Post, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have reported on the contents of One Damn Thing After Another: Memoirs of an Attorney General, which will be published on 8 March.Barr’s title is taken from a description of the job by Ed Levi, appointed by Gerald Ford after the Watergate scandal.Some critics responded to the news that Barr says Trump is unqualified to be president and defends his own handling of the Russia investigation by wondering if the world really needs one book after another by former Trump aides bent on self-justification.Barr, for example, describes a tumultuous Oval Office meeting on 1 December 2020, at which he refused to back Trump’s lie about electoral fraud in his defeat by Joe Biden. On the page, the former attorney general says he tried to resign.But the resignation offer is not described in books by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa (Peril) and Jonathan Karl (Betrayal), which otherwise closely mirror Barr’s description of the meeting.Barr did quit nearly two weeks later, on 14 December.Maggie Haberman of the New York Times, a reporter who had a direct line to Trump during his time in power, has her own Trump book coming out in October.She said the revelations so far from Barr showed that “the cabinet member/person of stature most loved by Maga has become the latest person in a long string who worked for Trump to say he’s unfit”.Dawsey tweeted the tidbit about Trump’s tweets, tweeting: “One bit from Barr book: Trump told his former attorney general the ‘secret of a really good tweet’ was ‘just the right amount of crazy’.”Trump used Twitter as his primary means of communication but he has been suspended from it since the deadly Capitol riot, which happened after he told supporters to “fight like hell” in service of his lie about voter fraud in his election defeat by Biden.The Post reported that Barr and White House lawyers developed a system for dealing with Trump’s more extreme – or “legally problematic” – ideas, such as using an executive order to end citizenship for people born in the US to undocumented parents.The lawyers, Barr writes, “operated like a tag team, so that neither of us would provoke too much of the president’s ire at one time”.“We referred to this as choosing who would ‘eat the grenade’,” Barr says.TopicsBooksPolitics booksWilliam BarrDonald TrumpTrump administrationTwitterUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Putinism is breeding in the heart of the Republican party | Robert Reich

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      Putinism is breeding in the heart of the Republican partyRobert ReichMake no mistake: Putin’s authoritarian neo-fascism has rooted itself in America. The cold war has already come home The world is frighteningly locked in a battle to the death between democracy and authoritarianism. On Sunday Vladimir Putin issued a new threat to the west – telling his defense minister and his top military commander to place Russia’s nuclear forces on alert.It is a new cold war.The biggest difference between the old cold war and the new one is that authoritarian neo-fascism is no longer just an external threat to America and Europe. A version of it is also growing inside western Europe and the US.It has even taken over one of America’s major political parties.The Trump-led Republican party does not openly support Putin, but the Republican party’s animus toward democracy is expressed in ways familiar to Putin and other autocrats.Trump Republicans continue to refuse to acknowledge the outcome of the 2020 election, claiming without evidence that it was “stolen” from Trump. In many states, on the basis of this big lie, they are making it more difficult for people who don’t share their beliefs to vote.In several states they are laying the groundwork for ignoring the popular vote altogether and throwing a future presidential election to Trump or another strongman. They have stopped even pretending to be the party of free speech: they are banning books from schools and prohibiting teachers from talking about America’s struggles against racism and homophobia.Putin’s attack on Ukraine, starting 24 February, and the attack by followers of Donald Trump on the United States Capitol on 6 January 2021 are different, of course, but they resemble one another in their contempt for democratic institutions and their attempts to justify violence by asserting a threat to a dominant racial or ethnic group.Each also represents the logical culmination of leadership by a dangerous narcissist who flagrantly lies about his intentions and his opponents and who sees the world only in terms of his personal power.Donald Trump has long admired Vladimir Putin who, evidence shows, personally authorized a secret spy agency operation to support a “mentally unstable” Trump in the 2016 US presidential election. Believing that a Trump White House would help secure Moscow’s strategic objectives, Russia’s spy agencies were ordered to use “all possible force” to ensure Trump’s victory.Again in the 2020 election, according to a recently unclassified report by the US office of the Director of National Intelligence, Putin authorized “influence operations” aimed at “supporting Trump” and “denigrating President Biden’s candidacy”.Presumably Putin supported Trump in 2016 and in 2020 in part because of Trump’s disdain for Nato. As president, Trump did all he could to undermine the organization, even suggesting the US should withdraw from it. Is it pure coincidence that once Trump was out of office and Nato remained intact, Putin attacked Ukraine?Defending democracy and standing up against authoritarian neo-fascism requires courage. In 2019, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, refused Trump’s demand for help in rigging the 2020 election in the United States, even after Trump threatened to withhold money Congress had appropriated to help Ukraine resist Russian expansion.Today, Zelenskiy won’t be bullied by Putin. He turned down America’s offer to evacuate him, saying: “I need ammunition, not a ride.”Zelenskiy’s courage in the face of overwhelming brute force has fortified Ukrainians now defending their country against invaders.Contrast this with the toadies at the Republican National Committee who in February censured Republican representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois for participating in Congress’s select committee investigating the events of 6 January, and who called the attack on the Capitol “legitimate political discourse”.Also contrast Zelenskiy’s courage with most elected Republicans who still refuse to stand up to Trump. On Sunday, on national television, Senator Tom Cotton refused four times to condemn Trump for calling Putin “smart” and “savvy” and Nato and the US “dumb”.Make no mistake: Putin’s authoritarian neo-fascism has rooted itself in America.It may be possible to prevent Putin’s aggression from spreading to the rest of Europe. But it is not possible to win a cold civil war inside America without destroying the United States – another of Putin’s objectives when he ordered his spy agencies to help Trump.In the months and years ahead, those of us in the west who believe in democracy, the rule of law, human rights and truth, must do everything we can to win back our fellow countrymen to these same overriding values.
      Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com
      TopicsRepublicansOpinionVladimir PutinDonald TrumpUS politicscommentReuse this content More

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      Republican Lauren Boebert compares Ukraine to Canadian truckers’ convoy

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      Republican Lauren Boebert compares Ukraine to Canadian truckers’ convoyCongresswoman says ‘our neighbors to the north need to be liberated’, prompting widespread condemnation The Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert was condemned for comparing the Russian invasion of Ukraine to the clearing of a truckers’ protest in Ottawa, saying: “We also have neighbors to the north who need freedom and who need to be liberated.”‘Don Quixote-like quest’: Ukraine attack and easing Covid mandates leave US trucker protest on the fringeRead moreA former US ambassador to Canada called the comments “reckless” and “dangerous”.A protest in imitation of the Canadian truckers has been making its away across the US. It is expected in Washington this week.Anthony Housefather, a Liberal member of the Canadian parliament, told Boebert that “while it’s good that you are not following the Trump line and are standing with Ukraine instead of Putin, it is sad to hear you compare free and democratic Canada to the invasion of Ukraine.“If you would like to learn about Canada please reach out.”That seems unlikely. Boebert, from Colorado, is a far-right controversialist and conspiracy theorist who since being elected in 2020 has consistently sought attention through confrontation.She was discussing the Ukraine invasion at CPAC, the conservative event in Florida, in an interview with Fox Nation hosts Pete Hegseth and Kayleigh McEnany, the latter a former White House press secretary under Donald Trump.Trump has condemned the invasion but repeatedly praised Putin.Boebert said: “I pray for Ukraine and I wish them the best.”She also praised the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whose response to an evacuation offer was widely reported.“They have a great president right now who really said, clearly, ‘Live free or die’,” Boebert said, reaching for the New Hampshire state motto before paraphrasing Zelenskiy, saying: “I don’t need a ride, give me ammunition. The fight is right here.”She continued, saying: “But we also have neighbors to the north who need freedom and you need to be liberated and we need that right here at home.”Canada maintains emergency powers after trucker blockades endedRead moreIt was a reference to the “Freedom Convoy”, a truckers’ protest which choked downtown Ottawa this month. The protest began against vaccine mandates but morphed into a protest against the government of Justin Trudeau.The prime minister used emergency powers to aid the effort to end the protest, which saw police and protesters clash in the snowy streets of the Canadian capital.Many in Canada and the US reacted to Boebert’s comments with anger.Bruce Heyman, who was US ambassador to Canada under Barack Obama, said the congresswoman’s remarks were “reckless, dangerous and [crossed] every line of diplomacy and decency. Boebert would have been expelled from the Republican party before Trump but [is] now the darling of CPAC.“Canada is our best friend, best trading partner, closest ally and should be treated as such.”TopicsRepublicansUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Trump ignores Farage – and risks midterm elections farrago – with insistence on big lie

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      Trump ignores Farage – and risks midterm elections farrago – with insistence on big lie Analysis: His British friend tried to help but the former president did not want to forget his voter fraud obsession and focus on the future. CPAC loved it but Republicans hoping to take Congress know they are courting disasterThe sagest advice given to Donald Trump all week came from a man who is neither a Republican nor an American.Donald Trump defends calling Putin ‘smart’, hints at 2024 presidential bidRead moreNigel Farage, the British politician, broadcaster and demagogue whose Brexit campaign coincided with Trump’s rise to power, warned his old pal against endlessly fixating on the 2020 election.“This message of a stolen election, if you think about it, is actually a negative backward looking message,” Farage told the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida.“There is a better, more positive message the Republican party needs to embrace and it’s this: ‘We are going state by state, vote by vote to make sure that America has the best, the cleanest, the fairest election system anywhere in the western world.’”Urging an end to the “big lie” obsession is heresy at places like CPAC, the Woodstock of the red meat right. Perhaps no pro-Trump Republican would dare breathe it to the former president, lest he slap them with a demeaning nickname, endorse a primary opponent or blackball them from his luxury Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.But Farage, as foreigner and fellow traveller, may have felt liberated to speak an inconvenient truth: that endlessly re-litigating the last election with false claims of voter fraud could prove a serious liability for Republicans in November’s midterms.The former UK Independence party and Brexit party leader went on: “That negative anger must be turned into a positive. You’ve got to offer the voters of this country a shining city on the hill. You’ve got to give them a vision. People want dreams, people want hopes, and the deliverers of that message are you guys.”The audience sounded receptive enough. And while some CPAC speakers did promulgate “the big lie” – Ohio Senate hopeful Josh Mandel declared, “I want to say it very clearly and very directly: I believe this election was stolen from Donald J Trump” – they generally gave greater emphasis to winning Congress in 2022 and, of course, Trump returning to the White House in 2024.Jim Jordan, an Ohio congressman and close Trump ally, declared: “I believe President Trump is going to run again … I think if he runs, he’s going to win.”But the annual CPAC straw poll testing who should get the Republican nomination raised more questions than answers. Of course Trump won with more votes than everyone else combined. But his 59% was not quite the overwhelming show of force he might have hoped for in what is usually the capital of Trumpistan.There is now a clear alternative. Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, finished second on 28%, well clear of Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state, on 2%.In a separate poll where Trump was removed from the equation, DeSantis won by a landslide 61%.On the other hand, Florida is DeSantis’s home state, so he might expect to punch above his weight here. The governor gave a well received speech on Thursday that notably failed to mention Trump. But the audience for Trump’s address on Saturday was appreciably bigger and brimming with “Trump 2024” badges and caps.Even those sporting DeSantis regalia were not quite ready to back him. David Duffy, 57, a retired insurance worker sporting a giant “DeSantisLand” flag, said: “We want to keep President Trump as our president. We believe he still is our president and, with DeSantis being 42 years old, we want to give him a little bit more time.”Asked for her 2024 preference, Marnie Allen, wearing a “DeSantisLand” cap, said: “Trump, only because I owe him. I think we all owe him to make up for the disasters and because he’s going to go in with a vengeance this time and take care of our fourth level of government: career bureaucrats. He will go in this time and he will take a machete to them.”The 51-year-old from Orlando, who works in higher education, felt compelled to add: “Not a real machete, of course, but a figurative machete.”Unless something dramatic happens – a criminal indictment in New York, say – the nomination remains Trump’s to lose. On Saturday he dropped his strongest hint yet that he does intend to pursue it.The strange Republican world where the big lie lives on and Trump is fighting to save democracyRead moreHe clearly did not get Farage’s memo. Trump told the audience: “The Rinos [Republicans In Name Only] and certain weak Republican politicians want to ignore election integrity also but we cannot ignore it. We have to fix it. Make no mistake, they [Democrats] will try to do it again in ’22 and ’24, and we cannot let them do that.“And the way we [let them do that] is to come to a very powerful conclusion as to what happened in 2020. We stand down to stop talking about it, we stop making Americans aware of the cheating and corruption that went on. That’s really saying, ‘It’s OK, you can do it again.’ We can’t let that happen.”The slapping sound you heard was a hundred Republican midterm candidates planting their hands on their foreheads. Trump is coming to a district near you, with a big lie to tell. It remains Democrats’ best hope of a midterm miracle.TopicsDonald TrumpCPACUS politicsRepublicansUS midterm elections 2022US elections 2024Ron DeSantisanalysisReuse this content More

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      William Barr uses new book to outline case against Trump White House run

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      William Barr uses new book to outline case against Trump White House runFormer attorney general also describes tempestuous Oval Office meeting in which he rejected electoral fraud claims

      Trump hints at 2024 presidential bid in CPAC speech
      In a new memoir, the former US attorney general William Barr says Donald Trump must not be the Republican candidate for president in 2024.Trump ignores Farage – and risks midterm elections farrago – with insistence on big lieRead moreThe man he served between 2019 and 2020, Barr writes, has “shown he has neither the temperament nor persuasive powers to provide the kind of positive leadership that is needed”.Trump, Barr says, has surrounded himself with “sycophants” and “whack jobs from outside the government, who fed him a steady diet of comforting but unsupported conspiracy theories”.Trump hinted again on Saturday that he intends to run in 2024. He did not immediately comment on Barr’s analysis. Last summer, though, he called his former attorney general a “swamp creature” and a “Rino [Republican in Name Only] … afraid, weak and frankly … pathetic”.Barr’s book, One Damn Thing After Another: Memoirs of an Attorney General, will be published on 8 March, its title taken from a description of the job by Ed Levi, appointed by Gerald Ford after the Watergate scandal.The Wall Street Journal, like publisher Harper Collins owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, first reported Barr’s book on Sunday. The New York Times and Washington Post followed suit.A strong conservative, Barr was seen by most as a loyal servant to Trump, the second president he worked for after George HW Bush. The Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren was among those who thought Barr way too loyal, calling him “a disgrace” and “not a credible head of federal law enforcement”.In his book, Barr rejects such accusations, prominently over the investigation of Russian election interference and links between Trump and Moscow.Barr was accused of running interference for Trump, ultimately releasing a preemptory report summary which prompted an objection from the special counsel, Robert Mueller.According to the Times, Barr calls claims he interfered “drivel” and says it was a “simple fact that the president never did anything to interfere with the special counsel’s investigation”.Mueller, however, laid out extensive evidence of possible obstruction of justice by Trump, including the dangling of pardons. In his own report, the special counsel said he could not exonerate the president of trying to obstruct his work.Regarding Michael Flynn, Trump’s first national security adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about contacts with Russians, Barr writes: “Predictably our motion to dismiss the charges led to an election-year media onslaught, flogging the old theme that I was doing this as a favour to Trump.“But I concluded the handling of the Flynn matter by the FBI had been an abuse of power that no responsible AG could let stand.”A former judge appointed to review Barr’s move to dismiss disagreed, saying it was “clear evidence of a gross abuse of prosecutorial power” and represented “highly irregular conduct to benefit a political ally of the president”.Flynn was eventually pardoned by Trump and became a key player in the attempt to overturn the 2020 election.Barr also sought a more lenient sentence for the Trump ally Roger Stone, convicted of trying to obstruct the Russia investigation. Four prosecutors resigned but Barr insists in his book it was “reasonable” to act as he did. Stone’s sentence was ultimately commuted by Trump.Barr also describes a previously reported Oval Office meeting on 1 December 2020, at which Trump pressed his lie about electoral fraud in his defeat by Joe Biden.Barr had outraged many by using the Department of Justice to investigate Trump’s claims. But no evidence of widespread fraud was found and Barr used an interview with the Associated Press to say so.The same day, according to Barr’s book, Trump shouted: “This is killing me – killing me. This is pulling the rug right out from under me.”Echoing accounts of the meeting in Peril, by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, and Betrayal, by Jonathan Karl, Barr says the president slipped into the third person.“He stopped for a moment and then said, ‘You must hate Trump. You would only do this if you hate Trump.’”Barr says he told Trump he had “sacrificed a lot personally to come in to help you when I thought you were being wronged”, but could not support the lie about electoral fraud.After Trump listed other grievances, Barr offered to resign – an offer not reported by Karl or Woodward and Costa.Betrayal review: Trump’s final days and a threat not yet extinguishedRead moreTrump, Barr writes, yelled “Accepted!”, banged his palm on a table and said: “Leave and don’t go back to your office. You are done right now. Go home!”Barr says White House lawyers persuaded Trump not to allow him to quit. Barr finally resigned on 14 December, nearly two weeks later.On 6 January 2021, after Trump spoke at a rally near the White House, the Capitol was attacked. Seven people died around the riot and more than 100 police officers were hurt. More than 700 people have been charged, 11 with seditious conspiracy. Trump was impeached, for inciting an insurrection.In his book, Barr says: “The absurd lengths to which [Trump] took his ‘stolen election’ claim led to the rioting on Capitol Hill.”But he also says Trump’s behaviour did not meet the legal standard for an incitement charge.TopicsBooksWilliam BarrUS politicsDonald TrumpTrump administrationRepublicansAutobiography and memoirnewsReuse this content More

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      Clyburn: supreme court nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson ‘beyond politics’

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      Clyburn: supreme court nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson ‘beyond politics’South Carolina congressman extracted Biden’s promise to instal first Black woman on court

      Opinion: Jackson will be a superb addition to the court
      The supreme court nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson should be placed “beyond politics”, the politician who extracted Joe Biden’s politically priceless promise to instal the first Black woman on the court said on Sunday.Tucker Carlson condemned for Ketanji Brown Jackson ‘Rwanda’ commentsRead moreBiden introduced Jackson as his pick to replace the retiring Stephen Breyer this week.Some Republicans have complained that nominations should not be made on grounds of race or gender – ignoring promises to put women on the court acted on by Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump.Others have complained about how Democrats treated one of Trump’s nominees, Brett Kavanaugh, who denied allegations of sexual assault. Others have objected on ideological grounds, for example Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate judiciary committee, claiming the Jackson nomination was the work of the “radical left”.James Clyburn, the South Carolina congressman and House Democratic whip whose endorsement both propelled Biden to the presidential nomination and produced his promise to pick a Black woman, appeared on Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation.He said: “This is beyond politics. This is about the country, our pursuit of a more perfect union, and this is demonstrative of another step in that pursuit.”Of 115 supreme court justices, 108 have been white men. Two have been Black men, five women. As well as being the first Black woman on the court, Jackson would be the fourth woman on the current nine-justice panel, joining liberals Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor and Amy Coney Barrett, a hardline conservative.Clyburn said he hoped “that all my Republican friends will look upon” the nomination of Jackson as being “beyond politics”.“Let’s have a debate,” he said. “Let’s talk to her about her rulings and about her philosophy. But in the final analysis, let’s have a strong bipartisan support to demonstrate that both parties are still in pursuit of perfection”.No supreme court nomination – or, most observers would argue, hearing or ruling – is ever above politics. If confirmed, Jackson will not alter the balance of a court tilted 6-3 to conservatives by Republican political hardball which gave Trump three picks.Before Biden made his decision, Clyburn and Republicans including Graham and the other South Carolina senator, Tim Scott, championed J Michelle Childs, a judge from their state. Clyburn said it would be important to instal a justice who did not go to Yale or Harvard. Jackson went to Harvard.“It’s more traditional, no question about that,” Clyburn told CBS. “This means that we will continue that tradition, and I am one, as you can see, that’s not so much for tradition. I want to see us break as much new ground as possible.“But … in the final analysis, I think this is a good choice. It was a choice that brings on to the court a background and some experiences that nobody else on the court will have. And I think when you look at not just [Jackson’s] background in the family, life, but also her profession, she was a public defender. That adds a new perspective to the court.”Steve Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas, has pointed out that Jackson has more trial experience than four current justices combined – including the chief, John Roberts.Clyburn also said a successful confirmation process could help Biden politically with Black voters facing difficulties familiar to most Americans, particularly inflation.“When you have an opportunity to make an appointment like you just had,” he said, “and he made an African American appointment, I guarantee you, you see some of that move up. It may not move up with the people who are having income problems, but it will move up to those who have other reservations about the president.”Last year, Jackson was confirmed to the court of appeals for the DC circuit with support from three Republican senators: Graham, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski from Alaska.‘Leaders lead during crises’ – but Biden’s approval rating hits new low, poll findsRead moreThis year, Democrats will be able to confirm Jackson simply by keeping their 50 votes together and using Kamala Harris’s casting vote as vice-president.But on Sunday Mitt Romney of Utah told CNN’s State of the Union he could vote to confirm Jackson.“Yes,” the former presidential nominee said, “I’m going to take a very deep dive and had the occasion to speak with her about some of the concerns when she was before the Senate to go on to the circuit court.“Look, her nomination and her confirmation would or will be historic. And like anyone nominated by the president of the United States, she deserves a very careful look, a very deep dive. And I will provide fresh eyes to that evaluation, and hope that I will be able to support her in the final analysis.”TopicsKetanji Brown JacksonUS supreme courtUS constitution and civil libertiesLaw (US)US politicsRaceDemocratsnewsReuse this content More

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      Republican Tom Cotton refuses four times to condemn Trump on Ukraine

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      Republican Tom Cotton refuses four times to condemn Trump on Ukraine
      Stephanopoulos tries repeatedly to prise comment from him
      Trump hints at 2024 presidential bid in CPAC speech
      The Republican senator Tom Cotton refused four times on Sunday to condemn or even comment on Donald Trump’s repeated praise for Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who ordered the invasion of Ukraine.Vladimir Putin sits atop a crumbling pyramid of power | Vladimir SorokinRead more“If you want to know what Donald Trump thinks about Vladimir Putin or any other topic,” Cotton told ABC’s This Week, “I’d encourage you to invite him on your show. I don’t speak on behalf of other politicians. They can speak for themselves.”The former president’s views are clear. Trump has repeatedly praised Putin and though at CPAC on Saturday he condemned the invasion, he again called the Russian leader “smart”.Cotton, from Arkansas, is a military veteran and foreign policy hawk with reputed presidential ambitions from the hard Republican right. His host on ABC, George Stephanopoulos, tried repeatedly to prise comment from him. Cotton was happy to condemn Putin and praise Ukrainian bravery – and to criticise US allies in Europe.“I know that they say they sanctioned 80% of the banks in Russia,” he said. “Well, Vladimir Putin controls 100% of the banks in Russia. He can use the other 20% to continue to finance his war machine.“It’s time to remove all Russian financial institutions from the international payment system. It’s time to impose sanctions on his oil and gas exports, which he uses as his primary means of financial support.”Stephanopoulos cited Trump calling Putin “smart” and “savvy” and “say[ing] Nato and the US are dumb”, and asked: “Are you prepared to condemn that kind of rhetoric from the leader of your party?”Cotton said: “George, you heard what I had to say about Vladimir Putin. That he is a ruthless dictator who’s launched a naked, unprovoked war of aggression.“Thankfully, the Ukrainian army has anti-tank missiles that President Obama would not supply, that we did supply last time Republicans were in charge in Washington. That’s why it’s so urgent that we continue to supply those weapons to Ukraine.”Stephanopoulos asked: “Why can’t you condemn Donald Trump for those comments?”Cotton said: “George, if you want to know what Donald Trump thinks about Vladimir Putin or any other topic, I’d encourage you to invite him on your show. I don’t speak on behalf of other politicians. They can speak for themselves.“I speak on behalf of Arkansans, who I talked to this week and who are appalled at what they saw in Ukraine and they want me right now to fight in Washington to support those brave Ukrainians.”Stephanopoulos said: “You’re a senior member of the Republican party. Donald Trump is the leader of the Republican party. He said last night again, suggested that he’d be running for president. When Fox News asked him if he had a message for Vladimir Putin, he said he has no message.“Why can’t you condemn that? I feel quite confident that if … a Barack Obama or Joe Biden said something like that, you’d be first in line to criticise him.”Cotton said: “Again, George, if you want to talk to the former president about his views or his message, you can have him on your show.“My message to Vladimir Putin is quite clear. He needs to leave Ukraine unless he wants to face moms and teenagers with Molotov cocktails and grandmothers and grandfathers with AK-47s for years to come.”Stephanopoulos varied his line of attack, asking: “If Donald Trump runs again, can you support him?”But Cotton wasn’t for picking.‘Leaders lead during crises’ – but Biden’s approval rating hits new low, poll findsRead more“George,” he said, “I’m not worried about this fall’s elections right now, much less an election two years from now. I’m focused on the naked war of aggression that Vladimir Putin has launched in Ukraine right now. There’s not a moment to lose. We can worry about electoral politics down the road.”Stephanopoulos tried once more.“Former President Trump was out there talking about it last night. I simply don’t understand why you can’t condemn his praise of Vladimir Putin.”“George,” said Cotton, “again, I don’t speak on behalf of other politicians. They can all speak for themselves.”Cotton’s refusal to criticise Trump – who has few critics in Congress and retains control of the Republican party – was not unique among Republicans but it was widely noted online.Reed Galen, a former Republican strategist now part of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, wrote: “Tom Cotton is wily, like a Fennec fox. He’ll come up, look around, listen, then skitter back into his hole until the time is right.”TopicsRepublicansDonald TrumpVladimir PutinRussiaUkraineUS politicsEuropenewsReuse this content More

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      Romney: Marjorie Taylor Greene a ‘moron’ for speaking at white nationalist event

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      Romney: Marjorie Taylor Greene a ‘moron’ for speaking at white nationalist eventPaul Gosar also spoke at far-right conference, as calls for the censure of the two Republicans ring out again

      Trump hints at 2024 presidential bid in CPAC speech
      Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar, members of Congress who spoke at a white nationalist event in Florida this week, are “morons” with no place in the Republican party, Mitt Romney said on Sunday.Calls to expel Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene after speech at white nationalist event Read more“I’m reminded of that old line from the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid movie,” the Utah senator and 2012 presidential nominee told CNN’s State of the Union.“One character says, ‘Morons. I’ve got morons on my team.’ I have to think anybody that would sit down with white nationalists and speak at their conference was certainly missing a few IQ points.”Greene, from Georgia, and Gosar, from Arizona, spoke at the America First Political Action Conference, or AFPAC, organised by the far-right activist Nick Fuentes. Greene defended her attendance, saying she did not know Fuentes or endorse his views.Calls for the censure of the two Republicans, familiar from previous instances of extreme behaviour, rang out again on Saturday.Ammar Moussa, a spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee, said: “In any other world, Greene speaking at a white supremacist conference where attendees have defended Vladimir Putin and praised Adolf Hitler would warrant expulsion from the caucus, to say nothing of her advocacy for violence and consistent antisemitism is disgusting.“Quite simply, the longer [House Republican leader] Kevin McCarthy gives Marjorie Taylor Greene an unfettered platform and promises to elevate her, the more complicit he is.”The Republican party chair, Ronna McDaniel, said: “White supremacy, neo-Nazism, hate speech and bigotry are disgusting and do not have a home in the Republican party.”But McDaniel and McCarthy lead a party in which the far right is strong, former president Donald Trump its figurehead.McDaniel is Romney’s niece, though she reportedly stopped using his name at Trump’s request. On CNN, Romney mentioned McDaniel’s statement about Greene and Gosar as well as strong words from Liz Cheney, the Wyoming Republican congresswoman and Trump critic.“Talking about how repugnant these white nationalists are,” Romney said, “look, there’s no place in either political party for this white nationalism or racism. it’s simply wrong.“Speaking of evil, it’s evil as well. And, you know, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar, I don’t know them.”Cheney is a stringent conservative but remains at odds with her party. She was not invited to CPAC, the larger conservative event in Florida at which Trump and Greene appeared.In video posted online, Vaughn Hillyard, a reporter for NBC, asked CPAC organiser Matt Schlapp why Greene had been invited despite her long record of extremist behaviour and her participation in the white nationalist event.The strange Republican world where the big lie lives on and Trump is fighting to save democracyRead more“I think it’s great that Marjorie Taylor Greene was on this stage because she was elected by her constituents to have a vote in Congress,” Schlapp said.“[House speaker] Nancy Pelosi decided to strip her of her rights as a congressperson to serve on these committees and Twitter has decided to shut her down.”Hillyard said: “But you’re inviting legitimacy to that white nationalist movement that was just down the road when a member of Congress from the Republican party appears at that event and you bring her here.”Schlapp said: “I’m providing legitimacy to you and your network by being allowed to be in this room. It’s called the first amendment and you are a member of the press and you have a right to be in this room. If I had said you couldn’t come into this room, how would that make America better?”Hillyard asked: “Did you extend an invite to Liz Cheney?”Schlapp said: “No.”TopicsRepublicansThe far rightUS politicsMitt RomneynewsReuse this content More