Trump shares April Fool’s Day prank announcing he’s suspending his presidential campaign: Latest updates

Donald Trump has been branded “feeble and confused” after he posted an angry Easter message lashing out at “PEOPLE I COMPLETELY & TOTALLY DESPISE”, including DOJ special counsel Jack Smith and Georgia attorney Fani Willis

It was a far cry from the message shared by President Joe Biden who wrote: “To all those gathering in churches and homes around the world today: Happy Easter. May God bless and keep you.”

The Biden campaign seized on Mr Trump’s message, branding him “feeble and confused” for “spewing an unhinged all-caps tirade attacking America and talking about himself”.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump continues to be mocked over his latest grift selling Bibles for $60.

SNL’s cold open poked fun at the venture and Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock also weighed in on CNN saying that “the bible does not need Donald Trump’s endorsement”.

It comes as Republicans are sounding off on Mr Biden after he issued a statement recognising Trans Visibility Day – as it happened to coincide with Easter Sunday this year.

The Trump 2024 campaign joined in the April Fool’s Day fun with a fundraising message saying the former president was suspending his White House run — before saying he would “never surrender”.

Key Points

• Biden campaign brands Trump ‘feeble and confused’ over all-caps Easter message

• SNL’s cold open skewers Trump for selling Bibles

• Trump slammed for posting image of Biden hogtied on back of MAGA truck

• Fact check: Far-right including Trump claim Biden rebranded Easter Trans Day of Visibility

• Trump faces new deadline to pay $175m fraud bond this week

• Trump campaign sends out April Fool’s Day fundraising message

Trump Media & Technology Group lost $58m in 2023

17:15 , Oliver O’Connell

Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform, has posted new financial statements in a filing to the Securities & Exchange Commission today that give deep insight into the financial health of the company that went public last week.

Story continues

In 2023, the firm generated just $4.1m in revenue, while racking up $58m in losses. In line with the “meme stock” craze the company’s dollar valuation at somewhere north of $6bn therefore defies logic.

As of 12.15pm the stock price was down 18 per cent on the opening at around $50/share. When listed the company was valued at $78/share.

American Egg Board forced to respond to GOP conspiracy about White House Easter event

17:00 , Oliver O’Connell

On Monday, thousands of children and their families will gather on the White House South Lawn for the annual Egg Roll, an Easter tradition that dates back to the nineteenth century.

But this year’s celebrations have been marred as Republican politicians and commentators falsely accused President Joe Biden’s administration of banning religious themes and symbols from the celebration’s art contest — failing to note that the policy has been in place during every administration for almost 50 years.

Katie Hawkinson reports:

American Egg Board forced to respond to GOP conspiracy about White House Easter event

In pictures: White House Easter Egg roll

16:38 , Oliver O’Connell

Trump criticised for staying silent on Baltimore bridge collapse

16:30 , Oliver O’Connell

Despite continuing to post attacks against Joe Biden on social media, including a problematic picture of him hogtied at the back of a Maga truck, Donald Trump has remained largely silent on the Baltimore bridge collapse.

Since Tuesday night when a cargo ship slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, killing six people, all immigrants, the former president has only posted one clip of Sean Hannity criticising President Joe Biden for making only a brief remark and “making it all about himself by mentioning his personal connection”.

Mr Trump, who is usually known for his consistent and repeated posts on social media on any topic in the national news, is being criticised for remaining largely silent.

Republican strategist Scott Reed said this silence from Mr Trump is “a little weird,” journalist Mike Sington shared on Twitter.

“It was a national tragedy, it’s going to cost $2 billion, it’s going to screw up a lot of people’s lives and impact goods travelling around the world,” Mr Reed said, according to Mr Sington’s post on X.

“At a minimum, express sympathy toward the poor six men that died that were doing their jobs on the midnight shift, keeping commerce flowing.”

Trump campaign emails April Fool’s Day fundraising message

16:18 , Oliver O’Connell

Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign joined in the April Fool’s Day fun this morning in its latest fundraising email, which went out with the subject line “I’m suspending my campaign…”

The body of the email then read: “Just Kidding — Happy April Fools Day”, before rattling through a now familiar list of his current complaints and conspiracies about the Biden administration: “Open borders, skyrocketing crime, record inflation, targeted prosecutions, humiliation overseas.”

A further message asked: “Did you really think I’d suspend my campaign?”

“I will never stop fighting for the American people. I WILL NEVER SURRENDER! We can’t sit back and watch Crooked Joe Biden continue to destroy our GREAT country.”

Trump ‘threatens’ Biden with image of president bound and kidnapped in back of Maga truck

16:00 , Oliver O’Connell

The former president has been heavily criticised on social media after he shared a video of Maga-branded pickup trucks that included an image of president Joe Biden kidnapped and bound in the back.

Mr Trump posted the video with little added commentary on Truth Social. It shows two passing trucks decked out with flags and messages including “Trump 2024”.

Read the full story here:

Trump ‘threatens’ Biden with image of president bound and kidnapped

Trump lawyer Alina Habba celebrates 40th birthday at Mar-a-Lago

15:30 , Oliver O’Connell

Donald Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba celebrated her 40th birthday over the weekend with a Hermes-themed party at Mar-a-Lago alongside the former president and former first lady Melania Trump.

Her cake included a figure of Ms Habba perched atop the courthouse in Lower Manhattan where she hasn’t exactly had a great record in defending Mr Trump…

Watch LIVE: The Bidens host Easter Egg Roll at White House

15:01 , Oliver O’Connell

Fact check: Far-right including Trump claim Biden rebranded Easter Trans Day of Visibility

14:30 , Oliver O’Connell

On Monday, thousands of children and their families will gather on the White House South Lawn for the annual Egg Roll, an Easter tradition that dates back to the nineteenth century.

But this year’s celebrations have been marred as Republican politicians and commentators falsely accused President Joe Biden’s administration of banning religious themes and symbols from the celebration’s art contest — failing to note that the policy has been in place during every administration for almost 50 years.

Much of the backlash began after Fox News published an article with the headline, “Religious-themed designs banned from White House Easter egg art contest,” citing a poster about the event that said religious symbols and themes are banned from submissions. Mr Trump shared the article on his social media platform, Truth Social — however, he did not comment on the article in his post.

The Independent’s Katie Hawkinson debunks the claim here:

American Egg Board forced to respond to GOP conspiracy about White House Easter event

Biden and Trump share Easter messages with very different tones

14:00 , Mike Bedigan

Joe Biden and Donald Trump both made online psots on Sunday in which they wished people happy Easter, though their messages differed somewhat in tone.

Read more here:

Biden and Trump share Easter messages with very different tones

WATCH: Raphael Warnock slams Trump for selling Bibles

13:30 , Rachel Sharp

Trump: ‘Happy Easter to all…including those I totally despise’

13:00 , Mike Bedigan

Trump faces new deadline to pay $175m fraud bond this week

12:30 , Rachel Sharp

Last month, Donald Trump was handed an extraordinary lifeline as deadline day for the payment of his $464m fraud bond dawned – and a panel of state Appellate Division judges unexpectedly granted him a 10-day extension to pay just $175m of the total judgement.

Now, that new deadline is looming this week, with the former president having until Thursday to be the new amount.

Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in March that the Republican presidential candidate must pay $354m in fines and a further $110m plus in interest ($464m, all in) over a decade-long scheme where he inflated the value of Trump Organization assets in order to obtain favourable loans from banks and insurers.

As the interest ticked ever-upwards at 9 per cent or $120,000 a day, the exact total he owed as the deadline arrived was closer to $468.1m, with his lawyers arguing that he had been unable to find a bond company willing to stump up the cash.

Mr Trump has since pledged on Truth Social that he would “abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities or cash”.

The Independent’s Joe Sommerlad has all the details:

Trump handed lifeline over $464m fraud bond. Here’s what you need to know

Trump slammed for posting image of Biden hogtied on back of MAGA truck

12:00 , Rachel Sharp

Former president Donald Trump is being heavily criticised on social media after he shared a video of MAGA-branded pickup trucks that included an image of president Joe Biden kidnapped and bound in the back.

Mr Trump posted the video with little added commentary on Truth Social. It shows two passing trucks decked out with flags and messages including “Trump 2024”.

On the back of one of the trucks is an image of President Biden with his hands and feet tied.

In his caption, he wrote that the video was taken in Long Island, New York on Thursday.

The US Secret Service responded to the post, saying in a statement that it “does not confirm or comment on matters of protective intelligence”.

The Biden campaign said people need to take Mr Trump’s incitement of political violence seriously.

“Trump is regularly inciting political violence and it’s time people take him seriously — just ask the Capitol police officers who were attacked protecting our democracy on January 6,” said Michael Tyler, the Biden campaign’s communications director.

Biden narrowly leading Trump in new poll — but there’s a catch…

11:30 , Mike Bedigan

John Bowden digs into the numbers of the latest Quinnipiac University poll which has some sort of good news for the Biden campaign:

New poll shows Biden losing to Trump if third-party candidates run

Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock weighs in on Trump’s Bible grift

11:00 , Rachel Sharp

Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock weighed in on Donald Trump’s latest grift.

In an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, the senior pastor said that “the bible does not need Donald Trump’s endorsement”.

“The Bible does not need Donald Trump’s endorsement, and Jesus, in the very last week of his life, chased the money changers out of the temple, those who would take sacred things and use them as cheap relics to be sold in the marketplace,” he said.

“The sad thing is that none of us are surprised by this — this is what we expect from the former president.”

He then pointed out Mr Trump’s various past failed business ventures.

“If he’s not selling us steaks, he’s selling us a school whose degree is not worth the paper that is written on it. If he’s not selling us a school, he’s selling us sneakers, and now he’s trying to sell the scriptures,” he said.

SNL’s cold open skewers Trump for selling Bibles

10:30 , Rachel Sharp

Biden campaign brands Trump ‘feeble and confused’ over Easter message

10:00 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump has been branded “feeble and confused” after he posted an angry Easter message lashing out at “PEOPLE I COMPLETELY & TOTALLY DESPISE”, including DOJ special counsel Jack Smith and Georgia attorney Fani Willis

The former president posted an unhinged all-caps rant on Truth Social: “HAPPY EASTER TO ALL… INCLUDING THOSE MANY PEOPLE I COMPLETELY & TOTALLY DESPISE BECAUSE THEY WANT TO DESTROY AMERICA.”

The Biden campaign seized on Mr Trump’s message, branding him “feeble and confused” for “spewing an unhinged all-caps tirade attacking America and talking about himself”.

GOP lawmaker makes false claim about ‘illegal invaders’ at airport — guess who it actually was…

09:30 , Mike Bedigan

Republican Michigan state representative Matt Maddock posted two images on X on Wednesday night, writing: “Happening right now. Three busses just loaded up with illegal invaders at Detroit Metro. Anyone have any idea where they’re headed with their police escort?”

“We know this is happening,” he added. “100,000’s of illegals are pouring into our country. We know it’s happening in Michigan. Our own governor is offering money to take them in! Since we can’t trust the #FakeNews to investigate, citizens will. The process of investigating these issues takes time.”

Gustaf Kilander explains what was actually going on…

Republican lawmaker mistakes basketball team for ‘illegal invaders’

Remember these? Donald Trump’s $399 ‘never surrender’ gold high-tops

07:30 , Mike Bedigan

The former president unveiled his new branded footwear at SneakerCon in Philadelphia last month.

Here’s everything you need to know about them:

Donald Trump sneakers: Everything we know about the $399 ‘never surrender’ high-tops

Watch: Former Obama official calls Trump ‘Don Poorleone’

05:30 , Mike Bedigan

Trump criticised for staying silent on Baltimore bridge collapse

04:00 , Mike Bedigan

Despite continuing to post attacks against Joe Biden on social media, including a problematic picture of him hogtied at the back of a Maga truck, Donald Trump has remained largely silent on the Baltimore bridge collapse.

Since Tuesday night when a cargo ship slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, killing six people, all immigrants, the former president has only posted one clip of Sean Hannity criticising President Joe Biden for making only a brief remark and “making it all about himself by mentioning his personal connection”.

Mr Trump, who is usually known for his consistent and repeated posts on social media on any topic in the national news, is being criticised for remaining largely silent.

Republican strategist Scott Reed said this silence from Mr Trump is “a little weird,” journalist Mike Sington shared on Twitter.

“It was a national tragedy, it’s going to cost $2 billion, it’s going to screw up a lot of people’s lives and impact goods travelling around the world,” Mr Reed said, according to Mr Sington’s post on X.

“At a minimum, express sympathy toward the poor six men that died that were doing their jobs on the midnight shift, keeping commerce flowing.

Trump and Biden’s Easter messages tonally different

02:30 , Mike Bedigan

Trump’s mental acuity questioned on Fox News

01:00 , Mike Bedigan

Donald Trump’s mental acuity was questioned on Fox News by Democratic strategist, Jessica Tarlov, during a segment of The Five on Wednesday night.

Co-host Jeanine Pirro said, “You know, Jessica, Trump took a mental acuity test and aced it – why won’t Biden?”

Read what Ms Tarlov said in response:

Trump’s mental acuity questioned on Fox News

Monday 1 April 2024 00:30 , Mike Bedigan

Trump ‘threatens’ Biden with image of president bound and kidnapped in back of Maga truck

Sunday 31 March 2024 23:30 , Mike Bedigan

The former president has been heavily criticised on social media after he shared a video of Maga-branded pickup trucks that included an image of president Joe Biden kidnapped and bound in the back.

Mr Trump posted the video with little added commentary on Truth Social. It shows two passing trucks decked out with flags and messages including “Trump 2024”.

Read the full story here:

Trump ‘threatens’ Biden with image of president bound and kidnapped

Watch: ‘My favourite book’: SNL mocks Donald Trump’s scheme to sell bibles

Sunday 31 March 2024 22:30 , Mike Bedigan

Biden celebrates Transgender Day of Visibility

Sunday 31 March 2024 21:30 , Mike Bedigan

Trump: ‘Happy Easter to all…including those I totally despise’

Sunday 31 March 2024 20:30 , Mike Bedigan

In a lengthy and all-capitalised post on Easter Sunday afternoon, Mr Trump railed against some of his usual suspects, including DOJ special counsel Jack Smith and Georgia attorney Fani Willis.

“HAPPY EASTER TO ALL… INCLUDING THOSE MANY PEOPLE I COMPLETELY & TOTALLY DESPISE BECAUSE THEY WANT TO DESTROY AMERICA, A NOW FAILING NATION,” he wrote.

Trump and Republicans unite in fury at Biden after Trans Visibility Day falls on Easter Sunday by chance

Sunday 31 March 2024 19:30 , Mike Bedigan

Republicans, led by Donald Trump, are sounding off on Joe Biden after he issued a statement recognising Trans Visibility Day becasue it happened to coincide with Easter Sunday this year.

Read the full story from John Bowden here:

Trump and Republicans unite in fury at Biden over Trans Visibility Day

Biden: My offer to play golf with Trump still stands

Sunday 31 March 2024 14:45 , Mike Bedigan

‘I don’t think it should surprise anyone that I will not support him’

Sunday 31 March 2024 11:45 , Mike Bedigan

Senator Susan Collins of Maine shocked probably absolutely no one by saying on Thursday that she will not be voting for Donald Trump in November, The Portland Press Herald reported.

The five-term Republican senator, who previously endorsed Nikki Haley in the primary, says she “cannot support” the former president as makes a third run for the White House.

“I don’t think it should surprise anyone that I will not support him,” she said.

Ms Collins was one of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict Mr Trump at his second impeachment trial in January 2021 on charges that he incited the mob that stormed the US Capitol.

During a tour of a medical centre in Portland, Maine, she told media that she would not leave the Republican Party, unlike her colleague Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who has mulled running an independent who caucuses with Republicans.

When asked about the other candidates in November’s election she said she is “not happy with President Biden’s administration” and laughed when asked about Robert F Kennedy Jr.

“Like many Mainers, I don’t like the choice that appears to be coming our way since I do not think either President Trump or President Biden should be president.

“I don’t know what I shall do. It’s a long ways between now and November.”

Republican Senator Todd Young of Indiana has also said he will not endorse Mr Trump.

Watch: Trump’s mental acuity questioned on Fox News

Sunday 31 March 2024 09:45 , Mike Bedigan

ICYMI: Biden raises record $26m in one night for re-election campaign

Sunday 31 March 2024 05:45 , Mike Bedigan

Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and some big names from the entertainment world teamed up Thursday night to deliver a rousing New York embrace of President Joe Biden that hauled in a record-setting $26 million-plus for his reelection campaign.

The mood at Radio City Music Hall was electric as Obama praised Biden’s willingness to look for common ground and said, “That’s the kind of president I want.” Clinton said simply of the choices facing voters in 2024: “Stay with what works.”

Biden himself went straight at Donald Trump, saying his expected GOP rival’s ideas were “a little old and out of shape.”

Moderator Stephen Colbert, in an armchair conversation with the trio, called them “champion talkers” and joked that the three presidents had come to town “and not one of them is here to appear in court,” a dig at Trump’s many legal troubles.

The eye-popping fundraising haul was a major show of Democratic support for Biden at a time of persistently low poll numbers. The president will test the power of his campaign cash as he faces off with Trump, who proved with his 2016 win over Democrat Hillary Clinton that he didn’t need to raise the most money to seize the presidency.

During the nearly hourlong conversation, Obama and Clinton explained just how hard Biden’s job is. They spoke of loneliness and frustration over policies that work but aren’t immediately felt by the public. They gave an insider’s view of the office as they sought to explain why Biden was best for the job.

“It is a lonely seat,” said Obama, who had hitched a ride to New York on Air Force One with Biden.

The talk was by turns humorous and serious, ending with all three donning sunglasses in the mostly dark music hall, a nod to the trademark Ray-Ban sunglasses that Biden often wears.

The sold-out Radio City Music Hall event was a gilded exclamation mark on a recent burst of campaign travel by Biden, who has visited several political battlegrounds in the three weeks since his State of the Union address served as a rallying cry for his reelection bid. Thursday’s event also brought together more than three decades of Democratic leadership.

The music hall’s marquee advertised the big-dollar night as “An Evening with Joe Biden Barack Obama Bill Clinton.” NYPD officers lined surrounding streets as part of a heavy security presence.

Protesters angry at Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza and strong support of Israel briefly disrupted the show, drawing a pledge from Biden to keep working to stop civilian deaths, particularly of children. But he added, “Israel’s existence is at stake.” Hundreds more protested outside in the drizzling rain, many demanding a cease-fire and waving Palestinian flags.

Watch: ‘Trump’s record now is of so much losing’

Saturday 30 March 2024 21:45 , Oliver O’Connell

ICYMI: Trump called ‘opportunistic grifter’ by Capitol police veteran for attending slain NYPD officer’s wake

Saturday 30 March 2024 20:45 , Oliver O’Connell

In a statement to The Independent on Thursday, retired Capitol Policer officer Aquilino Gonell said of Mr Trump: “As the opportunistic grifter that he is, he claims to support the police, law and order, the rule of law yet, he has not met with any officers from Capitol Police who were injured and assaulted or the ones that lost their lives because of his actions and inaction in his attempt to cling to power and the mob that he incited and wanted to lead.”

Gustaf Kilander has the story:

Jan 6 police officer slams ‘opportunistic grifter’ Trump as he attends NYPD wake

Watch: Obama answers what kept him awake at night during Trump’s administration

Saturday 30 March 2024 19:45 , Oliver O’Connell

Analysis: Between Ukraine and Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mike Johnson has a tightrope to walk

Saturday 30 March 2024 18:45 , Oliver O’Connell

Eric Garcia writes:

On Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson made two seemingly contradictory moves.

First, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced he had spoken with Johnson and explained that “quick passage of US aid to Ukraine by Congress is vital.”

Later in the day, Johnson announced the managers for the Senate trial of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after the House voted to impeach him last month. Unsurprisingly, he named House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Greene as managers. He also threw a bone to the far-right by picking MAGA Republicans like Clay Higgins of Louisiana; Arizona’s Andy Biggs, one of the chief election deniers who voted to boot Kevin McCarthy; and Harriet Hageman, who beat Liz Cheney in they Wyoming Republican primary after Cheney vocally criticised the GOP and Donald Trump.

But more surprisingly, he also named Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the firebrand conspiracy theorist and ardent opponent of Ukraine aid, who last week filed a motion to vacate to initiate a no-confidence vote against Johnson.

Johnson’s decision to name Greene to the committee, especially after his talk with Zelensky, shows how the leader of the US House of Representatives has tried to balance keeping conservatives happy while also fulfilling his basic duties of governing: for every one act of governing, he has to pull one outrageous stunt that keeps the extremists in his conference from throwing him into the volcano the way they did his predecessors.

Continue reading…

Between Ukraine and Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mike Johnson has a tightrope to walk

Luttig hails ‘courage’ of judge who aired judiciary’s concerns over Trump attacks on courts

Saturday 30 March 2024 17:45 , Oliver O’Connell

Judge Michael Luttig, the influential conservative and former federal judge who co-authored a report refuting claims of electoral fraud in 2020, has given a stark warning about former president Donald Trump.

In an extensive thread of posts on X, Judge Luttig reacted to the interview given by senior judge Reggie Walton to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins about how “the rule of law can only function effectively when we have judges who are prepared to carry out their duties without the threat of potential physical harm”.

Judge Luttig began: “​​The Nation is witnessing the determined delegitimization of both its Federal and State judiciaries and the systematic dismantling of its system of justice and Rule of Law by a single man – the former President of the United States.”

He continued: “In the months ahead, the former president can only be expected to ramp up his unprecedented efforts to delegitimize the courts of the United States, the nation’s state courts, and America’s system of justice, through his vicious, disgraceful, and unforgiveable attacks and threats on the Federal and State Judiciaries and the individual Judges of these courts.

“Never in American history has any person, let alone a President of the United States, leveled such threatening attacks against the federal and state courts and federal and state judicial officers of the kind the former president has leveled continually now for years.

“But suffice it to say, never in history has any person leveled such attacks and been met with such passivity, acquiescence, and submissiveness by the nation.”

Judge Luttig further wrote: “It is a regrettable commentary on our times that a lone federal judge, The Honorable Judge Reggie B. Walton — because no one whose responsibility it is to do so has had the courage and the will — would finally be left no choice but, himself, to express on national television the profound concerns of the entire Federal and State Judiciaries over Donald Trump’s contemptible attacks on the federal and state courts, the judges of these courts and their families, and the other participants in the judicial process.”

He continued: “It is the responsibility of the Supreme Court of the United States in the first instance to protect the federal courts, the federal judges, and all participants in the justice system from the reprehensible spectacle of the former president’s inexcusable, threatening attacks, just as it is the responsibility of the respective State Supreme Courts in the first instance to protect their courts and their state judges from the same.”

In conclusion, he wrote: “Ultimately, however, it is the responsibility of the entire nation to protect its courts and judges, its Constitution, its Rule of Law, and America’s Democracy from vicious attack, threat, undermine, and deliberate delegitimization at the hands of anyone so determined.”

Watch: Cheney reiterates Trump has all Jan 6 evidence, explaining how that plays to immunity argument

Saturday 30 March 2024 16:45 , Oliver O’Connell

A Republican official pushed Trump’s voter fraud lies while voting illegally NINE times

Saturday 30 March 2024 15:45 , Oliver O’Connell

File this under: Are you kidding me?

The first vice chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, Brian Pritchard, has been fined $5,000 for voting and registering to vote while serving a sentence for a felony.

Administrative Law Judge Lisa Boggs backed the State Election Board’s findings in a 25-page ruling on Wednesday, saying that Pritchard voted unlawfully nine times while under extended probation for felonies going back almost three decades.

Gustaf Kilander has the story:

Republican official who claimed voter fraud found to have voted illegally nine times

Liz Cheney: US can’t survive another Trump presidency

Saturday 30 March 2024 14:45 , Oliver O’Connell

Former Republican Rep Liz Cheney, now a fierce critic of Donald Trump, has reiterated her staunch opposition to the former president returning to the White House in damning comments at an event at Drake University.

Ms Cheney was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Mr Trump, following the January 6 Capitol riot, and one of just two who sat on the House select committee investigating the former president’s role in the events leading up to that day.

Speaking on the impact of Mr Trump on the Republican party, she said “Certainly, what’s happening in the Republican party is dangerous,” Ms Cheney said. “We now have one of our two major political parties that has abandoned the Constitution.”

“We all have a responsibility to encourage our public officials to engage in substantive debate [and] to be respectful,” She Cheney said. “I hope we will walk back from … the edge of the abyss that we’re looking into that has become so divisive and partisan — and so toxic — in so many ways.”

Speaking about November’s general election, she said the former president shouldn’t be so confident that things would go his way as they had in the primaries.

“In a number of these primaries, what we saw was that in some instances, close to 30% of the Republicans said they won’t vote for Donald Trump,” Ms Cheney said. “So although he won, that is not a basis on which someone should go into a general election feeling any comfort about being able to prevail in the general.”

On the importance of Mr Trump being defeated in November, she said: “We know [Trump] tried once not to leave office, and he will have no incentive to guarantee a peaceful transfer of power and to leave office should be selected again.”

“As frustrated as I know people get sometimes with policy disagreements you might have — and I certainly have policy disagreements with the Biden administration — I know the nation can survive bad policy. We can’t survive a president who is willing to torch the Constitution.”

Watch Ms Cheney speak about the former president’s actions on January 6th:

Trump and co-defendants appeal Fani Willis ruling

Saturday 30 March 2024 14:15 , Oliver O’Connell

Donald Trump and eight of his co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case have appealed a judge’s decision to keep Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on the case.

In a filing submitted to the Georgia Court of Appeals on Friday afternoon, attorneys for the former president and his co-defendants claimed Ms Willis should not be allowed to preside over the case and allowing her to do so would result in errors in each trial and public mistrust in the judicial system.

Ariana Baio reports:

Trump and co-defendants appeal ruling keeping Fani Willis on Georgia election case

Biden narrowly leading Trump in new poll — but there’s a catch…

Saturday 30 March 2024 13:45 , Oliver O’Connell

John Bowden digs into the numbers of the latest Quinnipiac University poll which has some sort of good news for the Biden campaign:

New poll shows Biden losing to Trump if third-party candidates run

Biden to visit Baltimore ‘next week’

Saturday 30 March 2024 12:45 , Oliver O’Connell

President Joe Biden will visit Baltimore “next week” with Maryland Governor Wes Moore to tour the site of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after a container ship ran into it earlier this week, leaving six dead and shutting down the city’s port.

The president told the White House pool en route from New York to Camp David for the Easter weekend as she switched to a smaller plane for the flight to Hagerstown, Maryland.

Asked about detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been held in Russia for a year now, Mr Biden said: “I admire the hell out of him.”

The president earlier released a statement to mark the one-year anniversary of Mr Gershkovich’s detention.

Former Pence aide gives nod of approval to Biden ad aimed at Haley supporters

Saturday 30 March 2024 11:45 , Oliver O’Connell

Alyssa Farah Griffin, former aide to Mike Pence, White House staffer in the Trump administration and now co-host of The View, has called Joe Biden’s latest ad pitched at supporters of Nikki Haley as “a savvy move”.

She notes that “MAGA is actively telling us that they do not want Reagan/ Bush/ McCain/ Haley Republicans like me.”

Given further advice to the Biden campaign, she says the president could also lean on support for Ukraine aid and the border security bill in its play for disaffected Republicans.

“For Haley supporters like me, withholding aid to Ukraine is unconscionable.”

Watch the full ad here:

Republican-passed bill removes role of Democratic Kentucky governor if Senate vacancy occurs

Saturday 30 March 2024 10:45 , Oliver O’Connell

Kentucky lawmakers gave final approval Thursday to a bill stripping the state’s Democratic governor of any role in picking someone to occupy a U.S. Senate seat if a vacancy occurred in the home state of 82-year-old Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

The legislation calls for a special election to fill any Senate vacancy from the Bluegrass State. The special election winner would hold the seat for the remainder of the unexpired term.

“So it would be a direct voice of the people determining how the vacancy is filled,” Republican Senate President Robert Stivers said while presenting the bill to his colleagues.

The state Senate voted 34-3 after a brief discussion to send the bill to Gov. Andy Beshear. The governor has denounced the measure as driven by partisanship, but the GOP supermajority legislature could override a veto when lawmakers reconvene for the final two days of this year’s session in mid-April.

The bill’s lead sponsor is Republican House Majority Floor Leader Steven Rudy. He has said the measure has nothing to do with McConnell, but instead reflected his long-running policy stance on how an empty Senate seat should be filled.

Rudy refers to McConnell as a “great friend and a political mentor,” and credits the state’s senior senator for playing an important role in the GOP’s rise to dominance in the Kentucky legislature.

Rudy has said his bill would treat a Senate vacancy like that of a vacancy for a congressional or legislative seat in Kentucky — by holding a special election to fill the seat. The bill includes an emergency clause, meaning it would take effect immediately if enacted into law.

Rudy introduced the bill in February and it cleared a House committee a day after McConnell’s announcement that he will step down from his longtime Senate leadership position in November. The decision set off a wave of speculation back home in Kentucky about the future of his seat.

Cheney lays into Trump over his attacks on judge’s daughter

Saturday 30 March 2024 07:45 , Oliver O’Connell

Former Republican Rep Liz Cheney has lambasted Donald Trump again on social media, this time over his “unconscionable” attacks on Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter ahead of his criminal hush money trial in New York.

Ms Cheney wrote on X: “Trump is repeatedly and maliciously attacking a judge’s daughter on social media. He knows this will bring threats of violence against her and the judge. Trump is depraved and unstable. This unconscionable behavior shows yet again why he is unfit for any office.”

Biden backs Evan Gershkovich, US journalist jailed in Russia for a year

Saturday 30 March 2024 06:45 , Oliver O’Connell

US President Joe Biden said he is working “every day” to secure the release of Evan Gershkovich, a jailed Wall Street Journal reporter he said is being held by Russia as a “bargaining chip”, as he marked one year behind bars.

Mr Gershkovich, 32, became the first US journalist arrested on spying charges in Russia since the Cold War when he was arrested by the Federal Security Service (FSB) last March during a reporting trip in city of Yekaterinburg.

Despite being a fully accredited journalist, he was accused of spying for the US by the Russian authorities, which he, the Wall Street Journal and the US government vociferously deny.

His plight has sparked global uproar and concerns about collapsing press freedoms in Russia.

Bel Trew reports for The Independent from Berlin:

‘Journalism is not a crime’: Joe Biden back Evan Gershkovich, jailed in Russia

Hillary Clinton ‘was right’: Lifelong Texas Republican tells CNN why he is leaving party

Saturday 30 March 2024 04:45 , Oliver O’Connell

Texas Trey, a lifelong Republican voter from Texas, spoke with CNN’s Laura Coates about why he plans to leave the party before the 2024 election in November.

Mr Trey explained that he was a straight-ticket Republican voter before politics began to permeate every aspect of life “from the beer you drink to the stores you shop in”. Coming into 2016 he said his vote for Donald Trump wasn’t so much a vote for him but a vote against Hillary Clinton.

“She didn’t have anything to offer that necessarily appealed to me. I felt the election was hers to lose and the whole thing seemed pretty much seemed to be sewn up as far everybody thought including her, and I was very shocked to learn the next day that he had actually won when I really didn’t think that he would,” Mr Trey said.

Asked if he has any evolution in his thoughts about Hillary Clinton in the wake of the past eight years, Mr Trey chuckled.

“Yes, yes, absolutely … she was absolutely right, she was absolutely right about everything that she said, although I didn’t necessarily pay too much attention to the things that she said but going back in hindsight, it’s very clear.

House GOP invites Biden to personally testify at bungled impeachment probe hearing

Saturday 30 March 2024 03:45 , Oliver O’Connell

Gustaf Kilander reports:

Oversight Committee Chair James Comer has invited President Joe Biden to testify publicly in the flailing House Republican impeachment probe.

This comes after the president’s son, Hunter Biden, testified behind closed doors, but didn’t give Republicans what they wanted – they have yet to find evidence that the president benefitted financially from his family’s foreign business dealings during his time as vice president.

Mr Comer invited Mr Biden to appear on 16 April, an invitation he’s highly unlikely to accept.

House Republican now invites Biden to personally testify in bungled impeachment probe

And here’s the response from Ian Sams, White House spokesperson on Oversight and Investigations:

This week, in wild new conspiracies…

Saturday 30 March 2024 02:45 , Oliver O’Connell

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has aired yet another wild theory about the 2020 presidential election while speaking on a right-wing media outlet.

Ms Greene, a Republican from Georgia, discussed her theory on Real America’s Voice on Thursday morning in conversation with Steven Bannon, the ex-chief strategist to former president Donald Trump who was convicted of contempt of Congress after refusing to comply with a subpoena for the investigation into the 6 January 2021 Capitol riots.

When Bannon and the Georgia lawmaker began discussing the 2020 presidential election, Ms Greene began to discuss baseless conspiracy theories that the results were fraudulent.

Katie Hawkinson reports on what was said:

Marjorie Taylor Greene has a new theory on Trump’s demand to ‘find votes’ in Georgia

Biden-Obama-Clinton’s record fundraiser in New York disrupted by pro-Gaza protesters

Saturday 30 March 2024 00:45 , Oliver O’Connell

Andrew Feinberg reports:

During what Mr Biden’s re-election campaign called an “armchair conversation” with the 46th president, former president Bill Clinton and former president Barack Obama, one protester began shouting “shame on you, Joe Biden!” before being ushered out by security.

And as Mr Clinton began to answer a question about what he missed most about the presidency, another protester began shouting obscenities about Ukraine and Russia before being joined by other protesters.

Continue reading…

Pro-Gaza protesters disrupt Biden-Obama-Clinton fundraiser in New York

Trump and co-defendants appeal Fani Willis ruling

Friday 29 March 2024 23:45 , Oliver O’Connell

Donald Trump and eight of his co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case have appealed a judge’s decision to keep Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on the case.

In a filing submitted to the Georgia Court of Appeals on Friday afternoon, attorneys for the former president and his co-defendants claimed Ms Willis should not be allowed to preside over the case and allowing her to do so would result in errors in each trial and public mistrust in the judicial system.

Ariana Baio reports:

Trump and co-defendants appeal ruling keeping Fani Willis on Georgia election case

Watch: ‘Trump’s record now is of so much losing’

Friday 29 March 2024 22:45 , Oliver O’Connell

‘The train is coming!’

Friday 29 March 2024 22:15 , Oliver O’Connell

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis disputed that her office’s prosecution of Donald Trump for his efforts to pressure state officials in Georgia to change the 2020 election results was in any way hindered or slowed down by the dispute over her relationship with a prosecutor on the case.

John Bowden reports:

Fani Willis denies ethics dispute delayed Trump prosecution

Watch: Obama answers what kept him awake at night during Trump’s administration

Friday 29 March 2024 21:45 , Oliver O’Connell

Hush-money trial: Judge asked to clarify if Trump gag order covers his family and others’ families

Friday 29 March 2024 21:30 , Oliver O’Connell

The Manhattan district attorney’s office has asked Judge Juan Merchan if the gag order imposed on Donald Trump ahead of his hush-money trial applies to comments about family members of court staff after the former president attacked both the judge himself and his daughter three times on Truth Social.

Mr Trump’s legal team responded by saying that they cannot force the former president to do anything the gag order does not require and that to “clarify or confirm” the order would be to expand it. They argue no expansion is appropriate.

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