Trump to rally in Wisconsin after calling Milwaukee ‘horrible’: Live updates (2024)

Controversial Republicans named to House Intelligence Committee

A former White House doctor accused of sexually harassing women and a lawmaker accused of plotting an attempt to overthrow millions of Americans’ votes are the newest members of a key congressional committee that oversees national intelligence information.

Now, Democratic and Republican lawmakers are bracing for the worst after House speaker Mike Johnson tapped two hard-right GOP members for the influential House Intelligence Committee.

The appointments of congressmen Scott Perry and Ronny Jackson – both allies of Trump who face their own legal and ethics probes – have roiled members of both parties and reportedly surprised both the committee’s top Democrat as well as the committee’s Republican chair.

Alex Woodward reports.

Joe Sommerlad18 June 2024 13:45

Scott says he stands by decision to certify 2020 election

South Carolina senator Tim Scott, another contender to be Trump’s vice president, said he stands by his vote to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.

“I will stand by that decision and the next decision to certify the fact that Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States,” the South Carolina senator said on Sunday on ABC News’ This Week.

Scott also said “the Constitution is clear” regarding then-vice president Mike Pence’s decision to certify the results, despite Trump’s unfounded claims that there was widespread voter fraud in the election and that Joe Biden was not the real winner.

Joe Sommerlad18 June 2024 13:15

Trump believes Kim Kardashian ‘betrayed’ him by celebrating Biden win

Ready for a retro celebrity beef?

Here’s Graig Graziosi on Kim K.

Joe Sommerlad18 June 2024 12:45

Hannity makes excuses in advance for Trump’s poor debate performance

Speaking of Fox, here’s Sean Hannity talking with Lara Trump last night and already preparing the ground for negative coverage of their man’s performance at his CNN debate with Biden next week (assuming it happens) by getting in their accusations early that the president will be doped up like an old race horse (see also their reaction to his barn-storming State of the Union address in March).

Joe Sommerlad18 June 2024 12:15

Senior moments: Debate over whether Trump or Biden is the more cognitively impaired continues to rage

Ramin Setoodeh, author of the new book Apprentice in Wonderland, told MSNBC this week that he interviewed Trump six times in the aftermath of his presidency and concluded that he has “severe memory issues”.

Here’s his quote in full:

“Over the weekend, he was talking about how Joe Biden needs to take a cognitive test… Donald Trump had severe memory issues.

“As the journalist who spent the most time with him, I have to say, he couldn’t remember things. He couldn’t even remember me.

“We spent an hour together in May 2021, and then a few months later, I went back to Trump Tower to talk about his time in The White House. He had this vacant look and I said, do you remember me? He said, no. He had no recollection of the lengthy interview that we had, and he wasn’t doing a lot of interviews at that time.

“The American public really needs to see this portrait of Donald Trump. This shows what he is like and who he is and who he has always been.”

The debate over whether the 78-year-old challenger or Joe Biden, 81, is the more cognitively impaired and unfit for office has already raged for months and shows no sign of going away.

If you were watching CNN last night, you might have seen some of this…

…but if you switched to Fox News, the counter-argument was being loudly made.

Sigh. It’s going to be a loooooooooong year.

Joe Sommerlad18 June 2024 11:45

Burgum: Trump ‘winning against Hispanics’

A lovely gaffe here from the North Dakota governor, who could well be Trump’s next veep if he’s looking for a less starry deputy than JD Vance or Marco Rubio, something closer to Mike Pence without that pesky independent streak.

Joe Sommerlad18 June 2024 11:15

Truth Social: Trump works hard to associate himself with US Open champion and exploits ‘migrant crime’ narrative

Here’s Trump dwelling on what he actually cares about: golf and celebrity.

He’s been working mighty hard to associate his brand with US Open winner Bryson DeChambeau in recent days and continues that trend here.

Trump has otherwise been championing his primary candidates, whipping up more “migrant crime” scares and preparing the ground for a future election fraud claim by suggesting that Democrats are registering illegal immigrants to vote, ably assisted by The New York Post.

Joe Sommerlad18 June 2024 10:45

Biden finally goes there and attacks Trump as a ‘convicted criminal’ in new $50m attack ad

After some initial caution, the president has finally begun to use the outcome of Trump’s trial to his advantage, attacking his White House rival as a “convicted criminal” in a new $50m attack ad.

Here’s Eric Garcia on Biden taking the gloves off, at last.

Joe Sommerlad18 June 2024 10:15

Trump guilty verdict sinks Republican faith in legal system – and eats into candidate’s likely support

A new poll conducted by Ipsos shows a decrease in trust in the American legal system among Republican voters since the verdict was handed down in the presidential contender’s hush money trial last month.

A sizable number of US citizens, including independents, questioned whether the outcome was the result of a fair and impartial process.

However, most respondents rejected the idea that the prosecution was brought by Manhattan’s district attorney Alvin Bragg to help President Joe Biden by smearing his opponent and keeping him cooped up in court and away from the campaign trail.

Most significantly, one in five Americans said they were less likely to support Trump for president in November as a result of the verdict.

Per Ipsos:

Compared to a July 2023 survey (49 per cent), the number of Republicans who say they trust state court judges a great deal or a fair amount has dropped ten points, to just 39 per cent . On the other hand, trust among Democrats increased from July 2023 from 48 per cent to 61 per cent in June 2024. Trust among independents is statistically unchanged from July 2023. Republican trust of district attorneys, state attorneys, and prosecuting attorneys (32 per cent) has also declined nine points since July 2023 (41 per cent). Perceptions among Democrats and independents is statistically unchanged (55 per cent and 47 per cent respectively) from July 2023 (50 per cent and 42 per cent).

Republicans are also less likely to say that current or former elected officials get special breaks in the criminal justice system (55 per cent) than they did in July 2023 (72 per cent). Democrats (72 per cent) and independents’ (67 per cent) perceptions are statistically unchanged since July 2023 (75 per cent and 67 per cent respectively).

Ipsos conducted a secondary analysis of the data by cross-referencing responses on how the verdict is likely to impact how Americans vote and if the verdict is important in making that choice. The secondary analysis shows a plurality of Americans say that the verdict has no impact on their likelihood of voting for Trump and it is not important in decision-making process (40 per cent). While 6 per cent of Americans say that they are more likely to support Trump and the conviction is important to how they will vote. One fifth of Americans (22 per cent) say they are less likely to support Trump for the presidency and the conviction is important.

Joe Sommerlad18 June 2024 09:45

Trump rallying in Wisconsin today after calling Milwaukee ‘horrible'

The Republican presidential contender is rallying in Racine, Wisconsin, today, less than a week after he reportedly dismissed Milwaukee as a “horrible” city in conversation with congressional Republicans and a month before that very town hosts the Republican National Convention at which he will formally be offered the GOP 2024 nomination.

How kindly the locals will take to his comment remains to be seen.

Here’s Alex Lang’s report on the insult.

Joe Sommerlad18 June 2024 09:15