ReportWire

Tag: APP US & World News

  • Gordon Hayward retires from the NBA

    Gordon Hayward retires from the NBA

    [ad_1]

    Gordon Hayward, who nearly gave Butler a national title over Duke with a half-court shot that just missed on the final play of the 2010 NCAA men’s basketball championship game, retired from the NBA after 14 seasons on Thursday.

    What You Need To Know

    • Gordon Hayward announced his retirement from the NBA on Thursday

    • Hayward averaged 15.2 points in 835 career regular-season games over 14 seasons

    • He nearly gave Butler a national title over Duke with a half-court shot that just missed on the final play of the 2010 NCAA men’s basketball championship game

    • Hayward played for Utah, Boston, Charlotte and Oklahoma City, garnering an All-Star selection in 2017



    Hayward played for Utah, Boston, Charlotte and Oklahoma City, and was an All-Star in 2017. He averaged 15.2 points in 835 career regular-season games, and said he was looking forward to spending more time with his family.

    “Today, I am officially retiring from the game of basketball,” Hayward wrote on social media. “It’s been an incredible ride and I’m so grateful to everyone who helped me achieve more than I ever imagined.”

    Hayward thanked his parents and family, his agent Mark Bartelstein, coaches, teammates, trainers, doctors and friends for supporting him “through countless years and cities, helping me exceed my own expectations.”

    “To all my fans: thank you for supporting me through the ups and downs,” Hayward wrote. “I’ll always cherish the letters of encouragement and the moments we’ve shared around the world. You inspired me to always dream big and improve everyday — and for the young players up next, I challenge you do to the same.”

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Gershkovich, Whelan freed in Russian prisoner swap

    Gershkovich, Whelan freed in Russian prisoner swap

    [ad_1]

    The U.S. and Russia completed a massive prisoner swap with Russia that included Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan, Turkish officials said Thursday.

    The exchange of more than two dozen took place in Turkey.

    What You Need To Know

    • The U.S. and Russia completed a massive prisoner swap with Russia that included Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan, Turkish officials said Thursday

    • The exchange of more than two dozen took place in Turkey; all told, according to the Turkish government, the swap involved 26 people between seven countries

    • Gershkovich was detained in Russia in March 2023 while on assignment in Yekaterinburg on espionage charges, which the U.S. and his employer vehemently denied; he was sentenced last month to 16 years in a maximum-security prison
    • Whelan was arrested in 2018 on espionage charges, which the U.S. similarly denied, and was also sentenced to 16 years in prison



    All told, according to the Turkish government, the swap involved 26 people between seven countries. Ten, including two children, were sent to Russia, with 13 going to Germany and three to the U.S.

    News of the swap was first reported by Bloomberg.

    In a statement Thursday morning, Biden confirmed the release of Whelan and Gershkovich, as well as journalists Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza.

    “The deal that secured their freedom was a feat of diplomacy,” Biden said. “All told, we’ve negotiated the release of 16 people from Russia—including five Germans and seven Russian citizens who were political prisoners in their own country. Some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years. All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over.”

    Biden thanked the allied nations involved in the release, naming Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey, emphasizing the importance of those global partnerships. “This is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon. Our alliances make Americans safer.”

    “Today, we celebrate the return of Paul, Evan, Alsu, and Vladimir and rejoice with their families. We remember all those still wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world,” Biden said. “And reaffirm our pledge to their families: We see you. We are with you. And we will never stop working to bring your loved ones home where they belong.”

    Biden pledged that he “will not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world is reunited with their family,” noting that his administration has secured the release of more than 70 Americans held abroad with such a designation, “many of whom were in captivity since before I took office.”

    The swap serves as a major diplomatic victory for Biden’s administration, which has prioritized bringing home Americans who have been wrongfully detained. In 2022, the Biden administration secured the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was arrested at a Moscow airport and convicted of smuggling and posessing cannabis, in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Earlier this year, the administration secured the release of Marine veteran Trevor Reed in exchange for for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot convicted in a drug trafficking conspiracy. 

    In his Oval Office address last week explaining his decision to step aside from the Democratic ticket and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris in November’s election, Biden said that one of the top priorities for his remaining six months in office is to secure the release of Americans wrongfully held abroad.

    “We’re also working around the clock to bring home Americans being unjustly detained all around the world,” Biden said.

    But it comes at a price: Russia has secured the freedom of its own nationals convicted of serious crimes in the West by trading them for journalists, dissidents and other Westerners convicted and sentenced in a highly politicized legal system on charges the U.S. considers bogus.

    Russia has long been interested in getting back Vadim Krasikov, who was convicted in Germany in 2021 of killing a former Chechen rebel in a Berlin park two years earlier, apparently on the orders of Moscow’s security services. Krasikov was released by Germany as part of the swap.

    Gershkovich was detained in Russia in March 2023 while on assignment in Yekaterinburg, claiming without evidence that he was spying for the United States. Both Gershkovich and his employer vehemently denied the allegations, and the United States considered him wrongfully detained. He was sentenced last month to 16 years in a maximum-security prison.

    The Journal celebrated the reporter’s release with an article headlined, “WSJ Reporter Evan Gershkovich Is Free.”

    “Evan is free and on his way home,” said Dow Jones CEO and Wall Street Journal Publisher Almar Latour and Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker in a joint statement, adding: “We are overwhelmed with relief and elated for Evan and his family, as well as for the others who were released.”

    “At the same time, we condemn in the strongest terms Vladimir Putin’s regime in Russia, which orchestrated Evan’s 491-day wrongful imprisonment based on sham accusations and a fake trial as part of an all-out assault on the free press and truth,” they continued. “Unfortunately, many journalists remain unjustly imprisoned in Russia and around the world.”

    “Evan and his family have displayed unrivaled courage, resilience and poise during this ordeal, which came to an end because of broad advocacy for his release around the world,” they added.

    Whelan was arrested in 2018 on espionage charges, which the U.S. similarly denied, and was also sentenced to 16 years in prison. Whelan, who also holds British, Irish, and Canadian citizenships, was arrested in Russia while using his U.S. passport.

    Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens celebrated the release of “my constituent, Paul Whelan” in a statement posted to social media.

    “Paul, after more than five years, we finally get to say, welcome home,” she said. “You lost your job, your home, and your dog, but we never lost our faith in you.”

    In a statement posted online, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty President and CEO Stephen Capus acknowledged media reports Kurmasheva would be released as part of the deal.

    Capus said the broadcaster welcomed ’’news of Alsu’s imminent release and are grateful to the American government and all who worked tirelessly to end her unjust treatment by Russia.”

    Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen, was convicted in July of spreading false information about the Russian military, accusations her family and employer have rejected.

    Speculation had mounted for weeks that a swap was near because of a confluence of unusual developments, including a startingly quick trial and conviction for Gershkovich that Washington regarded as a sham.

    Also in recent days, several other figures imprisoned in Russia for speaking out against the war in Ukraine or over their work with the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny were moved from prison to unknown locations.

    Pennsylvania lawmakers celebrated the news while pushing for any swap to include Marc Fogel, a Pennsylvania teacher detained in Russia since 2021 for posession of medical marijuana.  

    “Marc is a Pennsylvania teacher with severe health issues who has been unjustly imprisoned in a Russian prison for three years, and as the congressional members who represent Marc and his family, we have been pushing to bring Marc home as quickly as possible,” a joint statement from Pennsylvania Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman and Reps. Mike Kelly, Chris Deluzio and Guy Reschenthaler. “As negotiations are ongoing with the Russian Federation, we respectfully request that any potential prisoner swap include Marc Fogel.”

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Justin Tasolides

    Source link

  • Trump loses gag order appeal in hush money case

    Trump loses gag order appeal in hush money case

    [ad_1]

    A New York appeals court on Thursday denied Donald Trump’s bid to end a gag order in his hush money criminal case, rejecting the Republican ex-president’s argument that his May conviction “constitutes a change in circumstances” that warrants lifting the restrictions.

    What You Need To Know

    • A New York appeals court on Thursday denied Donald Trump’s bid to end a gag order in his hush money criminal case

    • The five-judge panel ruled that the trial judge, Juan M. Merchan, was correct in extending parts of the gag order until Trump is sentenced, writing that “the fair administration of justice necessarily includes sentencing”

    • Merchan imposed the gag order in March after prosecutors raised concerns about Trump’s habit of attacking people involved in his cases

    • The judge lifted some restrictions in June, freeing Trump to comment about witnesses and jurors but keeping trial prosecutors, court staffers and their families — including his own daughter — off limits until he is sentenced



    A five-judge panel in the state’s mid-level appellate court ruled that the trial judge, Juan M. Merchan, was correct in extending parts of the gag order until Trump is sentenced, writing that “the fair administration of justice necessarily includes sentencing.”

    Merchan imposed the gag order in March, a few weeks before the trial started, after prosecutors raised concerns about Trump’s habit of attacking people involved in his cases. During the trial, he held Trump in contempt of court and fined him $10,000 for violations, and he threatened to jail him if he did it again.

    The judge lifted some restrictions in June, freeing Trump to comment about witnesses and jurors but keeping trial prosecutors, court staffers and their families — including his own daughter — off limits until he is sentenced.

    Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing, was originally scheduled to be sentenced July 11, but Merchan postponed it until Sept. 18, if necessary, while he weighs a defense request to throw out his conviction in the wake of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling.

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Study: Gen X, Millennials at higher risk for developing 17 cancers

    Study: Gen X, Millennials at higher risk for developing 17 cancers

    [ad_1]

    Researchers from the American Cancer Society found, in a new study, that American Generation X and Millennials are at a higher risk of developing 17 different cancers when compared to the generations above them.

    What You Need To Know

    • Generation X and Millennials are at a higher risk of developing 17 different cancers when compared to the generations above them, study shows

    • The study found an increase in mortality trends for various cancers as well

    • The study looked at data on 23,654,000 patients with 34 kinds of cancer and the mortality data on 7,348,137 deaths across 25 cancers

    • They looked at people ages 25-84 from Jan. 1, 2000, to Dec. 31., 2019

    A press release from the ACS confirms the study found an increase in mortality trends for various cancers as well.

    “These findings add to growing evidence of increased cancer risk in post-Baby Boomer generations, expanding on previous findings of early-onset colorectal cancer and a few obesity-associated cancers to encompass a broader range of cancer types,” said Dr. Hyuna Sung, lead author of the study and a senior principal scientist of surveillance and health equity science at the American Cancer Society, in the release. “Birth cohorts, groups of people classified by their birth year, share unique social, economic, political, and climate environments, which affect their exposure to cancer risk factors during their crucial developmental years. Although we have identified cancer trends associated with birth years, we don’t yet have a clear explanation for why these rates are rising.”

    The study looked at data on 23,654,000 patients with 34 kinds of cancer and the mortality data on 7,348,137 deaths across 25 cancers. They looked at people ages 25-84 from Jan. 1, 2000, to Dec. 31., 2019.

    “To compare cancer rates across generations, they calculated birth cohort-specific incidence rate ratios and mortality rate ratios, adjusted for age effect and period effect, by birth years, separated by five-year intervals, from 1920 to 1990,” the release reads.

    The study found that, since 1920, each cohort born has had an increased incidence rate for eight of the 34 cancers. They note that “the incidence rate was approximately two-to-three times higher in the 1990 birth cohort than in the 1955 birth cohort” for the following cancers:

    • Pancreatic
    • Kidney
    • Small intestinal
    • Liver cancer in women

    Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, senior vice president, surveillance and health equity science at the American Cancer Society and senior author of the study, said the increase in cancer rates indicates a generational shift in risk and “an early indicator of future cancer burden” in the U.S.

    “Without effective population-level interventions, and as the elevated risk in younger generations is carried over as individuals age, an overall increase in cancer burden could occur in the future, halting or reversing decades of progress against the disease,” Jemal said in the release. “The data highlights the critical need to identify and address underlying risk factors in Gen X and Millennial populations to inform prevention strategies.”

    The release also noted a higher incidence rate in younger cohorts for these other cancers as well:

    • Breast cancer for estrogen-receptor positive only
    • Uterine corpus cancer
    • Colorectal cancer
    • Non-cardia gastric cancer
    • Gallbladder cancer
    • Ovarian cancer
    • Testicular cancer
    • Anal cancer in men
    • Kaposi sarcoma in men

    The release also states that mortality rates—alongside the incidence rates—saw increases in younger birth cohorts for the following cancers:

    • Liver cancer for women only
    • Uterine corpus
    • Gallbladder
    • Testicular
    • Colorectal cancers

    “The increasing cancer burden among younger generations underscores the importance of ensuring people of all ages have access to affordable, comprehensive health insurance, a key factor in cancer outcomes,” said Lisa Lacasse, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, in the release. “To that end, ACS CAN will continue our longstanding work to urge lawmakers to expand Medicaid in states that have yet to do so as well as continue to advocate for making permanent the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax subsidies that have opened the door to access to care for millions.”

    The study was published in “The Lancet Public Health.”

    [ad_2]

    Cody Thompson

    Source link

  • Boar’s Head expands recall to include 7 million more pounds of deli meats

    Boar’s Head expands recall to include 7 million more pounds of deli meats

    [ad_1]

    The popular deli meat company Boar’s Head is recalling an additional 7 million pounds of ready-to-eat products made at a Virginia plant as an investigation into a deadly outbreak of listeria food poisoning continues, U.S. Agriculture Department officials said Tuesday.

    What You Need To Know

    • Boar’s Head is recalling an additional 7 million pounds of ready-to-eat products as an investigation into a deadly listeria outbreak continues

    • The new recall includes 71 products made between May 10 and July 29 at the company’s Jarratt, Virginia plant

    • The new items include meat intended to be sliced at delis as well as some packaged meat and poultry products

    • Two people have died and nearly three dozen have been sickened in 13 states



    The new recall includes 71 products made between May 10 and July 29 under the Boar’s Head and Old Country brand names. It follows an earlier recall of more than 200,000 pounds of sliced deli poultry and meat. The new items include meat intended to be sliced at delis as well as some packaged meat and poultry products sold in stores.

    They include liverwurst, ham, beef salami, bologna and other products made at the firm’s Jarratt, Virginia, plant.

    The recalls are tied to an ongoing outbreak of listeria poisoning that has killed two people and sickened nearly three dozen in 13 states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly all of those who fell ill have been hospitalized. Illnesses were reported between late May and mid-July.

    The problem was discovered when a liverwurst sample collected by health officials in Maryland tested positive for listeria. Further testing showed that the type of bacteria was the same strain causing illnesses in people.

    “Out of an abundance of caution, we decided to immediately and voluntarily expand our recall to include all items produced at the Jarratt facility,” the company said on its website. It has also halted production of ready-to-eat foods at the plant.

    The meat was distributed to stores nationwide, as well as to the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Panama, Agriculture Department officials said.

    Consumers who have the recalled products in their homes should not eat them and should discard them or return them to stores for a refund, company officials said. Health officials said refrigerators should be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized to prevent contamination of other foods.

    An estimated 1,600 people get listeria food poisoning each year and about 260 die, according to the CDC.

    Listeria infections typically cause fever, muscle aches and tiredness and may cause stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions. Symptoms can occur quickly or to up to 10 weeks after eating contaminated food. The infections are especially dangerous for people older than 65, those with weakened immune systems and during pregnacy.

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Simone Biles to compete in all 4 events at Olympic team finals

    Simone Biles to compete in all 4 events at Olympic team finals

    [ad_1]

    PARIS (AP) — A calf injury isn’t going to slow down Simone Biles.

    What You Need To Know

    • Simone Biles will still compete in all four events of the Olympic team finals despite a calf injury

    • The American gymnastics star tweaked her left calf while warming up for floor exercise on Sunday

    • Jordan Chiles, Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade and 2020 Olympic champion Sunisa Lee, will also compete in all four events

    • The Americans are heavily favored to win gold after finishing runner-up to Russia in Tokyo three years ago

    The American gymnastics star is in the lineup for all four events during Tuesday night’s Olympic team finals.

    Biles tweaked her left calf while warming up for floor exercise during qualifying on Sunday. She retreated briefly to have the calf taped but then returned and posted the top scores on floor and vault on her way to topping the all-around.

    Last week, U.S. team leaders had considered holding Biles out of the uneven bars in team finals to give her a small break during the Games. Instead, Biles will be part of every event during the finals, when three gymnasts compete and all three scores count. Her husband, Jonathan Owens, is expected to be there.

    The Americans are heavily favored to win gold after finishing runner-up to Russia in Tokyo three years ago.

    Biles will go last for the U.S. on three events — vault, floor exercise and balance beam — and will be up second on uneven bars.

    Jordan Chiles, who finished fourth in the all-around during qualifying behind Biles, Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade and 2020 Olympic champion Sunisa Lee, will also compete on all four events.

    Chiles, part of the silver medal-winning U.S. team three years ago, will lead off on vault, bars and balance beam and go second behind Lee on floor exercise.

    Lee will be the third American on uneven bars, her signature event. She will be second on beam and first on floor exercise.

    The only unexpected tweak to the lineup is on floor, where 2020 Olympic floor exercise champion Jade Carey will sit. Carey, who will vault, struggled on floor during qualifying and said afterward she is dealing with an illness.

    Hezly Rivera, at 16 the youngest member of the five-woman team, is not scheduled to compete. Rivera was part of the lineup on bars and beam during qualifying, though her scores on each event were dropped from the team total.

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Djokovic bests Nadal at Olympics in likely last head-to-head matchup

    Djokovic bests Nadal at Olympics in likely last head-to-head matchup

    [ad_1]

    Novak Djokovic dominated rival Rafael Nadal at the start, then held off a comeback attempt to win 6-1, 6-4 at the Paris Olympics in the second round Monday, the 60th — and likely last — head-to-head matchup between the two tennis greats.

    What You Need To Know

    • Novak Djokovic defeated rival Rafael Nadal at the Paris Olympics

    • It was the 60th — and likely last — head-to-head matchup between the two tennis greats

    • Djokovic owns 24 Grand Slam titles, and Nadal 22, the two highest men’s totals in the century-plus history of the sport, both have been ranked No. 1, and no pair of men has played each other more often in the professional era



    Djokovic claimed 10 of the initial 11 games, with Nadal nowhere near the skilled and ever-hustling version of himself that won a record 14 French Open trophies on the same red clay at Roland Garros that is hosting Summer Games matches. Instead, Nadal was diminished, showing every bit of his 38 years, and looking like someone who might be ready to head into retirement after playing only sparingly the past two seasons because of a series of injuries, including hip surgery.

    Then, suddenly, the indefatigable Nadal got going, making a push to turn this contest competitive, which surely no one — least of all Djokovic — found too surprising. Nadal captured four consecutive games in the second set, including a forehand winner to break to make it 4-all. He raised his left fist, drawing roars from a packed Court Philippe Chatrier crowd that repeatedly tried to encourage him with chants of “Ra-fa! Ra-fa!”

    And that’s when Djokovic, a 37-year-old from Serbia, regained control. He broke right back, pointing to his left ear while walking to the sideline as if to taunt Nadal’s supporters. Djokovic then served out the victory, before meeting Nadal at the net for a hug.

    Djokovic owns 24 Grand Slam titles, and Nadal 22, the two highest men’s totals in the century-plus history of the sport, both have been ranked No. 1, and no pair of men has played each other more often in the professional era. They are two-thirds of the so-called Big Three of men’s tennis, along with Roger Federer, who retired with 20 Slam titles. That trio enjoyed unprecedented success and prompted endless debates about which was the “GOAT” — “Greatest of All Time.”

    But Djokovic and Nadal are accustomed to meeting — and fans are accustomed to watching them — in the latter stages of events, including nine major finals. Not merely the second round. It happened that early this time because while Djokovic is the top seed at the Summer Games, Nadal’s ranking is outside the top 150 on account of a lack of matches.

    Part of Nadal’s troubles Monday were caused by not being in tip-top shape. His right thigh has been taped up during these Olympics, where he is also competing in doubles for Spain with Carlos Alcaraz.

    And part of the problem, to be sure, was that Djokovic was, well, the best version of himself other than during that brief stretch in the second set, sliding along the baseline to get to everything, striking shots exactly where he wanted them, occasionally using drop shots to set up winners and force Nadal to run a lot. Djokovic wore a gray sleeve on his right knee, just as he did while making it to the final at Wimbledon three weeks ago. He tore his meniscus during the French Open in early June and had surgery in Paris.

    None of that mattered on this warm afternoon under a cloudless sky, with the temperature in the 80s Fahrenheit. Folks in the stands waved fans in an attempt to stay cool; both players wore cold white towels around their necks during changeovers.

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Biden calls for Supreme Court term limits, amendment to reverse immunity ruling

    Biden calls for Supreme Court term limits, amendment to reverse immunity ruling

    [ad_1]

    President Joe Biden on Monday unveiled his long-awaited proposals to reform the Supreme Court, calling for a binding code of conduct and term limits for justices on the high bench.

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden on Monday unveiled his long-awaited proposals to reform the Supreme Court, calling for a binding code of conduct and term limits for justices on the high bench

    • He also urged lawmakers to pass a constitutional amendment that would limit presidential immunity following the high court’s ruling earlier this month shielding presidents from criminal prosecution for official acts

    • While unlikely to be passed into law, given Democrats’ narrow majority of the U.S. Senate and Republican control of the House of Representatives, it will no doubt serve to highlight the stakes of November’s election with 99 days to go until Election Day — and put the Supreme Court and its 6-3 conservative majority in the spotlight
    • Biden is expected to address his proposal in remarks in Austin later Monday from the LBJ Presidential Library



    The Democratic president also urged lawmakers to pass a constitutional amendment that would limit presidential immunity following the high court’s ruling earlier this month shielding presidents from criminal prosecution for official acts.

    “This nation was founded on a simple yet profound principle: No one is above the law. Not the president of the United States,” Biden wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post. “Not a justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. No one.”

    “But the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision on July 1 to grant presidents broad immunity from prosecution for crimes they commit in office means there are virtually no limits on what a president can do. The only limits will be those that are self-imposed by the person occupying the Oval Office,” he continued. “If a future president incites a violent mob to storm the Capitol and stop the peaceful transfer of power — like we saw on Jan. 6, 2021 — there may be no legal consequences. And that’s only the beginning.”

    Biden, in his proposal, specifically calls for:

    • Term limits: Biden supports a Congress passing legislation allowing a president every two years to appoint a justice to serve an 18-year term in active service on the court
    • A binding code of conduct: The president urged Congress to enact a “binding, enforceable conduct and ethics rules” that mandate a justice disclose gifts, refrain from outward political activity and recuse themselves when they or a spouse have conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise
    • Immunity amendment: Biden called for lawmakers to pass the No One Is Above the Law Amendment, which would say that the U.S. Constitution does not shield a president ffrom immunity for criminal activity

    “I served as a U.S. senator for 36 years, including as chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. I have overseen more Supreme Court nominations as senator, vice president and president than anyone living today. I have great respect for our institutions and the separation of powers,” Biden wrote in his op-ed. “What is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms. We now stand in a breach.”

    While unlikely to be passed into law, given Democrats’ narrow majority of the U.S. Senate and Republican control of the House of Representatives, it will no doubt serve to highlight the stakes of November’s election with 99 days to go until Election Day — and put the Supreme Court and its 6-3 conservative majority in the spotlight.

    Former President Donald Trump nominated three justices to the federal bench during his sole White House term, including Justice Neil Gorsuch, who filled a vacancy that opened up during the Obama administration that Senate Republicans refused to allow the Democratic president to fill, and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who replaced liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg just weeks before the 2020 presidential election.

    The high court’s conservative majority issued opinions that greatly expanded gun rights, overturned major decisions on federal regulatory powers, and, arguably most notably, reversed the landmark ruling that guaranteed the nationwide right to an abortion in 2022. 

    Biden’s proposed changes also come amid outcry from Democrats and ethics watchdogs about scandals involving some of the court’s members. Justice Clarence Thomas faced scrutiny after failing to disclose luxury trips from a Republican megadonor, while fellow conservative Justice Samuel Alito rebuffed calls to recuse himself from cases involving Trump and Jan. 6 defendants after it was revealed that flags associated with efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election flew over his homes.   

    Biden is expected to expand on his proposal during remarks at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in Austin later Monday. The plan comes a little more than a week after Biden announced he would not run for reelection and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place at the top of the Democratic ticket.

    Harris backed Biden’s call for reform, saying that they both “believe that the American people must have confidence in the Supreme Court.”

    “Yet today, there is a clear crisis of confidence facing the Supreme Court as its fairness has been called into question after numerous ethics scandals and decision after decision overturning long-standing precedent,” Harris said.

    “These popular reforms will help to restore confidence in the Court, strengthen our democracy, and ensure no one is above the law,” she added.

    Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has accused Biden and Democrats of attempting to “Play the Ref” with such reforms.

    “The Democrats are attempting to interfere in the Presidential Election, and destroy our Justice System, by attacking their Political Opponent, ME, and our Honorable Supreme Court,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform earlier this month. “We have to fight for our Fair and Independent Courts, and protect our Country.”

    Biden’s proposed reforms notably do not call for an expansion of the court, which some Democrats have called for in the wake of Trump’s reshaping of the bench, but the Democratic president has expressed skepticism about. 

    [ad_2]

    Justin Tasolides

    Source link

  • Blood tests for Alzheimer’s may be coming to your doctor’s office

    Blood tests for Alzheimer’s may be coming to your doctor’s office

    [ad_1]

    New blood tests could help doctors diagnose Alzheimer’s disease faster and more accurately, researchers reported Sunday – but some appear to work far better than others.

    What You Need To Know

    • New research suggests certain blood tests could help doctors diagnose Alzheimer’s disease faster and more accurately
    • Confirming if someone’s memory problems really are caused by Alzheimer’s requires a brain scan or spinal tap to spot one culprit, sticky amyloid protein
    • Labs are offering tests to find clues in blood instead but they’re not yet widely used because it’s hard for doctors to tell which ones really work
    • A Swedish study found a certain test helped improve diagnosis without more costly follow-up procedures
    • Sunday’s findings, presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, mark a step toward more use of blood testing


    It’s tricky to tell if memory problems are caused by Alzheimer’s. That requires confirming one of the disease’s hallmark signs — buildup of a sticky protein called beta-amyloid — with a hard-to-get brain scan or uncomfortable spinal tap. Many patients instead are diagnosed based on symptoms and cognitive exams.

    Labs have begun offering a variety of tests that can detect certain signs of Alzheimer’s in blood. Scientists are excited by their potential but the tests aren’t widely used yet because there’s little data to guide doctors about which kind to order and when. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn’t formally approved any of them and there’s little insurance coverage.

    “What tests can we trust?” asked Dr. Suzanne Schindler, a neurologist at Washington University in St. Louis who’s part of a research project examining that. While some are very accurate, “other tests are not much better than a flip of a coin.”

    Demand for earlier Alzheimer’s diagnosis is increasing

    More than 6 million people in the United States and millions more around the world have Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia. Its telltale “biomarkers” are brain-clogging amyloid plaques and abnormal tau protein that leads to neuron-killing tangles.

    New drugs, Leqembi and Kisunla, can modestly slow worsening symptoms by removing gunky amyloid from the brain. But they only work in the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s and proving patients qualify in time can be difficult. Measuring amyloid in spinal fluid is invasive. A special PET scan to spot plaques is costly and getting an appointment can take months.

    Even specialists can struggle to tell if Alzheimer’s or something else is to blame for a patient’s symptoms.

    “I have patients not infrequently who I am convinced have Alzheimer’s disease and I do testing and it’s negative,” Schindler said.

    New study suggests blood tests for Alzheimer’s can be simpler and faster

    Blood tests so far have been used mostly in carefully controlled research settings. But a new study of about 1,200 patients in Sweden shows they also can work in the real-world bustle of doctors’ offices — especially primary care doctors who see far more people with memory problems than specialists but have fewer tools to evaluate them.

    In the study, patients who visited either a primary care doctor or a specialist for memory complaints got an initial diagnosis using traditional exams, gave blood for testing and were sent for a confirmatory spinal tap or brain scan.

    Blood testing was far more accurate, Lund University researchers reported Sunday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia. The primary care doctors’ initial diagnosis was 61% accurate and the specialists’ 73% — but the blood test was 91% accurate, according to the findings, which also were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

    Which blood tests for Alzheimer’s work best?

    There’s almost “a wild West” in the variety being offered, said Dr. John Hsiao of the National Institute on Aging. They measure different biomarkers, in different ways.

    Doctors and researchers should only use blood tests proven to have a greater than 90% accuracy rate, said Alzheimer’s Association chief science officer Maria Carrillo.

    Today’s tests most likely to meet that benchmark measure what’s called p-tau217, Carrillo and Hsiao agreed. Schindler helped lead an unusual direct comparison of several kinds of blood tests, funded by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, that came to the same conclusion.

    That type of test measures a form of tau that correlates with how much plaque buildup someone has, Schindler explained. A high level signals a strong likelihood the person has Alzheimer’s while a low level indicates that’s probably not the cause of memory loss.

    Several companies are developing p-tau217 tests including ALZpath Inc., Roche, Eli Lilly and C2N Diagnostics, which supplied the version used in the Swedish study.

    Who should use blood tests for Alzheimer’s?

    Only doctors can order them from labs. The Alzheimer’s Association is working on guidelines and several companies plan to seek FDA approval, which would clarify proper use.

    For now, Carrillo said doctors should use blood testing only in people with memory problems, after checking the accuracy of the type they order.

    Especially for primary care physicians, “it really has great potential to help them in sorting out who to give a reassuring message and who to send on to memory specialists,” said Dr. Sebastian Palmqvist of Lund University, who led the Swedish study with Lund’s Dr. Oskar Hansson.

    The tests aren’t yet for people who don’t have symptoms but worry about Alzheimer’s in the family — unless it’s part of enrollment in research studies, Schindler stressed.

    That’s partly because amyloid buildup can begin two decades before the first sign of memory problems, and so far there are no preventive steps other than basic advice to eat healthy, exercise and get enough sleep. But there are studies underway testing possible therapies for people at high risk of Alzheimer’s, and some include blood testing.

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Doug Emhoff could become the country’s first first gentleman

    Doug Emhoff could become the country’s first first gentleman

    [ad_1]

    When President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race and propelled Vice President Kamala Harris into a political vortex, her husband was far from the first to find out.

    Doug Emhoff, in fact, was closer to the last.

    What You Need To Know

    • The nation’s first second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, would become its first first gentlemen if Kamala Harris wins the presidential election in November
    • He’s used to traveling the country championing his wife and the Biden administration’s accomplishments
    • And now that the vice president is the likely Democratic nominee, those efforts have gone into overdrive
    • Emhoff has visited 37 states and 14 countries as second gentlemen. He’s been to four states since Biden left the race and has three more teed up in the coming days



    At home in California, Emhoff had attended a Sunday morning SoulCycle class in West Hollywood and left his cellphone in the car while going for coffee and a chat with friends in a park.

    When Biden’s statement posted, Emhoff ultimately saw it on a borrowed phone, but he wasn’t sure it was authentic at first and skipped to the end — initially missing the key part. When he finally retrieved his phone, it was “self-immolating with the amount of messages and calls,” Emhoff said in an interview with The Associated Press.

    And after he reached Harris, “First, it was kinda like, ‘Where the … were you?’’ Emhoff laughed, before recalling that he told his wife, ”’I love you, I’m proud of you, I’m here for you, I kinda know what to do.”

    ‘We haven’t had time for the history’

    Emhoff has demonstrated a flair for defining the role of the nation’s first second gentleman over the past three-plus years. He would become the country’s first first gentlemen if his wife, the likely Democratic nominee, wins in November.

    In White House shorthand, Emhoff would elevate from SGOTUS — second gentleman of the United States — to FGOTUS.

    He’s already used to traveling the country championing his wife and the Biden administration’s accomplishments. With her now pursuing the nomination, those efforts have quickly gone into overdrive.

    “It happened so suddenly, the change,” Emhoff said, “we haven’t had time to really reflect on the history.”

    Emhoff, 59, has visited 37 states and 14 countries as second gentlemen. He’s already been to four states just since Biden bowed out, and he’ll be in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine from Monday to Wednesday.

    “I’ve picked up a lot more events,” Emhoff said, “and events are getting bigger.”

    He’s leading a delegation to the Paris Olympics closing ceremonies and will headline a fundraiser there, taking first lady Jill Biden’s place. The second gentleman is also filling in for Jill Biden, who is scaling back travel with her husband out of the race, at the upcoming fundraiser on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts featuring former late-night host David Letterman.

    Spreading Harris’ campaign message

    The vice president has built her early campaign around the theme of freedom, and Emhoff was one of the nascent campaign’s first surrogates to trumpet that message last week when he visited an abortion clinic in the Washington suburbs — an event planned before Biden’s announcement.

    There, Emhoff decried an environment “where freedoms are taken away. Where autonomy is taken away. Where they’re telling you that you can’t read this book. They’re telling you that you can’t learn these facts. They’re telling you that you can’t vote.”

    In the interview, Emhoff said of his wife, “I have my own way of communicating things and my own way of trying to authentically talk about her and her positions.”

    He’s also no stranger to Harris running for president, having campaigned for her when she ran unsuccessfully in 2020.

    “He’s like a Swiss Army knife of whatever is necessary,” said Deidre DeJear, who was Iowa chair for Harris’ last campaign. “If he needed to hold something for her, he would hold something. He’ll motivate the team, too. He’ll come and put some fire under you, and use his dad voice if he has to.”

    DeJear recalled how Harris and Emhoff moved to her state for months in late 2019, and even had Thanksgiving dinner in Des Moines. When Harris was describing how she would make collards and joked that “bacon is a spice,” Emhoff retorted that she had come up with an apt way to expand the campaign’s “for the people” mantra.

    “That could be our new campaign slogan: ‘For the people. Bacon is a spice,’” he said then.

    Today, though, Emhoff said he doesn’t see many parallels between that first presidential primary bid and taking on Republican Donald Trump in November.

    “She’s been vice president for almost four years, she’s been in the Oval Office, the Situation Room, she’s been on the world stage,” the second gentlemen said of Harris. “This is a Kamala Harris who is ready to lead us.”

    ‘Going to live openly as a Jew’

    Emhoff is the first Jewish person to serve as the spouse of a nationally elected U.S. leader. He affixed mezuzahs on the doorposts of the vice president’s residence, helped compile the first national strategy to combat antisemitism and has led White House Passover celebrations.

    The second gentleman also attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the memorial at the Tree of Life campus in Pittsburgh, where 11 worshipers were killed by a gunman driven by hatred of Jews.

    “I’m also going to live openly and proudly as a Jew and that will never change,” Emhoff said. “I’m going to fight antisemitism and that’s never going to change.”

    Trump, while addressing a Turning Point USA gathering in Florida on Friday night, claimed that Harris “doesn’t like Jewish people.”

    Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza has divided many in the United States who might otherwise be more enthusiastic about voting Democratic this fall and led to pro-Palestinian demonstrations over Biden’s strong backing of Israel.

    Harris is aligned with Biden’s policies but is trying to bridge the divide within the party by emphasizing Israel’s right to defend itself while also focusing on alleviating Palestinian suffering.

    The second gentlemen’s adult daughter, Ella, drew criticism from some corners when she briefly posted on a personal social media account a fundraising link to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees. Israel has moved to ban the group, suggesting it supports terrorists, a charge that European leaders says is baseless.

    Emhoff was born in Brooklyn, raised in New Jersey, graduated from California State University, Northridge, and attended law school at the University of Southern California. He gave up a lucrative position as an entertainment and intellectual property lawyer to avoid conflicts of interest once Harris became vice president, but served as a visiting law professor at Georgetown University after moving to Washington.

    Emhoff and Harris met on a blind date in 2013 and married the following year. It was her first marriage and his second. Harris’ stepchildren — Ella and her brother Cole Emhoff — are named for Ella Fitzgerald and John Coltrane. They were teenagers when their father remarried.

    Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance once criticized Harris and other Democratic leaders as a “bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable,” a quote that has resurfaced in the heat of the 2024 campaign. At an appearance for his wife in Wisconsin on Saturday, Emhoff did not mention Vance by name, but noted that Harris officiated at Cole’s wedding and flew cross-country through the night to make it to Ella’s graduation.

    “From Day 1, she’s been present, nurturing and fiercely protective of them,” Emhoff said.

    After he finally spoke with his wife on the Sunday when Biden bowed out of the race, Emhoff flew to Wilmington, Delaware, early the next morning and met her at what had been Biden campaign headquarters, helping to rally the staff of what was suddenly the Harris campaign.

    “I got to see her for a minute or two and gave her a big hug,” Emhoff said. “And they said, ‘Well, sir, you need to jump out on that stage.’”

    [ad_2]

    Justin Tasolides

    Source link

  • Simone Biles shakes off leg injury to dominate at Olympic gymnastics qualifying

    Simone Biles shakes off leg injury to dominate at Olympic gymnastics qualifying

    [ad_1]

    Simone Biles didn’t let some leg discomfort slow her down.

    The American gymnastics superstar posted an all-around total of 59.566 during Olympic qualifying on Sunday inside a packed and star-studded Bercy Arena despite complaining of a left calf injury that had her limping.

    What You Need To Know

    • Simone Biles didn’t let some leg discomfort slow her down
    • The American gymnastics superstar posted an all-around total of 59.566 during Olympic qualifying inside a packed and star-studded Bercy Arena despite complaining of a left leg injury that had her limping
    • Biles appeared to tweak the leg while warming up on floor exercise during the second rotation
    • She had the ankle taped and then returned to put on the kind of show-stopping performance that has long been her signature

    U.S. gymnastics coach Cecile Landi said the issue popped up a couple of weeks ago and described it as minor. Landi said there was no discussion of pulling Biles’ from the event.

    “I can’t express it,” she said. “I’m really proud of her and what she’s been through and what she’s showing the world what she’s capable of doing.”

    After dazzling on the balance beam, Biles appeared to tweak the leg while warming up on floor exercise during the second rotation. She exited the floor with Team USA doctor Marcia Faustin — a scene that played out three years ago in Tokyo when Biles removed herself from the team final to protect her safety.

    This wasn’t deja vu, however.

    The 27-year-old returned to the floor a few minutes later with her left leg taped and was heard on camera saying she felt something in her calf.

    She put on a show-stopping performance anyway.

    Biles posted the highest score on floor and vault through two subdivisions, a position she’ll likely find herself in at the end of the day as she tries to add to her career total of seven Olympic medals.

    The only adjustment she made was deciding to skip attempting a unique skill on uneven bars she submitted to the International Gymnastics Federation on Friday. Instead, she did her usual set to score a 14.333. She tried to keep from putting too much weight on her leg following her dismount.

    Her day’s work done, Biles celebrated by waving to the crowd and dancing with friend and longtime teammate Jordan Chiles as the five-woman U.S. team zoomed to the top of the leaderboard as expected.

    The Americans scored a 172.296, well clear of the field after two subdivisions as they search for what they’re calling “redemption” after finishing runner-up to Russia three years ago.

    The question now: Will Biles’ leg be an ongoing issue? The team final is Tuesday, and the women’s all-around final is Thursday.

    The stands were buzzing and filled with celebrities. Tom Cruise posed for selfies while waiting for Biles to emerge. Snoop Dogg had front-row seats, and Ariana Grande, Jessica Chastain, John Legend and Anna Wintour were also on hand.

    Biles arrived in Paris as the face of the U.S. Olympic movement and maybe the Olympics themselves. The buzz around her return to the Games has been palpable, with NBC leaning heavily into her star power by splashing Biles’ face on countless promotions in the lead-up to Paris.

    Her gravitational pull is real. Athletes across the Olympic spectrum have said they want to make it a point to catch the most decorated gymnast of all time in what could be the final competition of her unparalleled career. Among them: LeBron James and the U.S. men’s basketball team, which was busy Sunday with Olympic qualifying.

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Harris launching weekend campaign blitz to mark 100 days until election

    Harris launching weekend campaign blitz to mark 100 days until election

    [ad_1]

    Believe it or not, the 2024 presidential election — which kicked off in November 2022 when former President Donald Trump announced his third White House bid — is almost 100 days away.

    To mark the centennial milestone this weekend, the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris — the newest person to enter the presidential race — is launching a blitz of campaign events across the country, kicking off with an event in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania featuring Gov. Josh Shapiro.

    What You Need To Know

    • Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is launching a blitz of events this weekend to mark the milestone of 100 days until the election

    • The blitz is kicking off with an event in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania featuring Gov. Josh Shapiro, a potential running mate pick for Harris

    • Harris herself is set to attend a fundraiser in Massachusetts headlined by musicians Yo-Yo Ma and James Taylor and deliver a virtual address at the Voters of Tomorrow Summit Saturday in Atlanta; she’s also set to make a pre-taped appearance on the finale of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” on Friday
    • All told, the campaign says it will hold 2,300 events across the country with more than 170,000 volunteers



    Shapiro, a potential running mate pick for Harris, is widely viewed as a rising star in the Democratic Party who could help the vice president carry a must-win state for both candidates.

    Trump won Pennsylvania, along with two other reliably Democratic “blue wall” states, Michigan and Wisconsin, as part of his successful White House campaign in 2016, but Joe Biden flipped all three states back in 2020. The three states are all rated in the “toss up” category by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

    Pennsylvania is also the site of a key U.S. Senate race in November which could determine control of the chamber next year. Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat, is seeking a fourth term against Dave McCormick, a businessman and former member of George W. Bush’s administration who unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination in 2022 to television personality Mehmet Oz.

    Shapiro will rally with Harris campaign volunteers in Carlisle, Pa., outside of Harrisburg, the state capital. The Harris campaign touted that more than 8,000 Pennsylvanians have signed up to volunteer, which they say signals newfound enthusiasm. The campaign has seen tens of thousands of volunteers across the country sign up in the days since Harris launched her White House bid, in addition to racking up endorsements and record financial donations.

    In addition to Shapiro, Harris advocates across the country, including the vice president herself, will take part in events to mobilize voters and rally volunteers.

    Harris’ husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, will be in the battleground state of Wisconsin, giving remarks in Wausau before holding a canvassing event for downballot Democrats in Stevens Point.

    Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Rep. Betty McCollum and other local leaders will be holding a canvassing event in the state ahead of Trump’s planned rally, which is set to take place Saturday evening in St. Cloud.

    Former Rep. Gabby Giffords, a gun safety advocate and the wife of potential Harris running mate Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, will stump for the vice president in Michigan, in addition to several other events across the state this weekend.

    Other Democratic power players, like Sen. Jacky Rosen, Maggie Hassan and Gary Peters and Reps. Maxwell Frost, Pramila Jayapal and Debbie Dingell, are also set to host events in several battleground states, including North Carolina, Florida, Nevada and Arizona.

    All told, the campaign says it will hold 2,300 events across the country with more than 170,000 volunteers.

    “One hundred days before Election Day, Team Harris is leveraging the historic grassroots enthusiasm we’ve seen for our campaign and putting it to work,” Harris battleground states director Dan Kanninen said in a statement. “For over a year, our team has been building the battleground infrastructure needed to reach and persuade the voters who will decide this election — and now, we’re kicking it into overdrive.”

    Harris herself is set to attend a fundraiser in Massachusetts headlined by musicians Yo-Yo Ma and James Taylor and deliver a virtual address at the Voters of Tomorrow Summit on Saturday, which is taking place in Atlanta.

    On Friday, Harris is set to make a pre-taped appearance on the season finale of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars,” where she encourages viewers to make sure they’re registered to vote.

    “Each day we are seeing our rights and freedoms under attack, including the right of everyone to be who they are, love who they love, openly and with pride,” Harris says in the appearance, joined by comedian Leslie Jones, judge Michelle Visage, choreographer Jamal Sims, actor Cheyenne Jackson and former NSYNC member Lance Bass.

    “So as we fight back against these attacks, let’s all remember no one is alone,” Harris says. We are all in this together, and your vote is your power. So please make sure your voice is heard this November, and register to vote.”

    “And remember: You better vote!” Jones adds, a nod to RuPaul’s iconic “You Better Work” slogan.

    She heads into the weekend buoyed by a number of prominent endorsements, including the backing of former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, as well as the support of a coalition of youth voter groups.

    [ad_2]

    Justin Tasolides

    Source link

  • Health officials recall some Boar’s Head deli meats amid listeria probe

    Health officials recall some Boar’s Head deli meats amid listeria probe

    [ad_1]

    U.S. health officials Friday announced a recall of some Boar’s Head liverwurst and other deli meats as they investigate a listeria outbreak that has sickened nearly three dozen people and caused two deaths.

    What You Need To Know

    • U.S. health officials have announced a recall of some Boar’s Head liverwurst and other deli meats as they investigate a listeria outbreak

    • The outbreak has sickened nearly three dozen people and caused two deaths

    • Listeria can contaminate food and sicken people who eat it; symptoms include fever, muscle aches, nausea and diarrhea
    • Testing is underway to determine whether the company’s products are linked to the outbreak



    Boar’s Head Provisions Co. recalled its liverwurst because it may be tainted with the listeria bacteria, the U.S. Agriculture Department said. The company is also recalling additional deli meats that were produced on the same line and on the same day as the liverwurst.

    The USDA said a sample of Boar’s Head liverwurst from a Maryland store tested positive for listeria. The sample was from an unopened package, collected by the Maryland Department of Health as part of an investigation into the listeria outbreak.

    Testing is underway to determine if the liverwurst sample is connected to the outbreak, health officials said.

    The outbreak was first reported last week. As of Thursday, 34 people were sickened, with all but one hospitalized. Two people died.

    People most commonly reported eating deli-sliced turkey, liverwurst and ham, officials said.

    Listeria can contaminate food and sicken people who eat it. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, nausea and diarrhea. It can be treated with antibiotics, but it is especially dangerous to pregnant women, newborns, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.

    An estimated 1,600 people get listeria food poisoning each year and about 260 die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    The Boar’s Head recall includes a number of products stamped with an August 10 sell-by date, including bologna, garlic bologna, beef bologna, beef salami, Italian Cappy-style ham and Extra Hot Italian Cappy-style ham. Also included is Steakhouse Roasted Bacon Heat and Eat, with a sell-by date of Aug. 15.

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Elon Musk denies reports of him contributing $45M monthly to Trump campaign

    Elon Musk denies reports of him contributing $45M monthly to Trump campaign

    [ad_1]

    One week after the Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk planned to contribute about $45 million a month to a new political action committee supporting former President Donald Trump, the billionaire owner of X, SpaceX and Tesla denied the claim.

    What You Need To Know

    • Elon Musk said Tuesday that he is not contributing $45 million monthly to former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign

    • On July 16, the Wall Street Journal reported that the world’s richest man planned to contribute the sum through a super PAC he helped create

    • Musk told ABC News reporter Arthur Jones that the report “was a fiction made up by the Wall Street Journal”

    • He confirmed he helped create a Super PAC called the America PAC focused on meritocracy and individual freedom, to which he is contributing “at a much lower level”


    “At no point did I say that I was donating $45 million a month to Trump,” he told ABC News on Wednesday. “That was a fiction made up by the Wall Street Journal.”

    The Wall Street Journal has neither retracted nor clarified its report.

    On Tuesday, Musk told media commentator Jordan Peterson the claim was “simply not true.”

    He confirmed he created a so-called Super PAC called the America PAC and posted on X Tuesday that he is making contributions “at a much lower level.”

    The key values of America PAC “are supporting a meritocracy and individual freedom,” he wrote. “Republicans are mostly, but not entirely, on the side of merit and freedom.”

    America PAC is reportedly backed by venture capitalist and Palantir Technologies co-founder Joe Lonsdale, who formerly backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the GOP nomination, and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, cryptocurrency entrepreneurs who sued Mark Zuckerberg over claims he stole their idea to create social media giant Facebook.

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter

    Source link

  • Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigns

    Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigns

    [ad_1]

    Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned after the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at his rally in Pennsylvania last week.

    What You Need To Know

    • Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned after the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump

    • In an email to staff on Tuesday announcing her resignation, Cheatle admitted that the agency “fell short” on its mission to protect the country’s leaders

    • The announcement comes hours after Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Democratic Leader announced a bipartisan task force to investigate the attack, and one day after congressional lawmakers grilled Cheatle over security lapses at a contentious hearing
    • President Joe Biden said in a statement that he “will plan to appoint a new Director soon”; Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Tuesday that Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe will take over as the head of the agency in an acting capacity



    On July 13, a 20-year-old man perched on a nearby warehouse rooftop fired several shots at Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, striking the former president in the right ear. One rallygoer was killed, and two others were wounded. The gunman was fatally shot by a Secret Service sniper.

    Several investigations have been launched into the attack. In addition to congressional inquiries, the FBI is conducting a criminal probe and the Secret Service is performing an internal investigation, Cheatle told Congress on Monday.

    In the days that followed, Cheatle faced numerous calls for clarity about how such an attack could have happened, including a dramatic hallway confrontation with Republican U.S. Senators at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last week.

    In an email to staff on Tuesday announcing her resignation, Cheatle admitted that the agency “fell short” on its mission to protect the country’s leaders.

    “The scrutiny over the last week has been intense and will continue to remain as our operational tempo increases,” Cheatle wrote. “As your Director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse.”

    The embattled Secret Service chief faced bipartisan calls for her resignation. The announcement comes hours after Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Democratic Leader announced a bipartisan task force to investigate the attack, and one day after congressional lawmakers grilled Cheatle over security lapses at a contentious hearing.

    “I’m glad she did the right thing,” Johnson said at a press conference on Tuesday. “The immediate reaction to her resignation is that it is overdue. She should have done this at least a week ago. I’m happy to see that. I’m happy to to see that she has heeded the call of both Republicans and Democrats.”

    “Now we have to pick up the pieces,” he continued. “We have to rebuild the American people’s faith and trust in the Secret Service. As an agency, it has an incredibly important responsibility in protecting presidents, former presidents and other officials in the executive branch, and we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

    The message of “overdue” appeared to be one echoed by lawmakers in Washington, particularly among House Republicans, who were planning legislative efforts to force Cheatle’s ouster.

    “The resignation of USSS Director Cheatle is long overdue,” New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, the House GOP conference chair, wrote on social media. “The failure to answer basic questions over the last ten days and at yesterday’s Congressional hearing was a disgrace. House Republicans will not rest until we have 100% transparency and accountability.”

    “This is 10 days overdue,” wrote New York Rep. Mike Lawler on X, formerly known as Twitter. “This was a colossal failure on the part of the agency and requires transparency and accountability. Director Cheatle provided neither in her testimony yesterday.”

    “Kimberly Cheatle’s resignation is welcome but overdue,” said Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy. “This is only the beginning of accountability for an incredible failure to protect a former president and leading candidate for that office.”

    In a post on social media after the news broke, Trump did not specificaly address Cheatle’s resignation, but accused the Biden administration of failing to “properly protect” him.

    “I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy,” he wrote on Truth Social. “IT WAS MY GREAT HONOR TO DO SO!”

    In a statement, President Joe Biden, who immediately ordered an independent security review into the shooting after it took place, expressed gratitude for Cheatle’s “decades of public service” and said it “takes honor, courage, and incredible integrity to take full responsibility for an organization tasked with one of the most challenging jobs in public service.”

    “The independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its conclusions,” the president said. “We all know what happened that day can never happen again. As we move forward, I wish Kim all the best, and I will plan to appoint a new Director soon.”

    Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Tuesday that Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe will take over as the head of the agency in an acting capacity.

    In a House Oversight Committee hearing Monday, members of both parties called for Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign. 

    “Today, you failed to provide answers to basic questions regarding that stunning operational failure and to reassure the American people that the Secret Service has learned its lessons and begun to correct its systemic blunders and failures,” committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said in a statement following Monday’s hearing. 

    “In the middle of a presidential election, the Committee and the American people demand serious institutional accountability and transparency that you are not providing,” they continued. “We call on you to resign as Director as a first step to allowing new leadership to swiftly address this crisis and rebuild the trust of a truly concerned Congress and the American people.”

    [ad_2]

    Ryan Chatelain

    Source link

  • Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigns

    Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigns

    [ad_1]

    Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned after the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at his rally in Pennsylvania last week.

    What You Need To Know

    • Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned after the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump

    • In an email to staff on Tuesday announcing her resignation, Cheatle admitted that the agency “fell short” on its mission to protect the country’s leaders

    • The announcement comes hours after Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Democratic Leader announced a bipartisan task force to investigate the attack, and one day after congressional lawmakers grilled Cheatle over security lapses at a contentious hearing
    • President Joe Biden said in a statement that he “will plan to appoint a new Director soon”; Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Tuesday that Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe will take over as the head of the agency in an acting capacity



    On July 13, a 20-year-old man perched on a nearby warehouse rooftop fired several shots at Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, striking the former president in the right ear. One rallygoer was killed, and two others were wounded. The gunman was fatally shot by a Secret Service sniper.

    Several investigations have been launched into the attack. In addition to congressional inquiries, the FBI is conducting a criminal probe and the Secret Service is performing an internal investigation, Cheatle told Congress on Monday.

    In the days that followed, Cheatle faced numerous calls for clarity about how such an attack could have happened, including a dramatic hallway confrontation with Republican U.S. Senators at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last week.

    In an email to staff on Tuesday announcing her resignation, Cheatle admitted that the agency “fell short” on its mission to protect the country’s leaders.

    “The scrutiny over the last week has been intense and will continue to remain as our operational tempo increases,” Cheatle wrote. “As your Director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse.”

    The embattled Secret Service chief faced bipartisan calls for her resignation. The announcement comes hours after Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Democratic Leader announced a bipartisan task force to investigate the attack, and one day after congressional lawmakers grilled Cheatle over security lapses at a contentious hearing.

    “I’m glad she did the right thing,” Johnson said at a press conference on Tuesday. “The immediate reaction to her resignation is that it is overdue. She should have done this at least a week ago. I’m happy to see that. I’m happy to to see that she has heeded the call of both Republicans and Democrats.”

    “Now we have to pick up the pieces,” he continued. “We have to rebuild the American people’s faith and trust in the Secret Service. As an agency, it has an incredibly important responsibility in protecting presidents, former presidents and other officials in the executive branch, and we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

    The message of “overdue” appeared to be one echoed by lawmakers in Washington, particularly among House Republicans, who were planning legislative efforts to force Cheatle’s ouster.

    “The resignation of USSS Director Cheatle is long overdue,” New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, the House GOP conference chair, wrote on social media. “The failure to answer basic questions over the last ten days and at yesterday’s Congressional hearing was a disgrace. House Republicans will not rest until we have 100% transparency and accountability.”

    “This is 10 days overdue,” wrote New York Rep. Mike Lawler on X, formerly known as Twitter. “This was a colossal failure on the part of the agency and requires transparency and accountability. Director Cheatle provided neither in her testimony yesterday.”

    “Kimberly Cheatle’s resignation is welcome but overdue,” said Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy. “This is only the beginning of accountability for an incredible failure to protect a former president and leading candidate for that office.”

    In a post on social media after the news broke, Trump did not specificaly address Cheatle’s resignation, but accused the Biden administration of failing to “properly protect” him.

    “I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy,” he wrote on Truth Social. “IT WAS MY GREAT HONOR TO DO SO!”

    In a statement, President Joe Biden, who immediately ordered an independent security review into the shooting after it took place, expressed gratitude for Cheatle’s “decades of public service” and said it “takes honor, courage, and incredible integrity to take full responsibility for an organization tasked with one of the most challenging jobs in public service.”

    “The independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its conclusions,” the president said. “We all know what happened that day can never happen again. As we move forward, I wish Kim all the best, and I will plan to appoint a new Director soon.”

    Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Tuesday that Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe will take over as the head of the agency in an acting capacity.

    In a House Oversight Committee hearing Monday, members of both parties called for Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign. 

    “Today, you failed to provide answers to basic questions regarding that stunning operational failure and to reassure the American people that the Secret Service has learned its lessons and begun to correct its systemic blunders and failures,” committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said in a statement following Monday’s hearing. 

    “In the middle of a presidential election, the Committee and the American people demand serious institutional accountability and transparency that you are not providing,” they continued. “We call on you to resign as Director as a first step to allowing new leadership to swiftly address this crisis and rebuild the trust of a truly concerned Congress and the American people.”

    [ad_2]

    Ryan Chatelain

    Source link

  • Vance is a relative political unknown, asked to help Trump avenge 2020 loss

    Vance is a relative political unknown, asked to help Trump avenge 2020 loss

    [ad_1]

    JD Vance is supposed to help Donald Trump win the Midwest this fall.

    But almost immediately after the Ohio senator was announced as Trump’s vice presidential pick on Monday, one thing became clear: Vance, a 39-year-old Republican with less than two years in Congress, is not well-known among many in his party, even in the swing states Trump hopes he’ll deliver.

    What You Need To Know

    • Ohio Sen. JD Vance is supposed to help Donald Trump win the Midwest this fall, but almost immediately after he was announced as Trump’s vice presidential pick on Monday, one thing became clear: The 39-year-old Republican with less than two years in Congress is barely known among many Republicans

    • That’s the case even in the swing states Trump hopes he’ll deliver

    • Trump’s team has less than four months to strengthen Vance’s profile

    • Already, a collection of political foes is working to fill the information void with a series of attacks seizing on Vance’s inexperience in government, his nationalist views and his history of condemning Trump himself

    Michigan Republican Party Chairman Pete Hoekstra offered a blunt response when asked about Trump’s pick minutes after it was announced: “We don’t know him.”

    “If he’s from Ohio, he understands our state and the other northern battlegrounds,” Hoekstra said, standing on the floor of the Republican National Convention. “But we haven’t had a chance to take his measure yet.”

    Trump’s team now has less than four months to strengthen Vance’s profile in the states that matter most this fall in his 2020 rematch against Democratic President Joe Biden. Already, a collection of political foes — Democrats and Republicans — is working to fill the void by seizing on Vance’s inexperience in government, his nationalist views and his critical comments about Trump himself.

    “I’m not sure he helps him in the campaign,” said veteran Republican pollster Neil Newhouse, suggesting Vance may be better positioned to help Trump enact his agenda on Capitol Hill if given the chance. “He’s not that well-known even in Ohio. … This isn’t a campaign pick. It’s a policy pick, a governing pick.”

    Republican strategist Kellyanne Conway, who served as Trump’s chief counselor while in the White House, had encouraged Trump to pick a different running mate in the weeks leading up to his announcement. Privately, she believed that Florida Sen. Marco Rubio or Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin would do more to help Trump win.

    Vance, who quickly developed a reputation as a MAGA firebrand in his short time on Capitol Hill, earned modest applause when he entered the packed convention hall for the first time Monday as Trump’s running mate. The Republican senator posed for selfies, shook hands and signed posters. Later in the night, the crowd was more excited as he greeted Trump — who entered the room with a bandage covering his right ear, injured in Saturday’s assassination attempt — for the ticket’s first public appearance.


    Recent polling confirms the notion that most voters don’t know Vance.

    Just 13% of registered voters said they had a favorable opinion of Vance with 20% an unfavorable one, according to a CNN poll conducted in late June. The majority said they had never heard of him or had no opinion.

    Trump’s vice-presidential pick is arguably the most important decision of his 2024 campaign. Vance, who is literally half the 78-year-old Trump’s age, and has the least political experience on a short list that included Rubio and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

    Sensing an opportunity, Trump’s critics in both parties quickly went after him.

    “Almost any other choice might have expanded the map for them, but Trump needed a candidate who looked like him, talked like him, and thought like him. He needed a candidate who would grovel,” former New Hampshire Republican Party chair Jennifer Horn wrote on X. “JD Vance was the least experienced, least qualified, most obsequious, psychopathic, servile candidate on the list.”

    But Trump made up his own mind based on a different set of criteria.

    Trump especially liked Vance’s performance on television, where he has become a fixture on conservative media. The former president also likes Vance’s looks, saying he reminded him of “a young Abraham Lincoln.”

    Trump is also hopeful Vance can draw from his life story growing up in Appalachia to help appeal to Midwestern voters. Vance has experienced poverty and addiction up close in a way that is uncommon among leading Republican officials.

    Vance also had another advantage: his chemistry with Trump. The first-term senator has developed a strong rapport with Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr. and leading MAGA figures during his recent rise in Republican politics.

    Vance is an Ivy League-educated author, former Marine and businessman. He is known for his aggressive questioning of Biden administration officials.

    Biden’s campaign hosted a conference call Monday denouncing the pick, focusing especially on his limited record on abortion and the economy and his support for Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

    Vance previously said he would support a national abortion ban at 15 weeks of pregnancy. He also said he would not have voted to certify the 2020 election results, as former Vice President Mike Pence did over Trump’s objections.

    “I will certainly take that matchup any day of the week and twice on Sunday,” said Jen O’Malley Dillon, the Biden campaign chairwoman. “Because while Trump and Vance have an agenda focused on themselves and their wealthy donor friends, President Biden and Vice President Harris are fighting for the American people.”

    One of Biden’s greatest assets in his campaign against Vance might be what Vance previously said about Trump.

    During the early stages of Trump’s political career, Vance cast Trump as “a total fraud,” “a moral disaster” and “America’s Hitler.”

    “If you go back and listen to the things that JD Vance said about Trump … he said some things about me, but see what he said about Trump,” Biden told NBC’s Lester Holt in an interview Monday.

    Vivek Ramaswamy, once considered a potential Trump running mate as well, described Vance as “a major asset” on the ticket whose evolution on Trump would ultimately help him connect with swing voters.

    “He’s also somebody who can say, ‘You know what, in 2016, I may not have voted for Donald Trump either, but here’s why I am with him to the fullest today,’” Ramaswamy said.

    But for now, Vance joins the Trump presidential ticket as a mystery to many voters and elected officials alike.

    Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said Vance was one of the few vice-presidential prospects that he “really haven’t crossed paths with.”

    “I don’t know that much about him,” Kemp said.

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Takeaways from Day 1 of the Republican National Convention

    Takeaways from Day 1 of the Republican National Convention

    [ad_1]

    The first day of the Republican National Convention was, perhaps, one of the most dizzying days in recent memory — coming on the heels of an already tumultuous weekend after the attack on former President Donald Trump’s Pennsylvania rally.

    One shockwave came before the convention even formally started, when U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case against Trump, calling the appointment of Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith — who also brought the federal election subversion case against Trump — unlawful. Despite the Justice Department vowing to appeal the decision, which could result in it being overturned, the judge’s order is a massive victory for Trump.

    Hours later, Trump named Ohio Sen. JD Vance — a fierce critic-turned-convert and staunch ally — as his running mate, ending months of speculation as to which Republican loyalist would join his ticket as he looks to win back the White House from President Joe Biden.

    And both Trump and Vance were formally nominated as the Republican candidates for president and vice president, setting up a showdown with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris with 113 days to go until Election Day.

    Trump made an appearance toward the end of the night, with rally attendees seeing him for the first time with a bandage on his right ear after it was grazed by a would-be-assassin’s bullet.

    Serenaded by Lee Greenwood singing his seminal patriotic hit “God Bless the U.S.A.,” Trump stood with Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson and other top Republican officials, as well as family members like Donald Trump Jr. and his fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle and allies like former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

    The crowd showered him with cheers of “USA! USA!” and “fight, fight, fight,” echoing comments he made after the shooting on Saturday.

    Despite outward calls for unity from Trump and other officials, including Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley, in the wake of Saturday’s assassination attempt, that courtesy did not extend to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, with numerous speakers using incendiary rhetoric to attack the Democratic administration.

    As Republicans gathered in Milwaukee, Biden, meanwhile, sat for a wide-ranging interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt at the White House, which included questions about his “bullseye” comment about Trump from earlier this month, which Republicans criticized in the wake of Trump’s shooting.

    Here are some takeaways from the first day of the Republican National Convention:

    Classified documents case dismissed

     

    This image, contained in the indictment against former President Donald Trump, shows boxes of records stored in a bathroom and shower in the Lake Room at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. (Justice Department via AP)

    While not a part of the RNC per se, the ruling in the classified documents case no doubt helped lead to the jubilant mood in Milwaukee on Monday.

    The decision by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, is a massive victory for the former president, who faced dozens of felony charges accusing him of mishandling classified documents after leaving office and hampering the federal government’s efforts to retrieve them. Trump pleaded not guilty last year and has denied any wrongdoing.

    “The Framers gave Congress a pivotal role in the appointment of principal and inferior officers,” Cannon wrote in her ruling. “That role cannot be usurped by the Executive Branch or diffused elsewhere — whether in this case or in another case, whether in times of heightened national need or not.”

    “Upon careful study of the foundational challenges raised in the Motion, the Court is convinced that Special Counsel’s Smith’s prosecution of this action breaches two structural cornerstones of our constitutional scheme–the role of Congress in the appointment of constitutional officers, and the role of Congress in authorizing expenditures by law,” she added.

    Cannon faced widespread scrutiny for delays in bringing the case against Trump. The case was set to go to trial in May, but it was indefinitely delayed as she reviewed motion after motion put forth by Trump’s attorneys.

    “Both the Appointments and Appropriations challenges as framed in the Motion raise the following threshold question: is there a statute in the United States Code that authorizes the appointment of Special Counsel Smith to conduct this prosecution?” Cannon wrote. “After careful study of this seminal issue, the answer is no.”

    “In the end, it seems the Executive’s growing comfort in appointing ‘regulatory’ special counsels in the more recent era has followed an ad hoc pattern with little judicial scrutiny,” she added.

    In a statement, Peter Carr, a spokesperson for the special counsel, confirmed the Justice Department authorized an appeal, which could result in Cannon’s decision being overruled by a higher court.

    “The dismissal of the case deviates from the uniform conclusion of all previous courts to have considered the issue that the Attorney General is statutorily authorized to appoint a special counsel,” Carr said.

    In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the ” dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step” in moving to dismiss all the cases against him, which he baselessly called “Witch Hunts.”

    “The Democrat Justice Department coordinated ALL of these Political Attacks, which are an Election Interference conspiracy against Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME,” Trump charged. “Let us come together to END all Weaponization of our Justice System, and Make America Great Again!”

    Read more about the ruling here

    The pick is in: Ohio Sen. JD Vance

    Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, nominates Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, during the Republican National Convention Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

    Former President Donald Trump selected Ohio Sen. JD Vance, a Trump critic-turned-convert, to be his running mate in November’s election, succeeding former Vice President Mike Pence as Trump’s No. 2.

    “After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Monday afternoon. “J.D. has had a very successful business career in Technology and Finance, and now, during the Campaign, will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond.”

    Trump called Vance about 20 minutes before he made his social media post to let him know his selection, sources confirmed to Spectrum News.

    Shortly after Trump announced his pick, Vance was officially selected by delegates at the Republican National Convention to be the party’s nominee for vice president. He was approved by a voice vote without opposition.

    Moments earlier, Vance entered the convention floor at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum to cheers, hugs and handshakes alongside his wife, Usha Vance, an attorney who he met while both attending Yale Law School.

    He was nominated by Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, who described Vance as “a man who loves America and will represent our people with moral courage, strength and honor.”

    “JD is a living embodiment of the American Dream,” Husted said. “He came from humble beginnings and even as his life took him to places he might never have imagined, he never forgot where he came from. Ohio values are in his blood.”

    In an interview with Fox News’ “Hannity” on Monday night, his first since becoming Trump’s running mate, Vance said the call from Trump was “a moment I’ll never forget.”

    The Biden campaign immediately slammed the pick, labeling Vance as the favored choice of billionaires and corporations and as a Trump loyalist who will “bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda, even if it means breaking the law and no matter the harm to the American people,” as Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said on a press call on Monday afternoon.

    “A clone of Trump on the issues,” President Joe Biden said at Maryland’s Joint Base Andrews before boarding Air Force One for a campaign trip to Las Vegas. “I don’t see any difference.”

    On the press call, Reproductive Freedom for All president Mini Timmaraju called Vance an “extreme anti-abortion politician” and O’Malley Dillon warned that Vance’s addition to the Republican ticket makes it “more clear than ever that our rights, our freedoms and our democracy are on the line.”

    Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, appear during the Republican National Convention Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

    Vance, a Trump critic-turned-convert, has emerged as a leader on the Republican Party’s rightmost reaches and a favorite among some of the more radical figures in Trump’s world. Prior to winning his Senate race in 2022, Vance was a Marine and venture capitalist who wrote a bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” that garnered bipartisan praise for its depiction of his tumultuous upbringing in Middletown, Ohio, and path to Yale University Law School.

    “I was a convert in 2019 to the cause of Trump’s America First agenda,” Vance said in a speech at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington last week. “I was cognizant of the fact that, because I was a convert, Trump had not yet taken over the Republican Party, even in Washington, D.C., even in 2019 even though he was the president of the United States.”

    “There were people who were aggressively pushing back against his influence, who were already planning a return to basically reimplementing the Wall Street Journal editorial page’s preferred positions in 2019. I think that’s over now.”

    In 2016, Vance notably called Trump an “idiot,” “noxious” and “reprehensible,” labeling himself as “a Never Trump guy” and telling a friend that Trump could be “America’s Hitler” as the then-businessman made his first run for president. Now, as Trump is just days away from receiving the Republican nomination for the first time, he has chosen the man who has become one of his most loyal supporters in Washington as his running mate.

    “I always wish his memory was as bad as Joe Biden’s, because he would forget about what I said about him in 2016,” Vance said in his speech last week.

    Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, right, points toward Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally, March 16, 2024, in Vandalia, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

    Republicans were quick to praise Trump’s pick, with House Speaker Mike Johnson saying in a statement that Vance “possesses a profound understanding of the anxieties of working families and has both the lived experience and the policy expertise to help President Trump deliver a government worthy of the people it is supposed to serve.” New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, a member of House leadership and a vice presidential contender herself, said Trump “made a strong VP choice” and called Vance “a strong America First leader and proven conservative.”

    If elected, Vance would be the youngest vice president since Richard Nixon, who was just a few months younger when he took office in 1953 as part of the Eisenhower administration. Vance has three children with his wife, Usha Vance. She previously clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and for now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh when he served on a lower court.

    The Ohio senator, who turns 40 in August, will now be pitted against Vice President Kamala Harris as both junior partners will attempt to make the case to the American people that they are fit to assume the presidency if the 78-year-old Trump or the 81-year-old Biden can no longer serve. Both campaigns have agreed to a CBS News debate later this summer.

    Trump officially becomes GOP nominee

    While not a surprise in the slightest, Trump received enough delegates on Monday to formally become the Republican presidential nominee.

    The delegation from Florida, led by his son, Eric Trump, gave him enough votes to put him over the top.

    Speakers invoke Trump’s shooting…

    Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC, speaking during the first day of the Republican National Convention, Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

    The assassination attempt on Donald Trump was top of mind for many of the speakers at Monday night’s event.

    Few of the speeches Monday electrified the crowd as much as the one delivered by South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott — a former 2024 presidential hopeful-turned-staunch Trump backer — got the crowd on their feet by invoking shooting at Trump’s rally on Saturday.

    “If you didn’t believe in miracles before Saturday, you better be believing right now!” he told the crowd in an exchange heavily laden with his Christian faith. “And our God still saves, he still delivers, and he still sets free. Because on Saturday the devil came to Pennsylvania holding a rifle, but an American lion got back up on his feet and he roared!”

    “Oh yeah, he roared!” Scott said to cheers from the crowd of “fight, fight, fight,” echoing Trump’s comments — a cheer that RNC attendees used throughout the day.

    Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right firebrand and staunch ally of Trump, opened her speech at the RNC by calling it a “somber moment” for the country in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

    “Evil came for the man that we love and admire so much,” Greene said, adding: “I thank God that his hand was on President Trump.

    She also paid tribute to Corey Comperatore, the ex-fire chief and Trump supporter who was killed in the attack, saying he “embodied the spirit of America First” and said Republicans should “honor Corey’s memory by building the country he wanted.”

    …but unity was hard to come by for Biden and Democrats

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-GA., speaking on the first day of the Republican National Convention, Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

    As he kicked off the evening session of the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley called for unity in the aftermath of the “horrifying assassination attempt” against former President Donald Trump.

    “We are praying for President Trump. We are praying for the injured. We are praying for the family of Corey Comperatore,” he said. “We must unite as a party and we must unite as a nation. We must show the same strength and resilience as President Trump and lead this nation to a greater future world.”

    But that courtesy did not extend to Biden and the Democrats, clearly.

    The very next speaker, the next speaker, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, did not appear to have gotten the memo on the greater “unity” message of the convention, quickly calling Democratic policies a “clear and present danger to America,” accusing his opposition party of having a “fringe agenda” that includes “biological males competing against girls and the sexualization and indoctrination of our children.”

    “Democrats have forgotten American families, they have abandoned the working-class,” Johnson charged, adding that under Trump, those forgotten Americans are forgotten no more.”

    (Speaking to PBS News later Monday, Johnson later blamed the teleprompter loading a previous version of his speech.)

    Johnson wasn’t the only Republican to invoke anti-trans rhetoric for cheers from the crowd. Greene shifted gears after her comments about Trump’s shooting to condemn the “establishment in Washington,” which she said has “sold us out.”

    “They promised unity and delivered division,” Greene said. They promised peace and delivered war. They promised normalcy, and they gave us Transgender Visibility Day on Easter Sunday.” (President Joe Biden’s proclamation marking Transgender Day of Visibility on Easter Sunday was not intentional; the holiday is marked on March 31 every year, and Easter Sunday falls on different days each year, it just happened to fall on the same day in 2024.)

    “And let me state this clearly: There are only two genders,” she said to cheers.

    Sen. Katie Britt, R-AL., speaks on the first day of the Republican National Convention, Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

    Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, who delivered the Republican rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech earlier this year, charged that the Democratic incumbent is “in decline” and “Donald Trump is the change we need.”

    “We see how Biden and Harris keep making things worse,” she said. “And we know the current president is not capable of turning things around.”

    “His weakness is costing us. Our opportunity, our prosperity, our security, our safety — each diminished, all in decline,” Britt said. “Just like the man in the Oval Office.”

    Scott said that President Joe Biden is “asleep at the wheel and we’re heading over a cliff,” blaming him for a number of issues, including “weakness” that “has invited world wars all around our world.”

    “America is not a racist country,” Scott later said to cheers, adding: “But if you are looking for racism today, you’d find it in cities run by Democrats.”

    [ad_2]

    Joseph Konig

    Source link

  • In interview, RNC chair distances party from Project 2025

    In interview, RNC chair distances party from Project 2025

    [ad_1]

    Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley distanced his party from the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 — an administration-in-waiting crafted by the right-wing think tank — telling Spectrum News in Milwaukee on Monday that “we have absolutely nothing to do with Project 2025.”

    What You Need To Know

    • In an interview with Spectrum News in Milwaukee on Monday, Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley distanced his party from the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025

    • Whatley’s comments come as Trump, in a separate interview taped last week and released Monday, named one of the report’s authors, Tom Homan, as someone he would appoint in a second term to help oversee his immigration policies

    • According to a CNN analysis, at least 140 veterans of the Trump administration, including six former Cabinet secretaries, helped craft Project 2025’s “Mandate for Leadership” report

    • Whatley also discussed the impact the assassination attempt on Trump over the weekend will have on the convention



    “That project is a complete standalone entity. It has nothing to do with the RNC. It has nothing to do with the Trump campaign,” Whatley said. “There may or may not be some good ideas in there, but right now, we’re focused on our platform, which we adopted at the RNC and is going to be taken up by the convention.”

    The RNC’s platform committee approved a 16-page policy document last week, far shorter than previous iterations of the party’s platform and a fraction of the size of Project 2025’s 922-page planning document — which was authored by dozens of Trump allies and former administration and campaign officials. Trump has also distanced himself from the project and some of the hard-right policies it proposes that have become a focal point of the Biden campaign.

    But in an interview taped last week and that aired on Monday morning, Trump named one of the report’s authors, Tom Homan, as someone he would appoint in a second term to help oversee his immigration policies. Homan is a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation and served as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the first Trump administration, when he was a key figure behind the policy of separating migrant children from their parents.

    “I have Tom Homan lined up, we have the greatest people,” Trump told Fox News host Harris Faulkner when discussing Vice President Kamala Harris and border policy. Trump also said “we’re bringing back Tom Homan” at a Florida rally last week.

    According to a CNN analysis, at least 140 veterans of the Trump administration, including six former Cabinet secretaries, helped craft Project 2025’s “Mandate for Leadership” report.

    In his interview with Spectrum News, Whatley also discussed the impact the assassination attempt on Trump over the weekend will have on the convention.

    “I think obviously the president has said that he intends to write a new speech and have a different conversation with the voters, but our conversation with all American families really doesn’t change, because this entire convention is about speaking directly to the American people about the issues that they’re worried about, right?” Whatley said. “This is about jobs and the economy. It’s about safety. It’s about security. And certainly safety takes on a whole other connotation in light of an event like this.”

    When asked if Americans would hear from Trump each of the four nights of the convention, which runs through Thursday, Whatley said “stay tuned.”

    Whatley, who was handpicked by Trump to run the party after the former president successfully beat back his primary rivals, spoke of the importance of his home state North Carolina, whose state Republican Party he ran. 

    “We’re very proud of the role that North Carolina is playing in this convention. Both [RNC vice chair] Lara Trump and I, coming from North Carolina, obviously, have a very soft spot in our heart for it,” Whatley said. “North Carolina is a very, very critical, important battleground state and the state party down there, led by Jason Simmons, is doing a fantastic job of making sure that we’re in a position to be able to carry it for the third time in a row for Donald Trump.”

    [ad_2]

    Joseph Konig

    Source link

  • Man killed at Trump rally hailed by friends and loved ones

    Man killed at Trump rally hailed by friends and loved ones

    [ad_1]

    Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief who was shot and killed at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, spent his final moments protecting his family from gunfire in the attempted assassination of the former president.

    According to those that knew him, that’s just the kind of person Comperatore was; someone who lived and died helping others.

    What You Need To Know

    • Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief, was shot and killed at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday in an effort to protect his wife and daughter from gunfire

    • His friends, coworkers and loved ones remembered him as a hero and a man of conviction

    • Both President Joe Biden and Trump honored Comperatore and expressed their condolences to his loved ones

    • A GoFundMe for his family has received nearly $1 million in donations as of Monday afternoon



    “He’s a literal hero. He shoved his family out of the way, and he got killed for them,” said neighbor Mike Morehouse, who lived next to Comperatore for eight years. “He’s a hero that I was happy to have as a neighbor.”

    Comperatore, 50, was a proud Trump supporter. His quick thinking in putting his body between his wife and daughter and the bullets attempting to reach the former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee rings true to those that knew him. 

    “In his last moments, he was shielding his family from the gunfire,” said Craig Cirrincione, Lieutenant at the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company, where Comperatore was previously a fire chief. “Even if that was just a random civilian beside him, he would have done the same thing. He was a man that just wanted to protect and serve and love. He was truly a man of love.”

    Firefighters placed black bunting outside the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company to honor Comperatore.

    “Corey was a lifetime volunteer firefighter within our company and will be greatly missed by all who knew him,” the fire department wrote in a post on Facebook. “Corey, rest easy brother and we will take it from here. Please pray and send good thoughts to Corey’s family and everyone that knew him.”

    In the front yard of the family’s Pennsylvania home, a memorial of flowers and an American flag was erected.

    Comperatore was remembered as a father to two daughters, a husband and a churchgoing member of the community.

    “Corey was a girl dad,” said Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in his memory. “Corey was a firefighter. Corey went to church every Sunday. Corey loved his community. Most especially, Corey loved his family.”

    “This is the last thing that this man ever deserved,” Cirrincione said.

    Assistant Chief Ricky Heasley, who knew Comperatore for more than a decade, remembered him as someone who “never had a bad word.”

    Both President Joe Biden and Trump honored Comperatore and expressed their condolences to his loved ones.

    “He was a father,” Biden said. “He was protecting his family from the bullets being fired when he lost his life. God love him.”

    A GoFundMe for his family has received nearly $1 million in donations as of Monday afternoon.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Justin Tasolides

    Source link