Trump

Now that the last nail is in the midterm coffin with Herschel Walker’s loss in Georgia , it’s time to turn our attention to the looming rumble within the GOP. The knives were already out, but this could get downright nasty. The biggest ones are pointed at Donald Trump . He thought his 2016 magic could be replicated by MAGA celebrities across the nation. This experiment failed spectacularly during his own re-election bid and again in the 2022 midterms, but Trump has another problem. Seven years after he came down the escalator, and six (or so) years since he consolidated the right behind him, a new generation of Republicans has had time to observe Trump’s style—and absorb his lessons. They are younger and increasingly more relevant than Trump. And they’re coming for him. Once the only game in town, consider Trump’s competition in today’s right-wing attention economy. Kanye West . Elon Musk. Kari Lake . Marjorie Taylor Greene. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. And, of … [Read more...] about MAGA Is Eating Itself After GOP’s Midterm Disaster

DENVER — Despite its deep opposition to same-sex marriage , the Mormon Church is setting itself apart from religious conservatives who rallied behind a Kentucky county clerk, Kim Davis, who cited her religious beliefs as justification for refusing to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. In a speech this week about the boundaries between church and state, Dallin Oaks, a high-ranking apostle in the church, said that public officials like Ms. Davis, the clerk in Rowan County, Ky., had a duty to follow the law, despite their religious convictions. “Office holders remain free to draw upon their personal beliefs and motivations and advocate their positions in the public square,” Elder Oaks said. “But when acting as public officials, they are not free to apply personal convictions, religious or other, in place of the defined responsibilities of their public offices. All government officers should exercise their civil authority according to the principles and within the limits of … [Read more...] about Mormons Say Duty to Law on Same-Sex Marriage Trumps Faith

ATLANTA — As Republicans smarting from Herschel Walker’s defeat in Georgia continue the process of assigning blame , one man seems to be conspicuously above reproach: Gov. Brian P. Kemp. The state’s Republican governor — once derided as an unhinged far-right disrupter following a series of wildly provocative 2018 campaign ads — has emerged in the aftermath of Tuesday’s Senate runoff as one of his party’s savvier political operators. On Nov. 8, Mr. Kemp won re-election by a resounding eight-point margin — a remarkable transformation for a politician who went from being booed by conservatives at his own events in the May primary to defeating a national Democratic star, Stacey Abrams. His ability to deftly walk a fine line of providing just enough support to Mr. Walker without being damaged by his defeat was proof of Mr. Kemp’s formidable political instincts, Republicans inside and outside the state said. He has survived and even thrived in the face of Donald J. Trump’s … [Read more...] about The Georgia Republican Unscathed by Walker’s Defeat

The GOP took the House in the 2022 midterms , but even before Democrats have officially left the House majority, some members are already thinking about 2024 and how their party can win back control from Republicans. Eying the GOP’s slim majority—they won by just nine seats—some Democrats believe the House is prime territory for a flip. That sort of quick turnaround for House control would be a rarity. Democrats last held the House for four years, Republicans held it for eight before that. And yet, House progressives say that at least on their end, the inner workings of that goal are already underway. They’re hoping to be the key for it all—to mobilize voters en masse next election around Democrats’ left-most ideas and candidates. The work to do so starts now, they say. Of course, the minority isn’t where Democrats, including progressives, wanted to be after the 2022 cycle. But defying widespread forecasts of a red wave, the party has been meticulously … [Read more...] about Rep. Pramila Jayapal Wants to Grow Congressional Progressive Caucus and Move Dems Left

Pay Dirt is a weekly foray into the pigpen of political funding. Subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Thursday. As conservatives re-up their criticism of Twitter for supposedly interfering in the 2020 election with its two-day ban on an unverified story about Hunter Biden’s laptop , it’s worth noting that Republican federal election officials already cleared the company of that specific charge. Last Friday night, Twitter CEO Elon Musk released “the Twitter Files,” a behind-the-scenes account of the social media giant’s controversial decision in the run-up to the 2020 election to temporarily restrict circulation of the New York Post ’s unconfirmed report about the contents of a laptop hard drive supposedly belonging to Hunter Biden. The platform reversed its decision in two days . But in that time, Twitter—citing company policy of restricting the spread of “hacked materials”—blocked all sharing of the story, and locked the New York Post out of its account. … [Read more...] about GOP Officials Said Twitter’s Hunter Biden Ban Wasn’t Corrupt

In the past week, Kanye West has done the unthinkable. He’s made Alex Jones look like the voice of reason . In case you missed it, on Alex Jones’ Infowars show, Jones attempted to throw the scandal-plagued star a lifeline. “I get the Hugo Boss uniforms [are] amazing,” Jones said, perhaps attempting to explain West’s antisemitism. “But just because you’re in love with the design—you’re a designer—can we just kinda say you like the uniforms, but that’s about it?” “No, there’s a lot of things I LOVE about HITLER,” West replied . “A LOT of things.” At this point, Jones had that same look on his face that Mike Myers had when Kanye said , “George W. Bush doesn’t care about Black people.” But that wasn’t the only example of right-wing podcast hosts trying to moderate West, only to be rebuffed. During a recent interview with Ye, podcast host Tim Pool tried to defend West from media criticism, saying, “I think they’ve been extremely unfair to you—” before West shot back, “Who is … [Read more...] about Right-Wing Hosts Try Saving Kanye but He’s Too Far Gone

WASHINGTON — When the Senate passed landmark legislation last month to mandate federal recognition for same-sex marriages, the vote was lauded as a rare moment of bipartisanship at a time of deep political polarization in the country. But the narrow coalition of 12 Republicans that joined every Democrat in support of the measure — which is poised to pass the House on Thursday and be signed by President Biden shortly thereafter — did not spring up spontaneously in a groundswell of cross-party harmony. Behind the scenes, a group of influential Republican donors and operatives, including some of the party’s most prominent gay leaders with long experience prodding their party to embrace L.G.B.T.Q. rights, banded together with the bill’s proponents in Congress for a coordinated, $1.7 million campaign to persuade G.O.P. senators that backing it would give them a political edge. Their quiet work helps explain how a bill to ensure recognition of same-sex marriages across the country went … [Read more...] about Prominent Gay Republicans Helped Smooth the Way for Marriage Bill

A member of Ukraine’s parliament who federal authorities said meddled in America’s 2020 presidential campaign on behalf of Russia’s intelligence services has been charged with money laundering tied to his purchase of two Beverly Hills apartments he used while sowing disinformation. The charges against the member of parliament, Andriy Derkach, 55, grew out of an investigation into whether he and other Ukrainians had interfered in the 2020 campaign — including by using Rudolph W. Giuliani, who was Donald J. Trump’s personal lawyer, to spread misleading claims about President Biden, according to people with knowledge of the matter. That inquiry was first reported by The New York Times last year. In an indictment that was unsealed on Wednesday that also charged him with bank fraud conspiracy, sanctions violations and other crimes, Brooklyn federal prosecutors said Mr. Derkach decades ago was a combat crew commander in the Soviet Union’s Strategic Missile Command. When U.S. Treasury … [Read more...] about Ukrainian Accused of Election Interference Charged With Money Laundering

WASHINGTON — A Texas-born man suspected of being an operative for Al Qaeda stood before a federal judge in Brooklyn this month. Two years earlier, his government debated whether he should be killed by a drone strike in Pakistan. The denouement in the hunt for the man, Mohanad Mahmoud Al Farekh, who was arrested last year in Pakistan based on intelligence provided by the United States, came after a yearslong debate inside the government about whether to kill an American citizen overseas without trial — an extraordinary step taken only once before, when the Central Intelligence Agency killed the radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen in 2011. Mr. Farekh’s court appearance also came as the Obama administration was struggling to fashion new guidelines for targeted killings. The decision to use an allied intelligence service to arrest Mr. Farekh has bolstered a case made by some that capturing — rather than killing — militant suspects, even in some of the world’s most remote places, … [Read more...] about Terrorism Case Renews Debate Over Drone Hits

MEXICO CITY — Stripped to his undershirt and covered in filth, the world’s most notorious drug lord dragged himself out of the sewers and into the middle of traffic. Disoriented from his long trudge underground, with gun-toting marines on his heels, he found himself standing across the street from a Walmart. Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the kingpin known across the globe as El Chapo, would have to improvise. His cavalry was not coming. He and his top lieutenant commandeered a white Volkswagen from a passing motorist, but only a few blocks later, the car became engulfed in smoke, witnesses said. Desperate for another vehicle, the two men spotted a red Ford Focus at a traffic light, driven by a woman with her daughter and 5-year-old grandson. “Get out of the car now,” said the lieutenant, his weapon trained on the woman as he lifted the door handle, witnesses said. She complied, prying the child from the back seat and leaving her belongings in the car. Politely, the lieutenant handed over … [Read more...] about How El Chapo Was Finally Captured, Again