January 23, 2023: Evangelical pastor Franklin Graham, a longtime supporter of President Trump, says he will not endorse Trump – or any candidate – in the 2024 GOP presidential primary… (The Hill)
CBS noted Graham doesn’t generally endorse primary candidates, but his remarks come as tensions have been rising between evangelical groups and Trump in the months after he announced his third bid for president. Trump said in an interview earlier this week that evangelical leaders are showing “signs of disloyalty” because they have yet to endorse his 2024 campaign…
…Another prominent evangelical pastor, Robert Jeffress, also declined to endorse Trump, saying in an interview with The Hill on Friday that he does not see “a need to make an official endorsement two years out.” He said that former Vice President Mike Pence would be a “strong contender” if he decided to run in 2024…
March 3, 2023: Former President Donald Trump lashed out at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday, using his 2024 debut speech in Iowa to rehash his longtime 2020 campaign claims and attack his would-be political rival days after the Florida Republican made an appearance in the Hawkeye state. (The Hill)
In a campaign event in Davenport that was billed by Trump’s campaign as an address on educational policy, the former president appeared preoccupied by just about anything other than America’s schools.
He boasted about the work he did to “save” the ethanol industry, bragged about how he moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and rehashed his baseless claim that he was robbed of a second term in the White House by widespread voter fraud…
…Trump’s remarks came during the first Iowa stop of his 2024 presidential bid. He’s been officially seeking the Republican nomination since November, but has largely stayed off the campaign trail…
March 6, 2023: Donald Trump’s age and finances might be keeping him from holding a larger number of campaign rallies compared to his previous presidential campaigns, according to Maggie Haberman, a reporter at The New York Times. (Insider via Yahoo! News)
Haberman, a senior political correspondent who has covered Trump extensively for the past several years, compared the former president’s 2024 run with his previous campaigns on Sunday’s “The Week” on ABC News when asked whether Trump is running a “real campaign.”
“He has serious people running this campaign. There is a difference in terms of how it is put together from 2016 to now,” Haberman said. “We have seen somebody who got attention in 2015 because he was doing all these rallies, and he seemed very in-your-face and everywhere.”
Trump was “omnipresent” in the media in the 2016 election, but “he’s not now,” Haberman said. He launched his 2024 campaign months ago in November, yet his speech on Saturday at the Conservative Political Action Conference was “only his fourth real event,” according to Haberman…
March 9, 2023: An angry Donald Trump erupted Thursday night following a report of a likely indictment against him by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg over hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. (Raw Story)
“I did absolutely nothing wrong,” he declared on Truth Social. “I never had an affair with Stormy Daniels, nor would I have wanted… an affair” with her, he posted. The expected legal action is aimed at “taking down” the top presidential candidate, he insisted.
“This is a political ‘Witch-hunt,”” Trump claimed, using one of his favorite attack words on any investigation into his activities. The case is “trying to take down the leading candidate, by far, in the Republican Party, while at the same time also leading all Democrats in the poll,” he posted…
…The New York Times reported earlier that an indictment appeared to be near for the former president. Prosecutors had offered Trump the opportunity to testify next week before the grand jury hearing evidence in a potential case against him. Such an offer would likely not be made unless indictments loomed, the newspaper reported.
The Manhattan probe centers on a $130,000 payment to Daniels to keep her quiet about her alleged relationship with Trump ahead of the presidential vote. The payment was made by Michael Cohen, Trump’s former fixer, who has testified that he did so under orders of his boss, and that he was reimbursed by Trump.
March 11, 2023: Former President Trump is reportedly on the brink of facing charges related to a hush money payment during the 2016 campaign, throwing a wrench into the nascent 2024 GOP presidential primary (The Hill)
Trump has already said in interviews that he plans to continue his campaign for the presidency even if he is indicted, and he was defiant in posts on Truth Social late Thursday that that made clear he was undeterred by the latest specter of criminal charges.
But a possible indictment in New York would be another blow for Trump, whose extensive legal woes already has some Republican voters and leaders suggesting it may be time for the party to move on to a candidate with less baggage…
March 13, 2023: Former President Donald Trump is set to return to Iowa Monday evening, signaling a determination to trudge forward with his 2024 White House campaign in the face of a possible criminal indictment. (The Hill)
Trump will deliver an address on education policy in Davenport just days after his would-be rival for the Republican nomination, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, made an inaugural swing through the first-in-the-nation caucus state. The Monday appearance will mark Trump’s first trip to Iowa since announcing his 2024 presidential campaign nearly four months ago.
But it also comes at an uncertain moment for the former president. Prosecutors in Manhattan have reportedly offered Trump a chance to testify in a grand jury investigation of an alleged hush money payment made during his 2016 campaign – a move that suggests that criminal charges could be close.
The ultimate question now, is whether such a legal threat will hobble Trump as he looks to reclaim the GOP nomination next year…
March 15, 2023: President Trump has gotten increasingly aggressive in attacking Ron DeSantis (R) as the Florida governor inches toward a presidential campaign, posing potentially the biggest threat to date to Trump’s bid for the GOP’s 2024 nomination.
While Trump has lobbed plenty of schoolyard taunts and nicknames toward his onetime ally, the former president in recent days showed how he will look to highlight some of DeSantis’s past policy views to dampen support for the governor among Republican voters.
It’s a surprise move for the former president, who wasn’t well known as a policy wonk during his four years at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Even more surprising, the policy-based attacks have shown some signs of landing as the two Floridians battle ahead of the GOP primary fight…
March 20, 2023: As Donald Trump runs again for the White House, he is dogged by four criminal investigations that have gained momentum, including two focused on Trump’s zealous drive to overturn his 2020 election loss, raising the odds he will face charges in one or more inquiries in coming weeks or months, say former federal prosecutors. (The Guardian)
All four inquiries have accelerated in recent months with numerous subpoenas to close Trump associates and testimony by key witnesses before grand juries in Washington DC, Georgia and New York, that pose growing legal threats to Trump plus several of his ex-lawyers and allies.
Two investigations are homing in on Trump’s nonstop efforts to thwart his 2020 election loss with bogus fraud charges, while others are looking into Trump’s retention of hundreds of classified documents post his presidency, and Trump’s role in a $130,000 hush money payment in 2016 to porn star Stormy Daniels with whom he allegedly had an affair…
April 4, 2023: Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) weighed in on Tuesday on the mounting criminal cases against Donald Trump, saying “there’s no way” the former president will return to the Oval Office at this point.” (The Hill)
Republicans “could put up” with the Manhattan case where Trump was arraigned on Tuesday, Kasich said on MSNBC, but a probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia and a Justice Department investigation into his handling of classified documents could “be too much water for him to take.”…
April 11, 2023: Former President Trump said in a new interview that he wouldn’t drop out of the 2024 race for any legal reason as he faces a possible conviction in a case involving hush-money payments. (The Hill)
“Is there anything they could throw at you legally, that would convince you to drop out of the race? If you get convicted in this case in New York, will you drop out?” Fox News’ Tucker Carlson asked Trump in an interview that aired Tuesday night.
“No, I’d never drop – it’s not my thing. I wouldn’t do it.” Trump responded.
Trump was arraigned last Tuesday and charged with 34 felony counts in connection to hush-money payments made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged affair. Trump has repeatedly denied any affair and has denounced Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation as politically motivated.
New York law states that falsifying business records escalates to a felony when an individual’s “intent to defraud includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof.” Each charge carries a maximum four years of jail time, but experts said that first-time offenders rarely [go] to jail over similar charges…
April 14, 2023: A political action committee supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) running for president launched an ad on Friday criticizing former President Trump as a “gun-grabber” over comments he has made supporting gun control legislation. (The Hill)
The ad from the Never Back Down PAC, which was founded by former senior Trump administration official Ken Cuccinelli, states that Trump promised members of the National Rifle association (NRA) to that he would back them but argues he “abandoned us” after Second Amendment right “came under attack.”
The ad features comments Trump made about standing up to the NRA and supporting gun control measures and accuses him of agreeing with prominent Democrats, like Vice President Kamala Harris and Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), on gun control…
…Some comments Trump made include declaring support for red flag laws, which allow individuals to petition a court to try and take away someone’s firearms if they have reason to believe they might pose a danger to themselves or others. The ad also shows Trump supporting a ban on bump stocks, increasing background checks, and raising the minimum age for buying a weapon from 18 to 21.”…
April 14, 2023: Former president Donald Trump on Friday filed his personal financial disclosure, offering the first glimpse into his earnings since leaving the White House. (The Hill)
The 101-page document, filed with the Federal Election Commission because Trump is running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, provides broad details about how much the former president made on various business ventures. Candidates are not required to report specific dollar amounts, instead disclosing their earnings in assets and broad ranges.
Trump reported making more than $5 million from speaking engagements, and earning between $100,001 and $1 million from CIC Digital, a company that has sold digital images of him via non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
He also reported more than $5 million in royalties from a firm listed as DT Marks Oman LLC, which is one of the former president’s overseas business ventures.
The former president reported that Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., which is tied to the social media platform Truth Social, is valued between $5,000,001 and $25 million, though Trump reported making less than $201 from the company…
April 14, 2023: Former President Trump pledged to be the National Rifle Association’s “loyal friend” at its annual conference on Friday ahead of the 2024 presidential election. (The Hill)
Trump said during remarks at the Indianapolis event that he “saved” the Second Amendment to the Constitution while serving as president and will continue to do so for a long time. He added that he was the “most pro-gun, pro-Second Amendment” president to ever serve…
…He said as president, he would ask Congress to send him a bill to sign to establish a national concealed carry “reciprocity” law, meaning that states would be required to recognize concealed carry permits approved in another state even if their state did not issue an individual a permit to carry.
A bill to establish this passed the House in 2017 but did not advance in the Senate…
April 24, 2023: Former President Trump posted an email titled: “Statement from President Donald J. Trump on Joe Biden’s Announcement” (Note: Donald J. Trump is NOT currently the President of the United States.) From the email:
You could take the five worst presidents in American history, out them together, and they would not have done the damage Joe Biden has done to our Nation in a few short years. Not even close.
Thanks to Joe Biden’s socialist spending calamity, American families are being decimated by the worst inflation in half a century. Banks are failing. Our currency is crashing and the dollar will soon no longer e the world standard, which will be our greatest defeat in over 200 years. Real wages have been falling 24 months in a row – in other words, under Biden, workers have gotten a PAY CUT each and every month for two straight years. We have surrendered our energy independence, just like we surrendered in Afghanistan, which we had just a short time ago – and the price of gasoline just hit a 5-month high, and its going much hire than that…
(Note: There is absolutely nothing in the email that connects to any of what former president Trump put in the above paragraph.)
April 26, 2023: Former President Trump on Wednesday doubled down on his earlier comments that he could skip Republican White House primary debates, suggesting that he’s far ahead enough in recent polling that he doesn’t need to engage. (The Hill)
…Trump said he’s “leading by 40 points” and stressed that “people don’t debate when they have massive leads.” He’s threatened to skip debates several times throughout 2016 and 2020 bids for the Oval Office.
The GOP has announced plans for two primary debates so far – the first set for later this year in Milwaukee and the second to be held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California at an unset date…
…Recent polling has shown Trump at the front of a hypothetical GOP presidential primary. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who hasn’t announced an official bid, has cropped up as a top possible contender, though some recent results show Trump with a double-digit lead.
At the same time, other polling results indicate that many Americans don’t want Trump, who kicked off his 2024 campaign last year, to run to retake the White House…
May 15, 2023: Former President Donald Trump’s CNN town hall appearance marked a turning point in his media management strategy, as his campaign plans to do more outreach beyond conservative media. (The Messenger)
In his first mainstream media remarks since the New Hampshire event last week, Trump told The Messenger that the network should have boasted about the eyeballs he brought it.
“It was amazed to see that they were traumatized by what took place. They were actually traumatized,” Trump said in a wide-ranging 30-minute interview concerning his campaign. “They should have said ‘we had a tremendous ratings night, one of the best in years, many years,” and spiked the football.”
Until last week, Trump largely confined himself to conservative outlets and was embroiled in such a toxic relationship with the network that his crowds used to chant “CNN sucks!” at his rallies. That dynamic began to change after Trump had a falling out with Fox News over its coverage of his 2020 election loss and once CNN started to reboot its coverage under CEO Christ Licht…
May 23, 2023: Ahead of Donald Trump’s campaign visit to Iowa last week, the Des Moines Water Works Park Foundation made sure it was financially protected from the nation’s bill-skipper-in-chief. (Raw Story)
According to documents obtained by Raw Story through an Iowa public records request, the public operator of Lauridsen Amphitheater in Des Moines, Iowa, compelled the Trump 2024 campaign committee to sign a six-page contract to use the facility for a May 13 rally that was ultimately canceled because of potential tornadoes in the area.
The Water Works Park Foundation charged the Trump campaign $12,900 for rent, not including fencing, parking personnel, and portable toilets, according to the contract, which Trump campaign treasurer Bradley Crate signed.
“Base rent fee is due prior to event, any additional fees as ordered by DJTFP24 will be due within 30 days of the event’s conclusion,” the contract said in bold type, referring to the Trump 2024 campaign. Sam Carrell, executive director of the Des Moines Water Works Part Foundation, said Tuesday that the Trump campaign indeed paid ahead.
“While we don’t offer a refund, we do offer other open make up dates when weather forces a cancellation,” Carrell told Raw Story…
…The contract states that the Trump campaign was required to have a “comprehensive general liability insurance policy, including public liability and property damage, covering its activities hereunder, in an amount not less than One Million Dollars ($1,000,000)…
May 25, 2023: Former President Trump is pushing back on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) remarks calling on the GOP to reject a “culture of losing” in 2024, saying “Ron is not a winner.” (The Hill)
…Ron’s not a winner because Ron, without me, wouldn’t have won,” Trump added. “If I would have left it alone he would have lost by 30 points or more.”
DeSantis, who is mulling a bid for the White House, said at an event over the weekend that Republicans would win if stye provide a “positive alternative” to President Biden…
…Trump has repeatedly taken credit for DeSantis’s win in the 2018 Florida gubernatorial race. He said in a new interview that DeSantis was as “dead as a doornail” before receiving his endorsement…
May 30, 2023: Former President Trump is returning to his calls to remove birthright citizenship, with his 2024 White House campaign announcing Tuesday he would seek to end it via executive order on his firs day in office. (The Hill)
Trump announced his plan in the 125th anniversary of United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the Supreme Court case that established the constitutional right to birthright citizenship.
The proposal echos a longtime demand of immigration restrictionists and a measure Trump toyed with while in office, attracting criticism from both immigration advocates and legal experts.
Most experts agree that a president does not have the authority to end birthright citizenship through an executive order, primarily because the practice is enshrined in the Constitution.
The 14th Amendment grants citizenship to those “born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
The widely accepted interpretation of that amendment – that it applies to children born in the United States regardless of the parent’s immigration status – has held since an 1898 Supreme Court case involving a U.S. citizen with Chinese parents…
June 6, 2023: Former President Trump said at a Georgia GOP convention event Saturday that his latest indictment is only driving his poll numbers up. (The Hill)
“It’s a horrible thing. It’s a horrible thing for this country,” Trump said of the indictment while in Columbus, Ohio. “I mean, the only good thing about it is, it’s driven my poll numbers way up. Can you believe it?”
The former president also claimed that his fundraising is “through the roof.” Shortly after he was notified of the indictment Thursday, Trump sent out a message to supporters asking for donations…
…Trump has been charged on 37 counts related to his handling of classified materials, according to the indictment that was unsealed Friday. During his speech in Georgia, Trump called the indictment “ridiculous” and “baseless.”…
June 7, 2023: Former President Trump said Friday that he would cancel every Biden administration policy that he described as “brutalizing our farmers” within hours of taking office, if he is elected in 2024. (The Hill)…
…The former president slammed President Biden for slashing ethanol blending levels “by hundreds of millions of gallons” and trying to “totally kill Iowa ethanol and replace it with expensive electric cars.”
“Within hours of my inauguration, I will cancel every Biden policy that is brutalizing our farmers,” Trump said while in the Hawkeye State, the nation’s leading producer of ethanol.
In finalized biofuel blending standards released last month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reduced how much “conventional” biofuel. which includes corn-based ethanol, would be required for blending in 2024 and 2025, when compared to a previous proposal.
However, the latest standards still represent an increase over previous years, including under the Trump administration…
…Trump has previously touted his administration’s 2019 decision to lift summertime restrictions on the sale of gasoline blended with 15-percent ethanol. However, the decision was ultimately struck down by a federal appeals court in 2021.
The Biden administration is also planning to allow for the year-round sale of 15-percent ethanol blend in eight Midwestern states, including Iowa, starting next summer, according to Reuters.
June 12, 2023: Former President Trump on Monday threatened to appoint a special prosecutor to specifically target President Biden and his family if he’s re-elected to the White House. (The Hill)
Trump’s post on Truth Social represents a brazen pledge to use the levers of government to target political rivals. It comes in the wake of his own indictment by a Justice Department special counsel stemming from his handling of classified materials after leaving office.
In a post on Truth Social written in all capital letters, Trump wrote, “Now that the ‘seal’ is broken, in addition to closing the border & removing all of the ‘criminal’ elements that have illegally invaded our country, making America energy independent & even dominant again, & immediately ending the war between Russia & Ukraine, I will appoint a real special ‘prosecutor’ to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the USA, Joe Biden, the entire Biden crime family, & all another’s involved with the destruction of the country itself!”
The former president lashing out at Biden comes days after the Justice Department unsealed a 37-count indictment that includes 31 counts under the Espionage Act after Trump refused to return classified materials he took with him upon leaving the White House in 2021…
June 12, 2023: The political network financed largely by billionaire Charles Koch is launching a wave of digital ads targeting former President Donald Trump. (CNBC News)
The ads argue that if Trump becomes the Republican nominee next year, it will lead to President Joe Biden winning reelection.
American’s for Prosperity Action, a super PAC that received millions of dollars during the 2022 election cycle from the Charles Koch-chaired Koch Industries and the Koch-backed Stand Together Chamber of Commerce, gave CNBC a first look at some of the new digital ads.
Koch, who’s worth more than $60 billion and his network notched several wins while Trump was in office, including tax cuts and the appointments of multiple conservative Supreme Court justices. The network traditionally backs Republican candidates.
But Koch’s group also had its differences with the former president, including on Trump’s trade war with China. Trump, likewise, ripped the Kochs in a 2018 tweet tirade, saying they’ve become a “total joke in real Republican circles, are against Strong Borders and Powerful Trade.”
One of the spots, titled “Only Way,” has a VoiceOver saying, “The only way Biden wins if if we nominate Trump again.” Another ad, called “No, Thanks,” says, “Trump can’t win” and “we need new leadership.”…
A third clip, named “Biden’s Secret Weapon,” says: “What’s Biden’s secret weapon? Donald Trump as the GOP nominee. Biden wins the White House and gets the House and Senate, too.”…
…The ads are also targeting voters at a tumultuous moment for Trump. He faces arraignment Tuesday in a federal criminal case over his retention of classified and top military and government documents. Trump has referred to the case as the “boxes hoax.”…
June 20, 2023: Donald Trump said his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner will not serve in his administration if he is elected president again in 2014 because it was “too painful for the family” last time. (HuffPost)
“I said, that’s enough for the family. You know why? It’s too painful for the family,” Trump told Fox News host Bret Baier in an interview that aired in part on Monday.
Baier had asked Trump if he planned to involve his daughter and son-in-law in a hypothetical second administration.
“Nobody has been through what my family has been through,” Trump complained, adding that his daughter had been “making a fortune” with a “really successful line of clothing” before he appointed her as one of his White House advisers.
“When I did this, she was really – she closed it up,” Trump said. “She sort of felt she had to.”
Ivanka Trump shut down her namesake lifestyle brand in July 2018, citing a commitment to work in Washington and following a significant dip in sales…
June 20, 2023: Former President Donald Trump’s support appears to have softened following his indictment and arrest on federal charges, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. (CNN)
Most Americans approve of Trump’s indictment stemming from his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office, even as 71% say politics played a role in that charging decision.
Though Trump continues to lead the GOP field by a wide margin in the race for the Republican Party’s nomination for president, the poll suggests that his support has declined, as have positive views of him among Republican and Republican-leaning voters. Nearly a quarter now say they would not consider backing his candidacy under any circumstances. The survey also finds that those GOP-aligned voters not currently backing his 2024 bid have different views on his indictment and behavior than those in his corner.
Still, there’s little sign that Republican-aligned voters who aren’t backing Trump consolidating behind any one of his rivals. Nor are they unified around wanting Trump out of the race entirely, or in filing that is primary opponents ought to call him out for his alleged actions in this case…
…In addition to the decline in support for Trump’s candidacy, his favorability rating among Republican-aligned voters has dipped, from 77% in May to 67% now, while the share who say the would not support him for the nomination under any circumstances has climbed, from 16% in May to 23% now. At the same time, there has been a similar increase in the share saying they would not back DeSantis under any circumstances (up 6 points to 21%), while the shares ruling out other top candidates have held roughly steady.
This poll was completed entirely after Trump’s arraignment in federal court last week, and Republican and Republican-leaning voters participating in the poll were asked about the 2024 presidential race before any mention of the charges facing Trump…
June 21, 2023: Donald Trump’s grasp over the GOP primary base appears to be slipping after the news of his second criminal indictment broke this month. (The Independent)
But a new CNN poll shows that even an active prosecution for alleged criminal retention of classified materials hasn’t undone Mr Trump’s lead over his rivals just yet.
The survey, released on Wednesday, found that Mr Trump’s share of the likely GOP primary vote has dropped below 50 per cent – a welcome sign for his multitude of competitors, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Senator Tim Scott.
But the twice-impeached and now twice-indicted former president still remains in the lead, likely frustrating others in the race who are clearly hoping that the president’s legal problems will hamstring his campaign before they ever have to land a blow…
November 3, 2023: Former President Donald Trump picked up another endorsement from a Florida lawmaker – this time from GOP Sen. Rick Scott, who is running for re-election next year. (NBC News)
“I think we all should come together and do everything we can to help him win the nomination so we can beat Biden,” Scott told NBC’s Matt Dixon in his first interview since announcing the endorsement.
Scott is the 12th senator and the 13th member of Florida’s congressional delegation to endorse Trump over Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis. Just Florida GOP Rep. Laurel Lee, who also served in DeSantis’ administration, has backed the governor’s presidential campaign.
Trump has the most congressional endorsements of any presidential candidate by far, with around 70 House members backing Trump in addition to the 13 senators. DeSantis has the next highest number of congressional backers, with five endorsing his campaign…
November 14, 2023: House Speaker Mike Johnson took sides in the presidential primary on Tuesday, endorsing former President Donald Trump. (NBC News)
Johnson’s endorsement breaks with his predecessor, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who had declined to back a candidate in the GOP primary. Party leaders from both sides in Congress have often stayed neutral until a presumptive nominee emerged from the primaries.
“I’m all in for President Trump,” Johnson told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday. “I expect he’ll be our nominee. He’s going to win it and we have to make [President] Joe Biden a one-term president.”
Trump had praised the Louisiana Republican during the speaker fight, nicknaming the four-term congressman “MAGA Mike Johnson” in one post on his Truth Social platform.
Johnson was a vocal proponent of Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, leading to an amicus brief supporting a Texas lawsuit aimed at tossing out results from four critical states…
…Johnson is the latest member of House GOP leadership to back Trump, joining GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York and Republican Study Committee Chair Gary Palmer of Alabama.
Johnson’s endorsement came the same day that The New York Times unearthed his past criticism of Trump. Johnson reportedly wrote in a 2015 Facebook post that Trump could be “dangerous” and that he “lacks the character and the moral center” to be president.
November 29, 2023: Former President Trump emphasized late Tuesday night that he wants to “replace” the Affordable Care Act – more commonly known as ObamaCare – rather than “terminate” it entirely.
“Getting much better Healthcare than Obamacare for the American people will be a priority of the Trump Administration. It’s not a matter of cost, it is a matter of HEALTH,” he wrote on Truth Social. “America will have one of the best Healthcare Plans anywhere in the world. Right now, it has one of the WORST!”
“I don’t want to terminate Obamacare, I want to REPLACE IT with MUCH BETTER HEALTHCARE,” Trump added in a separate post. “Obamacare Sucks!!!”…
November 29, 2023: Former President Trump is creating new political headaches for Republicans locked in a highly competitive battle to win back the Senate majority by making extreme statements on health care, immigration and other issues unlikely to play well with swing voters in key states. (The Hill)
Trump shook up Republicans on Capitol Hill over the weekend by declaring that if elected president he would make another run at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act.
The comments posed on Trump’s media platform, Truth Social, caught GOP lawmakers off guard because they haven’t had any serious policy discussions recently about getting rid if the landmark health care law, and there’s no consensus within their party on how to replace it…
…Trump’s call to revive the effort to repeal and replace ObamaCare follows sweeping pledges he’s made to end birthright citizenship for the children of immigrants living in the country illegally and to deputize the National Guard to implement mass deportations.
Trump drew criticism last month by claiming the flow of migrants across the southern border is “poisoning the blood of our country.”…
December 1, 2023: Ohio’s Republican Party endorsed former President Trump in his reelection bid for the White House on Friday. (The Hill)
“President Trump has proven time and again that despite the unhinged and relentless attacks from the radical left, he will never give up on fighting for Ohio’s workers, business and families,” Ohio Republican Party Chair Alex M. Triantafilou said in a Trump campaign press release. “His unapologetic leadership and commitment to putting America First is exactly what we need to reverse course from the failed policies of Joe Biden and Sherrod Brown.”
Ohio’s becomes the first state Republican Party to endorse the former president for 2024, according to reports from multiple outlets.
Trump’s endorsement by Ohio Republicans follows recent wins for liberal causes in the Buckeye State. At the beginning of last month, a majority of voters in Ohio voted for a ballot measure that enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution. Voters also voted to legalize recreational marijuana, making Ohio the 24th state to do so…
Trump told a crowd at his Commit to Caucus event that the attempts by several states to keep him off the ballot next year backfired.
“To be honest with you, I’m much more popular now than I would have been if they didn’t do it,” he said.
Cases were brought forth by voters and advocacy groups seeking to disqualify Trump from running in 2024 and several went to court, including in Michigan, Colorado and Minnesota, for his role in the Jan. 6 2021 attack on the Capitol. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment stipulates that no one can hold office if they have previously engaged in insurrection against the government. Courts found that Trump could remain on the ballot in all three states…
December 4, 2023: Headlines blaring warnings about how a second Trump presidency could slip toward dictatorship on Monday prompted a stiff pushback from the allies of the ex-president, who is topping GOP primary polls jus weeks before the Iowa caucuses. (The Hill)
The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and The New York Times each published stories referencing a “Trump dictatorship” in recent days, arguing a new Trump presidency posed a threat to democracy. The Times wrote a second Trump turn would likely be more radical than his first.
…The Atlantic announced Monday the magazine’s January/Feburary issue would be dedicated to what a second Trump term would mean for immigration civil rights, the Justice Department, climate and more. The magazine’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, wrote an editor’s note titled “A Warning,” to introduce the series.
The New York Times on Monday published its latest piece in a series focused on what a second Trump term might mean for the country. In it, the reporters noted Trump’s rhetoric on the campaign trail “has attracted growing alarm and comparisons to historical fascist dictators and contemporary populist strongmen.”
And a Washington Post opinion column penned by editor-at-large Robert Kagan headlined, “A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending,” made an extensive case that Trump’s reelection could feasibly set the U.S. on a path to becoming a dictatorship…
…I think it’s a very, very real threat and concern,” former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), an outspoken Trump critic, told NBC’s “Today” on Monday when asked about the risk of the U.S. becoming a dictatorship under Trump.
“And I don’t say any of this lightly and frankly, it’s painful for me as someone who has spent her whole life in Republican politics, who grew up as a Republican to watch what’s happening to my party and to watch the extent to which Donald Trump himself has basically determined that the only thing that matters is him, his power, and his success,” she added…
December 8, 2023: Former President Trump took a swing Friday at former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) after his stronger debate showing. (The Hill)
“Sloppy Chris Christie is not fit to run for President. He is suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome,” Trump posted to Truth Social. “According to all, he came in LAST in the debate, and I came in FIRST, as I have in all of the debates, without even being there. MAGA!”
(NOTE: Trump Derangement Syndrome is not real. It does not appear in the DSM-5, and therefore, is NOT a real mental health disorder. Psychologists and psychiatrists would never label a client with a non-existent mental disorder. In addition to Trump Derangement Disorder, there has also been Obama Derangement Disorder, and Bush Derangement Disorder.)
Christie went after the former president during Wednesday’s Republican primary debate. The former New Jersey governor got into a tense back-and-forth with rival candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) over Trump during the event.
“There is no mystery to what he wants to do. He started off his campaign by saying ‘I am your retribution.’ Eight years ago, he said, “I am your voice,” Christie said of Trump.
“This is an angry, bitter man who now wants to be back as president because he wants to extract retribution on anyone who has disagreed with him, anyone who’s tried to hold him accountable for his own conduct, and every one of these policies that he’s talking about are about pursuing a plan of retribution,” Christie contended…