Whenever Donald Trump faces a loss of power, he unleashes threats of violence against his foes. (When he actually does lose power, those threats turn very real, as anyone who lived through January 6 knows.) So it made sense that, after being comprehensively defeated in his fight to stop Congress from voting to release more Jeffrey Epstein files, a weakened and humiliated Trump cranked up the violent rhetoric in response to a video from six congressional Democrats.,
And, of course, we should be very focussed on the economy and prices and rising health-care costs, as we have been. But to suggest that we should look the other way in the face of all these other outrages is, I think, a mistake, because I think the American people are tiring of Donald Trump. I think the polls indicate that.
I hate the kickoff in football, Trump said in the interview aired last week. I think it's so terrible. I think it's so demeaning. I think it hurts the game, it hurts the pageantry. I've told that to Roger Goodell. And I don't think it's any safer. I mean, you still have guys crashing into each other. It's the opposite of what the game the ball is in the air, nobody's moving.
The reality that Donald Trump's presidency will end in January 2029 is already making Republicans restless. Normally, Trump angers, exhausts, and eventually prevails over elected Republicans-not vice versa. Just this week, though, rebellious Republicans forced the release of the so-called Epstein files in defiance of Trump, who had spent months trying to suppress them before abruptly reversing course. Plenty of other cracks are showing too: Staunch allies of the president are mouthing critiques that would have been unfathomable a year ago.
On Tuesday, those lawmakers all of whom served in the military or the intelligence services released a video telling Americans currently serving in those capacities to refuse illegal orders. The Democrats in the video are: Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ); Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI); Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO); Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA); Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH); Rep Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA). You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders, the lawmakers said, reading lines from a joint statement.
Earlier this week, two Democratic senators and four House members put out a video reminding members of the military and intelligence services that they "swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution," not the president, and the law says they can "refuse illegal orders."
When The Daily Telegraph published a leaked internal dossier alleging systemic left-wing bias at the BBC, few could have predicted the scale of the crisis about to engulf the UK's flagship public broadcaster. In the two weeks since the memo appeared, director-general Tim Davie and BBC News CEO Deborah Turness have resigned, and none other than Donald Trump has homed in on the British broadcaster as the latest target in his personal war on the press.
Ever since he rode down the escalator in June of 2015 to announce that he was running to be the leader of the free world, President Donald Trump has waged a war on the media He's characterized the media in many ways: as "fake news" and the "enemy of the people," for example. He's wielded his power to limit reporters' access and make their jobs more difficult. It's a strange stance for a man who was in large part created by the media,
It's one outrage in days full of outrageous material. Quiet, piggy, Donald Trump told a female reporter in a press gaggle, pointing his finger at her angrily. It wasn't the first time not even the hundredth time the US president has attacked the media. And it's hard for any storyline to break through the administration's flood the zone strategy, much less one like this. Nothing seems to stick.
The first incident happened on November 14, when Trump was taking questions from reporters on Air Force One. Bloomberg correspondent Catherine Lucey asked what Epstein meant when he wrote that Trump "knew about the girls." Trump dodged by raising questions about Bill Clinton's relationship with the late sex offender (interesting strategy) and dismissing the contents of the newly released Epstein files. When Lucey tried to ask a follow-up question, Trump snapped, "Quiet. Quiet, Piggy," while waving a finger at her.
Well, if you can tell by his body language and the whole setup there, Trump gave him an out. Like, you know, Trump went and attacked that ABC reporter. MBS didn't have to say anything, he interrupted Trump, and he had a pre-canned answer that he wanted to get out there. There's no way he thought up and concocted that answer on the spot.
I'll never forget, I met with pollsters the day before I got the news about Covid. But I met two pollsters because we were starting to think about the next election. They said, sir, if George Washington and Abraham Lincoln came back from the dead and they aligned, and they went for the president, vice president as a combination, you'd be beating them by 25 points.
The exchange took place as calls grew increasingly loud for the US Department of Justice to release files tied to its investigation into Epstein, who died in prison in 2019. Shortly after the exchange, Trump did a 180 on the Epstein files, stating publicly that he welcomed the release and would sign the bill if it were passed by Congress. Then, on Monday, Congress overwhelmingly passed the measure 427-1 - sending it to Trump's desk.