
Trump accuses Ron DeSantis of ‘blatantly’ plagiarising his speech
Donald Trump has accused his GOP presidential primary rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, of "blatantly" stealing a line from one of his speeches, despite the fact that the line dates back to former President Ronald Reagan. During Mr DeSantis's glitchy presidential bid announcement on Twitter, he invoked the phrase "Great American Comeback," which Mr Trump furiously claimed in a campaign statement that the governor stole from him. "I'm Ron DeSantis, and I'm running to lead the Great American Comeback," the Florida governor said. The phrase also served as the title of his official campaign video. Mr Trump's team took the opportunity to lash out at the former president's top rival in the Republican primary. “Amid a catastrophic failure to launch, Ron DeSantis announced his candidacy with ‘Great American Comeback,’ a phrase stolen from President Donald J. Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address,” the campaign statement said. “Perhaps, the DeSantis communications staff was pre-occupied attempting to extinguish the flames of their candidate’s announcement to come up with their own message.” The campaign statement included a side-by-side comparison between Mr Trump's 2020 State of the Union address and Mr DeSantis's launch video, according to Talking Points Memo. “Three years ago we launched the great American comeback. Tonight I stand before you to share the incredible results,” Mr Trump says in the clip. While the phrases are certainly identical, Mr Trump wasn't actually the first one to utter the words. The first widely known use of the phrase was by another former president — Ronald Reagan — during his 1986 State of the Union speech. Mr Reagan's speech — which had been delayed by the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster — included him boasting about the nation's economic growth and falling interest rates, which he chalked up to his policies. ”Family and community remain the moral core of our society, guardians of our values and hopes for the future,” Mr Reagan said. ”Family and community are the co-stars of this great American comeback.” Talking Points Memo found that the phrase became relatively common following the address, and was used when describing everything from tennis matches to rebounding reptile populations. Even within the realm of politics the phrase is not unique; House Speak Kevin McCarthy has used it numerous times, as has conservative pundit Monica Crowley. Mr DeSantis was also recently needled for clumsily invoking the spirit of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill while complaining about "woke" ideology. "I recognize that the woke mind virus represents a war on the truth, so we will wage a war on the woke. We will fight the woke in education, we will fight the woke in the corporations, we will fight the woke in the halls of Congress," Mr DeSantis said in a speech on Saturday. The syntax of the speech is similar to the famous speech Churchill made in 1940 to the UK's House of Commons to lift British spirits following the evacuation of Dunkirk during World War II. "We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender," Churchill said. Critics, including former Barack Obama under secretary Richard Stengel, pointed out that Churchill was discussing battling against Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, while Mr DeSantis is railing against pronouns and trans bathroom usage. "Churchill was fighting Nazism, an enemy bent on world domination, while DeSantis is fighting, well, empathy and compassion," Mr Stengel said. "Not the same." The Independent has reached out to both Mr Trump and Mr DeSantis for comment. Read More David Furnish hits out at Ron DeSantis for ‘diabolically anti-Christian’ policies against LGBTQ+ people Showtime pulls Vice episode probing Ron Desantis’s Guantanamo record despite campaign trail questions DeSantis defines ‘woke’ after Trump claimed ‘half the people can’t’ Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement
2023-06-06 06:27

Green Energy: 10 Things You Might Not Know About ‘The Mask’
Jim Carrey had a year unlike any other actor in 1994, during which he starred in three number one comedies: 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,' 'Dumb and Dumber,' and 'The Mask.'
2023-06-06 06:23

Taylor Swift says accidentally swallowing a bug on stage during Eras Tour show 'has been fun'
'This is going to happen again tonight. There are so many bugs. There are 1,000 of them. Anyway, this has been fun,' said Taylor Swift
2023-06-06 05:50

Progressive scholar Cornel West says he will mount third party presidential bid
Former Harvard professor and prominent public intellectual Cornel West will mount a third party run for president, he said on Monday in a video posted on Twitter.
2023-06-06 05:30

Drugs and visas: Prince Harry's US court case explained
After the duke admitted using drugs, the US government is being sued to reveal his visa application.
2023-06-06 05:27

Ukraine's Zelenskiy welcomes 'the news we have been waiting for'
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed on Monday what he called "the news we have been waiting for" from troops
2023-06-06 03:48

Nikki Haley connects teen girls' suicidal ideation to transgender girls in locker rooms during CNN town hall
Nikki Haley, the 2024 Republican presidential contender, linked the presence of transgender girls in sports to suicidal ideation among teenage girls in a CNN town hall Sunday night in Iowa.
2023-06-06 02:57

Bam Margera placed on psychiatric hold after he went missing again after 'emotional disturbance'
Margera was acting erratically when he was located by the police
2023-06-06 02:51

Cornel West jumps into 2024 race as third-party candidate
Activist Dr Cornel West announced his bid for the presidency on Monday under the banner of the progressive People’s Party. Dr West entered the 2024 race via a campaign video released on Twitter; a campaign website for the Harvard- and Princeton-trained philosopher laid out a left-leaning platform that includes popular progressive planks like support for Medicare for all. “I am running for truth and justice and as a candidate for president of the United States in the People’s Party. I want to reintroduce America to the best of itself – the dignity, courage, and creativity of precious everyday people. Join our movement for priceless poor and working people of all colors here and abroad,” declares a statement on Dr West’s website. In the video, he adds: “I come from a tradition where I care about you. I care about your quality of life.” “I care whether you have access to a job with a living wage, decent housing. Women having control over their own bodies.” His campaign will likely win some supporters on the Bernie Sanders-aligned left, but at the same time will run up against the same structural obstacles that have hamstrung other third-party presidential bids and dissuaded many serious candidates from running at all. More follows... Read More Scholar, activist Cornel West says he will run for president in 2024 as 3rd-party candidate Trump suggests he is about to be charged in Mar-a-Lago classified documents case Elon Musk under fire for hosting RFK Jr for 2024 discussion on Twitter Spaces- live
2023-06-06 02:28

Left-wing philosopher Cornel West launches long-shot 2024 presidential bid
By Tim Reid Cornel West, a progressive political activist and philosopher, announced on Monday that he is launching
2023-06-06 01:49

Scholar, activist Cornel West says he will run for president in 2024 as 3rd-party candidate
Activist and scholar Cornel West says he is running for president in 2024 as a third-party candidate
2023-06-06 01:49

Analysis-Can Biden's handshake to a gunfight strategy fix what ails the US?
By Trevor Hunnicutt WASHINGTON The deal to end the United States' debt limit standoff was classic Joe Biden
2023-06-06 01:46