List of All Articles with Tag 'us politics'

Texas governor Greg Abbott is facing ridicule after he fell for a fake story on a satirical website that claimed country music star Garth Brooks had been booed off a stage for refusing to ban Bud Light. Mr Abbott shared a link to the parody site The Dunning-Kruger Times on his official Twitter account on Sunday that claimed Brooks had been targeted at the 123rd Annual Texas Country Jamboree in Hambriston after calling his conservative fans “a**holes”. “Go woke. Go broke,” Mr Abbott tweeted. “Good job, Texas.” There was just one problem: the jamboree didn’t exist, and neither did the city of Hambriston. The Dunning-Kruger Times, named after a cognitive effect where people with low expertise or ability overestimate their knowledge, labels itself as a “network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery”. “Everything on this website is fiction,” the site explains. The purported author of the story, headlined Garth Brooks Booed Off Stage at 123rd Annual Texas Country Jamboree, was listed as “patriot” Flagg Eagleton. Mr Abbott deleted the tweet without an explanation or apology, but it was preserved and roundly criticised on Twitter. “Gov Abbott just accidentally posted a satire article because he wants to hate on queer Texans and Garth Brooks so bad,” wrote Democratic Congressman Greg Casar. “The Texas Country Jamboree doesn’t exist. Hambriston, Texas is not real. And the Governor is not fit to tweet, much less govern,” he added. Teacher Judy Hockenbrough wrote that “poor Greg Abbott got caught in his lies this time”. “There are a couple of big problems with Abbott’s tweet: The city of Hambriston doesn’t exist and the article is completely fake. Abbott fails Texas everyday.” Mr Abbott frequently weighs in on culture war issues on social media, last week urging warring tech billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk to go through with their much-hyped MMA bout. He has also signed into law some of the country’s most punitive anti-LGBT+ legislation. Texas is facing crippling power outages amid an unprecedented heat wave. Meanwhile, Brooks, who has sold more than 157 million albums, has yet to respond publicly to the kerfuffle. In 2022, Brooks performed two sold-out concerts in Texas at AT&T Stadium in Arlington and Houston’s NRG Stadium to a combined audience of about 147,000 fans. Read More Trump news – live: Supreme Court dismisses Democratic lawsuit over Trump hotel documents Fox News choose Jesse Watters to replace Tucker Carlson in primetime shakeup Texas Gov Greg Abbott bizarrely weighs in on Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg’s cage fight GOP state legislatures seek greater control over state and local election offices Texas gov Greg Abbott reacts to Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg’s cage fight Why are the Texas Rangers the only MLB team without a Pride Night?

President Joe Biden on Monday emphasized that the United States and its closest allies were not involved in the rebellion by the Wagner Group against the Russian government, his first public comments since the weekend mutiny.

Delaware state Sen Sarah McBride announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Delaware’s sole congressional district, which would make her the first openly transgender member of Congress. Ms McBride announced her candidacy in a video on Monday morning. “My commitment is to the people in Delaware who aren’t seen, who don’t shout the loudest or fund political campaigns,” she said. “Everyone deserves a member of Congress who sees them and respects them.” Ms McBride became the first openly transgender state senator in the United States when she won her election in 2020. Prior to that, Ms McBride worked for the Human Rights Campaign and was also the first openly transgender person to speak at a major party’s convention when she spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. She first came out as transgender in an op-ed for the student newspaper of American University, where she had served as student body president. Ms McBride also worked for former Delaware attorney general Beau Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, who represented Delaware in the Senate for 36 years before he became vice president. “When I came out, it was support from Beau – and the rest of the Biden family – that made me feel safe in Delaware, like I belonged here,” she tweeted in 2019, to which Mr Biden’s account tweeted “Thanks Sarah. I'm proud of you and so is Beau.” In 2018, Ms McBride released her book Tomorrow Will be Different, which detailed her life and the loss of her husband Andy who was also transgender. Mr Biden wrote the foreword for the book. Ms McBride’s candidacy comes shortly after Rep Lisa Blunt Rochester, the state’s incumbent congresswoman, announced she would run for Delaware’s Senate seat after Sen Tom Carper announced that he would not seek another term in the Senate. Delaware is a solidly Democratic state, meaning that the winner of the Democratic primary will most certainly win the general election in 2024. Read More Pioneering transgender lawmaker has advice for pushing back against transphobic bills Neo-Nazis can’t stop Pride in Montana: ‘Yes, we are under attack. But we will not be quiet’

The Supreme Court on Monday dropped a case concerning a lower court opinion that allowed for a handful of members of Congress to sue a government agency for records related to the Washington, DC, hotel once owned by former President Donald Trump.

The Supreme Court on Monday left in place a lower court opinion that invalidated a code of conduct at a North Carolina publicly funded charter school that required girls to wear skirts in order to "preserve chivalry" based on the belief that every girl is a "fragile vessel."

The Supreme Court said Monday that Louisiana's congressional map must be redrawn to add a second majority-Black district.

Donald Trump railed against a list of “villains” including electric vehicles (EVs), President Joe Biden and “radical left lunatics” as he delivered a speech in the battleground state of Michigan on Sunday night. The former president spoke before 2,500 supporters at Oakland County GOP’s Lincoln Day Dinner, where he was honoured by the party as its “Man of the Decade”. During the event, he claimed that electric vehicles would result in the “decimation” of the state’s traditional auto industry and claimed that his criminal indictments are “bulls***”. Michigan could be a key focus of the 2024 race after Mr Trump won the state in 2016 but lost it to Mr Biden in 2020. His appearance came one day after he told a crowd of evangelicals on Saturday that the federal government has a “vital role” in the restriction of abortion access and once again took credit for overturning Roe v Wade. But the former president did not detail his proposal for national abortion restrictions at the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference in Washington DC, in contrast to his 2024 rival Mike Pence, who said he supports outlawing abortion nationally at 15 weeks of pregnancy. Read More Trump celebrates anniversary of anti-abortion ruling as he tells religious crowd ‘I’m getting indicted for you’ Trump declares himself the ‘most pro-life’ president in American history Biden warns Republicans aren’t done with abortion bans as protesters hit streets on anniversary of Roe’s fall Trump quietly changes political fundraising site to funnel funds toward legal woes Trump tells Michigan Republicans that EVs will ‘decimate’ state’s auto industry

Republicans who control the North Carolina legislature are moving to change the makeup of state and county election boards and sideline the state's Democratic governor, Roy Cooper.

The world just got a hint of a tantalizing but possibly even more dangerous future without Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Western stakes in the Ukraine war rose significantly as a result.

Donald Trump told an audience of MichiganRepublicans that the push for electric vehicles will mean the “decimation” of the state’s traditional auto industry. The former president made the comments as he appeared at the Oakland County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day dinner on Sunday night, his first appearance in the battleground state in the 2024 cycle. “It’s going to be a level that people can’t even imagine,” Mr Trump said during his address inside the Suburban Collection Showplace, in Novi, Michigan. Mr Trump told the crowd that the “maniacal push” for electric vehicles would kill auto jobs in the United States, and mocked the range of the vehicles, saying that they were a win for “tow truck companies.” “If somebody wants an electric car, I’m all for it. But you should be able to have a choice,” Mr Trump told the crowd. The event came the day after he told a crowd of evangelicals on Saturday that the federal government has a “vital role” in the restriction of abortion access while he once again took credit for overturning Roe v Wade. But the former president did not detail his proposal for national abortion restrictions, in contrast to his 2024 rival Mike Pence, who supports outlawing care nationally at 15 weeks of pregnancy. Mr Trump’s remarks to a Faith & Freedom Coalition conference in Washington DC came on the one-year anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s decision to revoke constitutional protections for abortion. Though he has repeatedly taken credit for the ruling, he has avoided questions about whether he would back a national ban if Republican lawmakers managed to pass one through Congress. Read More Trump news – live: Trump makes first 2024 campaign visit to battleground state of Michigan Republicans try to thread the needle on abortion on anniversary of the death of Roe Trump quietly changes political fundraising site to funnel funds toward legal woes Trump celebrates anniversary of anti-abortion ruling as he tells religious crowd ‘I’m getting indicted for you’ Trump is returning to Michigan with hopes of repeating the battleground success he found in 2016

The Biden administration has warned that more turmoil is possible in Russia after a short-lived coup instigated by a mercenary group once loyal to Putin. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the prediction on Sunday in the first comments from a senior administration official on Russia’s future after a whirlwind 48 hours which left the leader of the Wagner Group exiled after his troops marched on Moscow. "This is an unfolding story, and I think we're in the midst of a moving picture," Mr Blinken said on CBS show Face the Nation. "We haven't seen the last act. We're watching it very closely." He went on to say that the rebellion showed “real cracks” in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s power structure, and raised “profound questions” about his ability to hold on to that power. His comments came after the Kremlin announced that Wagner leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, would accept a deal requiring him to leave Russia for Belarus in exchange for immunity for members of Wagner which has been on the front lines of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for months. In that time, Mr Prigozhin has been increasingly vocal about supposed failures in Russia’s command, and accused the nation’s generals of mismanaging the war. A senior administration official noted as much to The Washington Post in a report which revealed that US intelligence agencies have known about the mercenary group’s impending attack for several weeks. The secretary’s comments are in line with many commentators in the US and Europe who have predicted that Mr Putin’s control over Russia and his country’s military will continue to slip as further victories are won by Ukraine’s military against their invading foes. “This is the biggest crisis of his time in power since [Putin] became president in 2000,” Michael McFaul, the former US ambassador to Russia, added on MSNBC in an interview with Jen Psaki. Mr Prigozhin’s exile is at the very least a black eye for Mr Putin given that just a day ago the Russian leader was denouncing the advancing forces as traitors and vowing retribution; as it stands, none of those involved will see any consequences for their actions. The secretary of State added in his interview Sunday that he expected the public would learn more in the coming days what concessions (if any) Mr Prigozhin was able to secure in his deal with the Russian president. "We still don't have finality in terms of what was actually agreed between Prigozhin and Putin," he told CBS News. "I suspect that we're going to learn more in the days and weeks ahead about what deal they struck." Read More Russia-Ukraine war live: Wagner rebellion shows Putin’s power is finally cracking, US says Putin is weakened – but the endgame could be a dangerous one Ukraine says Wagner’s mutiny proves Putin’s fragility – but this war ends on the battlefield The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

One year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade and ended the enshrined right to seek an abortion, Christian conservatives convened in Washington DC to size up the GOP’s leading 2024 candidates. The Faith and Freedom Coalition held its Road to Majority conference at the Washington Hilton over the weekend, where every major Republican 2024 candidate appeared to try to win over the crucial evangelical wing of the party. Former president Donald Trump closed out the event on Saturday evening; former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, former vice president Mike Pence; former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, Sen Tim Scott (R-SC), Florida Gov Ron DeSantis and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy also made their case to social conservatives. Last year’s Dobbs v Jackson decision has caused a split among Republicans. Some have said that the Supreme Court’s decision likely cost Republicans the opportunity to win the majority in the Senate as the GOP failed to flip a single seat, and Republicans only won a narrow majority in the House of Representatives. An NBC News poll showed that 61 per cent of Americans disapprove of the Dobbs decision, with 80 per cent of women between the ages of 18 and 49 and two-thirds of suburban women saying that they disapproved of it. But Republican candidates did not reflect any anxiety about the decision in their remarks to the crowd of Christian conservatives who consider abortion to be murder. “We have to start with tomorrow’s anniversary and thank God Almighty for the Dobbs decision,” Mr Scott said in his speech. “We are creating a culture of life in America, and that’s a really good thing.” Mr Pence, an ardent social conservative, said Dobbs was only the beginning. “Now some you will hear from at this very podium will say that the Supreme Court returned to the issue of abortion only to the states and nothing could be done at the federal level,” he said. He also criticised Republicans for saying some abortion legislation was “too harsh.” “Some have even gone on to blame the overturning of Roe v Wade for election losses in ‘22,” he said. “But let me say from my heart, the cause of life is the calling of our time and we must not rest and must not relent until we restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law in every state in this country.” In turn, Mr Pence called for passing a national 15-week abortion ban. But many attendees said they preferred to leave abortion to the states. “It’s a state issue, I think it ought to stay a state issue,” Gay Dillard told The Independent. Ms Haley called herself “unapologetically pro-life,” but said that people needed to not “demonise” the issue.” Ms Haley said she thought there was a place for a federal law restricting abortion, but noted it would require a House majority and 60 Senate seats to overcome a filibuster. As a result, she talked about reducing late-term abortions, focusing on adoption and foster care. “We have one goal: To save as many babies as possible and protect as many mothers as possible,” she said, something Ms Dillard repeated. “We need to just make sure we have enough support, emotionally, physically, financially, to support women who do choose,” she said. “So it’s not just about having, not having an abortion, it’s about if they keep their baby. We have to embrace them and help and help surround them.” Max Fisher, a candidate for state legislature in Virginia, said that the focus should be on increasing options. “So make sure that adoption is an option on the table and make sure that people have the information that they need to make sure that they’re not doing, like, you go to a bar and get drunk and then you make bad decisions,” he said. “It’s the same reason why you can’t get a tattoo when you’re drinking. Make sure that you have all of the information that you have available in order to make a well-educated choice for yourself from whether that’s adoption, whether or not as another decision, but that’s entirely up to the individual.” Despite the fact that Mr Trump nominated three of the Supreme Court justices in the majority on Dobbs, the former president has at times not fully embraced the anti-abortion decision. The “too harsh” criticism that Mr Pence cited was how Mr Trump characterised Mr DeSantis’s six-week abortion ban in Florida. In fact, Mr Trump refrained from supporting any new abortion restrictions during his closing address to the conference, but instead focused on attacking Democrats. “I will continue to stand proudly for pro-life policies just as I did for four strong years,” he said. “They are the radical extremists.” Ken Cuccinelli, who runs the Never Back Down Super PAC that supports Mr DeSantis, said the Florida governor is more sufficiently pro-life. “Well, for one, he has a central core belief system that supports faith and, and you can see it reflected in policies like his pro-life stance,” he told The Independent, noting how Mr DeSantis supported abortion restrictions as a member of Congress and implemented them as governor. “He signed the heartbeat bill, while the resident is condemning it. And that’s still the biggest issue here to these voters. And then the cultural battle that these voters care about.” But Mr Trump mentioned that his actions with judges will give Republicans more power. “You have tremendous negotiating power now,” he said. “We've now given pro-life people tremendous power to negotiate something that will be happy, that will be good for everybody and you have power for the first time.” Read More Trump news – live: Trump’s legal team handed over tapes to Jack Smith as MAGA loyalists turn on each other Trump takes credit for overturning of Roe v Wade while raising questions about DeSantis’ six-week ban Chris Christie defiant as conservative crowd boos Trump criticism Trump quietly changes political fundraising site to funnel funds toward legal woes Trump celebrates anniversary of anti-abortion ruling as he tells religious crowd ‘I’m getting indicted for you’ The religious right used to be uneasy about Trump – but his dominance is now complete