Related: The competition squaring up to Donald Trump
Donald Trump sat down with Sean Hannity for his latest town hall in Iowa on Thursday evening, with almost all of the questions coming from the Fox News host himself rather than local voters.
Before a raucous and adoring crowd, the former president was asked about domestic and foreign policy topics, claiming he would solve most within six months of retaking office and have the US “hopping” again, while also boasting of his tough stance towards Russia and Iran.
When other GOP primary candidates like Ron DeSantis and Asa Hutchinson were brought up, he dismissed the threat they posed as the audience booed and jeered the very mention of their names.
But there was no allusion whatsoever to Fox’s recent $787m settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over the former’s coverage of Mr Trump’s bogus claims that the 2020 presidential election fraud was “rigged” against him.
Mr Trump did use the opportunity provided to try to shoot down the latest allegations that he knowingly stored classified Pentagon documents from his presidency, insisting: “I don’t know anything about it. All I know is everything did was right.”
One document specifically mentioned in a recording of the former president is now reportedly missing.
Sweeping racketeering case possible as Georgia could widen probe to other states, report says
Oliver O’Connell3 June 2023 09:45
‘Are you blind?’: DeSantis lashes out at reporter on New Hampshire campaign visit
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis snapped at a reporter, asking him “are you blind?” after they asked him why he wouldn’t take questions from potential voters.
Mr DeSantis — who formally announced his 2024 presidential candidacy during a buggy Twitter spaces event hosted by Elon Musk — held a campaign event in New Hampshire on Thursday, after which he refused to take any questions.
Oliver O’Connell3 June 2023 06:45
Vivek Ramaswamy to call for end to US support for Ukraine
Vivek Ramaswamy, the biotech entrepreneur and anti-woke asset manager turned Republican presidential hopeful, has a plan for ending Russia‘s year-and-a-half war on Ukraine – sort of.
Andrew Feinberg filed this story from New Hampshire.
Oliver O’Connell3 June 2023 04:45
‘I did it for 30 years’: Roger Stone caught on hot mic explaining how to manipulate Trump
Longtime Donald Trump ally Roger Stone was caught on audio explaining how he allegedly manipulated the former president for decades.
Mr Stone, who served as a formal adviser to Mr Trump during his first presidential campaign, is the subject of the Danish documentaryA Storm Foretold which refers to Mr Stone as “Trump’s political godfather.”
Despite Mr Stone publicly boasting about Mr Trump’s abilities and image, in private it seems he felt differently.
Ariana Baio has the story.
Oliver O’Connell3 June 2023 02:45
Trump’s town halls expose media’s inability to fact-check a fountain of nonsense
Donald Trump finished his town hall on Fox News on Thursday evening after making another whirlwind of false claims about a wide range of topics — the 2020 election, his trade policy, and his efforts to remain in the presidency to name a few.
The roughly hour-long performance was notable only for its rigid adherence to form: the ex-president spat out mistruths and conspiracies faster than any journalist could respond, not that Fox’s Sean Hannity ever meaningfully pushed back at all.
But the similarities between Mr Trump’s appearances on Fox News and its second-place rival, CNN, a few weeks earlier beg the question: why does cable news keep doing this?
Oliver O’Connell3 June 2023 01:45
‘Not inspiring’: Trump and Maga allies mock Biden for Air Force graduation fall
The president dropped to his knees after stumbling over a sandbag after two hours on stage at the service academy in Colorado Springs on Thursday.
Mr Biden, 80, did not appear hurt by the fall and continued to stand on stage until the ceremony ended several minutes later, according to the White House pool.
Oliver O’Connell3 June 2023 00:45
Trump downplays legal threat of secret papers recording
Donald Trump returned to a familiar refrain on Thursday, insisting once again that he had done nothing wrong even as new challenges pop up seemingly every day for the ex-president who faces a bevy of criminal and civil investigations.
Mr Trump returned to Iowa for a town hall-styled event with his favoured cable network, Fox News, moderated by primetime opinion host Sean Hannity, who is now the Fox star probably closest to the former president given the firing of Tucker Carlson, the network’s previous star pundit.
And confronted with a new leaked recording indicating that Mr Trump knew that he was retaining classified materials after his presidential term ended, he once again insisted that he had done nothing wrong.
Oliver O’Connell2 June 2023 23:45
Arkansas librarians are suing to block state law that threatens them with jailtime
A coalition of librarians, libraries, patrons, bookstores and publishers are suing officials in the state of Arkansas after passage of a sweeping state law that could threaten librarians with jail and heavy fines for materials in their collections.
Arkansas is among four states that have recently enacted state laws that make it easier to prosecute libraries, librarians and booksellers over explicit content, as Republican lawmakers and right-wing activists target LGBT+ content and descriptions of gender identity and sexuality in a nationwide campaign taking aim at materials in classrooms and on bookshelves.
Oliver O’Connell2 June 2023 23:15
Trump’s lawyers ask judge to exit criminal case
Within hours of his historic arraignment this spring, Donald Trump fixed his ire on the judge, complaining that he’s “a Trump hating-judge” with a family full of “Trump haters.”
On Friday, the former president’s lawyers doubled down on that criticism, demanding Judge Juan Manuel Merchan step aside from his New York City criminal case because of what they say is anti-Trump bias and a conflict of interest arising from his daughter’s work for some of Trump’s Democratic rivals.
Oliver O’Connell2 June 2023 23:00
Trump surprises crowd by mocking people who say ‘woke’
Donald Trump surprised a crowd in Iowa by mocking people obsessed with using the Republican buzzword “woke”, insisting that most people cannot even define what it means.
The former president has himself regularly used the phrase to attack opponents, and just last month his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, announced the launch of a “non-woke men’s lifestyle magazine.”
Graeme Massie has the story.
Oliver O’Connell2 June 2023 22:45
