Politics

“This is about being afraid. As I’ve said before, Donald Trump is the puppeteer and what does he do all of the time but shine the light on the strings. These people look pathetic. Kevin is playing politics. It is not even clear if he constitutionally can expunge those things. If he wants to put his members on the spot, …

Raw Story reports: The DeSantis campaign deleted a video that flashed a number of concerning images. Just a few weeks ago, another video surfaced using photos of shirtless men previously mocked by Secretary Pete Buttigieg. In the latest video, however, a Nazi symbol flashes on the screen with a row of marching soldiers on either side of it and Gov. …

“First of all, ‘I didn’t do it and I’m not involved in it’ are not the words of leadership. You know, look, Governor DeSantis started this fire with the bill that he signed, and now he doesn’t want to take responsibility for whatever is done in the aftermath of it. “And from listening and watching his comments, he’s obviously uncomfortable. …

The Hill reports: “My primary interest in this topic is if there are … object[s] operating over restricted air space, it’s not ours and we don’t know whose it is, that’s a problem that we need to get to the bottom of,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. “If there’s an explanation for it …

“I’ve been consistent all along that I would have made different judgments than Donald Trump made. That is why I am running in this race for the presidency, the same race that he’s in, because I would have made different – and I believe better – judgments for the country. But a bad judgment is not the same thing as …

The New York Times reports: Throughout the spring, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and his advisers waved off his sagging poll numbers with the simple fact that he wasn’t yet an actual candidate for president. Two months in, however, his sputtering presidential campaign is still struggling to gain traction. One recent move that drew intense blowback, including from Republicans, was …

Reuters reports: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in hospital after being fitted with a pacemaker on Sunday, as tens of thousands of people converged on Jerusalem to protest a planned overhaul of the Supreme Court being debated in parliament. With Israel embroiled in its most serious domestic political crisis in decades, the 73-year-old leader was rushed to Sheba Medical …

The Associated Press reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday downplayed the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol, saying it was not an insurrection but rather a “protest” that “ended up devolving, you know, in a way that was unfortunate, of course.” DeSantis, speaking in an interview on the podcast of comedian Russell Brand, said the idea …

ABC News reports: “I would love to see you be president of the United States. I’m just gonna give you an honest comment. I don’t believe you ever will be until the day you stand up to that man,” Tom Loughlin, a 77-year-old part-time New Hampshire resident, told Pence in reference to Trump. “Maybe you’re too good a Christian to …

The Georgia Recorder reports: An all-male panel of anti-abortion religious leaders from around the country met Friday night to discuss the strategies that should be used to end abortion in every state at any stage of pregnancy, without exceptions for rape and incest, and with criminal punishment for the pregnant person in line with existing criminal penalties for murder, which …

Politico reports: President Joe Biden is eyeing redemption in North Carolina next year. Biden lost the Tar Heel state to Donald Trump by just 1.4 percentage points in 2020, and a Democrat at the top of the ticket hasn’t managed to turn North Carolina blue since Barack Obama did in 2008. Now Biden’s team sees opportunity in 2024 amid a …

CNN reports: DeSantis hit back Friday, accusing Harris and Democrats in a tweet of spreading lies “to cover for their agenda” and telling reporters in Utah that the vice president’s criticism of Florida’s Board of Education was “absolutely ridiculous.” Asked by CNN about the benchmark, DeSantis deflected. “You should talk to them about it. I didn’t do it. I wasn’t …

Reuters reports: Vice President Kamala Harris criticized Florida “extremists” on Friday for backing educational guidelines that taught “revisionist history” about slavery in the United States. Florida’s board of education approved new guidelines this week with “benchmark clarifications,” including one for middle school students that states “instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their …

Earlier this week multiple Kennedy family members trashed RFK Jr. after his lie-filled appearance before the US House. Today John F. Kennedy’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, joins in. From his Instagram post: President John F. Kennedy is my grandfather, and his legacy is important. It’s about a lot more than Camelot and conspiracy theories. It’s about public service and courage. It’s …

The Messenger reports: The FBI repeatedly warned lawmakers not to share the contents of a sensitive document related to a Department of Justice investigation of Hunter Biden, The Messenger has learned. In spite of those warnings, congressional Republicans have made the document a central focus of their investigation of President Joe Biden and his son. FBI officials cautioned lawmakers on …

Florida Politics reports: Someone shot a bullet into the front window of a children’s room at Republican state Rep. Spencer Roach’s home Thursday morning, leaving the North Fort Myers lawmaker “shaken up.” No one was harmed in the incident. The shooting at Roach’s home comes two days after the Lee County Republican Executive Committee was to consider a resolution condemning …

CNN reports: The northern Italian city of Padua has started removing the names of non-biological gay mothers from their children’s birth certificates under new legislation passed by the “traditional family-first” government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. These birth certificates belong to 33 children of Italian women who underwent artificial insemination abroad and then registered their children under the city’s center-left …

Florida Politics reports: New polling shows fewer than 1 in 4 women approve of Ron DeSantis, and that women are twice as likely to disapprove of him than regard him favorably. A Yahoo! News survey conducted between July 13 and July 17 shows just 24% of the U.S. adult women polled approve of DeSantis, with 48% disapproving. Meanwhile, a “very …

Bloomberg News reports: A plan to charge motorists driving into midtown Manhattan in New York City was challenged by neighboring New Jersey, which seeks to block the proposal as unfair to commuters. The challenge came in a federal lawsuit the state filed Friday against the US Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, or FHWA. Drivers may have to …

The Daily Beast reports: Trump and his team are making a concerted push to ensure that the convention is packed with loyalists who could fortify their position, should another candidate win enough delegates during the primary to potentially maneuver for the nomination. The effort includes calls from Trump and his advisers to senior party leadership in early primary states as …