Putin played on Trump’s ego, top adviser says in new book


By AFP
August 24, 2024

H.R. McMaster, seen in February 2013, served 13 months as Trump's national security advisor - Copyright AFP ROBERTO SCHMIDT

Donald Trump was determined during his presidency to cozy up to Vladimir Putin despite Russia’s interference in US democracy and objections by advisers, a former top aide claims in a new book, according to an excerpt published Saturday.

The new behind-the-scenes details from H.R. McMaster, Trump’s second national security adviser, come as Americans are set to decide whether the former president should return to the White House and as US officials warn of fresh foreign election meddling.

“After over a year in this job, I cannot understand Putin’s hold on Trump,” McMaster, in an excerpt from his memoir published in the Wall Street Journal, says he told his wife in March 2018.

A former lieutenant-general, McMaster became Trump’s national security adviser in February 2017, and says that from the beginning, discussions of Vladimir Putin and Russia “were difficult to have with the president.”

He says Trump connected “all topics involving Russia” to the federal investigation into Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election and possible ties with Trump’s campaign, a probe which would dog his entire presidency.

US officials have warned this year of new efforts by foreign powers, including Russia and Iran, to meddle in the November election, in which Trump is facing Vice President Kamala Harris.

McMaster says an “overconfident” president Trump sought early in his administration to improve relations with Russia by building a personal rapport with Putin.

But the Russian president, “a ruthless former KGB operator, played to Trump’s ego and insecurities with flattery,” McMaster says.

“Trump had revealed his vulnerability to this approach, his affinity for strongmen and his belief that he alone could forge a good relationship with Putin,” he added.

McMaster detailed several instances of friction with Trump over his approach toward Putin, with the disagreements ultimately leading to his dismissal.

Following Putin’s election to a fourth term in March 2018, McMaster says Trump wanted to congratulate him by phone, but that he explained to the president that the vote had been rigged.

A call was scheduled nonetheless.

Before Trump called Putin, McMaster says he warned him about the conversation potentially being spun by the Kremlin as tacit support of the election process and to boost Russia’s image, in tatters at the time over an assassination attempt on UK soil.

He said he asked Trump: “As Russia tries to delegitimize our legitimate elections, why would you help him legitimize his illegitimate election?”

Trump nonetheless called Putin and congratulated him, and then requested the Russian president be invited to the White House.

Trump’s aversion to McMaster, he said, “was because I was the principal voice telling him that Putin was using him and other politicians in both parties in an effort to shake Americans’ confidence in our democratic principles, institutions and processes.”

McMaster was replaced just days later by John Bolton, who was also fired about a year-and-a-half later.

While Trump had four national security advisers during his term, President Joe Biden has had one since taking office in 2021.

“With Donald Trump, most everybody gets used up, and my time had come,” McMaster wrote.

CRIMINAL CRYPTO CAPITALI$M

Thai officials raid illegal bitcoin mine after power outages

By AFP
August 25, 2024

This photo illustration shows a physical representation of a bitcoin - Copyright AFP/File DALE DE LA REY

Thai authorities raided an illegal bitcoin mine west of Bangkok after residents complained of frequent blackouts in the area for more than a month, local authorities said Sunday.

Police and officials from the Provincial Electricity Authorities (PEA) raided the house in Ratchaburi town on Friday.

“We found bitcoin mining rigs, pointing to people using this house to operate a mine and using power they didn’t fully pay for,” said Jamnong Chanwong, a chief district security officer.

He told AFP records showed that electricity consumption in the house was large, but they had paid for very little of it.

Mining virtual currencies such as bitcoin requires powerful computers that consume huge amounts of electricity.

Bitcoin miners are considered manufacturers in Thailand and must pay associated taxes, but illegal mining has been on the rise for years.

Jamnong said his team tried to enter the house on Thursday but a guard denied them entry. They then returned with a search warrant and found most of the equipment had been moved.

He said the house had been rented by a company for around four months, but the power outages began mid-July when the mine likely became fully operational.

No-one was arrested during the raid, he added.

It was fourth time this year that authorities have raided an illegal bitcoin mine in Ratchaburi province.

Dealmakers ponder what’s next after tough Biden antitrust years

By AFP
August 25, 2024

Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan and Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter have adopted a tough line on mergers - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Drew Angerer
John BIERS

President Joe Biden’s skeptical approach to corporate mergers has been a hallmark of his administration’s business policy — a stance generally expected to ease if Donald Trump returns to the White House.

Biden appointees like Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission, and Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter have broadened the scope of government antitrust oversight to consider issues such as a deal’s impact on workers and on potential new market entrants.

Dealmakers have complained of added costs from this heightened scrutiny, while Khan and Kanter insist they have deterred problematic deals.

But with the clock ticking on Biden’s tenure, the antitrust and dealmaking universes have begun to ponder what comes next as voters weigh the candidacies of Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump.

While a Trump win is broadly expected to result in less antitrust enforcement and more dealmaking than a Harris victory, even that outcome is not certain, as today’s Republican coalition includes not just corporate interests but figures like Trump’s running mate Senator JD Vance, who has praised Khan.

“There is a lot of uncertainty there,” said New York University Professor Harry First. He said the populist tilt of some members of Trump’s coalition “makes it hard to predict what will happen.”

A Trump election win would be “slightly positive to very positive” for dealmaking, predicted a Wall Street banker, who spoke on condition that he not be identified. He cautioned that optimism over a potential shift under Trump should be tempered by worries over a renewed US-China trade war.

– ‘Consuming competitors’ –

Biden set an adversarial tone toward dealmaking early in his presidency, saying that too many big companies were “consuming their competitors.” An executive order he signed in July 2021 promoted competition and included tougher antitrust enforcement.

Biden cast the approach as a needed pivot from a failed 40-year “experiment of letting giant corporations accumulate more and more power.”

The appointment of Khan sent a clear message to the business world, including tech behemoths.

Khan shot to prominence following a 2017 academic article on Amazon that criticized antitrust enforcement for overlooking key priorities such as a deal’s impact on workers and the potential for big companies — not yet monopolies — to discourage new competitors from emerging.

Khan and Kanter have signaled the importance of these issues, including in merger guidelines finalized in December 2023.

They have scored some litigation wins, including the unwinding of Illumina’s acquisition of Grail in a case involving cancer detection tests; and a ruling this month that Google’s search engine constituted a monopoly in a case originally brought by the Trump administration.

But the Biden administration has also suffered some major setbacks, losing a challenge to Microsoft’s takeover of Activision Blizzard and to UnitedHealth Group’s acquisition of Change Healthcare.

– Weighing risks –

Former FTC enforcement official Ryan Quillian has pointed to data that the current commission actually has filed fewer lawsuits than its predecessors. He argued in an October 2023 paper that the Biden administration’s “rhetoric outpaces” its enforcement numbers.

Quillian, now a partner with Covington & Burling, said the agencies were focused on “rhetoric and process to deter” merger activity.

CEOs considering transactions now weigh the chance of antitrust enforcement “at the beginning of a deal,” said the Wall Street banker, adding that “there is no question that clients think two or three times more about deals that are on the line.”

The American Investment Council, a trade group for the private equity industry, has sharply criticized a Biden administration proposal to significantly increase pre-merger notification disclosures.

The proposed changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act would include details about the rationale of a transaction, projected revenue streams and corporate relationships.

The proposed rule “will make it far more costly to consummate such deals,” slowing the American economy “to the detriment of the very consumers whom the antitrust laws are intended to benefit,” the council said in September 2023 comments.

Those changes have yet to be finalized. The next administration will need to decide whether to uphold this policy, along with the 2023 merger guidelines, which would need to be adopted by US courts to have teeth.

Other questions concern pending lawsuits against tech giants Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook parent Meta, and whether to proceed with litigation or take another route, such as settlement or dismissal.

WAR CRIME

Reuters says team member missing in Russian strike on east Ukraine hotel


By AFP
August 25, 2024

The eastern city of Kramatorsk has been heavily hit by Russian attacks throughout Moscow's more than two-year invasion - Copyright AFP FETHI BELAID
Maryke VERMAAK

A member of the Reuters news agency was missing and two others were wounded in a strike on a hotel in the east Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, the agency said Sunday, with Russian attacks killing 15 civilians across the country in the last 24 hours.

In another deadly day in the two-and-a-half year war, six civilians were also killed in Ukrainian strikes on Russian border regions, Russian officials said.

The attacks came as Kyiv mounts an incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, which has rattled Moscow but not slowed its advance in eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials said attacks on Saturday said Sunday killed 15 civilians in the war-battered Donetsk, northeastern Sumy and the southern Kherson regions.

In the east Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, a search and rescue operation was underway after a strike late on Saturday on the Hotel Sapphire, where Reuters said six of its crew covering the war were staying.

Kramatorsk — the last major city under Ukrainian control in the Donetsk region — is often used as a base for aid workers and foreign journalists.

“One of our colleagues is unaccounted for, while another two have been taken to hospital for treatment,” Reuters said, adding that it was “urgently seeking more information”.

The agency said “three other colleagues have been accounted for” and said it was “working with the authorities in Kramatorsk, and supporting our colleagues and their families.”

The head of the Donetsk region, Vadym Filashkin, said earlier two journalists were wounded while one was missing, saying the strike happened “in the middle of the night.”

He said a rescue operation was ongoing and “the rubble was being cleared”.

– ‘Scary to go to bed’ –

Ukrainian prosecutors said the hotel was hit by a Russian Iskander missile at 10.35 pm on Saturday, with the strike also damaging the building next door.

AFP saw authorities giving out plywood to locals for them to board their windows.

Kramatorsk lies around 20 kilometres (13 miles) from the frontline, with fears over the city rising as Russian forces continue their push into eastern Ukraine.

Many local residents were going to bed at the time of the strike.

“I was watching a film on my phone and then… there was such a noise and the glass started smashing,” 66-year-old Natalia told AFP, crying.

She said she had already been evacuated once after a similar experience but came back, and now will “think about” leaving again.

“It’s scary to go to bed,” she said, her voice breaking.

Another resident, 84-year-old Vasily who lives close to the hotel, was fixing plywood onto his window frames after the glass smashed during the strike.

“We worry all the time… and now our turn has come,” he said, adding: “It’s about how lucky you get.”

– 15 dead across Ukraine –

Officials said Russian strikes that hit outside the city of Kherson killed three people and wounded six, including a one-year-old boy who was left with shrapnel injuries.

Russian attacks on frontline towns in the Donetsk region killed eight people in the last 24 hours, Donetsk leader Filashkin said.

Officials said large-scale attacks on the Sumy region — from where Kyiv had launched its surprise incursion on August 6 — also killed four people on Saturday.

Ukrainian police said Russia had shelled some 50 settlements in the Sumy region.

Kyiv said Russia also attacked the Kharkiv region at night, wounding eight people in the city of Kharkiv.

In Russia, officials said attacks on the Belgorod border region killed six civilians.

Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said five people were killed in a strike on the village of Rakitnoye, in an attack that also wounded a dozen people.

He said 13 others were wounded, with six in a “serious condition”, including a 16-year-old in intensive care.

Gladkov later said a man was killed by a Ukrainian drone attack in the village of Solovyevka further south.

Ukraine has pushed into parts of the Kursk region after an incursion that has seen more than 130,000 people displaced.

Paris commemorates 80th anniversary of liberation in WWII

By  AFP
August 25, 2024

Reenactors dressed in wartime uniforms parade on vintage military vehicles during a reenactment marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Paris from the Germans during World War II - Copyright AFP/File JEAN-SEBASTIEN EVRARD

Paris on Sunday celebrated the 80th anniversary of its liberation from German troops in World War II with tributes, military marches and the hoisting of a flag at the Eiffel Tower.

On August 25, 1944, the 2nd French Armoured Division entered the capital under the command of General Philippe Leclerc de Hautecloque, ending 1,500 days of German occupation.

Their triumphant arrival followed a tumultuous week of uprisings, strikes, combat at barricades and street battles between French Resistance fighters and occupying forces.

On Sunday a parade followed one of the itineraries of the French division from the south of the capital to its centre.

The parade featured vintage military vehicles, as surviving veterans of the 2nd Armoured Division looked on.

President Emmanuel Macron led the commemoration, also attended by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and an audience including prominent cultural figures including American actor Jodie Foster.

“Beyond all divisions and contradictions, to be French is to be together,” Macron said in a speech. “Free, and true to the great things that have been achieved and determined to achieve more together.”

A torch for the Paris Paralympics, which open Wednesday, was lit, ahead of a flyover by the Patrouille de France, a unit of French air force fighter planes.

Earlier Sunday, the French flag was raised under the Eiffel Tower in memory of firefighters who at midday 80 years ago took down the Nazi flag that had been flying there for four years, and replaced it with the tricolour.

Sunday’s events were the culmination of a week of festivities in and around the capital, matching in length the week of fighting in 1944 before the Germans surrendered Paris.

On Saturday, there was a tribute to the 160 men of “La Nueve”, mostly made up of Spanish republican forces, who were the first to enter Paris on the evening of August 24.

On Saturday night, Paris city hall was the venue for a brass band performance, a concert and a dance.



ONE OF THE GREAT WWII MOVIES WHERE THE COMMIES BEAT THE FASCISTS IN THE STREETS OF PARIS 

IS PARIS BURNING 

OPENING CREDITS AND ORCHESTRAL OVERTURE

 

IS PARIS BURNING  1966 TRAILER

 

IS PARIS BURNING  ENDING 

 "Echoes of France" by Django Reinhardt

WWIII

New collision of Chinese, Philippine vessels near flashpoint shoal

By AFP
August 25, 2024


Frame grab from Philippine Coast Guard video of a Chinese Coast Guard ship colliding with the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel BRP Datu Sanday - Copyright AFP Menahem KAHANA

Isabel KUA

China’s coast guard said it rescued Filipino “personnel” who fell overboard Sunday after a Philippine vessel collided with one of its ships near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.

The Philippines slammed China’s claims as “completely unfounded”.

The two nations have had repeated confrontations in the waters in recent months, and on Saturday Manila accused China of twice firing flares at one of its patrol aircraft.

China has continued to press its claims to almost the entire sea, and has ignored an international tribunal ruling that its assertions have no legal basis.

Beijing accused the Philippine vessel of “deliberately” colliding with a Chinese Coast Guard ship.

It said the collision took place near the disputed Sabina Shoal, 140 kilometres (86 miles) west of the Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,200 kilometres from Hainan island, the closest Chinese landmass.

China Coast Guard spokesman Gan Yu said the collision occurred when a Philippine vessel refused to comply with “control measures” after attempting to deliver supplies to another vessel “illegally stationed” near Xianbin Reef in the Nansha Islands — using the Chinese names for the Sabina Shoal and the Spratly Islands, also claimed by Manila.

“China warns the Philippines to immediately cease its infringing actions, otherwise the Philippines will bear all consequences resulting from this situation,” Gan said.

The Philippines said that its ships encountered “aggressive and dangerous maneuvers” from the Chinese side when they were on a humanitarian mission to resupply Filipino fishermen with diesel, food and medical items.

The Chinese vessels “made close perilous maneuvers that resulted in ramming, blasted horns, and deployed water cannons”, leading to an early termination of the resupply operation after their ship experienced engine failure, a statement from Manila’s National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea said.

“These unprofessional, aggressive, and illegal actions posed serious risks to the safety of the Filipino crew and the fishermen they were meant to serve,” the statement said, adding that no one was harmed.

Footage released by the Philippine Coast Guard showed a Chinese ship approaching and ramming the left side of its vessel.

Another clip showed a Chinese vessel travelling parallel to the Philippine ship, just metres away.


– Recurring clashes –


On Saturday the Philippines accused China of firing flares at one of its aircraft earlier this month as it patrolled the South China Sea.

On Monday both countries also reported a collision between their coast guard ships near Sabina Shoal.

Manila had said that was the first hostile action by Beijing against it near Sabina, where both sides have stationed coast guard vessels in recent months and where the Philippines fears China is about to build an artificial island.

US ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson, whose country has a mutual defence treaty with Manila, blasted the “unsafe, unlawful, and aggressive conduct” by the Chinese vessels on Sunday, saying it was “the latest in multiple dangerous actions” by China.

“We are steadfast in supporting” Philippine allies, she said on X.

China deploys boats to patrol the busy South China Sea and has built artificial islands that it has militarised to reinforce its claims.

In June, Chinese coast guard sailors brandished weapons including knives and an axe as they boarded Philippine naval vessels near the strategic reef.

The Philippine military said one of its sailors lost a thumb in the confrontation in which Beijing’s coast guard also confiscated or destroyed Philippine equipment including guns.

Beijing blamed the escalation on Manila and maintains its actions to protect its claims are legal and proportional.

China accuses a Philippine vessel of brushing against its ship in disputed waters

 
August 25, 2024 
By Associated Press

This handout photo taken Apr. 27, 2021 and received from the Philippine coast guard shows Philippine coast guard personnel aboard their ship BRP Cabra monitoring Chinese vessels anchored at Sabina Shoal, in the South China Sea.

BEIJING —

China's coast guard said Sunday it took action against a Philippine vessel that ignored warnings and caused a light collision with its vessel in the disputed South China Sea, where confrontations between the two sides have increased.

Gan Yu, the coast guard spokesperson, said in a statement that the Philippine vessel entered the waters around Sabina Shoal in the Spratly Islands, known in Chinese as Xianbin Reef in the Nansha Islands. Gan said the Philippine ship ignored the Chinese warning and sailed toward the coast guard ship "unprofessionally" and "dangerously," causing the two vessels to brush against each other. He said the Philippine vessel also had journalists on board to take pictures to "distort facts."

"The responsibility is totally on the Philippines' side. We sternly warn that the Philippine side must immediately stop the infringement and provocation, otherwise it must bear all consequences," he said. Gan did not elaborate on what control measures the Chinese coast guard took.

SEE ALSO:
Philippines urges China to halt 'provocative and dangerous' actions after flare incidents

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in the Philippines said its vessel encountered aggressive and dangerous maneuvers from eight Chinese maritime vessels. It said the actions from the Chinese side were aimed at obstructing its vessel's humanitarian mission to resupply Filipino fishermen with diesel, food and medical supplies.

China is rapidly expanding its military and has become increasingly assertive in pursuing its territorial claims in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety. The tensions have led to more frequent confrontations, primarily with the Philippines, though the longtime territorial disputes also involve other claimants including Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

The latest incident came days after Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships collided near Sabina Shoal, a disputed atoll. At least two vessels were reported to be damaged in Monday's collision but there were no reports of injuries.

Sabina Shoal lies about 140 kilometers (85 miles) west of the Philippine province of Palawan, in the internationally recognized exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.

The atoll is near Second Thomas Shoal, another flashpoint where China has hampered the resupply of Philippine forces. China and the Philippines reached an agreement last month to prevent further confrontations at Second Thomas Shoal.

Durov: Mysterious and controversial Telegram founder


By AFP
August 25, 2024

Pavel Durov comes from Saint Petersburg. — © AFP
Thibault Marchand and Stuart Williams

Russian-born tech entrepreneur Pavel Durov has founded wildly popular social networks as well as a cryptocurrency, amassed a multi-billion-dollar fortune and locked horns with authorities not just in Russia but around the world.

Still a few months shy of his 40th birthday, the man once dubbed the “Russian Zuckerberg” after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg now finds himself under arrest in France after being sensationally detained at a Paris airport this weekend.

While still in his 20s, the Saint Petersburg native shot to fame in Russia after founding the VKontakte (VK) social network which catered to the needs of Russian-language users and outgunned Facebook throughout the former USSR.

After disputes with the Russian authorities and ownership battles, he sold out of VKontakte and founded a new messaging service called Telegram which rapidly gained traction but has also proved controversial with critics condemning an alleged lack of control on extreme content.

As these dramas raged, Durov remained a mercurial and at times mysterious figure, rarely giving interviews and restricting himself to sometimes enigmatic declarations made on Telegram.

A self-avowed libertarian, Durov has championed confidentiality on the Internet and encryption in messaging.

He has defiantly refused to allow the moderation of messages on Telegram, which allows users to post video, pictures and comments on “channels” that can be followed by anyone.


Durov cultivates a near mystical image – Copyright AFP/File DALE DE LA REY

Durov, 39, was targeted in France by a warrant over offences alleged to have been conducted on Telegram, ranging from fraud to drug trafficking, cyberbullying and organised crime, including promoting terrorism and fraud.

Investigations have been entrusted to the cyber unit of the French gendarmerie and the national anti-fraud office. He was still in police custody on Sunday, according to two sources close to the case.

– ‘Thanks for all the fish’ –

In 2006, having just graduated from the University of Saint Petersburg, Durov launched VKontakte (VK), attracting users even while its founder remained a shadowy figure.

In a stunt typical of his unpredictable behaviour, Durov in 2012 showered high-denomination notes on pedestrians from VK’s headquarters on top of a historic bookstore on Saint Petersburg’s Nevsky Prospekt.

But after running into trouble with the Kremlin for refusing to hand over the personal data of users to the Russian security services (FSB), he sold out of the company and left Russia in 2014.

Durov resigned from VK with a typical flourish, posting a picture of dolphins and the slogan “So Long and Thanks for All the Fish,” a title in the famous “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” science fiction series.

He developed the Telegram messaging service with his brother Nikolai while travelling from country to country and launched the service in 2013.

He settled in Dubai and obtained citizenship of the Caribbean island archipelago of Saint Kitts and Nevis, then, in August 2021, won French nationality following a low-profile procedure about which Paris remains highly discreet.

Meanwhile, Telegram enjoyed stratospheric success, presenting itself as a champion of individual freedoms, refusing “censorship” and protecting the confidentiality of its users.

This rankled with authorities, especially in his home country and in 2018, a Moscow court ordered the blocking of the application. But the imposition of the measure was shambolic and three days later, protesters ironically bombarded the FSB headquarters with paper planes, the symbol of Telegram.

Since then, Russia has abandoned its efforts to block Telegram and the messaging service is used by both the Russian government and the opposition, with some channels boasting several hundred thousand subscribers.

Telegram also plays a key role in Russia’s war against Ukraine, documented by bloggers from both sides who post their analyses and videos of the fighting.

Pro-Moscow channels run by so-called “Z-bloggers” who back the war have proved hugely influential and are sometimes critical of Russian military strategy.

– ‘Love the privacy’ –

Durov eschews traditional media interviews but in April sat down with ultra-conservative US journalist Tucker Carlson for an extensive discussion.

People “love the independence. They also love the privacy, the freedom, (there are) a lot of reasons why somebody would switch to Telegram,” Durov told Carlson.

There are similarities with fellow tech mogul Elon Musk. — © AFP

He is also not shy of posting messages on his own Telegram channel, claiming to lead a solitary life, abstaining from meat, alcohol and even coffee. Always dressed in black, he cultivates a resemblance to the actor Keanu Reeves in the film “Matrix”.

In July, he boasted of being the biological father of more than 100 children thanks to his sperm donations in a dozen countries, describing this as a “civic duty” in an attitude to parenting that echoes that of a fellow tech mogul, the X and Tesla chief Elon Musk.

According to Forbes magazine’s latest estimate, Durov’s fortune is $15.5 billion. But toncoin, the cryptocurrency he created, has plummeted by more than 15 percent since the announcement of his arrest.

Telegram has long been in the sights of European judicial authorities over allegations it spreads conspiracy theories, shared calls for murder and hosts drug sales platforms. Durov, however, insists that he responds to every request to remove content calling for violence or murder.

'The entire electoral pool has changed': 

Top GOP pollster says Harris may deliver Dem trifecta

Image via screengrab / X

Carl Gibson

August 14, 2024

One Republican polling and messaging expert is warning his party that if current trends hold, Vice President Kamala Harris may end up not only winning the White House, but also delivering majorities for Democrats in both chambers of Congress.

In a recent CNBC interview with Squawk Box, pollster Frank Luntz — who NJ.com regarded as "the Nostradamus of pollsters" — remarked on the jarring shift in momentum for Democrats between President Joe Biden's late June debate with former President Donald Trump and the emergence of Harris as the Democratic Party's standard-bearer in November. Luntz, who routinely conducts focus groups of swing voters in battleground states, noted that Harris is particularly strong with so-called "double haters" who were not excited about the prospect of a 2020 rematch.

"She’s bringing out people who are not interested in voting for either Trump or Biden, so the entire electoral pool has changed and if it continues in this direction you have to start to consider Democrats winning the Senate and Democrats winning the House," Luntz said.

READ MORE: McConnell shares GOP's 'worst nightmare' scenario of a Harris-Walz White House

"She’s got intensity now. She’s got an intensity advantage. She’s got a demographic advantage and I haven’t seen anything like this happen in 30 days in my lifetime,” he added. “Now my groups are broken up by young women saying, ‘I’m not voting for [Trump] anymore.’"

Luntz's predictions of a Harris-Walz ticket paying off big for Democrats in down-ballot races were similar to those of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), who urged Republicans to take the prospect of a crushing defeat in November more seriously. The Kentucky Republican told state lawmakers in his home city of Louisville that if Democrats take the White House, flip the House of Representatives and maintain their majority in the U.S. Senate, they could kill the filibuster and grant statehood to Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.

"That's four new Democratic senators in perpetuity," McConnell said. "If they get those two new states and pack the Supreme Court, they'll get what they want."

In his Squawk Box interview, Luntz said the momentum shift in Harris' favor could be enough to give her the advantage in close contests.

READ MORE: 'Out for blood': Undecided voters offer surprising reactions to Trump's Manhattan trial

"The people who are undecided have all collapsed towards Harris. The people who are ‘weak’ Trump have all collapsed towards undecided," he said. "There are issues, attributes and the condition of the country. The issues and the conditions favor Donald Trump. He should be winning this election. But the attributes are so much in Harris’ favor that he’s not."

Despite his personal preference for Republicans, Luntz has not held back when forecasting losses for the GOP. In early 2021, he correctly predicted that both of Georgia's Republican U.S. senators would lose their respective runoff elections on January 5 after noticing billboards attacking them in deep-red Georgia counties. Both Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-Georgia) and Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia) went on to be sworn in as Georgia's first unified Democratic U.S. Senate delegation in three decades.


Watch Luntz's segment below, or by clicking this link.



READ MORE: GOP strategist Frank Luntz confronts election denier: 'You're unwilling to see the evidence'

Ex-Bush strategist warns against top GOP pollster’s data: 'Wrong in nearly every election'

Maya Boddie, Alternet
August 25, 2024 

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the New York Young Republican Club Gala at Cipriani Wall Street on December 09, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Former President George W. Bush chief strategist Matthew Dowd issued an Americans a warning against any election 2024 data presented by longtime GOP pollster Frank Luntz after the ex-Fox News contributor predicted that Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Jr. can help win the White House for Donald Trump.

Dowd on Saturday night wrote in a post published to X: "Please, please ignore anything Frank Luntz says... no matter if it is good or bad. he is a grifter who makes up most of his data. and has been wrong in nearly every election."

According to The Hill, Luntz told NewsNation's Leland Vittart this weekend "that while Kennedy’s poll numbers have dropped since Vice President Harris ascended to the top of the Democratic Party presidential ticket, his remaining supporters could provide enough backing to tip some swing-state results in Trump’s favor."

READ MORE: 'Trump should be quaking': Pollster’s inability to find women for focus group spells trouble for GOP

Kennedy, who ended his election bid Friday, followed the announcement with an endorsement for Trump.

“It’s probably worth about 1% for Trump and that 1% could be everything if it’s in the swing states," Luntz said. "In the end, the reason why Kennedy was drawing 10, 12, even as high as 14% is because he was taking votes away from Joe Biden. Joe Biden’s gone. Kamala Harris has replaced him, and [RFK’s] vote collapsed down to about 4 or 5% and what’s left is a Trump vote."

Earlier this month, CNN's senior data reporter Harry Enten reported that Harris is starting to win over Trump voters in battlegrouund states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

Can Harris win back Michigan's crucial Muslim vote?

Agence France-Presse
August 25, 2024 

"We are in listening mode right now," said Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News. (Jeff Kowalsky / AFP)

In key swing state Michigan, Democratic voters of Arab and Middle Eastern heritage say Kamala Harris is going to have to win them back, after they were alienated by President Joe Biden's handling of Israel's military offensive in Gaza.

The town of Dearborn, home to 110,000 people and a cultural hub for Arab Americans, could play a decisive role in deciding the fate of the battleground state in November's presidential election.

Members of the community interviewed by AFP said they were willing to hear what the vice president had to say and weigh their options — a marked change from the outright hostility towards Biden.

"We are in listening mode right now," said Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News.Accepting the Democratic presidential nomination at the party's convention on Thursday, Harris pledged to get a Gaza ceasefire "done" and ensure Palestinians realize their right to "dignity, security, freedom and self-determination."

But there was outrage among pro-Palestinian delegates that their request for a speaker spot at the convention was rejected. The group Muslim Women for Harris-Walz said the decision sent a "terrible message" and announced it was disbanding and withdrawing its support from the campaign.

Harris, who has vowed "not to be silent" about the suffering of Palestinians, recently met with members of the national "Uncommitted" movement that led the charge against Biden during the Democratic primary process.

Although she made no firm promises, leaders said she impressed them with a show of empathy.

At the forefront of concerns are Israel's 10 months of military operations in Gaza, which have devastated the Palestinian enclave since the war began in response to Hamas's attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Growing influence


Michigan, home to the "big three" automakers — Ford, General Motors and Chrysler — has long been an essential stop for White House aspirants.Economic downturns in the 1970s led many to leave the so-called "Rust Belt" state, just as unrest in the Middle East brought new waves of Lebanese, Iraqi, Yemeni, and Palestinian immigrants.

"We're a global city, where nearly 55 percent of our residents are of Arab background," said Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud in a recent interview. "For many of us, when you talk about what's happening in Gaza, these are our family and our friends.

"Famous as the birthplace of Henry Ford, Dearborn appears at first glance just like any small US city, with its wide thoroughfares and strip malls. But it is also home to the Islamic Center of America — the largest mosque in the country -- and countless Middle Eastern supermarkets, eateries, and coffee shops.

When Siblani first started his newspaper in the mid-1980s, he remembers the then-mayor campaigned on a platform to address the "Arab problem." But as the community's numbers grew, and the children of blue-collar factory workers took up positions as lawyers, doctors, and businesspeople, so too did their political influence.
'Lesser of two evils'

Historically socially conservative, Arab and Muslim Americans heavily favored George W. Bush in the 2000 election. Years of the US "War on Terror" — which saw wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan, and Muslim American communities put under stricter law enforcement scrutiny — swung them firmly to the Democratic camp.

In 2018, southeast Michiganders elected Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress — a milestone for the community.

Three Arab-American mayors have also recently been elected in suburbs known for historic racism towards non-whites.

Angered by former president Donald Trump's travel ban on Muslim countries, support for Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and more, Dearborn voters overwhelmingly backed Biden in 2020, helping secure Michigan for the Democrats by a slim margin.

Residents here are tired, however, of being asked to vote for the "lesser of two evils" and instead want candidates who will deliver on demands, such as a permanent ceasefire and an end to the supply of weapons to Israel.

"I think VP Harris has a window of opportunity," said Faye Nemer, a community activist and CEO of the MENA American Chamber of Commerce. "She can either continue President Biden's legacy or set her own agenda."

Arab Americans in Dearborn have been impressed by Harris's pick of Tim Walz as her running mate. Walz has taken a conciliatory approach to opponents of the war, unlike Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who took a hard line against college protesters.

But demands are hardening."We don't want crumbs anymore," declared Soujoud Hamade, a business lawyer and long-time Democrat, who vowed to vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein if Harris did not deliver on the campaign trail.

Pastor says Harris could get 'the highest level of evangelical support since Carter'

Maya Boddie, Alternet
August 25, 2024 

U.S. Vice President and Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Kamala Harris (AFP)

Donald Trump has long been backed by evangelical Christian voters, and as of May, the Associated Press reported that the ex-president's "support is as strong as ever among evangelicals and other conservative Christians."

In an op-ed published by MSNBC Sunday, Minneapolis pastor Doug Pagitt — who also heads the nonprofit organization Vote Common Good — explains how Vice President Kamala Harris can win the evangelical vote this time around – and why it's possible.

"On the trail in 2020, 2022 and this year, I’ve gleaned the reason many evangelical and Christian voters ultimately leave Trump: his obvious lack of kindness," Pagitt writes. "A poll that my organization Vote Common Good commissioned in 2020 showed that in swing states, Trump’s lack of kindness was driving evangelical and Catholic voters away in large enough numbers to potentially affect the outcome of the election."

READ MORE: More Americans 'view Christianity negatively' — and it may be Trump's fault

The Minneapolis pastor emphasizes that "Democrats more broadly need to embrace the idea that evangelicals, and especially white male evangelicals, are worth winning and can be won without the party compromising its values."

One way to do that, Pagitt suggests, is by implementing a strategy similar to one Vote Common Good made ahead of the 2020 presidential election in Kent County, Michigan.

"We held voter rallies and roundtables; put up billboards juxtaposing the words of Jesus Christ with those of Trump; sent thousands of postcards to evangelical voters; and trained multiple local Democratic candidates on how to engage with faith voters," Pagitt writes. "Our message to the 25% of the Kent County electorate that identified as evangelical was simple: Trump lacks kindness and it’s OK not to vote for the Republican."

Pagitt notes "Trump beat Clinton by 3 points in Kent County in 2016," but due to Vote Common Good's election efforts, "In 2020, he lost to Biden there by 6 points, a 9-point swing."

READ MORE: Christianity Today editor laments evangelicals defending Trump like 'the left in the Clinton era'

Furthermore, if Democrats want to win evangelical support, the Party must take a "concerted, grassroots effort to reach these voters," Paggit says, "listen to them and bring them along on a journey to help them understand it’s OK for them to let concern for the common good, and not allegiance to a political party, determine how they vote."

With a recent endorsement from a group called Christians for Kamala, Pagitt emphasizes: "I think it’s possible for Harris to receive the highest level of evangelical support since Carter."

READ MORE: The nation’s future will be 'decided in the pulpits and sanctuaries of American churches': columnist

Pagitt's full op-ed is available here.

Watch: Scott Jennings laughed at on CNN for claiming 'People don't want to feel joy'

Tom Boggioni
August 25, 2024

Kate Bedingfield, Scott Jennings (CNN screenshot)

It did not take long on Sunday morning for conservative CNN political commentator Scott Jennings to realize he had stepped in it when he claimed, "People don't want to feel joy" during his appearance on "State of the Union."

During the panel discussion moderated by host Jake Tapper, CNN analyst Kate Bedingfield described the just concluded Democratic National Convention as joyful, telling her fellow panelists, "She [Kamala Harris] is proving herself outside of her comfort zone. She has spent the last month since it was thrust upon her this moment where she had to rise to the occasion to take on the mantle of being the Democratic nominee, which is a huge moment and she's done it successfully."

"You've seen — you see momentum, you see people excited," she continued. "So this notion like joy isn't a strategy; joy is actually what people want. This is what they want to feel right now and they're feeling it from her. She's also laying out substantive policy proposals which she did in her nominating speech. And the idea that these two things are somehow mutually exclusive, I don't think that's true."

"The joy will continue until morale improves," conservative analyst Jennings quipped before adding, "People don't want to feel joy, they want to feel relief," which made Bedingfield laugh.

"The economic anxiety is real and it is — and you can say inflation is down and I know that's what the Democrats are going to argue," he persisted as Bedingfield looked on incredulously.

"Not a single person who was bought a single thing in the last four years or in the last four minutes, believes that and I think you get in trouble in politics when you tell people something that does not match their lived experience," he concluded.

"So a Republican strategist says people do not want to feel joy," a laughing Bedingfield repeated before adding, "That's quite a message."

Watch below or at the link.

  

Maria Bartiromo and Byron Donalds think Obama's controlling country through 'earpiece'

David Edwards
August 25, 2024 

Fox News/screen grab

Fox News host Maria Bartiromo and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) argued that former President Barack Obama was controlling Democratic officials through an earpiece.

During a Sunday interview on Fox News, Bartiromo wondered who was "running the country while Kamala Harris is out campaigning."

"I'm not quite sure who's running the place," Donalds replied. "Maybe Susan Rice is still in charge for all we know. I have no idea."

"It raises the issue of who's been running the country these past four years and who is expecting to do so in the next four years," Bartiromo opined.

The Fox News host said she "heard" Michelle and Barack Obama were planning to "help" Kamala Harris run the country.

Bartiromo then pointed to a 2020 interview in which Stephen Colbert asked Obama if he would be willing to serve a third term as president.

"And I used to say, you know what, if I could make an arrangement where I had a stand in a front man or front woman, and they had an earpiece in, and I was just in my basement in my sweats, looking through the stuff, and then I could sort of deliver the lines," Obama said at the time. "But somebody else was doing all the talking and ceremony. I'd be fine with that."

"Is that the plan?" Bartiromo asked Donalds.

"It very well might be," the lawmaker agreed. "Even if you look at the Biden-Harris administration, a lot of the staff are Obama holdovers from the Obama-Biden administration."

"Now you're looking at Kamala Harris," he added. "The rumors are already circulating that she's looking at people to hold over from the current administration now."

Watch the video below from Fox News or at the link.

'Growing GOP support' of Dem law intensifies Republican Party 'division': report

Maya Boddie, Alternet
August 25, 2024

A Democrat-backed 2022 climate law is "drawing growing GOP support," causing friction among Republican lawmakers, according to a Sunday, August 25 Politico report.

While the Inflation Reduction Act "is undeniably bringing federal money, private investments and jobs into communities around the country overwhelmingly represented by Republicans," Politico notes that no GOP lawmakers voted for the bill in 2022, "and conservatives consistently charge that its hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies for electric vehicles, wind, solar and other technologies will drive up prices, distort the markets and benefit China."

Per the report, earlier this month, 18 House Republicans signed onto a letter asking Speaker Mike Johnson to spare the energy tax credits from efforts to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, with many of them seeing the incentives as both good for the planet and extremely beneficial for local economic development."

However, some far-right Republicans, like Rep. Chip Roy (TX), are calling some colleagues who signed the letter hypocritical.

Noting that the "18 Republicans voted last year to repeal the IRA climate subsidies," Roy claimed via X, "Now, [they] want to preserve so-called ‘green’ handouts to Democrats’ corporate cronies."

Politico reports that Nick Loris, vice president of public policy at the Republican-aligned firm C3 Solutions, predicts GOP members will "treat the tax credits as something of a buffet, with Republicans picking and choosing what they like and what they don’t."

He emphasized, "There’s going to be some division for sure, but it’s not going to be black and white, either."

READ MORE: Conservative admits Trump’s policies 'would result in price spikes' for most Americans

The possible party showdown, Politico adds, is "all part of an intensifying debate within the Republican Party about how to respond to climate change, a rising priority for many young voters. And while more GOP lawmakers say they want to be active on the issue, many conservatives — including Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump — still don’t buy the reality of human-caused global warming and the impact of fossil fuels."

Politico's full report is available here.

Former GOP lawyer describes J.D. Vance's 'awkward darkness' after donut shop visit

David McAfee
August 25, 2024 

C-SPAN/screen grab

Donald Trump's pick for vice president, J.D. Vance, represents an "awkward darkness," according to former House Republican Congressional Committee Investigative Counsel Sophia Nelson, a lawyer who formerly worked on legal and advisory teams for several prominent Republicans.

Appearing on CNN on Sunday, Nelson was asked about Vance's recent "awkward interaction" at a donut shop. Vance is also currently in hot water with his neighbors.

"Retail politics is really important," the host says. The host then asks Nelson how Vice President Kamala Harris can do better on her upcoming bus tour.

Nelson replied, "I wish you had shown the clip with Vice President nominee Walz and his wife walking into a donut shop outside of Chicago after the convention and the reception was entirely different."

"The energy was entirely different. To my point, J.D. Vance has this kind of awkward darkness about him," she added. "This kind of like roughness. It's not a warm energy, it's like when you saw the dog at the firehouse, when Vice President Harris walked in into dog's just laying down and rolling around all over her. Animals have good instincts and people have good instincts."

Watch below or click the link.

'He should probably move': J.D. Vance's neighbors reportedly lashing out at V.P. candidate

David McAfee

August 25, 2024 

Donald Trump's pick for vice president, J.D. Vance, is in hot water with those in his community, according to a news report.

According to the Daily Beast, "JD Vance’s neighbors have slammed the vice presidential candidate after the Secret Service closed and [barricaded] a park near his home in Alexandria, Virginia."

The report states that the outrage came after "the city announced that it would be closing the Judy Lowe Neighborhood Park on Sunday and an adjacent block would be restricted to residents only after the Secret Service ramped up measures for Donald Trump’s running mate."

The report continues:

“'Beginning Sunday, August 25, and in response to a request from the United States Secret Service (USSS), the Judy Lowe Neighborhood Park, located at 1 & 7 E. Del Ray Ave., will be temporarily closed until further notice,' a city notice read, reported the local news website ALXnow."

ALXnow also cited backlash from the locals:

“I am all for protecting people, but if that park is such a danger, he should probably move,” someone identified as Thomas Blackwood reportedly said. “The park belongs to the city and the people of Alexandria not his protection staff. And to be perfectly honest, a true Republican would not want the government infringing on other people’s rights.”

The report also says, "Another commentator added that the park belongs to the residents of Alexandria, therefore, 'they should be able to freely use the City resources regardless who lives adjacent to the park. Let the Secret Service figure it out. What happens if some other high level protectee move in adjacent to some other park?'"

Another commentator on ALXnow, the report says, "attempted to add some levity to the situation. 'Oh for goodness sakes. Enough. The man is running for VP of the United States. No matter your political affiliation you should be proud your neighbor is willing to run for office,' they wrote. 'Shame on you for being so ugly.'"

Read the Daily Beast report here (subscription may be required).

Rep. John Lewis statue replaces Confederate memorial in Georgia


Democratic Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries D-N.Y., speaks during the unveiling of a new stamp honoring the late Rep. John Lewis in the Statuary Hall on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on June 21, 2023, and Lewis now has a bronze statue honoring his civil rights efforts in front of the DeKalb Courthouse in Decatur, Ga. File Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 24 (UPI) -- A 12-foot bronze statue of the late civil rights activist and U.S. Rep. John Lewis was unveiled Saturday in Decatur, Ga.

Lewis represented Georgia's Fifth Congressional District, which includes most of Atlanta, from 1987 until his death in 2020.

Sculptor Basil Watson of Jamaica created the statue, which depicts Lewis holding his hands across his heart and is situated atop a stone pedestal.

The statue was installed in Decatur Square on Aug. 16 and unveiled Saturday.

Lewis was a civil rights leader and a Democrat who was among the first "freedom riders" who rode on segregated buses during the 1960s to protest racial discrimination and segregation in the South.

Lewis formerly chaired the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and was a member of the "big six" civil rights leaders who organized the history "march on Washington," during which Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Alabama state troopers and local police in 1965 physically beat Lewis, which triggered the inaugural Selma to Montgomery march.

President Barack Obama in 2011 bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom upon Lewis for his efforts on behalf of equality and civil rights.

The statue replaces a stone obelisk standing 30 feet high and erected in 1908 outside the DeKalb County Courthouse.

It was placed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and honored the "memory of the soldiers and sailors of the Confederacy, of whose virtues in peace and in war are witnesses to the end that justice may be done and that the truth perish not."

The obelisk contained inscriptions on all four sides that referenced the underlying principles of the Confederacy.

The obelisk became a point of contention during the civil unrest that followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020.

WEIRDO AND KOOK X 2

RFK Jr. blames 'media censorship,' plans to campaign for Trump   DO IT!

By Mark Moran & Allen Cone

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he is suspending his campaign for the presidency while in in Phoenix on Friday. Kennedy went on to endorse Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, and blamed attacks from the Democrats for his moves. Photo by David Blakeman/EPA-EFE

Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Robert F. Kennedy Jr., blaming media censorship for driving him from the 2024 race, said Sunday he plans to campaign for Republican resident nominee Donald Trump.

"I'm going to be campaigning actively," he said on Fox News on Sunday. "I think President Trump is going to make a series of announcements about other Democrats who are joining his campaign. And ... I want to make America healthy again, and so does President Trump,"

On Friday, Kennedy suspended his campaign, announced his endorsement of Trump and then appeared at a rally with the former president in Glendale, Ariz.

Kennedy said he thought he could have gotten more media coverage.

Related

RFK Jr. suspends presidential campaign, endorses GOP nominee Donald Trump
Reports: RFK Jr. to exit presidential race this week, possibly will endorse Trump
RFK Jr. campaign considering whether to drop out, 'join forces' with Trump

"When Ross Perot ran, in the 10 months that he ran, he had 34 appearances on the networks," Kennedy said on Fox News. "I had two appearances in 16 months, so I was blocked out of the networks, and I was blocked out of the debate. I had no path to victory."

Perot was a third-party candidate in 1992, appearing in the debates between Bill Clinton and President George H. W. Bush. Clinton won and Perot earned 18.9% of the popular vote.

Kennedy said when he suspended his campaign that he could no longer ask his staff to put time and effort into his bid for the White House.

"I cannot in good conscience ask my staff and volunteers to keep working their long hours or ask my donors to keep giving when I cannot honestly tell them that I have a real path to the White House," he said Friday.

Kennedy said supporting Trump would be a difficult sacrifice but one that would be worth it if any of his goals could be accomplished.

Kennedy said Trump had been talking to him about a possible role in a Trump administration and that the GOP presidential nominee had been talking about creating a unity government, specifically saying the pair talked about the war in Ukraine, preventing censorship and promoting children's' health.

His wife, actress Cheryl Hines, isn't pleased with his decision, Kennedy said on X. He said he was not "terminating" his campaign, merely suspending it, meaning he will remain on the ballot in some noncompetitive states.

Kennedy is the son of Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of John F. Kennedy, Jr.

His announcement was met with disapproval by other members of his politically famous family, who in a statement called it "a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear."

RFK Jr. said: "My family is -- I understand that they're troubled by my decisions. I love my family. I feel like we were raised in a milieu where we were encouraged to debate each other and debate ferociously and passionately about things and still love each other.

"They're free to take their positions on these issues. There are many, many members of my family working at my campaign and who are supporting me."

Trump has said he welcomes Kennedy's support.

In one key issue, Kennedy says "abortion should be legal up until a certain number of weeks, and restricted thereafter."

Trump said it is up to the states to decide legality of abortions.

Vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, an Ohio senator, said during a campaign stop Saturday that Trump would veto a federal abortion ban if Congress passes a bill. The former president's stance on abortion has changed over the years.

Polls show that the race has tightened substantially in key battle ground states since President Joe Biden stepped down and was replaced with Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate.

Trump has campaign appearances scheduled in Wisconsin on Tuesday and in Pennsylvania on Friday with Vance in Michigan on Tuesday.

Harris and running mate Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota resume their campaign bus tour Wednesday in southern Georgia with a rally planned Thursday in Savanah.

Watch: Trump impersonator defends RFK Jr.'s 'brain worm' on right-wing Newsmax

David McAfee
August 25, 2024 

Screenshot

A comedian with an incredible Donald Trump impersonation was asked on Sunday to defend from attacks on Robert F. Kennedy's alleged "brain worm."

One panelist questioned whether Kennedy could actually help Trump convince more independent voters, given the fact that Kennedy himself is known as an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist with several other pieces of political baggage.

Kennedy has previously claimed that a worm ate part of his brain and then died.

After the panelist slammed Kennedy and mentioned the alleged brain worm, the host asked comedian Shawn Farash to respond as Trump, and he did.

Watch below or click the link.

 

Nate Silver's new election model shows RFK Jr. withdrawal 'didn't hurt Kamala'

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaks at the Libertarian National Convention   (Kevin Dietsch/AFP)

IRONICALLY THE DEMOCRATS ARE MORE LIBERTARIAN THAN THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY (C)(R)(TM)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently announced he would suspend his campaign and endorse Donald Trump, but a new model released by pollster Nate Silver shows it "barely made any difference."

Kennedy, who endorsed Trump after reportedly reaching out to Vice President Kamala Harris about a potential cabinet position, was polling at around 5% when he dropped his run. Pundits have since questioned what the move might mean for the election in November.

Election forecaster Nate Silver, who recently told Fox News the election has "shifted" in favor of Harris, Saturday explained what he found in his latest analysis.

"The RFK-less version of the model is ready!" Silver announced over the weekend. He added, "But it barely made any difference."

"Here's an explanation of the simple fix we made, and why it hasn’t yet moved the topline numbers," Silver added, sharing his own article entitled, "We removed RFK Jr. from our model. But it didn't hurt Kamala."

"Like everything else about his presidential campaign, Robert F. Kennedy’s withdrawal from the presidential race was weird," Silver's article states. "Both Trump and Kamala Harris have gained ground versus yesterday’s model run, the last one to include Kennedy. Harris’s polling average has improved from 48.0 percent yesterday to 48.8 percent today (+0.8), while Trump’s has increased from 43.7 to 44.8 (+1.1)."

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) picked up on the new election model, writing, "Translation: RFK Jr. is irrelevant. And weird."

Read the article right here.

She didn’t see her Black heritage in crossword puzzles. So she started publishing her own


Juliana Pache poses for a photo in Washington Square Park in New York, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

BY DEEPTI HAJELA
Updated 10:05 PM MDT, August 20, 2024Share


NEW YORK (AP) — It started a couple of years ago when Juliana Pache was doing a crossword puzzle and got stuck.

She was unfamiliar with the reference that the clue made. It made her think about what a crossword puzzle would look like if the clues and answers included more of some subjects that she WAS familiar with, thanks to her own identity and interests — Black history and Black popular culture.

When she couldn’t find such a thing, Pache decided to do it herself. In January 2023, she created blackcrossword.com, a site that offers a free mini-crossword puzzle every day. And Tuesday marked the release of her first book, “Black Crossword: 100 Mini Puzzles Celebrating the African Diaspora.”

It’s a good moment for it, nearly 111 years after the first crossword appeared in a New York newspaper. Recent years have seen an increasing amount of conversation around representation in crossword puzzles, from who’s constructing them to what words can be used for answers and how the clues are framed. There’s been a push to expand the idea of the kinds of “common knowledge” players would have to fill them out.

“I had never made a crossword puzzle before,” Pache, 32, said with a laugh. “But I was like, I can figure it out.”

And she did.

Made ‘with Black people in mind’

Each puzzle on Pache’s site includes at least a few clues and answers connecting to Black culture. The tagline on the site: “If you know, you know.”

The book is brimming with the kinds of puzzles that she estimates about 2,200 people play daily on her site — squares made up of five lines, each with five spaces. She aims for at least three of the clues to be references to aspects of Black cultures from around the world.

Pache, a native of the New York City borough of Queens with family ties to Cuba and the Dominican Republic, had a couple of goals in mind when she started. Primarily, she wanted to create something that Black people would enjoy.

I’m “making it with Black people in mind,” she said. “And then if anyone else enjoys it, they learn things from it, that’s a bonus but it’s not my focus.”

She’s also trying to show the diversity in Black communities and cultures with the clues and words she uses, and to encourage people from different parts of the African diaspora to learn about each other.

“I also want to make it challenging, not just for people who might be interested in Black culture, but people within Black culture who might be interested in other regions,” she said. “Part of my mission with this is to highlight Black people from all over, Black culture from all over. And I think ... that keeps us learning about each other.”
What, really, is ‘general knowlege’?

While on the surface if might just seem like a game, the knowledge base required for crosswords does say something about what kind of knowledge is considered “general” and “universal” and what isn’t, said Michelle Pera-McGhee, a data journalist at The Pudding, a site that focuses on data-driven stories.

In 2020, Pera-McGhee undertook a data project analyzing crossword puzzles through the decades from a handful of the most well-known media outlets. The project assessed clues and answers that used the names of real people to determine a breakdown along gender and race categories.

Unsurprisingly, the data indicated that for the most part, men were disproportionately more likely than women to be featured, as well as white people compared to racial and ethnic minorities.

It’s “interesting because it’s supposed to be easy,” Pera-McGhee said. “You want ... ideally to reference things that people, everybody knows about because everyone learns about them in school or whatever. ... What are the things that we decide we all should know?”

There are efforts to make crosswords more accessible and representative, including the recently started fellowship for puzzle constructors from underrepresented groups at The New York Times, among the most high-profile crossword puzzles around. Puzzle creators have made puzzles aimed at LGBTQ+ communities, at women, using a wider array of references as Pache is doing.

Bottom line, “it is really cool to see our culture reflected in this medium,” Pache said.

And, Pera-McGhee said, it can be cool to learn new things.

“It’s kind of enriching to have things in the puzzle that you don’t know about,” she said. “It’s not that the experience of not knowing is bad. It’s just that it should maybe be spread out along with the experience of knowing. Both are kind of good in the crossword-solving experience.”

DEEPTI HAJELA
Hajela writes about the ways in which America is changing as part of the AP’s Trends+Culture team. She is based in New York City.