Former president staging MAGA rally in Crotona Park, South Bronx, later on Thursday, pledging to ‘Make New York Great Again!!!’ on Truth Social
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Donald Trump has offered a garbled explanation as to why he ultimately declined to testify at his New York hush money trial, citing his “past” and telling a conservative radio host that he feared political bias against him, also coming close to breaking his gag order in the same interview by criticising Manhattan prosecutor Matthew Colangelo.
Later on Thursday, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee will host his latest 2024 campaign rally in Crotona Park in New York City’s South Bronx, the first time that he has rallied in his hometown for eight years.
Mr Trump trailed the event on his Truth Social platform by pledging to “Make New York Great Again!!!” and promising: “Far Lower Taxes, Safe, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Good Schools, and everything else that goes towards the American Dream!”
On Wednesday, a hearing in Mr Trump’s classified documents case in Florida devolved into a chaotic shouting match as two lawyers fought over claims of a threat allegedly made to a defense attorney.
The hearing had been scheduled on behalf of Walt Nauta, the former president’s co-defendant and valet, to share arguments that the office of Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith had vindictively and selectively charged him with offenses.
Rick Scott throws hat in ring to replace McConnell
Florida Senator Rick Scott is once again asking Republican colleagues to make him their party’s leader in the upper chamber, giving GOP senators a chance to vote for a more right-wing candidate than his rivals for the post.
Mr Scott, a former Florida governor who chairs the Senate Republicans’ campaign committee, announced his candidacy in a letter to fellow senators on Wednesday.
“This is not a time to make small adjustments, I believe we need a dramatic sea change to save our country and that’s why I’m running to be Republican leader,” Mr Scott wrote.
Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC:
Oliver O'Connell23 May 2024 18:45
Fake Biden robocall creator indicted on felony charges and slapped with $6m fine
Steven Kramer, who created the fake Joe Biden robocall to New Hampshire voters ahead of that state’s primary earlier this year has been charged with voter suppression over the AI-generated message to voters.
The charges come after an investigation into reports of thousands of New Hampshire residents receiving a robocall message asking them to “save [their] vote for the November election” and stating “[y]our vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday.”
The voice in the recorded message appeared to have been artificially generated to sound like the voice of President Biden. The message additionally appeared to have been “spoofed” to falsely show that it had been sent by the treasurer of a political committee that had been supporting the New Hampshire Democratic Presidential Primary write-in efforts for the president.
Mr Kramer has been charged with 13 felony counts of voter suppression and 13 misdemeanor counts of impersonation of a candidate. The charges are spread across four counties based on the residence of thirteen New Hampshire residents who received the Biden Robocalls: Rockingham County (five counts of violating each statute); Belknap County (three counts); Grafton County (three counts); Merrimack County (two counts).
“New Hampshire remains committed to ensuring that our elections remain free from unlawful interference and our investigation into this matter remains ongoing ... I am pleased to see that our federal partners are similarly committed to protecting consumers and voters from harmful robocalls and voter suppression,” said state attorney general John Formella. “I hope that our respective enforcement actions send a strong deterrent signal to anyone who might consider interfering with elections, whether through the use of artificial intelligence or otherwise.”
Further, the Federal Communications Commission today proposed a substantial fine for the apparently illegal robocalls made using deepfake, AI-generated voice cloning technology and caller ID spoofing to spread election misinformation.
Mr Kramer faces a $6m proposed fine for apparent spoofing violations.
“We will act swiftly and decisively to ensure that bad actors cannot use US telecommunications networks to facilitate the misuse of generative AI technology to interfere with elections, defraud consumers, or compromise sensitive data,” said Loyaan A Egal, Chief of the Enforcement Bureau and chair of the Privacy and Data Protection Task Force. “We thank our partners at the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office for their help with this investigation.”
Here’s our earlier reporting on the incident:
Oliver O'Connell23 May 2024 18:15
Coming up: Trump to stage rare NYC rally in deep blue South Bronx
The former president is set to hold a rally in New York, his first in the Empire State in eight years, and not in a MAGA stronghold like the rural north, western region or even the borough of Staten Island. Mr Trump is heading to the South Bronx — one of the most Democrat parts of the country.
Read on...
Oliver O'Connell23 May 2024 17:45
What next for Nikki Haley voters now she’s in for Trump?
What happens to Nikki Haley’s supporters now that she has said she will vote for Donald Trump in the 2024 election despite being his most vociferous critic during the Republican primaries?
It’s an important question as she continues to attract approximately 20 per cent of the GOP vote in state primaries despite having dropped out of the race in March.
Alyssa Farah Griffin, former Trump staffer, current co-host of The View and CNN commentator, and another leading anti-Trump voice in the Republican Party, is not convinced that Haley’s supporters will follow her example.
“Not convinced most Haley voters become Trump voters,” she tweeted this morning. “A look at comments on Haley’s insta post that she’s backing Trump: floods of comments saying they feel betrayed.”
She continued: “Haley voters were more anti-Trump than she was. She was the vehicle to register their opposition to Trump.”
Meanwhile, The Daily Beast reports that the Biden campaign has moved quickly, continuing its efforts to woo disaffected Republicans determined to avoid a second Trump presidency. Shortly after Haley gave her support to Trump, a group of her supporters from Vermont and Arizona met with the Biden campaign, the outlet reports.
“The fact they actually sent someone last night to speak to a small group … I think that’s a good signal that they’re aware there are huge numbers of Haley voters out there,” Robert Schwartz, founder of the Haley Voters For Biden PAC, told The Daily Beast.
He said the meeting was highly encouraging, and likened it to other listening sessions the Biden campaign has done with the pro-Palestinian uncommitted vote.
Oliver O'Connell23 May 2024 17:15
Trump finally offers explanation for why he backed out of testifying in hush money trial
Donald Trump has finally offered some sort of explanation as to why he backtracked on plans to take the stand to testify in his hush money trial.
When the time came, however, Mr Trump did not take the stand. Instead, the defence rested its case on Tuesday after calling just on two witnesses including attorney Robert Costello.
Now, Mr Trump has claimed that the reason he didn’t take the stand is because of the judge – and over fears that his “great”, albeit chequered, past might come back to haunt him.
James Liddell explains...
Oliver O'Connell23 May 2024 16:45
Oliver O'Connell23 May 2024 16:15
Trump claims Putin will release jailed journalist Evan Gershkovich ‘for him’
Here’s more on the Republican’s big talk about securing the release of the imprisoned American reporter from jail in Russia.
James Liddell has the story.
Joe Sommerlad23 May 2024 15:45
Musk agrees to host presidential debate involving RFK Jr on X – who then calls out Trump and Biden
Elon Musk says that he’ll host a presidential debate involving Robert F Kennedy Jr on X ahead of the 2024 presidential election in November – with the independent candidate calling on Joe Biden and Donald Trump to join.
James Liddell has more.
Joe Sommerlad23 May 2024 15:15
Prospective Trump veep Kristi Noem now banned from all tribal lands in South Dakota
The dog-killer is now not welcome in large swathes of the state she governs but, sure, why not consider her for vice president of the United States?
John Bowden reports.
Joe Sommerlad23 May 2024 14:45
AOC roasts Rudy Giuliani over his bizarre coffee venture
Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has roasted former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani over his latest business venture: selling coffee.
Katie Hawkinson has the details.
Joe Sommerlad23 May 2024 14:15
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