Donald Trump doubles down on anti-immigrant rhetoric after Supreme Court decision
Donald Trump marked Christmas Day by sharing a video compilation of his festive presidential speeches after spending hours ranting about the 2024 election, his legal woes and posting a seasonal greeting that his opponents “rot in hell”.
“Merry Christmas to all, including Crooked Joe Biden’s ONLY HOPE, Deranged Jack Smith, the out of control Lunatic who just hired outside attorneys, fresh from the SWAMP (unprecedented!), to help him with his poorly executed WITCH HUNT against ‘TRUMP’ and ‘MAGA,’” the former president wrote.
The holiday greeting was also aimed at world leaders, “both good and bad”, and the “sick” thugs at home “looking to destroy our once great USA. MAY THEY ROT IN HELL. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!”
Looking ahead to next year, Mr Trump will be juggling four criminal trials that carry a total of 91 felony counts as well as his presidential campaign.
Mr Trump’s legal team is making concerted efforts to try to delay or dismiss the cases. On Saturday, his lawyers asked an appeals court to throw out the 2020 federal election interference case against him on presidential immunity grounds.
Latest: FBI investigates threats to judges who disqualified Trump from Colorado’s 2024 ballots
A ruling from Colorado’s highest court earlier this month determined that the former president is disqualified from the presidency under the 14th Amendment, which bars anyone who has sworn an oath to uphold the constitution and “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding public office.
The historic 4-3 ruling, the first among any state supreme court to consider the question of his eligibility, follows a wave of lawsuits seeking to block Mr Trump from next year’s presidential election ballots for his actions surrounding the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Oliver O’Connell26 December 2023 16:23
Newsom doesn’t want Trump removed from California ballot
California Governor Gavin Newson isn’t backing his own lieutenant’s call to remove Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot after the Colorado Supreme Court determined that he was ineligible for the presidency.
On 19 December, Colorado’s highest court ruled that the former president is disqualified from the presidency and should be removed from 2024 ballots, citing his role in the January 6 Capitol insurrection.
California Lt Gov Eleni Kounalakis responded to the move by suggesting that her state should do the same ahead of its 5 March primary. But her boss Mr Newsom isn’t on board.
“There is no doubt that Donald Trump is a threat to our liberties and even to our democracy,” Mr Newsom said on 22 December. “But in California, we defeat candidates at the polls. Everything else is a political distraction.”
Oliver O’Connell26 December 2023 16:00
Former AG warns about what could happen in a Trump second term
Former attorney general Bill Barr told Fox News’s Neil Cavuto on Friday that Mr Trump’s “chaotic” style of governance could lead to some problems and, unlike his first term, he may not have an administration to keep him in line.
Oliver O’Connell26 December 2023 15:30
After judge strikes down First Amendment claim, investigators poised to get Project Veritas documents
Criminal prosecutors may soon get to see over 900 documents pertaining to the alleged theft of a diary belonging to President Joe Biden’s daughter after a judge rejected a First Amendment claim by the conservative group Project Veritas to stop investigators from seeing the records.
Attorney Jeffrey Lichtman said on behalf of the nonprofit Monday that attorneys are considering appealing last Thursday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan. In the written decision, the judge said the documents can be given to investigators by Jan. 5.
The documents were produced from raids that were authorized in November 2021. Electronic devices were also seized from the residences of three members of Project Veritas, including two mobile phones from the home of James O’Keefe, the group’s since-fired founder.
Project Veritas, founded in 2010, identifies itself as a news organization. It is best known for conducting hidden camera stings that have embarrassed news outlets, labor organizations and Democratic politicians.
Why #TrumpStinks is trending
Claims around the former president’s alleged odour erupted earlier this week when former Illinois Republican representative Adam Kinzinger tweeted, “I’m genuinely surprised how people close to Trump haven’t talked about the odor. It’s truly something to behold. Wear a mask if you can.”
Here’s how the Trump team responded:
And here’s how things then escalated:
Oliver O’Connell26 December 2023 14:30
Trump makes another push for presidential immunity in 2020 election subversion case
Graig Graziosi26 December 2023 14:00
Trump’s rhetorical projection throws ‘insurrectionist’ accusations back at Biden
President Joe Biden said there is “no question” that Donald Trump was responsible for fuelling an insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6. “It’s self-evident. You saw it all,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
“I’m not an insurrectionist,” the former president wrote on his Truth Social the next day. “Crooked Joe Biden is!!!”
He didn’t elaborate, but it’s the latest attempt from the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president in 2024 to spin, or project, accusations against him towards those doing the accusing.
It’s a rhetorical device he has weaponised for years, and the projected accusations have only become more severe as the several criminal prosecutions and campaign-threatening lawsuits against him develop.
Oliver O’Connell26 December 2023 13:30
Tracking the 2024 race for the White House: Sign up to our free virtual expert panel event
The 2024 presidential election has begun and The Independent is here to help you unpick the twists and turns of the race as the starting gun goes off.
Despite the fact he faces four indictments and remains an incredibly polarising figure in American politics, Donald Trump remains immensely popular.
Join The Independent for a virtual roundtable event recapping the election results in Iowa and looking ahead to the rest of the year.
Deputy US editor David Taintor and senior Washington correspondent Eric Garcia will sit down with a panel of experts to analyse the results from the Iowa caucuses and look ahead to New Hampshire, using early signs to share predictions on how the upcoming race for the White House could unfold.
Our expert panel includes Doug Heye, a former Republican National Committee communications director and deputy chief of staff to former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. He also managed Republicans communications for the 2012 Iowa Caucus.
The event will be hosted on Zoom and will last one hour. It will take place on Thursday January 18 and will start at 4pm ET (9pm GMT).
Once signed up you will be able to ask questions to the panel.
For more information and to sign up for a free ticket click here.
Graig Graziosi26 December 2023 13:00
ICYMI: Seth Meyers breaks down Trump’s lifelong ‘support for dictators’
The former president replied: “Except for day one.”
While many GOP lawmakers defended his remarks, putting them down to one of Trump’s many “Trump-isms”, Mr Meyers decided to take a closer look at the times the former president has shown his appreciation for history’s most disturbing dictators.
“He used to be pro-choice, now he’s anti-abortion. He used to be for gun control, now he’s against it. But the one thing he’s been consistent on his entire life is his support for dictators,” Mr Meyers said on his show on Thursday.
Oliver O’Connell26 December 2023 12:30
WATCH: US Supreme Court declines to fast-track Trump’s ‘absolute immunity’ in election subversion case
US Supreme Court declines to fast-track Trump’s ‘absolute immunity’ in election subversion case
Graig Graziosi26 December 2023 12:00