“Being called a racist has infuriated Trump...behavior his advisers and allies excuse as the natural reaction of anyone who does not consider himself a racist but is accused of being one.”
The problem with Trump claiming to White House staff and the world that he’s being unfairly labeled a racist is that there are decades of racism on his resume: bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
"The most underappreciated story this election year is happening everywhere and yet is completely overshadowed by the race for the White House." -- @MaryEllenKlas & Carolyn Silverman bloomberg.com/graphics/2024-…
"No matter who wins the presidency, the nation is going in two different directions. That’s because more states have fallen under one-party control — either Republican or Democrat — than at any time in modern US history. The shifting dynamic is suppressing competition in elections, discouraging voter engagement and, in too many places, enabling the party in power to ignore perspectives outside of their base. In short, political choice is vanishing."
"The impact on policy has been asymmetrical. For the past quarter-century, the public has become more progressive on many social issues, according to Gallup. Blue trifecta states have moved with it, namely on abortion, gender identity, climate change, guns, immigration and voting rights. Red trifectas, meanwhile, have hewed to their base and to policies that receive majority support only half the time — rejecting Medicaid expansion, relaxing gun laws and cutting unemployment insurance. To many voters in the 23 Republican trifecta states, representative government is not representing them."
“Congress impeached Trump twice, but Republican allies put the acquisition and retention of power ahead of civic duty and let him elude accountability. Three other criminal trials are still in motion against him, but they’ve been bogged down.”
“But a handful of New York law enforcement officials, in a prosecution that was fated from its very beginnings to be labeled a witch hunt, finally brought Trump to heel.”
After the 2020 presidential race, some Trump supporters spread the Big Lie that the election was stolen. They displayed upside-down American flags in protest. One home flying an inverted flag was the residence of Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. nytimes.com/2024/05/16/us/…
"While the flag was up, the court was still contending with whether to hear a 2020 election case, with Justice Alito on the losing end of that decision."
"In coming weeks, the justices will rule on two climactic cases involving the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, including whether Mr. Trump has immunity for his actions. Their decisions will shape how accountable he can be held."
At 100 Centre St awaiting the start of Trump criminal trial at 11 ET. First order of business at 9:30 tho: Judge Merchan is holding a hearing on whether Trump violated the court’s gag order with repeated statements and social media posts attacking likely witnesses and the court.
Trump will shrug off any relatively modest fines levied against him. He doesn’t care about several thousand dollars. He is likely to care about the prospect of jail time, however. Merchan runs a tight, sober-minded courtroom. We’ll see how he decides to rein in Trump.
Prosecutors are detailing a list of occasions when they say Trump violated the gag order — including yesterday “right outside this building.”
“No one is off limits to the defendant and he can attack and intimidate any one he wants,” says Chris Conroy, Exec ADA.
Trump’s financial trap — he can’t come up with the cash to appeal his $454 million civil fraud judgment — may ravage his business. More directly: It intensifies his threat to national security by making him an easy mark for overseas interests. My column: bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…