Trump news today: Ex-president responds to Ukraine president address with bizarre claim he ‘rebuilt Nato’
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Former US President Donald Trump speaks to the crowd during a rally in South Carolina
Donald Trump used the occasion of Volodymyr Zelensky’s virtual address to Congress to brag about his supposed rescue of the Nato alliance – this despite his history of derogatory remar
The Republican National Committee last night mounted a last-minute effort to stop the 6 January committee from accessing its email communications from the weeks after the 2020 election.
In a late-night legal filing, the party committee claims that the subpoena seeking access to the emails in question “would give the Select Committee unprecedented access to the RNC’s internal political strategies and to private, personal information regarding its supporters”. However, the party seems unlikely to succeed, as the company that handled and retains the emails, Salesforce, says it still intends to comply with the committee’s subpoena.
Fracas at Fox News over Trump’s relationship with Russia
Fox News’s internal debate over the Russian attack on Ukraine is frequently playing out on air, with hosts openly disagreeing and even rowing over basic facts of why Vladimir Putin has launched the war and what it means.
The latest contretemps erupted last night on evening show The Five, with Jeannine Pirro tearing into her co-host Geraldo Rivera after he questioned whether Putin had been “playing” Trump while he was in office.
“I don’t give a damn what Putin thinks,” she replied, “I only care what Putin did, and he was a wuss when Trump was president, and that’s the end of it.”
Andrew Naughtie16 March 2022 16:10
How Republicans are reacting to Zelensky speech
While Donald Trump focuses on bragging about his supposed defence of the Nato alliance, others in his party are responding to Volodymyr Zelensky’s congressional address with variously angry and sombre statements. And they are overwhelmingly taking the Ukrainian president’s side.
Alex Woodward has a roundup of their reactions:
Andrew Naughtie16 March 2022 15:35
Domestic terrorism: the incel threat
A new report from the Secret Service has found that so-called “incels” are a rising domestic terror threat in the US.
Coming after several years of deadly attacks by men who identify with the online subculture of self-proclaimed “involuntary celibates”, the report warns that this form of “misogynistic extremism” demands increased attention. In particular, the authors argue for more awareness of particular kinds of behaviour that can indicate increasing radicalisation, among them “concerning and threatening communications, an interest in violence, intense or escalating anger, blaming other people, bizarre or inappropriate behaviour and interpersonal difficulties”.
Andrew Naughtie16 March 2022 15:00
ICYMI: Tucker Carlson promoted by Russian embassy feed
Tucker Carlson has lately begun insisting that he is not in fact a pro-Russian propagandist despite mounting criticism of his show, where he frequently repeats a Russia-friendly version of events in Ukraine.
Regardless of his actual intentions, here’s an example of the warm reception he’s getting on the Russian side of the argument: an endorsement from the Russian embassy in Luxembourg.
Andrew Naughtie16 March 2022 14:30
After “thug” controversy, Madison Cawthorn arrives late for Zelensky speech
Far right Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn has been in hot water lately for calling Volodymyr Zelensky a “thug”, raising questions about whether or not he would attend the Ukrainian president’s virtual address to Congress today.
In the end, he did show up – but only at the end of Mr Zelensky’s speech.
Andrew Naughtie16 March 2022 14:00
Trump reacts to Zelensky speech by defending himself on Nato
As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky began his address to the US Congress, Donald Trump had this to say in a statement blasted out to his supporters…
People forget so quickly, with the help of the Fake News, that it was me that got the 20 out of 28 delinquent NATO countries to start paying the money that they owed in order to rebuild a floundering NATO. Nobody knew things would happen so rapidly, but NATO was poor and now it is rich, and all of the Fake News commentators that said Trump was tearing down NATO should be ashamed of themselves for telling lies. Not only was the United States being taken advantage of by the EU on trade, but it was forced to pay the costs of the many delinquent NATO countries. Bush and Obama did nothing but make speeches and talk—I acted, and acted strongly. I said to them, “if you don’t pay up, no protection.” They all paid up, and paid up quickly. It’s a story that’s never reported, but that’s only because we have a corrupt press in our Country!
It’s worth noting that he has previously described Nato as “obsolete” and is widely claimed to have considered pulling the US out of the alliance altogether.
Andrew Naughtie16 March 2022 13:35
Analysis: Why Putin has the support of the American far right
While much of the mainstream Republican Party has taken a strong anti-Russian line as the assault on Ukraine continues, more than a few of the right’s top opinionmakers are going the other way – as are many on the more extreme end of the spectrum.
The Independent’s Holly Baxter has this analysis of why so many on the far right are sympathetic to a Russian version of events, even as many of them are keen to distance themselves from allegations of being essentially Russian propagandists.
Trump and other hardliners, however, aren’t changing. Neither are their media cheerleaders like Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, who was the subject of a leaked Russian memo a few days ago which encouraged Russian state media to keep featuring clips of the far-right commentator.
Fundamentally, it seems Trump, Putin and people like [Marjorie] Taylor Greene see themselves as involved in an international war against a globalist conspiracy. This isn’t a real war, the likes of which everyone (except Russians) can see on their TV screens and social media, with bombs landing on maternity hospitals in Ukraine and tanks lining up outside Kyiv. Instead, it is a secret conspiracy being supposedly fought daily by “patriots” against liberals and socialists. It transcends national identity. It is no longer about America the great, even though it is about “America First”.
Andrew Naughtie16 March 2022 13:11
Former staffer turned critic: Russia played Trump
Miles Taylor, the former homeland security staffer who has become an in-demand Trump-critical pundit, gives his assessment of how the current crisis in eastern Europe might look if it Donald Trump, not Joe Biden, were charged with handling it…
Andrew Naughtie16 March 2022 12:36
GOP fights against Jan 6 panel’s subpoena for emails
The Republican National Committee went to court last night in a desperate attempt to stop the 6 January select committee from obtaining emails sent during the aftermath of the 2020 election. Explaining the subpoena, a panel spokesman said it was intended “to help investigators understand the impact of false, inflammatory messages in the weeks before January 6th, the flow of funds, and whether contributions were actually directed to the purpose indicated. This action has absolutely nothing to do with getting the private information of voters or donors”.
The company holding the emails, Salesforce, reportedly still intends to hand the data over despite the party’s objections.
CNN’s Katelyn Polantz reports:
Andrew Naughtie16 March 2022 12:02
Explainer: How the Ukraine “biolabs” conspiracy theory got a foothold on the right
The Independent’s Andrew Buncombe takes a look at how a fringe theory pushed by the Kremlin has become a top talking point in certain corners of the far-right commentariat, including for Fox News’s Tucker Carlson – this even as Russia and its assault on Ukraine prove extraordinarily unpopular among the American public.
Andrew Naughtie16 March 2022 11:34
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