The White House press office on Monday released new "rules" that they claim will allow the suspension of press credentials if a reporter refuses to yield the floor after asking only one question.
The rules come after a judge ordered the White House to reinstate the press pass for CNN correspondent Jim Acosta, who angered President Donald Trump by asking more than one question.
The Washington Post's Erik Wemple tweeted a copy of the new rules on Monday afternoon.
Per White House letter to Acosta on Nov. 19, here are the new rules for press conferences at the White House. https://t.co/a6C2pmLv2K— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple)1542660022.0
Under the new guidelines, reporters must surrender the microphone after asking one question. A second question may be allowed at the discretion of the president or White House staff.
It was not immediately clear if the rules will hold up to constitutional scrutiny.
Former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election are "worse" than Watergate, according a longtime political journalist.
MSNBC's Ari Melber on Friday described the notes as "absolutely bombshell revelations" about Trump's attempts "to make the Justice Department not only back the 'Big Lie,' but overthrow the election and the government — all of this enabled by Republican lawmakers."
For analysis, Melber interviewed David Corn, the DC bureau chief for Mother Jones magazine.
"We've said the is a lot in the last 30, 40 years, Ari, but this literally is worse than Watergate," Corn explained. "In that instance, Richard Nixon was trying to cover up the investigation that would go into what his campaign did, a break in. And he asked the CIA to tell the FBI it was national security and they should not investigate, the FBI should call off the investigation. That's what he tried to do."
Corn then explained why Trump's scandals went to a whole different level.
"This is about overturning and subverting an election," he said. "It is quite clear what he's trying to get them to do, when they don't have the power to do it. these notes are not audio or video, they're bigger in a smoking gun tape in Watergate that ended Nixon's presidency."
Watch:
David Corn www.youtube.com
Nearly half of all Republicans in the U.S. believe that "a time will come when patriotic Americans have to take the law into their own hands."
The revelation, which emerged as a part of a June poll by George Washington University, comes just six months after the January 6 riot, in which thousands of self-described "patriots" stormed the Capitol building to forcibly stop President Biden from being confirmed by the Electoral College.
While 47% of Republicans agree with the prediction – that a group of patriotic citizens will usurp government authorities and run the country themselves – just 9% of Democrats could say the same.
The poll, which surveyed 1,753 registered U.S. voters from June 4 to June 23, found a wide set of disparities between Republicans and Democrats on a number of principles.
For example, 82% of Republicans agreed that it's "hard to trust the results of elections when so many people will vote for anyone who offers a handout," but only 15% of Democrats felt the same way. When it comes to future elections, 76% of Democrats expressed confidence in the security of the 2022 elections, while just 28% of Republicans were on the same page.
There were also significant differences between political parties on certain hot-button issues.
For instance, the poll found that less than 30% of Republicans feel that "dealing with global climate change" is somewhat or very important. With Democrats, this number is just north of 90%.
"Changing the nation's gun laws," meanwhile, saw support from about 20% of Republicans, but more than 80% of Democrats felt it was a priority.
Finally, about 40% of Republicans somewhat or strongly supported the need for "addressing race relations in this country, while 90% of Democrats felt the same.
It should be noted that there was a high level of agreement on certain issues as well.
For example, about the same number of Democrats and Republicans (85%) supported reducing the influence of lobbyists in Congress. Both parties were also aligned on making Medicare and Social Security more "financially sound," with about 90% of voters in both groups on board.
Other issues which saw a bipartisan consensus included combating drug addiction, tackling rising healthcare costs, improving employment, improving the election system, and revamping the nation's infrastructure.
In recent years, there has been a strong sense amongst scholars and pundits that the U.S. is more politically polarized than it has ever been – a perception that runs counter to the poll's findings on a number of issues. Some scholars have argued that the recent rise of the "culture war" – which Republicans have repeatedly used to cast a political valence on things that are otherwise benign – has contributed to a growing sense that the U.S. is more divided than ever.
On Friday, a CNN panel reacted to the new report of Justice Department notes showing the extent to which former President Donald Trump sought to interfere in the department's policy to overturn the presidential election.
"The notes show that both men pushed back against Trump, telling him we are doing our job, much of the information you are getting is false," said anchor Jake Tapper. "But what if somebody else had been in that job? Right now there is a big effort — again, this is about the future, not just the past — there's a big effort to take some of these people who were guardrails."
Guest Bill Kristol reminded viewers that Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper after the election, while Attorney General Bill Barr had resigned, which may have given Trump confidence that he could impose his will on top agencies.
"Think of this in a foreign country," added Kristol. "The defense secretary fired a bunch of cronies. It's lucky that even though Esper was gone, Mark Milley held the line are defense, it's lucky that deputy — acting Attorney General Rosen seems to have held the line at Justice Department, but the degree to which this was a genuine attempt by a sitting president."
"The guardrails held this time," said Tapper. "This time."
"That's what's terrifying to me," said Daniella Gibbs Léger, the chief of the Center for American Progress. "If this was any other country, as you know, we would launch an investigation, we would be talking about what's happening overseas. But it happened here. And I think sometimes people are comforted that the guardrails held. Well, let's move on, let's talk about something else now. But we can't do that because the only way that we can guarantee that this doesn't happen again."
Watch below:
CNN panel discusses Trump's notes about overturning the election www.youtube.com
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