Donald Trump is expected to walk on stage any minute to speak at a rally in South Carolina.
Trump is headlining a "Get Out the Vote Rally" at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina. It is the home state of his only remaining GOP rival seeking the presidential nomination, his former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley.
According to Slate legal analysts Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern, one of the least commented-upon aspects of Thursday's Supreme Court hearing on Donald Trump's eligibility to stay on the ballot based upon the 14th Amendment was Justice Samuel Alito's veiled threat aimed at attorney Jason Murray representing the state of Colorado.
During their "Amicus" podcast, Lithwick admitted that some of Alito's comments about a ruling against Trump would lead to "frivolous " lawsuits struck her as "mob-like" as in, "nice democracy you got, it’d be a shame if something happened to it."
Commenting on his "menacing tone," she explained, "Alito was saying: 'Well, if you allow Colorado to knock Trump off the ballot, there’ll be more lawsuits by people who are willing to weaponize the legal system.' And I guess there’s only one answer to that, the answer that Jason Murray gave, which was that courts actually do know what to do with frivolous, threatening lawsuits that have no point. But another answer could be: 'I’m sorry, Justice Alito, are you threatening me?'"
According to Stern, Alito's questioning also seemed menacing to him.
ALSO READ: There is no justice in America
"It’s a threat that if a majority of the court allows Colorado to remove Trump from the ballot, justices like Alito are going to come out swinging for the frivolous, ridiculous cases that follow—which really should not be compared to this one, since it’s very much rooted in the Constitution," he explained. "It’s a threat that red states will try to retaliate, that Ron DeSantis will remove Joe Biden from the ballot because he’s a traitor or a Chinese spy or whatever other reason, just fill in the blank. And Sam Alito will be ready to let it happen."
Stern added that "fretting" questions from fellow conservative justices indicated they were less concerned with making the right constitutional ruling as much as they were worried about the repercussions for themselves in the future.
RELATED: Trump Supreme Court eligibility win could decimate his immunity hopes: legal scholars
"Like Roberts and Alito, Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh kept fretting that a ruling for Colorado could lead to such dangerous places. If we let Colorado remove a presidential candidate from the ballot, we’ll have to get involved in each and every other case out of red and blue states alike. So we have to look at the consequences of our decision," he elaborated before later adding, "And yet on Thursday, it was all consequence-based judging! From top to bottom! And I think that’s another example of the hypocrisy disparity between the different sides of the court."
You can listen to the podcast here.
Just nine months away from the U.S. general election, reporting published Friday by CNN suggests the federal government is poorly prepared to respond to "nightmare scenarios," from violence at the polls to disinformation created with artificial intelligence.
One U.S. official familiar with a previously unreported meeting at the White House Situation Room in December told CNN's Sean Lyngaas that in terms of a coordinated federal response to an election-related threat, "we're all f—king tied up in knots."
Citing four unnamed sources, Lyngaas reported that leaders from the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and departments of Homeland Security and Justice gathered for a first-of-its-kind drill featuring two simulations: "What if Chinese operatives created a fake AI-generated video showing a Senate candidate destroying ballots? And how should federal agencies respond if violence erupts at polling stations on Election Day?"
According to Lyngaas:
The participants opted for state election officials, and not the federal government, to lead any public messaging to counter disinformation spread by the fake video in their jurisdictions, two of the sources said. Officials also discussed options for notifying Congress. No one at the table raised their hand offering to be the lead federal agency to tell the public about the deepfake. As for violence at the polls, the federal officials decided not to dispatch federal agents to support local police because they did not have the jurisdiction to do so.
The reporting comes as Democratic President Joe Biden seeks reelection. Based on polling and the GOP primaries and caucuses so far, he is expected to face former President Donald Trump, despite arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday that states should be able to remove the Republican front-runner from ballots because he engaged in insurrection on January 6, 2021.
"People from across the political spectrum and from all walks of life—from former members of Congress to constitutional scholars to everyday Americans—have come together in this exceptional and fragile moment in the history of American democracy to reinforce the Constitution's very purpose in safeguarding our democracy from insurrectionists," said Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a watchdog representing Colorado voters in the case before the high court. "On January 6th we saw what it looked like when Trump tried to tear down the foundations of our democracy."
After months of denying his 2020 loss to Biden, Trump told a crowd on January 6 that "we're going to the Capitol, and... we're going to try and give our Republicans... the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country." Although Trump didn't join his supporters, their deadly Capitol attack delayed the certification of the election results.
Since Trump's "Big Lie" about the 2020 contest and incitement of insurrection, fears have been mounting about election safety—elevated by Trump's fascist comments on the campaign trail, such as his threat to "root out" those he described as "radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country" if he is elected in November.
A September report from the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law and Giffords—founded by a former congresswoman who survived being shot in the head—details changes in gun control legislation in response to a right-wing U.S. Supreme Court ruling, how disinformation has fueled political violence, and increases in extremism and shootings.
"Though American elections have remained safe and secure, both political and gun violence pose significant risks to the safety of voters and people bravely conducting our elections," report co-author Allison Anderman of Giffords Law Center warned last year. "The 2024 presidential election brings an unprecedented confluence of factors that heighten these risks."
While the groups' report largely focuses on the lies that Trump and his allies spread after he lost in 2020, other campaigners, experts, journalists, and policymakers have been sounding the alarm about the dangers of AI-driven disinformation.
Just weeks after New Hampshire residents received robocalls featuring a fake message with Biden's voice telling them not to vote in the state's primary, the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday declared such calls illegal under U.S. law. The Federal Election Commission is weighing new rules for deepfake content, which has already been used in 2024 campaign materials, but the agency recently said that a decision is likely several months away—a timeline critics called "intolerable."
Concerns about AI, disinformation, and democracy aren't limited to the United States—as demonstrated by The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' statement last month about why the Doomsday Clock remains at 90 seconds to midnight, a signal for how close the world is to catastrophe.
"AI has great potential to magnify disinformation and corrupt the information environment on which democracy depends," the Bulletin said. "AI-enabled disinformation efforts could be a factor that prevents the world from dealing effectively with nuclear risks, pandemics, and climate change."
Trump's cozying up to the NRA had the Biden campaign gunning for fair treatment.
"Every single time Donald Trump opens his mouth, he's confused, deranged, lying or worse," TJ Ducklo, a spokesman for Biden’s 2024 presidential reelection campaign said in a statement following the 45th president's speech at the National Rifle Association (NRA) Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Friday night.
"Tonight he lied more than two dozen times, slurred his words, confused basic facts and placated the gun lobby weeks after telling parents to 'get over it' after their kids were gunned down at school," he wrote.
READ: Mitt Romney defends Biden from 'politically charged' special counsel report
Before a crowd of thousands of NRA members, Former President Donald Trump vowed that should he win in the next election, “no one will lay a finger on your firearms.”
The 45th president bragged about his pro-gun policies when he was commander-in-chief.
“During my four years nothing happened," he said. "And there was great pressure on me having to do with guns. We did nothing. We didn’t yield,” he said as he addressed the NRA’s.
Ducklo called out Trump for his missteps and took a shot at the lack of criticism by the press and other forms of media.
"But you won't hear about any of it if you watch cable news, read this weekend's papers, or watch the Sunday shows," he said.
There was offense at how Trump's suspected public slips are rarely mentioned one day after President Joe Biden mistook the president of Mexico for Egypt during a press conference called to refute accusations that his mental fitness was in question.
The president of Mexico did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in," Biden said. "I talked to him. I convinced him to open the gate."
The Biden campaign's statement cautioned against being too hands-off with Trump's candidacy, stating that “the American people are the ones who will suffer and die if he’s allowed anywhere near the Oval Office again.”
NOW READ: 'Yikes': Internet erupts after 'Dementia Trump' makes several verbal slip-ups at NRA rally
Donald Trump is a "ranting lunatic" who has "mental gaffes of his own," sports commentator Bob Costas said on Real Time with Bill Maher Friday.
Costas, who in 2022 gave a scathing takedown of Trump's decision to host a Saudi golf tournament, appeared on Maher's show and was asked about the recent developments in Joe Biden's documents probe.
Specifically, the CNN commentator was asked about the special counsel report that cast Biden as an elderly man with severe memory problems keeping him from being tried in court.
ALSO READ: Alina Habba is persona non grata at her Pennsylvania law school
Costas said the GOP will "overstate" Biden's issues, but added that the current president should have given another Dem a chance to run in 2024.
Republicans "will overstate it" and "turn a blind eye to the fact that Trump, who has always been an unprincipled and reprehensible person, is now a ranting lunatic who has mental gaffes of his own," Costas said.
He then added, "That doesn't mean it isn't True. When it comes to Biden... this is emperor's new clothes stuff."
" Joe Biden should have run on a firm promise that he would be a one-term president," he said, adding that it would open up the field to fellow Democratic challengers.
The blank stares, the mix-up of world leaders, and the memory mishaps spelled out by Special Counsel Robert Hur — all hit President Joe Biden hard.
But many have sought to come to his aid to disprove that the 81-year-old leader of the free world isn't any different than anybody else who can gaffe, be forgetful, or slip-up.
On Thursday, Biden spoke to a throng of reporters in a hurried press conference to push back against a damning special counsel report that harped on his senility and he bungled Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as the “president of Mexico."
ALSO READ: Alina Habba is persona non grata at her Pennsylvania law school
Hur's report described one of the reasons criminal charges shouldn't be brought against 46th president was because a jury would see him as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
That clearly got Biden's goat.
“My memory’s fine," he clapped back. "Take a look at what I’ve done since I became president… how did that happen? I guess I just forgot what was going on?"
As the pundits pile on to Biden's frailty, some onlookers attempted to suggest the errors he's being shown as making aren't unique to him.
Matt McDermott, a Democratic pollster and strategist, posted on Twitter/X: "Trump forgets when he was President Press: Whoopsadoodle! Biden forgets when he was Vice President Press: A1 above the fold NYT headline blaring CONCERNS ABOUT HIS MEMORY The double standard is just astounding."
Adam Parkhomenko, also a Democratic strategist, attempted to show Fox News' Peter Doocy "having memory issues while attacking Joe Biden's memory."
Trump's former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany was ridiculed when she tried to hit Biden for his excuses during the press conference.
"His communication director noted this happened one day after October 7th as if that’s a reason to him forget everything," reads the tweet by @Acyn. "Kayleigh was unable to remember which year she left the RNC during her deposition for the January 6th committee."
@RexHuppke attempted to catch former President Donald Trump in a goof when he apparently missed the day that he won Nevada's primary.
"Trump keeps saying 'last night,'" tweets USA Today columnist Rex Huppke. "The Nevada primary was Tuesday night. Anyway, Joe Biden is old, I guess."
HARRISBURG, Pa. — In his first visit to Pennsylvania of 2024, former President Donald Trump seized on a special counsel’s decision not to charge President Joe Biden for mishandling classified documents while Trump continues to contend with a pending criminal case. Before a crowd of thousands of supporters at the National Rifle Association gathering in Harrisburg, Trump contended he was the victim of unfair treatment. “Biden is not going to be charged,” Trump said. “If he’s not going to be charged, that’s up to them. But then I should not be charged.” He also took shots at Biden’s mental facult...
Donald Trump on Friday failed to properly pronounce the word "subsidies" just minutes after insulting the competency of current president Joe Biden.
Trump was speaking at an event for the NRA in Pennsylvania when he insulted Biden for what he says is a failure to communicate and to find stairs during his events. Minutes later, Trump failed to pronounce a word.
"Rich people are given 7,000 dollar [subsidies] to buy luxury electric cars," the former president said while speaking on stage, while slurring "subsidies."
"They don't go far," he added.
ALSO READ: Alina Habba is persona non grata at her Pennsylvania law school
After that, Trump struggled to say the word "dollars."
"Because he understood tariffs. I charged him hundreds of millions of dino-dollars China paid to the United States," Trump said.
Also in the speech, Trump said that he had a nice and simple life before he ran for president, when he wasn't in the spotlight every single time he "said one word a little bit mispronunciation." His grammar in that sentence was off.
Former President Donald Trump is likely to have a running mate who is willing to rig the electoral count for him, the way that former Vice President Mike Pence refused to do last time, warned former prosecutor John Flannery on Friday's edition of MSNBC's "The Beat."
This comes shortly after Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), both rumored to be shortlisters for Trump's running mate, both said they would have stopped the count if they were in Pence's position.
"As I mentioned, politicians, including members of Congress in the Speech and Debate clause, can say many things," said anchor Ari Melber, himself an attorney. "Even if we might find them completely objectionable, horrific, some things they say. What they are talking about is conduct that, if they did it, they could be running mates, they could be vice presidents, and now they're saying we would take what has been indicted as fraudulent electors and use that to overthrow the election. Is that them floating essentially a criminal plot?"
ALSO READ: Alina Habba is persona non grata at her Pennsylvania law school
"Well, it's a Coup 2, I suppose, if the circumstances are similar to what happened in the first effort at a coup that failed, the insurrection, and Trump lost and Biden won, we could be in the same place if we didn't prepare for it," said Flannery. "You ask, what should we do in anticipation, and I think we have to take it seriously. You have two people and there are others saying that in order to be VP, they're prepared to commit the crime that Pence would not commit."
"Keep in mind — and you and I have been over this — I think this is closer to home, in Article 14, Section 3, they took an oath," Flannery continued. "And you just heard them talk about how they did what they did then and they're prepared to do it again, I suppose, and they should be barred from appearing. And I think if we get into this problem with Coup 2 and people are wondering how to deal with it, we can't be arresting them on the floor of the House when it goes off the rails, assuming there's a Republican control of the House and Republican control of the Senate."
"And so what we have to do is anticipate that," he added. "And I think the way we anticipate it is if we're put on notice that they're going to violate their oath and try to overthrow the government in a new and fine way in their mind, and they present this clear and present danger to our democracy, I think we have to deal with it. I think we have to deal with these two people. We make the mistake too often of laughing this off. We did nothing with the senators and the members of the Congress when this arose to investigate them."
Watch the video below or click here.
John Flannery warns Trump's VP hopefuls will "commit the crime" for him youtu.be
Whatever it takes to return Trump back to 1600 Pennsylvania — even if it meant a civil war — would be "worth it," according to one religious leader.
"I've actually had people say that if Trump was to be elected if we got a conservative Congress, that they fear that we would have another civil war," Andrew Wommack, a TV evangelical preacher, said during an episode of his "Truth & Liberty" show earlier this week, and first reported by Newsweek. "And you know what? I don't want a civil war, I don't know anybody that does, but would it be worth it? To turn this nation back? I believe it would."
Wommack is president of the Truth & Liberty Coalition, described online as an organization that seeks to "educate, unify, and mobilize believers to impact culture and effect godly change on important social issues."
ALSO READ: Alina Habba is persona non grata at her Pennsylvania law school
As Nov. 5 creeps closer for the country to head to the polls and vote for the next president, the topic of another civil war appears to be growing.
"The Civil War has never really left American politics — it just seems to have exploded in this moment,” Tim Galsworthy, a historian at Bishop Grosseteste University told The Washington Post. “When the U.S. is divided, the Civil War becomes that great reference point, because it’s the ultimate moment of division.”
About 620,000 soldiers from both the Union and the Confederacy perished in the Civil War dating from 1861 to 1865.
Former President Donald Trump, the leader of the MAGA movement, has remained the frontrunner in the race to become the GOP nominee, with only former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley challenging him to attempt to cut President Joe Biden's time in the White House to one term.
Wommack's embrace of a bloody clash between Americans was prompted by a viewer dialing in and asking if there could be a "grace revolution that could get the U.S. to switch out the Constitution for the Bible."
The pastor said that the founders' document is fine as-is. It's those in positions of power that are asleep at the switch.
"There's nothing wrong with our Constitution, the problem is we're not following it," he said.
He then went on: "If they were still writing the Bible today, I believe that the American Constitution and the founding of this nation would be in scripture as one of the great things that God has done."
Donald Trump's lone GOP rival for the Republican presidential nomination said Friday the former president is suffering from "memory issues."
Nikki Haley was responding to Trump's latest attack, also on Friday, in which he accused his own former U.N. ambassador of supporting ex-president Barack Obama. Trump also said Haley is a "flunky" for Mitt Romney, a former Republican presidential nominee.
"Nikki Haley is a flunky for Mitt 'Pierre Delecto' Romney who is kryptonite for the Republican Party," Trump wrote in a Friday post on his own social media site, Truth Social. "She was also a Barack Hussein Obama supporter as seen here, and is currently receiving money from his supporters!"
ALSO READ: Alina Habba is persona non grata at her Pennsylvania law school
The former Republican president also included a video in which Haley mistakenly said "Obama" wants to strengthen our military, instead of Romney, for whom she was stumping at the time. Romney then corrected her.
Haley responded to the attack later the same day, calling into question Trump's memory and his support of Democratic politicians in the past.
"Donald may be suffering from memory issues," Haley wrote Friday. "Has he forgotten that he donated money to... Kamala Harris...Hillary Clinton...Chuck Schumer......?"
Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been accused in a new complaint to the Federal Election Commission of unlawfully working with a super PAC in a $15 million campaign effort, the Washington Post reported on Friday.
“To qualify for the ballot under state law, American Values 2024 must coordinate its activity with Mr. Kennedy and his campaign in a way that violates federal campaign finance laws,” Democratic National Committee wrote in the complaint, according to the report.
The Democratic National Committee contends Kennedy and the PAC unlawfully coordinated efforts to collect signatures in 15 states that would allow him to appear on the ballot, according to the report.
DNC legal counsel Bob Lenhard told reporters Friday that "state law presumes and in some cases requests that the candidate committee or candidate' is involved in the petition process, making the super PAC spending an illegal in-kind donation," according to the Washington Post.
Super PACs, which can raise unlimited amounts of money as opposed to the per-donor limits imposed on campaigns, are only allowed to operate independently of candidates.
Kennedy, who initially ran as a Democrat in the 2024 primary, is now trying to qualify for state ballots as an independent.
This is not the first campaign finance controversy Kennedy has faced.
Earlier this year, he defended using campaign donations to pay salaries to members of his family.
He has also come under fire for a number of his controversial views, including spreading conspiracy theories about vaccination and an antisemitic theory that COVID-19 was "ethnically targeted" to avoid harming Jews.
Norm Eisen, the former "ethics czar" of the Obama administration, said he was shocked by the complaint.
"We have been distracted by Trump’s wrongdoing...In the meantime RFK Jr. is OPENLY breaking the law," Eisen wrote. "I have done campaign finance for 30 years & this is worst I’ve seen."
Former Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who for years disavowed any interest in serving in the U.S. Senate, has had a change of heart and announced a last-minute bid for Maryland's vacant Senate seat on Friday afternoon — hours before the filing deadline for candidates to enter the May 14 primary.
In an announcement video that lasted 2 minutes and 48 seconds, with Hogan directly addressing the camera, he cast his decision to run as a crusade to bring common sense and courtesy to the broken politics of Capitol Hill.
"Like a vast majority of Marylanders, I’m completely fed up with politics as usual," Hogan said. "Politicians in Washington seem more interested in arguing than in getting anything done for the people they represent. Enough is enough. We can do so much better — but not if we keep electing the same kind of partisan politicians. Look, I don’t come from the performative art school of politics. I come from the get to work and get things done school. And I’ll work with anyone who wants to work on the people’s business."
I am running for the United States Senate – not to serve one party – but to stand up to both parties, fight for Maryland, and fix our nation's broken politics. It’s what I did as Maryland’s governor, and it’s exactly how I'll serve Maryland in the Senate. Let’s get back to work. pic.twitter.com/d0TuZchAtN
— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) February 9, 2024
Hogan quietly filed at the Maryland State Board of Elections Office in Annapolis on Friday morning, Maryland State Elections Administrator Jared DeMarinis confirmed.
Hogan's decision instantly transforms the race to replace departing U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D) — a seat the Democrats felt confident they would hold in November.
The leading contenders in the Democratic primary are Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) and U.S. Rep. David Trone (D-6th).
Trone and Alsobrooks put out statements shortly after Hogan's announcement, each revealing an aspect of the attacks Democrats are likely to hurl at Hogan throughout the campaign.
Trone's sought to tie the popular former governor to former President Donald Trump, the near-certain GOP presidential nominee, and to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who could be back in charge of the Senate if Republicans pick up just one or two seats this November, depending on the outcome of the White House election.
"Larry Hogan’s candidacy is nothing but a desperate attempt to return Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump to power and give them the deciding vote to ban abortion nationwide, suppress votes across the country, and give massive tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans," Trone said. "Marylanders are tired of empty promises from career politicians like Larry Hogan."
Alsobrooks also leaned into the abortion issue in her statement.
"We know what's at stake in this election — our fundamental freedoms over our bodies," she said. "When I join the Democratic Majority, I'll be a leader in fighting to defend those freedoms because I'm the only person in this race — on either side — who's never compromised on that issue."
Without directly saying so, Alsobrooks also suggested that unlike Trone and Hogan, two wealthy businessmen, she is the only candidate "who understands the challenges Marylanders face."
A change of heart
Hogan's announcement stunned Maryland political leaders on both sides of the aisle.
Over the last two years, the former governor has repeatedly rejected the idea of running for a seat on Capitol Hill.
Hogan's video offered no insight into his change of mind.
"The former governor never showed a great deal of interest in the legislature previously," said state Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City). "I'm surprised he's interested in throwing his hat in the ring for U.S. Senate."
Michael Ricci, a spokesman for the newly minted Hogan Senate campaign, said Hogan has no media availability planned yet for Friday or the weekend.
This breaking news story will be updated.
Copyright © 2026 Raw Story Media, Inc. PO Box 21050, Washington, D.C. 20009 |
Masthead
|
Privacy Policy
|
Manage Preferences
|
Debug Logs
For corrections contact
corrections@rawstory.com
, for support contact
support@rawstory.com
.
