SmartNews

Unlikely 'working-class' hero emerges in the heart of Senate GOP: report

The New York Times on Monday painted Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) as a kind of "working class" hero, claiming he supports lower-income Americans over elites.

According to The Times, Hawley might be a member of the elite as the son of a banker and a graduate of the Ivy League, but because he embraces populist ideals, he's different from others in the MAGA world.

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'Damage could be profound': Economist warns Trump has laid 'trap' for auto industry

President Donald Trump's tariffs may seem at first like a godsend for the U.S. auto industry, which has struggled to compete with foreign automakers for decades, but Brian Deese warned in The New York Times that Trump has actually put them into a "Luddite trap."

And the "damage to our economy and national security could be profound," he said.

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'If you’re a fascist get a Tesla:' Rock legend swipes Trump and Musk with new protest song

Rock legend Neil Young, known for searing protest music that dates to the late 1960s, has a new political ditty to add to his catalog, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Young, who holds dual American-Canadian citizenship, was once part of supergroups Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, interspersed with a prolific solo career.

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'Troubling sign': CNN panel floored as new poll 'doesn't look good' for Trump

A new CNN poll paints a gloomy picture for Donald Trump just 100 days into his return to the White House, which network analysts described as a major warning sign for the president.

The new poll out Monday shows Americans are increasingly souring on Trump over the chief issue that helped fuel his comeback: the economy. According to CNN’s Kasie Hunt, Trump’s overall approval rating “has sunk to a historic low,” as more details about the American public's growing dissatisfaction with the economy emerge.

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Elizabeth Warren gets in treasury secretary's face over ​insider trading accusations

Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is pressing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for answers following reports that officials inside President Donald Trump's White House have been providing Wall Street executives with advance notice about potentially market-moving trade talks with other nations, including China and India.

In a letter to Bessent dated April 25, Warren points to a Bloomberg story noting that Bessent "told a closed-door investor summit" that the "tariff standoff with China cannot be sustained by both sides and that the world's two largest economies will have to find ways to de-escalate."

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'Doesn't know how to represent': Constituents irked after GOP lawmaker snubs town hall

Constituents in eastern Alabama are furious with Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) for skipping out of the district before they could voice their concerns about issues like the economy, healthcare, and national security, according to WRBL.

The group Indivisible Auburn-Opelika invited Rogers to a community “People’s Town Hall” held last week at the local library, but Rogers declined to attend.

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'Dark swerve': Analysis shows US quickly becoming a 'police state' under Trump

President Donald Trump has not quite turned America into a dictatorship, wrote Eduardo Porter in a lengthy analysis for The Washington Post — but many of his actions bear a striking resemblance to how Latin American dictators in the present and the recent past have maintained control.

One key way he is doing so, Porter wrote, is "forced disappearance."

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Trump accidently 'butt dialed' reporter in dead of night

President Donald Trump spoke with reporters from The Atlantic, but according to Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer, Trump had two accidental conversations after 1 a.m. in the morning.

"I should just say it was two conversations and actually one late night, 1:28 a.m. butt dial from the president," Parker told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Monday. "But two times we spoke with him, and on Hegseth, that, it was interesting. We asked, this is the moment where [Defense Secretary Pete] Hegseth has rotated out his chief of staff. He's fired three top advisers. There's news reports of his wife, who is not a defense department official, joining him in official meetings. You know, a story that he had installed a makeup room in the Pentagon. And what the president said was, look, I had a talk with him. It was a — I did it in a positive way, but I had a talk with him, and I think he's going to get his act together."

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'Give me a break!' Bush-appointed judge signals Trump poised to get stinging court blow

A federal judge appointed by former President George W. Bush signaled Monday that he may go further than any court yet in striking down President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at major law firms, according to a report in All Rise News.

Portions of Trump’s orders targeting the law firms Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale and Susman Godfrey have already been blocked by four separate federal judges, who all found the actions likely unconstitutional. While none have struck down Trump’s orders entirely, U.S. District Judge John Bates appeared ready to rule against the surviving elements, the publication said.

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'Suffered enough': Roseanne Barr says her friends 'lost their jobs' over tariffs

Actress and comedian Roseanne Barr revealed that people she knows "lost their jobs" due to policies related to President Donald Trump's tariffs.

During a Monday interview with Alex Jones, Barr appeared critical of the president.

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House Republican begs White House to put 'more thought' into major decisions

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) tried her best to defend President Donald Trump's policies when pressed on the administration's cratering poll numbers by CNN's Boris Sanchez on Monday afternoon — but even she admitted that Trump needs to start making decisions more carefully and deliberately.

"I quickly just want to get your reaction to that polling," said Sanchez. "Four months in, Trump, as you heard there, underwater on a number of issues, including a career low on his handling of the economy. I'm sure you've also seen how voters at town halls are expressing themselves. How much do these numbers concern you?"

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'Is this an SNL skit?' Mockery abounds at Sean Spicer's White House encore

Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer returned to the White House on Monday after his seven-month stint in 2017. While Spicer was on the other side of the podium, he questioned Karoline Leavitt about why the White House is doing interviews with so-called "unfriendly" reporters when there are others on the right who are eager to speak with him.

Spicer now has a streaming show affiliated with Mark Halperin's 2WayTV.

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Longtime Dem congressman will not seek reelection after cancer resurgence

U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Fairfax, a fixture in Northern Virginia politics for more than three decades, announced Monday he will not seek reelection after a resurgence of cancer, saying the sun is setting on his time in public service.

In a statement published on his social media accounts, Connolly thanked supporters for their “good wishes and compassion,” crediting their encouragement with giving him strength “in my fights — both against cancer and in our collective defense of democracy.”

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