List of All Articles with Tag 'us politics'

A number of high-profile Jewish groups are denouncing Democratic presidential contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s false remarks that "Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese" people are "most immune" to Covid-19.

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie raised $1.65 million over the first 25 days of his candidacy through June 30, according to the former New Jersey governor's latest fundraising report.

Anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F Kennedy Jr has revived an antisemitic conspiracy that blames Jewish people for the emergence of Covid-19, a claim that follows a string of offensive statements and falsehoods elevated by the long-shot candidate for the US presidency. During a press event in New York City on 11 July, Mr Kennedy baselessly stated that “there is an argument to be made” that the disease is “ethnically targeted”. “Covid-19 is targeted to attack Cucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese,” he said, according to video of the event from The New York Post. “We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not but there are papers out there that show the racial or ethnic differential and impact.” His remarks follow antisemitic conspiracy theories that circulated at the onset of the pandemic, and follow other statements from the candidate elevating spurious conspiracy theories surrounding Covid-19 and vaccines that have fuelled his campaign. “The claim that Covid-19 was a bioweapon created by the Chinese or Jews to attack Caucasians and Black people is deeply offensive and feeds into sinophobic and antisemitic conspiracy theories,” according to a statement from the Anti-Defamation League. “Layer upon layer of antisemitism,” wrote Jonathan Weisman, author of (((Semitism))): Being Jewish in America in the Age of Trump. “If you still think there is a left or even non-insane case for supporting or even indulging RFK Jr then you have been conned or have conned yourself,” wrote MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan. “Madness. Racist, conspiratorial, dangerous madness.” “We have no words for this man’s lunacy,” wrote nonprofit US watchdog Stop Antisemitism. Mr Kennedy responded to the reporting on Saturday morning, and a statement from a campaign spokesperson to The Independent claimed that the Post “got it wrong”. “I have never, ever suggested that the Covid-19 virus was targeted to spare Jews,” Mr Kennedy wrote on Twitter before echoing his claim that the US and other governments are “developing ethnically targeted bioweapons”. He pointed to a 2020 National Institutes of Health study finding that the impacts of the disease are disproportionately felt among Black people and people with cardiovascular and pulmonary conditions, cancer and other risk factors. “In that sense, it serves as a kind of proof of concept for ethnically targeted bioweapons,” Mr Kennedy stated. “I do not believe and never implied that the ethnic effect was deliberately engineered.” Mr Kennedy’s campaign, an insurgent effort for the Democratic nomination boosted by right-wing media to drive a wedge among Democratic voters, has painted a dark and conspiratorial worldview amplifying debunked and misleading claims and outright falsehoods. Earlier this year, US Holocaust Memorial Museum shot down his suggestion that life is worse for people today than it was for Anne Frank. “Making reckless comparisons to the Holocaust, the murder of six million Jews, for a political agenda is outrageous and deeply offensive,” the organisation said. “Those who carelessly invoke Anne Frank, the star badge, and the Nuremberg Trials exploit history and the consequences of hate.” Mr Kennedy and his organisation Children’s Health Defense also have promoted James Corbett, a prominent conspiracy theorist who has claimed that “Hitler was a Rothschild” and “Hitler and the Nazis were 100 per cent completely and utterly set up” by the “international banking community and the international crony capitalists.” His connections to Mr Corbett join a long list of associations with and appearances on right-wing media platforms with far-right pundits. Read More Who is running for president in 2024? Robert F Kennedy Jr calls interviewer ‘unfair’ for spelling out his laundry list of conspiracy theories White House rejects Lauren Boebert’s claim that antisemitism plan will be used ‘go after conservatives’

Anyone who spends time following American politics is bound to encounter reports about polling. With the 2024 election just around the corner, here are tips from CNN's director of polling and election analytics on what to look out for and avoid.

Donald Trump hasn't yet committed to the first Republican presidential primary debate in August -- but some of the former president's most vocal critics within the party's 2024 field are still working to qualify for the stage.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Wagner private military company “simply doesn't exist” as a legal entity, in comments adding to the series of often bizarre twists that have followed the group’s abortive revolt last month — the most serious threat to Putin’s 23-year rule amid the war in Ukraine. “There is no law on private military organizations. It simply doesn’t exist,” Putin told a Russian newspaper late Thursday, referring to the Wagner group. Putin recounted to Kommersant his own version of a Kremlin event attended by 35 Wagner commanders, including the group's chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on June 29. That meeting came just five days after Prigozhin and his troops staged a stunning but short-lived rebellion against Moscow authorities. The meeting was revealed earlier this week by a Kremlin official. Putin said that at the talks, Wagner rejected an offer to keep its troops in Ukraine, where they have played key battlefield roles, under the leadership of their direct commander. “All of them could have gathered in one place and continued to serve,” Putin told the newspaper, “And nothing would have changed for them. They would have been led by the same person who had been their real commander all along.” Putin has previously said that Wagner troops had to choose whether to sign contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry, move to neighboring Belarus or retire from service. According to Putin, although “many nodded” when he made his proposal, Prigozhin rejected the idea, responding that “the boys won’t agree with such a decision.” This, Putin said, was one of “several employment options” put forward at the meeting. During the revolt that lasted less than 24 hours, Prigozhin’s mercenaries quickly swept through the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and captured the military headquarters there without firing a shot, before driving to within about 200 kilometers (125 miles) of Moscow. Prigozhin described the move as a “march of justice” to oust the military leaders, who demanded that Wagner sign contracts with the Defense Ministry by July 1. The fate of Prigozhin and the terms of a deal that ended the armed rebellion by offering amnesty for him and his mercenaries, along with permission, to move to Belarus remain cloudy. Wagner mercenaries are completing the handover of their weapons to the Russian military, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday. Their disarming of Wagner reflects efforts by Russian authorities to defuse the threat they posed and also appears to herald an end to the mercenary group’s operations on the battlefield in Ukraine, where Kyiv’s forces are engaged in a counteroffensive. ___ Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Putin says Wagner Group has no legal basis and therefore simply doesn’t exist Tucker Carlson and Mike Pence clash in heated exchange over Ukraine at GOP 2024 forum Russian antiwar activist allowed into Serbia after spending more than a day at the Belgrade airport

A Tunisian man who the Justice Department accused of working with members of Al Qaeda, including Osama bin Laden, to plot a suicide bomb attack against Americans in Europe was acquitted Friday by a Washington, DC, jury of all charges he faced -- a rarity in a terror trial.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February of 2022. A year-and-a-half later, the fate of the brutal conflict is still top of mind in Washington and beyond. Joe Biden recently embarked on a high-profile visit to Europe for a Nato summit, where he opined on the future of the alliance and Ukraine’s potential place in it. This shift may even have reached the GOP, which took something of an isolationist turn under Donald Trump. However, these days, the Ukraine war seems to be a central topic once again. That renewed focus was on full display on Friday at an event hosted by Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News anchor. Despite no longer holding the top perch in cable news, he retained his kingmaking position, hosting the first Republican presidential forum on Friday in Iowa, at an event co-organised by the conservative groups Family Leader and Blaze Media. Six GOP candidates looking to obtain the coveted Republican National Committee (RNC) nomination joined Carlson on stage for a 25-minute one-on-one conversation: Tim Scott, Asa Hutchinson, Mike Pence, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis. Notably missing from the forum was former president Donald Trump who was unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict. Once onstage, international affairs were a key sticking point. Ron DeSantis, seen as the most potent rival to Trump, warned that US support for the Ukraine war effort could turn into a “quagmire” like the US wars in the Middle East. “My critique of the DC foreign policy elite is that they are doing a black check policy without telling us when we will have achieved our objective,” he said. “I wish the DC elites cared as much about our border,” he added. “There are people pouring into this country. We have people dying of fentanyl overdose. The cartels are running the show.” The Florida governor said he would finish Donald Trump’s border wall, declare a national emergency at the border, and deploy the US military to kill drug cartel members. The forum comes more than a month before the RNC’s first official debate on 23 August, and Mr DeSantis’s fellow candidates had similar issues on their minds. Mr Scott preached about “the wall” needing to be built along the US-Mexico border and agreed with Carlson that Mexico posed a larger threat to Americans than Russia. While remarks from candidates like Mr DeSantis were met with praise from Carlson, there were some moments of tension. The former Fox anchor lashed out at former vice-president Pence for his statements supporting further military aid to Ukraine. Carlson claimed that “public filth and disorder and crime” were skyrocketing in America, so Mr Pence shouldn’t put so much emphasis on Ukraine, a country “most people can’t find on a map.” “Every city in America has become much worse over the past three years ... Where’s the concern for the United States?” the host asked. The former vice-president brushed off the criticism, calling it a “routine” from Carlson, and said he’s running for president because “this country is in a lot of trouble.” Nonetheless, it was clear Mr Pence may have been something of an outlier at the conservative gathering. You could almost hear crickets when tried to get the audience on his side that Russia’s weakening military position in Ukraine was a good thing. “A year and half ago Russia had the second most powerful military in the world. Today they have the second most powerul military in Ukraine,” he said, to a weak smattering of applause, before doubling down: “That’s progress.” That wasn’t the only testy exchange. Former Arkansas governor Mr Hutchinson clashed slightly with Carlson when confronted about cultural issues like transgender rights and Covid-19 vaccines. Carlson pressed the former governor about his decision to veto a 2021 bill that would’ve made Arkansas the first state to ban gender-confirming treatments or surgery for trans youth. The ex-Fox News host seemed dissatisfied with Mr Hutchinson’s justification to allow parents to decide their children’s medical needs. The conversation at the event also drifted back to the January 6 Capitol riot. Carlson began his discussion with Mr Pence about January 6th with questions that downplayed the severity of it and seemingly justified the rioters in their attack. The former vice president reflected on the day with restraint, calling it “tragic” and condemning Trump’s “reckless” words that led him and his family to become endangered. But Carlson pushed back slightly on Mr Pence, suggesting that rioters were angry because the 2020 election was fraudulent – a lie peddled by Mr Trump. While serving as a host for Fox News, Mr Carlson aired cherry-picked footage of the insurrection and crafted a narrative claiming the insurrection was not deadly and, instead, was a peaceful protest that media and lawmakers lied about to the public. Mr Pence asserted his confidence that the 2020 election was done fairly. The former South Carolina governor, meanwhile, Ms Haley emphasised the importance of election integrity and advocated for a better healthcare system focusing on mental health. Entrepreneur Mr Ramaswamy shared his optimistic view of the US as the youngest candidate running for president. During his conversation, he told Carlson he believes January 6th was caused by censorship. Read More Trump news - live: Trump tries to quash Georgia grand jury report as employee accused of lying to prosecutors Tim Scott agrees with Tucker Carlson’s comments dismissing threat posed by Russia Tucker Carlson and Mike Pence clash in heated exchange over Ukraine at GOP 2024 forum Who is running for president in 2024?

Two veterans of Gov. Ron DeSantis' political operation are departing his presidential campaign to work with an outside group that will focus on boosting the Florida Republican in his race for the White House.

The Biden administration announced Friday that 804,000 borrowers will have their student debt wiped away, totaling $39 billion worth of debt, in the coming weeks due to fixes that more accurately count qualified monthly payments under existing income-driven repayment plans.

Former Vice President Mike Pence raised less than $1.2 million for his presidential campaign during the second fundraising quarter that ended June 30, according to a Pence adviser, lagging far behind several Republican rivals who have announced much larger fundraising hauls and signaling potential struggles ahead to finance his White House bid.

A Russian surveillance aircraft flew above a US base in Syria for an "extended period of time" on Friday morning in what officials deemed an intelligence collecting mission, a senior defense official said.