Trump election subversion verdict must come before 2024 vote, poll says: Live

The former governor and United Nations ambassador has been holding events across her home state ahead of the 2024 Republican primary there later this month.

But on Saturday, she made an unannounced stop in New York for a cameo during SNL’s cold open, where she sparred with breakout star James Austin Johnson who was impersonating Donald Trump.

John Bowden has the story:

President Joe Biden told a group of donors to his re-election bid on Sunday that the mere thought of his predecessor’s callous attitude towards the nation’s military veterans and honoured war dead forces him to expend extra energy to keep his anger in check.

Speaking to guests who’d assembled to hear him speak at a Henderson, Nevada fundraiser, Mr Biden was working through what has become a standard recitation of his record since taking office in 2021 when he turned to the matter of former president Donald Trump’s attitude towards men and women who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice in service of the United States.

He told attendees: “I have to hold my Irish temper” when it comes to that subject.

The matter that so evokes Mr Biden’s anger is a series of comments first reported by The Atlantic regarding Mr Trump’s attitude towards American war dead.

Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC:

Republican senator JD Vance – who is reportedly being considered for Donald Trump’s potential administration – repeated baseless claims about the 2020 presidential election and falsely asserted that Mr Trump as president could defy the US Supreme Court.

The Ohio senator told ABC News on Sunday that unlike then-vice-president Mike Pence, he would not have certified the results of the 2020 election, which he falsely claimed is the “legitimate way” to handle contested results from states that Mr Trump lost.

There is no provision in the US Constitution to do so, nor is there any evidence of widespread election fraud that manipulated 2020’s outcome against Mr Trump.

New polling by CNN and SSRS shows that most Americans want a verdict on Donald Trump’s election subversion charges before the 2024 presidential election.

Some 48 per cent of those polled say it is essential to have a verdict before voting in November, with another 16 per cent saying they would prefer it to happen before then.

Only 11 per cent believe the trial should be postponed until after the election. A further 25 per cent say the timing of the trial does not matter to them.

A majority of 72 per cent of Democrats and 52 per cent of independents say it is essential to reach a verdict pre-election.

Republicans are more divided with 38 per cent saying that a verdict should be reached before the presidential election, including 20 per cent who call that essential.

Another 39 per cent say it doesn’t matter when the trial is held, and 23 per cent that they think the trial should be held after this election.

The polling took place between 25-30 January. There were 1,212 respondents.

“Maybe he could die?” she wrote on X.

However, she turned against the former president after accusing him of “betraying” his voters by failing to complete the much-touted wall along the US-Mexico border to stop the flow of undocumented migrants.

Martha McHardy has the story:

More and more Republicans are expressing frustration and outright anger over Donald Trump’s efforts to kill a bipartisan deal being worked out in the US Senate to address border security and the high numbers of migrants seeking asylum in the US.

On Thursday, Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw joined that list. The border-state Republican’s opinion is significant as it shows that the House GOP is far from unified around Mr Trump’s desire to see the push to address immigration fail — despite Speaker Mike Johnson seemingly being on board with the former president’s wishes.

“The height of stupidity is having a strong opinion in something you know nothing about,” said the congressman in a gaggle with reporters in front of the steps of the US Capitol.

“I’m extremely disappointed in the strange maneuvering by many on the right to torpedo a potential border reform bill.”

John Bowden reports from Washington, DC:

“Any consideration of this Senate bill in its current form is a waste of time. It is DEAD on arrival in the House. We encourage the US Senate to reject it.”

Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona had not even finished her call with reporters about the immigration-Ukraine bill when Republicans began to react.

Representative Matt Gaetz, the right-wing gadfly from Florida who ousted Kevin McCarthy, called it the “Senate Amnesty Bill” and said that it would force a future president Donald Trump administration “to let in illegals well into his term.” House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, who is currently auditioning to be Trump’s running mate, called it an “absolute non-starter.” In the Senate, Ohio’s JD Vance, perhaps the Trumpiest Senator, said he “cannot imagine why any Republican supports this atrocious proposal.”

But this is far from an “amnesty bill,” to borrow from Gaetz’s words.