DeSantis to launch 2024 bid as Trump claims governor’s ‘magic is gone’

Donald Trump has been up late again “retruthing” bad news for the Florida governor wherever he can find it, posting stories from the likes of Newsweek and The New York Times to undermine his likely rival for the Republican presidential nomination – a sure sign that he is rattled by the threat Ron “DeSanctimonious” represents.

Trump was gloating after his pick for the Republican nomination to be Kentucky’s next governor, Daniel Cameron, won the race on Tuesday night while DeSantis’s choice, Kelly Craft, finished third in the GOP primary.

DeSantis’s pick for Jacksonville mayor also lost that same evening when Democrat Donna Deegan defeated Republican Daniel Davis.

CNN’s town hall with Donald Trump proved so divisive that even its own staff have taken issue with the event – with Christiane Amanpour the latest of the network’s high-profile names to voice their dissatisfaction.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is reportedly gearing up to announce his campaign for president next week, according to reports.

People familiar with Mr DeSantis’ campaign told The Wall Street Journal under the condition of anonymity that the Florida Governor will file official paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on 24 May.

According to the sources, this will correspond with a donor event at the Four Seasons hotel in Miami Florida from 24 May to 26 May to start raising money for the campaign.

The development comes after months of speculation that Mr DeSantis will challenge former president Donald Trump.

FOX Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch made a sarcastic comment toward CNN following the Donald Trump town hall – which saw the former president once again lie that the 2020 election was stolen by Democrats.

Mr Murdoch said the former president made “a lot of allegations about the 2020 election” during CNN’s town hall.

“And I haven’t seen a lawsuit yet,” Mr Murdoch said.

The reference was to the recent defamation lawsuit between FOX and Dominion Voting Systems regarding Mr Trump’s lies about election fraud.

Dominion claimed Fox News damaged its reputation by airing Mr Trump’s lies that the election was stolen and Dominion’s voting machines were partially to blame.

Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5m in a settlement.

For Indy Voices, Holly Baxter writes: “In news that will surprise no one, it turns out Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani are – allegedly – absolute creeps. I know, of course, that you might’ve expected more from the president who started his first campaign with a video about grabbing women by the p***y, or who recently kicked off his second run with a legal ruling against him for sexual assault.

“But apparently, even when Donald was in the White House, he developed obsessions with certain staffers and asked a female worker to stick around so he could ‘look at her ass’. Number 45’s tendency to walk the halls of power behind ’very young’ staffers with his tongue hanging out was apparently an ‘open secret’. It happened in meetings, it happened at work events, it happened in front of other people.

“And it turns out that birds of a feather — ALLEGEDLY — flock together! Noelle Dunphy, a former aide to Giuliani, just filed a lawsuit claiming that everyone’s favorite Four Seasons Landscaping orator forced her to perform oral sex on him while he was on the phone to Trump. Apparently, Rudy had a penchant for sex acts while taking calls because it ‘made him feel like Bill Clinton’. And who among us hasn’t dreamed of feeling like legitimate Marvel superhero Bill Clinton at least once in our lives?”

The Democrat who will almost certainly become Philadelphia’s next mayor wants to hire hundreds of additional police officers to walk their beats and get to know residents.

She wants to devote resources to recruiting more police and says officers should be able to stop and search pedestrians if they have a legitimate reason to do so.

Those positions, particularly the search policies that have been criticised for wrongly targeting people of colour, would seem out of step in a progressive bastion like Philadelphia.

But Cherelle Parker trounced her rivals in this week’s mayoral primary with a message that centred on tougher law enforcement to combat rising crime and violence.

The anti-Trump Republican outfit take aim at the network over last week’s town hall, which continues to be a subject of controversy well over a week after it aired.

MAGA Republican firebrand Lauren Boebert has filed for divorce from her husband, she announced on Tuesday.

“It is with a heavy weight on my heart that I have filed for divorce from my husband,” the Colorado congresswoman said in a statement.

“I am grateful for our years of marriage together and for our beautiful children, all of whom deserve privacy and love as we work through this process. I’ve always been faithful in my marriage, and I believe strongly in marriage, which makes this announcement that much more difficult. This is truly about irreconcilable differences. I do not intend to discuss this matter any further in public out of respect for our children and will continue to work hard to represent the people of Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.”

Republican congressman Matt Gaetz has been called out for body-shaming musician Lizzo while asserting that beer companies sell more product when they feature bikini-wearing models in their advertisements.

Gaetz joined Newsmax host Chris Plante and others on the show The Right Squad on Tuesday night when the group spoke about a new advertisement from Miller Lite.

The ad, which features comedian Ilana Glazer, condemns the beer industry for objectifying women by advertising products with women in bikinis.

The ex-president’s conspiracy-minded son, self-proclaimed “future leader of the ministry of truth”, is about as sympathetic as you would expect about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s claim that they were involved in a dangerous chase with paparazzi in New York on Tuesday night after attending an awards gala.