Trump dodges live televised court appearance after not guilty plea – latest

President Joe Biden has been taking the shorter stairs to get on Air Force One much more often since falling over a sandbag on stage during the US Air Force Academy graduation in June, a news photography analysis has shown.

NPR reports that Mr Biden has been eschewing the 18-foot staircase, which may at times be unstable, traditionally used when getting on and off Air Force One.

One inmate has been killed in an ongoing mass stabbing at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta where former President Donald Trump was booked and had his mug shot taken earlier this month.

Natalie Ammons at the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office told CNN that the situation remains active.

Gustaf Kilander is following this developing story.

The former leader of a Philadelphia chapter of the neo-fascist gang the Proud Boys who stormed the halls of Congress on January 6 has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Zachary Rehl, the son and grandson of Philadelphia police officers who used pepper spray against law enforcement outside the US Capitol then lied on the witness stand about it, had called for “firing squads” for “traitors” who wanted to “steal” the 2020 election from Donald Trump.

A Donald Trump campaign video about a recent surge in Covid-19 infections and advice that some people may want to use face masks has received a brutal fact check via a “Community Note” on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In the video, the former president rails against the possibility of new restrictions to curb the spread of the virus. The clip posted by Team Trump is captioned: “COVID Tyrants want to take away our Freedom. Hear my words— WE WILL NOT COMPLY.”

The community note — a function on X by which members of the community may add context to the posts of others — notes that in the original Covid-19 outbreak at the beginning of the pandemic: “The Trump Administration along with other federal agencies began the lockdown and social distancing rules in 2020.”

The note comes with a link to one of Mr Trump’s own tweets from the time.

A second note, citing an article in The New York Times, reads: “President Trump issued national guidelines that included closing schools and avoiding bars, restaurants and groups of more than 10.”

US Senator Mitch McConnell has been given a clean bill of health by the Capitol Hill doctor after his latest “freezing” health scare.

The Minority Leader, a Republican from Kentucky, appeared to briefly freeze up and was unable to answer a question from a reporter at an event in the state on Wednesday.

Now the 81-year-old politician has been told he is free to continue with his schedule by the Office of the Attending Physician at Congress.

Graeme Massie has the details.

Former President Donald Trump has been busy on Truth Social, first attacking Fox News for inviting his nemesis Chris Christie and “lethargic” Bill Barr on as guests.

RINO John Roberts of FoxNews just put failed political candidate Chris Christie, and terminated A.G., lethargic Bill Barr, on to talk about your favorite President, ME! What does he expect from these two losers, one who I refused to give a job, the other who I fired because he was petrified of the Radical Left and what they would do to him. Anyway, my polls are even higher since the so-called Debate. Republicans should unite against the Fascist Lunatics who are destroying our Country!

Next, he celebrated reporting that a Ron DeSantis super PAC is closing its doors over “rookie mistakes” on the part of the Florida governor’s campaign.

Wow! “A Super PAC set up to back Ron DeSanctimonious with $50 Million, is closing as donors have backed out – while its founder said the Florida Governor’s campaign is guilty of rookie mistakes, and he will now back Donald Trump.” Daily Mail, by Morgan Phillips. Thank you to John Thomas, the highly respected Republican strategist!

Harrison Floyd, one of the 19 defendants in former President Donald Trump in the Georgia election case, has suggested that he was included in the indictment because he is Black.

Mr Floyd, who served as the director of “Black Voices for Trump” during the 2020 presidential campaign, spoke to Steve Bannon after he was released on bond nearly a week following his arrest in Fulton County.

Mr Bannon led Mr Floyd to bring race into the matter, asking if he thought he was “singled out because you are an African American” especially because he is also a Trump supporter and a veteran.

TV personality Geraldo Rivera has given an interview with The New York Times about life after Fox News, which he left in June after 22 years.

Of former President Donald Trump he said: “I feel awful that he made me dump him.”

Further, he called Mr Trump:

“Crazy, really crazy,”

“underrated, over-prosecuted and persecuted”.

A number of Republican senators are considering a push for a debate on their leadership after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze up during a press conference for the second time within a month, a report has alleged.

Politico reports that Republicans have discussed the idea of having a larger conversation on the subject when they get back to Washington, DC next week.

Gustaf Kilander has the story.

The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee has asked the panel’s chairman to compel ex-Trump White House adviser Jared Kushner’s investment firm to disclose information about the funding it has received from foreign countries.

In a letter to Chairman James Comer, Ranking Member Jamie Raskin asked the Kentucky Republican to approve a subpoena to Mr Kushner’s firm, A Fin Management LLC, regarding what he described as “extraordinary funding” which the relatively new investment venture took in from Saudi Arabian and Qatari sovereign wealth funds in the months after Mr Kushner and his father-in-law, former president Donald Trump, left the White House.

Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.