Biden news: White House defends ‘Neanderthal’ slur of GOP states, as Trump shifts blame for Senate loss

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D—NY) warned a compromise brokered between President Joe Biden’s administration and “conservative” Democrats on relief checks for Americans was “an own-goal” as some in her party fought to limit the number of taxpayers qualified to receive a third stimulus payment.

The progressive lawmaker blasted her colleagues in a tweet on Wednesday after it was reported the Senate had reached a compromise that would limit the proposed $1,400 checks to Americans earning up to $80,000, with payments phasing out at $75,000. If approved, the deal would feature the most restrictive qualifications of all three rounds of payments sent during the Covid-19 crisis.

The Independent’s Chris Riotta has more on this post first covered here yesterday.

At least seven staffers from the Trump administration as still waiting on forms needed to file for unemployment as a Democrat-controlled Washington is slow to bite on their MAGA resumes, according to Politico.

The outlet reported that they are also waiting on lump-sum vacation payouts as they struggle to pay the bills in the absence of new gigs.

“I’m sitting here going, how do I pay my rent? How do I pay my cellphone bill?” one former Commerce appointee said in an interview.

The Manhattan district attorney is tightening the screws on Trump’s longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg to see how far his loyalty will bend before it breaks, according to reports.

Quoting people familiar with the investigation, The Washington Post says prosecutor Cyrus Vance Jr is scrutinizing a Trump-owned apartment once occupied by Weisselberg’s son.

They report the questioning is being led by a former mob prosecutor and is aimed at “flipping” Weisselberg to turn on the former president.

“By the way, how many of y’all have eaten in a restaurant in the last couple of months? Can I just stop and say how strange the rules are right now, I want to understand how this virus works...”

A small part of Cruz’s speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, likened by many to a cringeworthy stand-up comedy set, has gone viral having had the opening theme to 90s sitcom Seinfeld added to it.

The clip with the hashtag #netflispecial went viral as was likened to a joke from the show about comics asking “What’s the deal with airplane peanuts”.

Oliver O'Connell has all the ado about “nothing”.

Almost all of the best selling books on Amazon were books by Dr Seuss at one point on Thursday after it was announced six titles would no longer be published for what's was called “wrongful imagery”.

Nine out of the top ten books appearing on the online retailer’s US bookstore were those of the children’s author, while 38 of the top 100 were Dr Seuss.

And on Thursday afternoon, although the number of Dr Seuss titles had fallen to five out of the top ten books on the featured page of Amazon’s online bookstore, the books were still proving popular down the chart.

Of the bestsellers, there were eight out of the twenty-first books that appeared on Amazon’s store for Dr Seuss, as seen by The Independent on Thursday afternoon.

None were the titles pulled by the publisher for “wrongful imagery” on Tuesday, although at least one title — The Cat’s Quizzer — was still available for purchase.

Gino Spocchia has the story.

As Covid-19 vaccines were just beginning to trickle into Florida, one group had a substantially higher vaccination rate than the rest of the state: a community in which some of Governor Ron DeSantis’ donors live.

The Ocean Reef Club, an elite private community in Key Largo, managed to vaccinate nearly every senior on its grounds back in January, according to the Miami Herald. The community admitted as much in a January 22 newsletter that the Herald obtained.

“Over the course of the last two weeks,” the newsletter read, “the Medical Center has vaccinated over 1,200 homeowners who qualify under the State of Florida’s Governor’s current Order for those individuals who are 65 years of age or older.”

Nathan Place has the story.

A House Republican has urged Donald Trump to tell his supporters to “stand down” after police said they had received intelligence of another possible plot on the capitol ahead of 4 March.

Texas Rep Michael McCaul, who is the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday that the former president has a duty to call off his supporters.

"I think President Trump has a responsibility to tell them to stand down, this threat is credible, it’s real," Rep Michael McCaul told the broadcaster.

The representative had been asked whether Mr Trump should outright dismiss the notion he could still be inaugurated on 4 March to quell conspiracy theories suggesting otherwise.

Louise Hall reports.

Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson has said that he will force the Senate clerks to read aloud the entire 600-page coronavirus relief bill before debate begins on the legislation.

The 10 hours it will take for the Senate clerks to read the bill out loud will be in addition to the 20 hours already scheduled for debate around the legislation, further delaying a vote on it.

In a tweet on Wednesday evening, Mr Johnson, a Republican, said he will object to the waiving of the reading for the $1.9 trillion (£1.3 trillion) bill, which will force the Senate clerks to read the whole legislation out loud.

“​Since more than 90 per cent of this ‘Covid relief​’​ bill is not even related to Covid, I think we need a full reading of the bill​,” Mr Johnson wrote on Twitter.

James Crump reports.

“Sean, I’m always up for a good fight,” Mr Pompeo told the host. “I care deeply about America. You and I have been part of the conservative movement for an awfully long time now. I aim to keep at it.”

Speaking on Fox News on Wednesday night, Mike Pompeo said he would consider running for president if former President Donald Trump does not.

It follows Mr Trump’s suggestion on Sunday that he may be considering another run for office in 2024, in a speech delivered to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida.

A former FBI agent alleged that Donald Trump intentionally stopped the National Guard from mobilising to respond to the Capitol insurrection in January.

Asha Rangappa, the former FBI agent and regular CNN commentator, said Mr Trump hobbled the National Guard response to the riot to serve his political goals.

During her interview, CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin asked Ms Rangappa if Mr Trump's decision to stave off the National Guard was for the sake of optics.

The Independent’s Graig Graziosi has the response.