DeSantis news – latest: Florida governor most popular with rich Republicans as he defends move to fly migrants to California
DeSantis on campaign trail hoping to raise national profile as 2024 race hots up
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Your support makes all the difference.Florida governor Ron DeSantis appears to be the preferred Republican candidate among right-leaning millionaires, according to the latest CNBC Millionaire Survey, although his arch-rival and front-runner Donald Trump is seemingly also picking up support among wealthy Americans.
The poll shows that 32 per cent of Republicans with qualifying millionaire status currently support Mr DeSantis, a drop from 54 per cent at the end of 2022, while Mr Trump now has the backing of 28 per cent, up from 17 per cent last year.
Meanwhile, the governor has met with sheriffs in Arizona and defended his state’s recent decision to fly migrants from the US-Mexico border to Sacramento, California, a move widely derided as a cruel political stunt but which he insisted was above board because the west coast state had essentially invited them with its liberal immigration policies.
“I think the border should be closed. I don’t think we should have any of this,” Mr DeSantis said. “But if there’s a policy to have an open border, then I think the sanctuary jurisdictions should be the ones that have to bear that.”
VIDEO: Trump aide appears in federal court
Trump’s ex-press secretary says there’s ‘no way’ White House cocaine is Hunter Biden’s
One of former president Donald Trump’s ex-spokespersons has poured cold water on the idea that a small bag of cocaine found in the West Wing belonged to President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
Kayleigh McEnany, who served as White House Press Secretary in 2020 and 2021 before signing on as a Fox News host, said on Thursday that the offending narcotic could not have belonged to the younger Mr Biden because he and the rest of the First Family departed from the White House last Friday, two days before the drugs were found near a lower-level entrance to the West Wing.
Read more:
Trump’s ex-press sec’y says there’s ‘no way’ White House cocaine is Hunter Biden’s
Kayleigh McEnany points out that the timing of the discovery doesn’t line up with when the president’s son left the White House
Special counsel zeroing in on ‘unhinged’ Oval Office meeting when Trump hosted conspiracy theorists – report
The team led by special counsel Jack Smith has indicated their ongoing attention on an eventful meeting that occurred in the Oval Office during the closing days of the Trump administration, a report said.
In that meeting, former president Donald Trump considered a series of extraordinary proposals to maintain his hold on power.
Several sources told the CNN that investigators questioned multiple witnesses – both in front of the grand jury and during interviews – about the bizarre meeting. The investigation has been ongoing for several months, the report said.
Some witnesses have been asked about the meeting earlier, while others, including Rudy Giuliani, have faced inquiries more recently, it was reported.
Sources told CNN that Mr Giuliani willingly participated in interviews with investigators for two consecutive days last month. During these interviews, a variety of subjects were discussed, including the contentious meeting in December 2020 that Mr Giuliani attended.
Read more:
Special counsel zeroing in on bizarre 2020 Oval Office meeting, report says
The meeting ended in shouting and insults, according to reports
Cillian Murphy responds to ‘homophobic’ video shared by Ron DeSantis campaign
The team behind Peaky Blinders has denounced the “homophobic” video shared by Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign.
The video, which was posted last week, slams DeSantis’s rival 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump for vowing to “protect our LGBTQ citizens”.
The video includes clips of the former president that featured him appearing to embrace the LGBT+ community in the wake of the 2016 mass shooting at gay nightclub Pulse.
The second part of the video shifts to DeSantis and his own comments and policies on drag acts and transgender rights.
In the second half, the video appears to portray the Florida governor as masculine, with his image spliced with images of muscular, shirtless men and several Hollywood and British actors, including Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, and Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy.
Read more:
Cillian Murphy responds to ‘homophobic’ video shared by Ron DeSantis campaign
‘We do not support nor endorse the video’s narrative,’ Murphy says
Ex-Biden chief of staff boosts employment record and takes dig at ‘but Trump’ Twitter
Deputy White House Press Secretary avoids question about Trump’s Truth Social posts
Marjorie Taylor Greene ousted from House Freedom Caucus following fight with Lauren Boebert
Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the House’s most vocal conservative culture warriors, is now feeling the sting of the far-right’s backlash after a perceived betrayal on her part.
The Georgia congresswoman and ally of Donald Trump was booted out of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus last month, a member told Politico on Thursday, as a rift grows between her and some of the most conservative members of her party.
At issue are two instances — Ms Greene’s vote to support a debt ceiling deal reached between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the White House, which conservatives complained was insufficient in its cuts of federal programs, and her recent spat with Rep Lauren Boebert, another member of the caucus.
The Colorado-hailing Ms Boebert recently revealed to reporters that Ms Greene had called her a “little b****” during a dispute in a bathroom off of the House floor amid their growing dispute this spring — a confrontation that was the main reason cited by Rep Andy Harris in his explanation to Politico on Thursday.
Read more:
Marjorie Taylor Greene ousted from ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus
Georgia congresswoman faces backlash from the right after making nice with Kevin McCarthy
QAnon’s leader died in a dirt bike crash. Now his followers are pushing conspiracy that he’s still alive
QAnon’s conspiracy theories are both bizarre and baseless: from the claim that Democrats are running a sex-trafficking ring through a pizza parlour, to the theory that Donald Trump is leading the fight against a cabal of paedophiles, and the story that JFK is returning from the dead more than 50 years after his assassination.
Now, the cult’s latest wild conspiracy centres around the death of its own leader.
Michael Protzman, the 60-year-old QAnon leader, died on 30 June after suffering “multiple blunt force injuries” in a dirt bike accident.
Protzman, who was known to his followers as Negative 48, was driving a dirt bike at the Meadow Valley Motocross track in Millville, Minnesota, when he crashed.
Around a week later he died from his injuries at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, the clinic confirmed to VICE News.
Read more:
QAnon leader dies – but followers push conspiracy theory he’s still alive
Michael Protzman told his followers JFK was coming back from the dead. Now they believe his own death is a hoax
VOICES: What putting Trump back in the White House would mean for Ukraine – and conflict in the rest of the world
Joe Biden’s visit to the UK this weekend, when he will meet the prime minister and the King, could serve as a welcome reminder about where political power – and responsibility – currently resides on both sides of the Atlantic.
I say this, because some of the recent running on arguably the most urgent international issue of the day has been made by someone who has no power whatever, but eyes a return. Step forward (as if he needed any invitation to do so) Donald Trump, who spoke at some length this week about wanting a peaceful outcome in Ukraine, even if this entailed territorial concessions on the part of Kyiv.
“I think the biggest thing that the U.S. should be doing right now is making peace,” he said, “getting Russia and Ukraine together and making peace. You can do it.” Suggesting that Russia’s President had been somewhat weakened by the mercenary-led mutiny last month, Trump said: “This is the time to do it, to get the two parties together to force peace.”
Read more:
What bringing Trump back would mean for Ukraine – and the rest of us | Mary Dejevsky
The former president has made his views on Nato clear, writes Mary Dejevsky. So what happens if he wins in 2024 – and the war isn’t over?
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