More than a year after the election that handed Donald Trump a decisive comeback victory, the Democratic party has still not released its postmortem analysis. But last week, an influential progressive lobby group published its own. Kamala Harris’s campaign, its authors argued, failed to connect with core constituencies because it did not focus enough on addressing basic economic anxieties. By prioritising the menace to democracy that Maga authoritarianism represented, progressives neglected the bread-and-butter issues that were uppermost in many people’s minds. As the EU braces for a tumultuous period of politics…
Tag: Republicans
Want to be hotter? Try this one weird Republican trick | Arwa Mahdawi
Maybe she was born with it, maybe it’s Mar-a-Lago face Forget expensive moisturizers or designer clothes. Ladies, if you want a quick and easy glow-up, you may want to try Republicanism. This one weird trick of voting against your own reproductive rights will instantly make you 10 times hotter. That’s not my personal sales pitch, I should note. But it’s increasingly how conservatism is being marketed to young women. As is painfully clear almost one year into Donald Trump 2.0, Maga authoritarianism doesn’t have any meaningful selling points for most…
Trump mega-donor privately mocked his claim to have upper hand with China
A top donor to Donald Trump and other Maga Republicans has privately mocked the US president’s longtime position that he has an upper hand in trade negotiations with China, in a sign that even some loyal supporters have been uneasy with the White House strategy. Liz Uihlein, the billionaire businesswoman who co-founded the office supply company Uline with her husband, Richard, sent an email to her staff earlier this year that contained a cartoon in which Trump can be seen playing cards with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping. In the…
Chairman Trump: has the US turned its back on free-market capitalism?
When Ronald Reagan became the first US president to address China’s Great Hall of the People in 1984, he did not waste an opportunity to school his audience on the benefits of the American way. He boiled down his central economic ideology, and that of his Republican party – that governments should get out of the way, allow companies, industries and markets the space the thrive, without intervention – into a simple mantra: trust the people. “These three words are not only the heart and soul of American history, but…
Taiwan has ‘right to remain free’, US senator says in visit criticised by China
A visit to Taiwan by two US senators has drawn criticism from China, which claims the island as its own and objects to any contact between officials of the two sides. The chair of the Senate armed services committee, Roger Wicker, and the Nebraska senator Deb Fischer arrived in Taipei on Friday for a series of high-level meetings with senior Taiwanese leaders. They plan to discuss US-Taiwan relations, regional security and trade and investment, according to the American Institute in Taiwan, Washington’s de facto embassy in lieu of formal diplomatic…
Trump allies rail against court ruling blocking wide swath of tariffs
Republicans and close allies of Donald Trump are railing against a federal judicial panel who blocked a wide swath of the US president’s tariffs Wednesday night, including those against China. Some attempted to frame the decision as part of a broader fight between the Trump administration and US justice system. Trump has frequently complained about legal decisions that don’t go his way, attacking judges on social media in ways that have alarmed civic society experts. “The judicial coup is out of control,” Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff,…
Trump businesses received millions in foreign payments while he was in office
Donald Trump “repeatedly and willfully” violated the US constitution by “allowing his businesses to accept millions of dollars from some of the most corrupt nations on Earth”, prominently including China, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee charged on Thursday, unveiling a 156-page report on the matter. Four businesses owned by Trump’s family conglomerate received at least $7.8m in payments in total from 20 countries during his four years in the White House, the report said. It added that the payments probably represented just a fraction of foreign payments…
‘A dangerous game’: Republican chaos and indecision as crises shake the world
The US’s closest ally in the Middle East is reeling from what many call its “9/11” and now a humanitarian disaster looms in Gaza. Winter is approaching in Ukraine, which needs urgent supplies to maintain its counteroffensive against Russia. From China’s expansive ambitions, to coups in Africa, to the climate crisis, the world is crying out for leadership. But on Capitol Hill in Washington, Republicans can’t find one. Friday marked the 10th day of paralysis as the party struggles to elect a speaker of the House of Representatives to replace…
Some politicians seem comfortable with the prospect of a new cold war. They shouldn’t be | Christopher S Chivvis
Events surrounding the first year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine have had a cold war-esque feel, with America and its allies lined up on one side and China and Russia on the other. Some politicians in Washington – and perhaps Beijing – seem comfortable with this. But they should be careful. There’s no reason to believe a cold war re-run in the 21st century would turn out well for anyone, above all the US. This past week, President Biden paid a dramatic visit to Kyiv and then addressed…
‘Hot air’: Marjorie Taylor Greene in State of the Union balloon stunt
Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared to tee up a State of the Union stunt on Tuesday, patrolling the halls of Congress with a large white balloon in reference to Republican criticism of Joe Biden over his handling of a flight over US territory by a Chinese surveillance dirigible. “Just an innocent white balloon everybody,” the Georgia extremist said, hours before Biden’s address to Congress, attempting to keep aloft the balloon saga which ended when it was shot down off the Carolinas on Saturday. Greene did not discuss the Pentagon disclosure that…