Trump goes after Zohran Mamdani
Donald Trump has weighed in on Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York, saying: “the Democrats have crossed the line”. He called Mamdani “a 100% Communist Lunatic”.
“He looks TERRIBLE, his voice is grating, he’s not very smart, he’s got AOC+3, Dummies ALL, backing him, and even our Great Palestinian Senator, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, is groveling over him,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Yes, this is a big moment in the History of our Country!”
In a second post, he said, presumably in jest, that Democrats should nominate “Low IQ Candidate, Jasmine Crockett, for President” to get back in play, and put “AOC+3” – his term for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other progressive Squad members – in Cabinet positions.
Added together with our future Communist Mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, and our Country is really SCREWED!”
Key events
CNN has responded to Trump’s outburst about its reporter, Natasha Bertrand, defending her journalism. The media company noted that Bertrand and other journalists who reported on the intelligence assessment specifically noted that this was an initial finding, and the network has also covered Trump’s skepticism of the intelligence report.
“However, we do not believe it is reasonable to criticize CNN reporters for accurately reporting the existence of the assessment and accurately characterizing its findings, which are in the public interest,” CNN said in a statement.
Trump goes after Zohran Mamdani
Donald Trump has weighed in on Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York, saying: “the Democrats have crossed the line”. He called Mamdani “a 100% Communist Lunatic”.
“He looks TERRIBLE, his voice is grating, he’s not very smart, he’s got AOC+3, Dummies ALL, backing him, and even our Great Palestinian Senator, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, is groveling over him,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Yes, this is a big moment in the History of our Country!”
In a second post, he said, presumably in jest, that Democrats should nominate “Low IQ Candidate, Jasmine Crockett, for President” to get back in play, and put “AOC+3” – his term for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other progressive Squad members – in Cabinet positions.
Added together with our future Communist Mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, and our Country is really SCREWED!”
Donald Trump wants CNN to fire its journalist who has been reporting on the intelligence that casts doubt on whether the US bombs sent to destroy Iran’s nuclear sites actually obliterated them, as Trump has claimed.
Natasha Bertrand has reported in the last few days about intelligence assessments that show the “bunker buster” bombs may not have destroyed key parts of Iran’s nuclear program and could have only set the country back months in creating nuclear weapons.
During Trump’s press conference at the Nato summit, he and defense secretary Pete Hegseth lashed out at reporters who questioned whether the US had destroyed the sites and claimed they weren’t respecting the military members who conducted the strikes. In a post on Truth Social earlier today, he railed against CNN and the New York Times for reporting on the intelligence concerns, saying they “tried to demean” the pilots.
Now, he’s making the criticism more pointed, singling out Bertrand in a post this afternoon:
Natasha Bertrand should be FIRED from CNN! I watched her for three days doing Fake News. She should be IMMEDIATELY reprimanded, and then thrown out “like a dog.” She lied on the Laptop from Hell Story, and now she lied on the Nuclear Sites Story, attempting to destroy our Patriot Pilots by making them look bad when, in fact, they did a GREAT job and hit “pay dirt” — TOTAL OBLITERATION! She should not be allowed to work at Fake News CNN. It’s people like her who destroyed the reputation of a once great Network. Her slant was so obviously negative, besides, she doesn’t have what it takes to be an on camera correspondent, not even close. FIRE NATASHA!
Senator Murphy: Mamdani offers ‘important lessons’ for Democrats
Chris Murphy, the Democratic senator from Connecticut who has emerged as a leading voice on the left, congratulated Zohran Mamdani on his win, saying it offered “important lessons” for Democrats.
“Focus on shifting economic power. Relentlessly. Have big ideas on how to do it,” Murphy wrote on X. “Be joyful and authentic. Even if your ideas aren’t considered ‘mainstream’ by elites. The elites have little idea what’s actually mainstream.”
His comments are an echo of what he told the Guardian two weeks ago for where the Democratic party should move after the harsh 2024 loss. He told David Smith that the party claims to be the party of poor people, but poor people don’t vote for Democrats any more.
There’s a lot of conservative poor people out there who think that our party is way too judgmental. We’ve got to become a bigger tent party when it comes to a lot of social and cultural and hot button issues and then we’ve got to become an aggressively populist party.
A mediator between Donald Trump and Paramount, which owns CBS News, has suggested the media company settle a lawsuit from the president for $20m, the Wall Street Journal is reporting.
Trump’s lawsuit came after a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, which Trump alleged was election interference because of how the interview was edited. CBS has defended its work, saying it edited a response to make it more succinct, a common practice for journalists.
The suit is one of several Trump has filed against media companies, a way to intimidate the press and draw their resources into settlements or lengthy court battles. Paramount is also in the middle of a merger, which plays into its willingness to get on the Trump administration’s good side. The lawsuit has roiled CBS, with high-profile departures from its news operations who see a settlement as damaging to journalism.
Trump wanted $20bn in damages; Paramount had previously offered $15m to settle, but Trump wanted upward of $25m, according to the Journal. The mediator’s $20m proposal would include $17m for Trump’s foundation or museum, plus money for legal fees and public-service announcements against antisemitism, the Journal says. But, it notes, “Settlement talks are still fluid and an agreement may not be reached.”
A few updates on some immigration issues we’ve been covering:
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Kilmar Ábrego García, the Maryland man who was deported to El Salvador by mistake and then returned to the US, is expected to be released from a Tennessee jail today. He will then be taken into immigration custody, the Associated Press reports. He was charged by the US with two counts of human smuggling.
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Separately, the US representative who was charged after a congressional visit to an immigration detention center pleaded not guilty today, according to the AP. US congresswoman LaMonica McIver faces federal charges of assaulting, resisting and impeding immigration officers in New Jersey. Outside the courthouse, she said: “They will not intimidate me. They will not stop me from doing my job.”
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And in Maryland, the Trump administration has taken the unusual step of filing a lawsuit against federal judges over an order they made that blocks removals for detained immigrants who request a court hearing.
Eric Adams, the New York City mayor, is expected to make a “major announcement” and “formally announce” presumably a run to keep his office midday tomorrow.
Adams’s campaign said in a press release today that Adams “will make a major announcement about the future of his re-election campaign” on the steps of New York city hall at noon Thursday.
“With the Democratic primary now behind him, this pivotal moment will set the stage for the next phase of the 2025 mayoral race,” the release says.
Adams ran for mayor as a Democrat but has said he would run as an independent in the general election.
Chris Stein
Democratic senators have repeatedly pressed Emil Bove about his involvement in the decision to drop corruption charges filed under Joe Biden’s administration against Eric Adams, alleging the decision was a quid pro quo to win the New York mayor’s cooperation on immigration enforcement.
“In order to get Mayor Adams to cooperate with President Trump’s immigration policy, you were prepared to drop the charges against him?” asked Dick Durbin, the Senate judiciary committee’s top Democrat.
“That’s completely false,” Bove replied.
Durbin went on to allege that a federal judge “foiled your plans” by dismissing the charges with prejudice – meaning they could not be refiled, and Adams would have no incentive to cooperate. “You could no longer have the mayor on a leash making sure that he follows the president’s immigration policies,” the senator said.
“There’s objective evidence in the record in that case that completely refutes the claim you just made,” Bove replied. Durbin went on to ask whether the justice department attorneys who signed the brief dropping the charges were either threatened or rewarded, which Bove said did not happen.
Republican senators have thus far signaled no opposition to confirming Bove to a seat on the third circuit court of appeals, which covers New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and the US Virgin Islands. In their questioning, they gave Bove the opportunity to strenuously deny Democrats’ allegations.
“I want you to look me in the eye and swear to your higher being when you answer this question, did you make a deal, a political deal, to dismiss the charges against Mayor Adams?” asked senator John Kennedy.
“Absolutely not,” Bove replied.
Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s new vaccine advisory panel is meeting today for the first time. The group, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), is discussing Covid-19 shots, though no vote on recommendations is planned.
Kennedy has said those shots will no longer be recommended for healthy children or pregnant women, creating uncertainty about access to that vaccine. The panel has been drastically reshaped by Kennedy: he fired all 17 previous members and his replacements include anti-vaccine voices. In a House hearing yesterday, Kennedy defended his purge, saying the old panel had been “a template for medical malpractice”.
The new vaccine advisory panel opened as the American Academy of Pediatrics announced that it will continue publishing its own vaccine schedule for children but now will do so independently of the ACIP, calling it “no longer a credible process”.
Trump is once again attacking the media, accusing the news outlets of “cheating”, while reiterating his claims of “total obliteration” of the nuclear sites in Iran targeted by the US.
Trump wrote on Truth Social:
“We just caught the Failing New York Times, working with Fake News CNN, cheating again! They tried to demean the great work our B-2 pilots did, and they were wrong in doing so. These reporters are just BAD AND SICK PEOPLE. You would think they would be proud of the great success we had, instead of trying to always make our Country look bad. TOTAL OBLITERATION!”
State department braces for layoffs – report
The state department is bracing for widespread layoffs as soon as Friday, reports Semafor.
Multiple sources said they expected a reduction in force notices this week that reach up to thousands, in line with the proposal secretary of state Marco Rubio had submitted to Congress. One source said that the department would wait for a supreme court ruling on its reorganization plan.
Rubio proposed a sweeping reorganization of the US state department as part of what he called an effort to reform it amid criticism from the Trump White House over the execution of US diplomacy.
Earlier this month, it was reported that the state department’s plans to shrink its workforce were temporarily on hold following a California federal judge’s ruling that blocked the agency-wide reorganization plans.
Trump is once again repeating claims that the three sites bombed by the US in Iran were “obliterated”, despite some intelligence reports casting doubt on this.
Trump wrote on Truth Social:
“We’ve collected additional intelligence, and we’ve also spoken to people who have seen the site—and the site is obliterated!”
He reiterated the claims in another post:
“Last weekend, the United States successfully carried out a massive precision strike on Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities, and it was very, very successful—It was called OBLITERATION. This incredible exercise of American strength has paved the way for peace, with a historic ceasefire agreement”
Eric Adams calls Mamdani a ‘snake oil salesman’ on Fox News
Appearing on Fox & Friends today, New York City mayor Eric Adams referred to Zohran Mamdani as a “snake oil salesman” and said that he would “say or do anything to get elected”.
“He [Mamdani] doesn’t understand the power of government or how to make sure that you’re improving your economy, raise the standard of living.” Adams then credited himself for accomplishing these feats, saying “this is what we’ve been doing in the city.”
The NYC mayor had previously been at the center of a corruption case brought against him by the Department of Justice. The charges were later dropped under the instruction of the Trump administration, a move that caused widespread controversy.
Emil Bove denies whistleblower allegations that he willfully ignored court orders blocking deportations
Chris Stein
Emil Bove, a top justice department official who Donald Trump has nominated to serve as a federal appeals court judge, denied to senators a whistleblower’s allegation that he suggested prosecutors ignore court orders blocking the deportations of undocumented immigrants.
Bove is having his confirmation hearing right now before the Senate judiciary committee, where the whistleblower complaint from former justice department attorney Erez Reuveni has come up repeatedly. Reuveni alleges that Bove, a former defense attorney for Trump who now serves as the principal associate deputy attorney general, said the justice department “would need to consider telling the courts ‘fuck you’” when they rule against the president’s immigration policies.
“I have never advised a Department of Justice attorney to violate a court order,” Bove said in questioning from the committee’s Republican chair, Chuck Grassley. “Even if that account is taken at face value, the whistleblower acknowledges that he left the meeting on March 14 of this year with the understanding that, of course, the department would advise clients to abide by court orders.”
The Democrats’ 2024 vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz hasn’t announced yet if he’ll run for a third term as governor in Minnesota, but a new poll shows he could face some trouble.
The Minnesota poll from the Star Tribune/Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication shows Walz’s approval rating has dipped below 50%, only the second time his approval rating has done so in the poll, the Star Tribune reports.
It’s sitting at 49%, a drop from 53% last September. Among independents, a majority disapprove of how he’s doing as governor, and about half say he shouldn’t seek the state’s top position again.
His run for vice-president and positioning as a top Democratic voice nationally has rubbed some the wrong way as well. One Republican voter, age 82, said:
He makes a fool of himself trying to get on the national scene like he’s a big shot.
Top Democrats cautiously congratulate Mamdani on victory
Top Democrats Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries – who are both also New York politicians – have cautiously congratulated Zohran Mamdani on his victory, stopping short of endorsing the progressive and mostly complimenting how he ran his campaign.
Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said in a post on X:
I have known @ZohranKMamdani since we worked together to provide debt relief for thousands of beleaguered taxi drivers & fought to stop a fracked gas plant in Astoria. He ran an impressive campaign that connected with New Yorkers about affordability, fairness, & opportunity.
I spoke with @ZohranKMamdani this morning and am looking forward to getting together soon.
And Jeffries, the House minority leader, wrote on X:
Congratulations to Zohran Mamdani on a decisive primary victory. Assemblyman Mamdani ran a strong campaign that relentlessly focused on the economy and bringing down the high cost of living in New York City. We spoke this morning and plan to meet in Central Brooklyn shortly.
Last night New York governor Kathy Hochul sounded similarly lukewarm, posting on X:
Today, voters made their voices heard, demanding a more affordable, more livable New York City. I hear them loud and clear. @ZohranKMamdani built a formidable grassroots coalition, and I look forward to speaking with him in the days ahead about his ideas on how to ensure a safe, affordable, and livable New York City.
Mamdani’s victory marks a ‘seismic shift’ with voters who are ‘fed up with the status quo’, says WFP
The Working Families party, which ranked Zohran Mamdani as its top pick for NYC mayor last month, said his victory marks a “seismic shift” and shows that “voters are thoroughly fed up with the status quo”.
In a statement, the progressive organization encouraged the Democratic party to “take note” and “usher in a new era of leadership”.
We showed New York and the entire country that voters are thoroughly fed up with the status quo. To the Democratic Party establishment and the pundits who just want to keep playing the same game — take note. This is a seismic shift. People are ready to turn the page and usher in a new era of leadership.
Stephen Miller blames Mamdani’s victory in NYC mayoral primary on ‘unchecked migration’
As Zohran Mamdani’s historic victory in the New York City mayoral primary last night continues to send the Maga world into meltdown, Stephen Miller has blamed the result on none other than (checks notes) immigration.
In the early hours of this morning, the White House deputy chief of staff and architect of Trump’s hardline immigration agenda, posted on X:
The commentary about NYC Democrats nominating an anarchist-socialist for Mayor omits one point: how unchecked migration fundamentally remade the NYC electorate. Democrats change politics by changing voters. That’s how you turn a city that defined US dominance into what it is now.
In another post, Miller added:
NYC is the clearest warning yet of what happens to a society when it fails to control migration.
An hour later, he went on:
To understand the pace and scope of migration to America in past years, one-third of NYC is foreign-born and almost two-thirds of NYC children live in a foreign-born household.
He is of course alluding to what’s known as the “great replacement theory”, the racist premise that white Americans and Europeans are being actively “replaced” by non-white immigrants, and are losing power and influence as a result (for example, through electoral gains, as Miller claims above). Miller has a long history of touting these far-right views.
Among the many things wrong with Miller is saying is the fact that Mamdani’s victory was based on a much broader coalition than he suggests. The progressive was strong among young voters, including Gen Z and millennials, and won in some mixed Black-Hispanic areas, but per The Hill: “Mamdani was also seen to be stronger with white voters and those with college degrees, the latter of whom increasingly are part of the Democratic base and are regular voters … He also won in some wealthy older white areas.” No word on what Miller thinks of that part, though.