Politics

Gavin Newsom-Ron DeSantis war of words a possible 2024 or 2028 preview

Published

2 years ago

September 18, 2022

Gavin Newsom-Ron DeSantis war of words a possible 2024 or 2028 preview

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They’re two comparatively younger and really high-profile governors of huge states who’ve knack for grabbing nationwide consideration and firing up the bases of the respective political events.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida are as soon as once more within the highlight this weekend, sparking extra hypothesis about their 2024 intentions.

DeSantis, whose reputation has soared amongst conservatives in Florida and throughout the nation the previous two and a half years, courtesy of his forceful pushback in opposition to coronavirus pandemic restrictions and his aggressive actions as a tradition wars warrior, sparked a brand new controversy earlier this week by flying Venezuelan migrants to the progressive bastion of Martha’s Winery in Massachusetts.

Whereas igniting outrage amongst Democrats, the calculated transfer spotlighted the flamable difficulty of unlawful immigration and border safety, which fires up the GOP base but additionally connects with impartial voters who could also be pissed off with the Biden administration efforts in dealing with the surge in border crossings into the U.S. over the previous 12 months and a half.

GAVIN NEWSOM CHALLENGES RON DESANTIS TO A DEBATE

File images of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California (left) and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida (proper)
(Getty)

Newsom, who requested the Justice Division to analyze each DeSantis and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas — who’s transported migrants to progressive cities equivalent to New York, Chicago, and Washington D.C. — accuses the conservative governors of utilizing the migrants as “political pawns.”

On Friday, Newsom challenged DeSantis to a debate, which triggered a disagreement on Twitter between the Newsom and DeSantis camps.

Newsom has been as artful in latest months as DeSantis in grabbing nationwide consideration, trolling each the Florida governor and Abbott with adverts of their states. And this previous week, Newsom captured the highlight as soon as once more by placing up billboards in a number of crimson states the place abortion is now restricted, highlighting that California is a haven for legalized abortion. The transfer additional bolstered his push as a champion for reproductive rights, which is a prime difficulty with many in his get together’s base within the wake of June’s transfer by the Supreme Court docket’s conservative majority to up finish the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion ruling.

DESANTIS FLIES MIGRANTS TO MARTHA’S VINEYARD

Whereas the 2024 presidential election might find yourself being a rematch of the 2020 contest between President Biden and former President Trump, if the 2 70-somethings don’t find yourself operating, DeSantis, Newsom, and others within the subsequent technology are utilizing inventive methods to lift their nationwide profiles.

“Historically, with the run-up to midterm elections, political eyes flip to the early states of Iowa and New Hampshire for indicators of presidential candidate exercise. And whereas these visits are occurring, a brand new development is rising amongst those that are taking a look at potential runs that’s nationalizing their potential candidacies,” veteran political scientist Wayne Lesperance famous.

“Each Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis have taken to the nationwide airwaves with their manufacturers of politics on the problem of immigration. It is good and, maybe most significantly, it is free air-time that is designed to enchantment to the bases of their events. And, it is working,” added Lesperance, who’s vp of educational affairs on the New Hampshire based mostly New England Faculty. “The nationalization of our presidential major course of has begun. Newsom and DeSantis are first in. Others will observe.”

Are DeSantis’ 2022 journeys ‘laying the groundwork’ for 2024?

As he runs for re-election in November, DeSantis is as soon as once more on the marketing campaign on Sunday — exterior of Florida. DeSantis will likely be in Kansas and Wisconsin, headlining rallies for these state’s GOP gubernatorial nominees -Derek Schmidt and Tim Michels — that have been organized by the conservative group Turning Level Motion.

“Governor DeSantis is America’s Governor and probably the most widespread leaders within the nation. He has grow to be the mannequin for a brand new conservative motion that’s keen to face on precept and to truly battle on behalf of the values of his voters,” Turning Level Motion founder and president Charlie Kirk mentioned in a press release.

The swing follows an analogous one final month, when DeSantis traveled to Arizona ato marketing campaign with gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake and Senate nominee Blake Masters, to Pennsylvania to stump with gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano, and to Ohio to staff up with Senate nominee JD Vance. Lake, Masters, Mastriano, Vance, Schmidt and Michels all gained their Republican nominations thanks partly to essential endorsements by Trump.

IF TRUMP ENDORSED NOMINEES LOSE IN NOVEMBER, DOES HE TAKE A 2024 HIT?

The DeSantis journeys are undoubtedly being observed by the previous president.

“Trump blew a gasket” when DeSantis teamed up with Lake, a supply within the former president’s political orbit advised Fox Information. And the teaming up of DeSantis and Kirk — who’s a Trump ally and really shut with Donald Trump Jr. — can be “not going unnoticed,” the supply added.

Whereas within the Badger State on Sunday, DeSantis can be anticipated to fulfill with billionaire Wisconsin based mostly businesswoman and GOP mega donor Diane Hendricks, in accordance with a veteran GOP guide who requested to stay nameless to talk extra freely.

“This isn’t about serving to different candidates, it’s about serving to Ron DeSantis,” the guide charged. “That is all Ron laying the groundwork” for 2024.

DeSantis’ political staff declined to verify or deny the governor’s assembly with Hendricks.

Trump was additionally on the path this weekend, holding a big rally in Ohio on behalf of Vance.

Pompeo spotlights his 2024 staff

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo returns this week to New Hampshire, the state that for a century’s held the primary major within the race for the White Home.

Pompeo on Tuesday will headline the newest version of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics’ “Politics and Eggs.” The talking collection at St. Anselm Faculty, simply west of Manchester, has been a must-stop for practically a quarter-century for precise and potential White Home hopefuls of each main events.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo keynotes the Hillsborough County, New Hampshire GOP’s annual Lincoln-Reagan fundraising dinner, in Manchester, N.H. on April 7, 2022.
(Fox Information )

The West Level graduate and Military armor and calvary officer stationed in West Germany throughout the Chilly Conflict who was later elected to Congress from Kansas earlier than serving as CIA director and America’s prime diplomat in former President Trump’s administration, has additionally made quite a few stops the previous 12 months and a half in Iowa, South Carolina, and Nevada, the opposite three early voting states within the Republican presidential nominating calendar.

Pompeo, a Fox Information contributor, has repeatedly mentioned that he’ll decide on 2024 following the November midterm elections.

However this previous week, talking to the Navy Seal Basis Midwest Night of Tribute in Chicago, Pompeo revealed extra about his potential White Home run.

“We’ve received a staff in Iowa, a staff in New Hampshire and South Carolina. And that’s not random. We’re doing the issues one would do to prepare,” Pompeo shared.

And taking a pleasant jab his former boss, Pompeo joked that “in contrast to others, if I am going down an escalator, nobody will discover.”

Pompeo was reference Trump’s well-known trip down an escalator at Trump Tower in New York Metropolis in 2015 as he introduced his White Home run.

Pence stops in New Hampshire to spice up the final

Former Vice President Mike Pence returned to New Hampshire on Wednesday night, to headline a fundraiser for former Military Gen. Don Bolduc, who hours earlier narrowly gained the Republican Senate nomination in the important thing common battleground state.

PENCE’S 2022 MISSION IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

Bolduc will face former governor and first-term Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan in November’s midterm elections in a Senate race which will decide if the GOP wins again the chamber’s majority.

Former Vice President Mike Pence headlines a fundraiser for New Hampshire GOP Senate nominee Don Bolduc, on Sept. 14, 2022 in Wilton, N.H.
(Fox Information)

“Now could be the time for us to unite and are available collectively as a celebration in New Hampshire, come collectively as a celebration all throughout this nation and do what must be completed. And I’m right here to let you know I do know we are going to,” Pence emphasised as he spoke following a simply concluded 2022 major season that have loads of turbulent Republican nomination battles.

The journey by Pence, who seems to be shifting in direction of launching a 2024 presidential marketing campaign, was his second this summer time and fifth over the previous 12 months and a half to New Hampshire. Throughout his final go to to the Granite State, he headlined “Politics and Eggs.”

And two days after his August cease in New Hampshire, Pence made a busy two-day swing by Iowa, whose caucuses have led off the presidential nominating calendar for half a century. The previous vp’s itinerary included one other must-stop for White Home hopefuls: a go to to the Iowa State Honest.

Hogan evokes Reagan in main worldwide handle

Time period-limited Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland has additionally made journeys to New Hampshire and Iowa this summer time, however this previous week he was removed from the marketing campaign path.

Hogan, who’s mulling a White Home bid of his personal, was in South Korea, the place he gave a keynote speech on the Jeju Discussion board of Peace and Prosperity, a global summit that features quite a few heads of state and former Secretary-Common Ban Ki-Moon. Former President Invoice Clinton and the late Soviet chief Mikhail Gorbachev have additionally beforehand spoken to the discussion board.

The Maryland governor urged the world to “stand united behind the enduring worth of freedom and democracy” at such a “pivotal second” in historical past.

“Most of the different nice leaders, like [former President] Reagan, that introduced in regards to the peaceable finish of the Chilly Conflict are now not with us, and the duty of making certain peace and prosperity in our time now falls to the world leaders right here at present on the Jeju Discussion board,” he emphasised in his handle.

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based mostly in New Hampshire.

Politics

Four Years After Capitol Riot, Congress Certifies Trump’s Victory Peacefully

Published

3 hours ago

January 6, 2025

Press Room

Four Years After Capitol Riot, Congress Certifies Trump’s Victory Peacefully

A joint session of Congress on Monday certified President-elect Donald J. Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, peacefully performing a basic ritual of democracy that was brutally disrupted four years ago by a violent pro-Trump mob inflamed by his lie about a stolen election.

There was no hint of a similar scene this time, although security had been stepped up at the Capitol. Unlike Mr. Trump back then, Vice President Kamala Harris did not dispute her loss in November, and unlike Republicans in the aftermath of the 2020 balloting, Democrats made no objections during the counting of the Electoral College votes.

Instead, Ms. Harris stoically presided over the certification of her own loss without interruption. The presentation of the results unfolded quickly without drama, as House and Senate lawmakers who had been designated in advance read out the number of electoral votes from each state in alphabetical order, and who won them.

One by one, the lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats, rose to declare each state’s electoral votes “regular in form and authentic,” and nobody rose to challenge any. The only sign of partisanship in the House chamber was in the applause: Only Republicans applauded after the counting of each state that Mr. Trump won, and rose at the end for a standing ovation when it was announced that he had secured a majority, while only Democrats clapped for the states that Ms. Harris won and rose to applaud when her total electoral votes were announced.

Inside a Capitol blanketed in snow from a major winter storm overnight, the House chamber was fairly empty as Ms. Harris led members of the Senate across the Capitol on Monday afternoon to preside over the joint session. Earlier in the day, she had posted a video online in which she described her ceremonial role as “a sacred obligation — one I will uphold guided by love of country, loyalty to our Constitution and my unwavering faith in the American people.”

She told reporters as she made her way through the Rotunda that the important takeaway from the proceedings should be that “Democracy must be upheld by the people.” Her aides said presiding over a peaceful transition of power was one of her most important final acts in office.

On the dais in front of the House chamber, Ms. Harris made polite small talk with Speaker Mike Johnson, who four years ago played a leading role in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

As lawmakers read their scripted presentation of electoral votes, they addressed Ms. Harris each time as “Madam President,” referring to her status as president of the Senate even as they were making it official that she would not hold that title for the next four years.

Amid the calm scene, however, there were reminders of the violence that had played out. The Capitol was on heavy lockdown, with tall black metal fencing around the building, and increased federal, state and local security resources on hand. For the first time, the day had been designated by the Homeland Security Department as a “national special security event.”

Lawmakers and law enforcement officials were determined to be prepared after the violence on Jan. 6, 2021, when protesters egged on by Mr. Trump’s false claim that he had won the election stormed the Capitol, wreaking havoc in a riot tied to the deaths of seven people, including three police officers.

President Biden has focused on ensuring a smooth and orderly transition of power, but Sunday night, he warned Americans not to forget the violent attack at the Capitol. Writing in The Washington Post, Mr. Biden accused Mr. Trump and his supporters of trying “to rewrite — even erase — the history of that day.”

Four years after Mr. Trump urged his supporters to “fight like hell” and march to the Capitol during a rally at the Ellipse, some Trump loyalists in Congress have worked to distance themselves from criticism of the rioters. Many Republicans have tried to whitewash the events of that day. And the president-elect has said he will pardon people convicted on charges stemming from their actions on Jan. 6, 2021.

Even as their party has for years called Mr. Trump a threat to the country’s foundational principles, Democrats refrained from challenging his victory.

“Our loyalties lie with the Constitution and the rule of law,” Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and minority leader, said Monday.

And he warned Mr. Trump against pardoning the criminals who assaulted police officers that day, which he said “would be a dangerous endorsement of political violence. It is wrong, it is reckless, and would be an insult to the memory of those who died in connection to that day.”

Maya C. Miller contributed reporting.

Politics

Judge Merchan denies Trump's request to delay sentencing

Published

4 hours ago

January 6, 2025

Press Room

Judge Merchan denies Trump's request to delay sentencing

New York Judge Juan Merchan denied President-elect Donald Trump’s request to delay sentencing in the New York v. Trump case.

“Defendant’s motion for a stay of these proceedings, including the sentencing hearing scheduled for January 10, 2025, is hereby DENIED,” Merchan wrote in his decision Monday.

Earlier Monday, Trump’s legal team filed a motion to delay sentencing in the case. Trump is set to be sentenced on Friday, Jan. 10, at 9:30 a.m., 10 days ahead of his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States on Jan. 20.

“Today, President Trump’s legal team moved to stop the unlawful sentencing in the Manhattan D.A.’s Witch Hunt. The Supreme Court’s historic decision on Immunity, the state constitution of New York, and other established legal precedent mandate that this meritless hoax be immediately dismissed,” Trump spokesman and incoming White House communications director Steven Cheung told Fox Digital on Monday morning.

TRUMP FILES MOTION TO STAY ‘UNLAWFUL SENTENCING’ IN NEW YORK CASE

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom as his criminal trial over charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 continues, at Manhattan state court in New York City, U.S., April 22, 2024. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Pool)

“The American People elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate that demands an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and all of the remaining Witch Hunts. We look forward to uniting our country in the new administration as President Trump makes America great again,” Cheung continued.

Merchan has already said he will not sentence the president-elect to prison, and instead issue a sentence of an “unconditional discharge,” which means there would be no punishment imposed.

Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan case in May. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office worked to prove that Trump falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.

Trump has maintained his innocence in the case and repeatedly railed against it as an example of lawfare promoted by Democrats in an effort to hurt his election efforts ahead of November.

“Virtually ever legal scholar and pundit says THERE IS NO (ZERO!) CASE AGAINST ME. The Judge fabricated the facts, and the law, no different than the other New York Judicial and Prosecutorial Witch Hunts. That’s why businesses are fleeing New York, taking with them millions of jobs, and BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN TAXES. The legal system is broken, and businesses can’t take a chance in getting caught up in this quicksand. IT’S ALL RIGGED, in this case against a political opponent, ME!!!” Trump posted to Truth Social on Sunday evening of the case.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Politics

Opinion: The election shredded the rule of law

Published

4 hours ago

January 6, 2025

Press Room

Opinion: The election shredded the rule of law

Being elected president truly is a get-out-of-jail-free card for Donald Trump, but the greater concern should be for what this means for the rule of law in this country. On Friday, New York Judge Juan M. Merchan upheld Trump’s 34 felony convictions for falsifying business records. Merchan set sentencing for Friday, Jan. 10, and indicated that he would likely take the very unusual step of unconditionally discharging Trump’s sentence. In plain English, this means that Trump will face absolutely no legal consequences from his convictions — not prison, not probation, not a fine.

Trump’s lawyers are trying to halt even the signaled unconditional discharge while they appeal. But Merchan realistically has no alternative.

A prison sentence is incompatible with Trump serving as president of the United States. The appellate courts surely would overturn a prison sentence, holding that, under the Constitution, being elected president preempts the ability of a state to interfere with that by imprisonment. Trump could not perform his constitutional duties as president from a prison cell in New York. Nor would it make sense for a state judge to put the president on probation and supervise his actions with the threat of revocation and imprisonment.

Trump faced up to four years in prison for the crimes for which he was convicted in New York. A study by the New York Times found that of 30 convictions for falsifying business records in Manhattan in the last decade, no other defendant received an unconditional discharge. All but five received sentences such as jail and prison time, probation and fines; some who entered into plea deals received sentences involving specific conditions, such as paying restitution or completing community service.

Indeed, Michael Cohen, the person who arranged the payment of the hush money that led to Trump’s conviction, was sentenced to three years in prison and served 13 months in custody. Trump, who the jury found orchestrated and was responsible for authorizing the payments, will never serve a day in jail.

But this is only a part of Trump’s get-out-of-jail-free benefit. He was indicted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for his acts in attempting to undermine the results of the 2020 presidential election. Had Trump lost in November, he would have been tried and faced a prison sentence if convicted. But the charges were dismissed after Trump was elected because of a Justice Department rule that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted.

This also was the basis for dismissing the indictment against Trump in federal court in Florida for improper handling of classified documents. The charges against him were serious: evidence tampering, willfully retaining national defense information and lying to investigators. If convicted, these charges also would likely have led to a significant prison sentence.

And it must be remembered that last summer the Supreme Court, in Trump vs. United States, ruled that Trump could not be prosecuted for anything he did using official powers granted to the president by the Constitution or a statute. This led to the dropping of some charges against him. The court’s decision provides protection for any official acts taken during his first term, and he assumes office knowing he faces little possibility of prosecution for any illegal acts in the next four years.

It is impossible to reconcile all of this with the most basic notion of the rule of law, the core of which is that no one, not even a president or former president, is above the law. It is captured in the idea, uttered from the beginning of American history, that we are “a country of laws, not people.” The last thing that the framers of the Constitution wanted was to create a president who could not be held accountable for breaking the law.

Trump still faces civil liability for some of his past conduct. Last week, a federal court of appeals upheld a $5-million verdict against Trump for his sexual assault of E. Jean Carroll. Another jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million against Trump for defamation. That verdict is now on appeal. Also, Trump is appealing a $355-million verdict for business fraud against him and his company.

But none of these civil suits involve the crimes he committed or was charged with. Nor does there seem any way to ever punish him for those felonies.

The assault on the rule of law is also reflected in Trump’s promise to pardon those who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol. So far, more than 1,500 individuals have been charged with federal crimes in connection to Jan. 6. Most of those were misdemeanors, such as trespassing, but hundreds have pleaded guilty to or were convicted of assault or other felonies. The conduct of all was illegal and unconscionable in a democracy, yet they could be absolved of criminal liability.

It is perhaps too easy to ignore that this situation is unique in our republic’s history. Never before has a convicted felon become president. Never before has election as president meant the dismissal of criminal charges. It flouts the very essence of the rule of law that election as president could be a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Erwin Chemerinsky, a contributing writer to Opinion, is dean of the UC Berkeley Law School.