Politics
With a Few Jokes, Biden and Obama Revisit the ‘Good Old Days’
WASHINGTON — Former President Barack Obama returned to the White Home on Tuesday, the primary go to he had made since departing in January 2017, to have a good time a brand new coverage that expands protection beneath the Inexpensive Care Act, his signature home coverage achievement.
However first, a buddy comedy act we’ve seen someplace earlier than.
“Vice President Biden,” Mr. Obama stated easily within the East Room, an introduction he insisted was a joke.
It was then as much as Really The President Biden, who had served as Mr. Obama’s vp, to point out off the opposite function he had held beneath Mr. Obama for eight years: comedic foil. With out lacking a beat, he delivered a salute.
“Mr. President, welcome again to the White Home, man,” he stated, embracing his sidekick function when it was his flip to talk. “Looks like the nice previous days.”
The go to gave Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden a second or two to interact within the form of gentle ribbing that appeared downright quaint by present Washington requirements. Nobody engaged in any riffs about psychological health. Nobody insulted anybody’s partner. Nobody introduced up racist infants. As a substitute, the second was the briefest of diversions from the home and international coverage quagmires surrounding the Biden White Home. And nobody appeared to understand that respite greater than Mr. Biden, whose approval numbers are lagging.
Not that the nice previous days had been notably candy. The landmark regulation, nicknamed Obamacare and enacted in 2010, was stricken by a complicated rollout that included a glitchy mess of an internet site. The regulation grew to become a primary goal for Republicans, together with President Donald J. Trump, who sought to dismantle it. Democrats suffered deep losses within the 2010 midterm elections, they usually have struggled to regain snug margins within the Senate ever since.
“I meant to get well being care handed even when it value me re-election, which, for some time, regarded prefer it would possibly,” Mr. Obama stated.
The regulation survived. In the end, Mr. Obama stated, he was there to have a good time an effort that had endured regardless of the various makes an attempt to destroy it — together with, he famous, three circumstances introduced earlier than the Supreme Courtroom. The regulation has additionally undergone a change in how the general public perceives its usefulness: Although it’s nonetheless divisive, a majority of American adults view it favorably, in response to a monitoring ballot maintained by the Kaiser Household Basis.
“Victories are sometimes incomplete, and in a rustic as large and as various as ours, consensus by no means comes simply,” Mr. Obama stated.
On Tuesday, the Biden White Home introduced a brand new coverage that may fill one of many main remaining holes in protection beneath the well being regulation. The change, proposed as a brand new regulation, would permit the kin of individuals with well being protection by means of their employer to qualify for monetary help in the event that they purchase insurance coverage on the Obamacare marketplaces.
The well being regulation restricts entry to these subsidies for individuals whose work-based insurance coverage is reasonably priced, and former interpretations had held that their kin had been additionally ineligible, even when the employer didn’t provide an reasonably priced household plan.
The change is prone to make reasonably priced insurance coverage accessible to roughly 5 million Individuals, a lot of whom had been unable to afford employer protection and unable to afford shopping for their very own insurance coverage with out authorities assist. Well being officers within the Obama administration believed that the change was not potential beneath the regulation.
However well being officers within the Biden administration disagreed. Mr. Biden included directions to unravel the “household glitch” in an government order he signed early in his presidency. Lots of the different main gaps in insurance coverage protection had been addressed within the large social spending and local weather bundle that handed the Home late final yr. That invoice would have introduced expanded Medicaid protection to extra states and prolonged new subsidies to decrease insurance coverage prices for low- and middle-income Individuals. However that laws has stalled within the Senate.
The White Home estimates that 200,000 extra individuals will get insurance coverage after the change proposed Tuesday, and an extra a million individuals may have decrease premiums.
Critics have assailed the well being regulation for contributing to an increase within the general value of look after some. Whereas subsidies have helped blunt the prices for a lot of Individuals, premiums for medical health insurance beneath the Inexpensive Care Act stay very costly.
Of their speeches on Tuesday, Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden framed their work to good the landmark regulation as each ongoing and unfinished. Mr. Biden additionally stated that it was nonetheless beneath assault by Republicans. “They’re unrelenting,” he stated.
The go to by Mr. Obama, one of many Democratic Get together’s hottest figures, comes at a time when Mr. Biden’s presidency may use a lift. Polling continues to point out low approval numbers for Mr. Biden, largely as a result of inflation is at a 40-year excessive and gasoline costs are hurting American customers. With seven months to go till the midterm elections, voters have additionally questioned the Biden administration’s dealing with of the coronavirus pandemic and the struggle in Ukraine.
The looks was considered as an endorsement of kinds from a person whose assist Mr. Biden has at all times sought however has not at all times readily acquired. Mr. Obama selected to embrace the candidacy of Hillary Clinton within the 2016 election, closing off a path to the presidency for Mr. Biden, who was nonetheless uncooked from the demise of his elder son, Beau Biden.
Mr. Obama additionally shunned formally endorsing Mr. Biden’s candidacy within the 2020 election till Mr. Biden had emerged because the presumptive Democratic nominee, although Mr. Obama had actively labored behind the scenes to carry the first season to a detailed and ease the best way for his former vp.
Mr. Biden, against this, has at occasions gave the impression to be extra effusive about their friendship, even tweeting a photo of friendship bracelets that displayed their first names in 2019.
Jen Psaki, the White Home press secretary, who additionally labored as communications director for Mr. Obama throughout his presidency, instructed reporters this week that the 2 weren’t simply “Washington mates” however precise mates.
Meaning, she stated, they seek the advice of with one another usually by cellphone and ask questions on one another’s households. Ms. Psaki additionally stated Mr. Obama would possibly return to the White Home sooner or later for a portrait unveiling ceremony.
The 2 have saved in contact since Mr. Biden took workplace. Earlier than saying that he would pull American troops from Afghanistan, Mr. Biden known as Mr. Obama each to offer him a heads-up and to hunt his approval. Mr. Obama initially praised the withdrawal, which might flip violent and haphazard, as the precise determination.
On Tuesday, after they weren’t talking at size in regards to the well being regulation that they had labored to create after which defend, the pair engaged within the sort of comedic back-and-forth that has lengthy allowed each males to defuse any pressure between them and play up their variations as strengths.
When the duo took their locations within the East Room, the act starring the cooler, youthful politician and the realizing, barely mischievous elder statesman started. Moments after Mr. Obama took the lectern, he joked that Secret Service brokers had been now sporting aviator sun shades, Mr. Biden’s most popular alternative of eyewear.
Mr. Biden, to not be outdone, referred to his colourful response to the enactment of the Inexpensive Care Act. In 2010, earlier than Mr. Obama took the lectern to have a good time the invoice’s passage, his vp leaned in and stated the second was a “large deal,” utilizing an expletive for emphasis.
“Barack, let me remind you,” Mr. Biden stated on Tuesday earlier than he left the lectern to signal the brand new coverage, “it’s a sizzling mic.”
As the 2 labored the room after they spoke, neither appeared a lot thinking about returning to the commonly scheduled programming. Particularly not the present president.
“Let’s discuss well being care,” Mr. Biden stated to a reporter who requested a query in regards to the struggle in Ukraine.
Margot Sanger-Katz contributed reporting.
Politics
Dem leader condemns Thanksgiving bomb threats against liberal lawmakers after Team Trump targeted
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries condemned several threats, mostly focused on lawmakers from Connecticut, targeting members of his caucus, just days after numerous threats were made against President-elect Trump’s cabinet selections.
Jeffries, D-N.Y., confirmed in a statement Friday that several Democrats were targeted with threats ranging from pipe bombs in their mailboxes to “swatting” — or filing a false police report on another person’s behalf that often results in a SWAT team being dispatched.
All of the threatening messages were signed “MAGA,” Jeffries said, adding law enforcement found no ordnance at any of the targeted lawmakers’ homes.
“America is a democracy. Threats of violence against elected officials are unacceptable, unconscionable and have no place in a civilized society. All perpetrators of political violence directed at any party must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” he said.
TOP DEM: ‘UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRATION’ IS A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
“House Democrats will not be deterred or intimidated from serving the people by violent threats. We have been in close communication with the Sergeant at Arms office and it is imperative that Congress provide maximum protection for all Members and their families moving forward.”
After Jeffries spoke out, Rep. Seth Magaziner, a Democrat from neighboring Rhode Island, announced on Friday afternoon that his home had been targeted, as well. Magaziner said Providence police responded quickly and no one was harmed.
Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., had his home targeted by a bomb threat. A spokesperson said it appeared to be part of a “coordinated effort.”
Five other Democrats from the Constitution State received similar threats, including Reps. Joe Courtney, John Larson, Rosa DeLauro, Jahana Hayes and James Himes.
CT DEM SAYS IT’S CLEAR HUNTER BIDEN BROKE THE LAW
“There is no place for political violence in this country, and I hope that we may all continue through the holiday season with peace and civility,” said Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee who replaced Sen.-elect Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Prior to that spate of threats, Trump’s U.N. ambassador-designate Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said she was traveling home to her North Country district for Thanksgiving when she was informed of a threat against her home.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. — Trump’s initial choice for attorney general — also received a threat.
Former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y. — Trump’s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency — said his home was subjected to a “pro-Palestinian-themed” pipe bomb threat. Zeldin is Jewish.
Former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., whom the president-elect tapped for Labor secretary, said her Oregon home was targeted, as was that of former San Diego Chargers cornerback Scott Turner, whom Trump named to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Trump nominees including Cantor-Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, America First Policy Institute President Brooke Rollins and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth also received threats.
In a statement, the FBI said it is aware of “numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees, and we are working with our law enforcement partners.”
“We take all potential threats seriously and, as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement,” it said.
Fox News’ Kevin Ward contributed to this report.
A Delaware court judge has dismissed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News filed by a Jan. 6 rioter who said the network falsely identified him as an FBI informant.
U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer L. Hall granted Fox News’ motion to dismiss the suit filed last year by Ray Epps.
Now based in Utah, Epps alleged his life was upended after former Fox host Tucker Carlson repeatedly described him as a federal agent who helped instigate the attack on the Capitol, which was an attempt to stop the certification of the election of Joe Biden.
Carlson described Epps as a principal in a false flag operation in which the government incited the Jan. 6 riot, an unfounded conspiracy theory. He made the false comments about Epps on his program over a period of nearly two years and in a series called “Patriot Purge” that streamed on Fox Nation in 2022.
In her remarks from the bench, Hall said Carlson did not act with malicious intent.
Fox News welcomed the judge’s decision, which is the third consecutive defamation case to be decided in favor of the network after the record $787-million settlement it paid to Dominion Voting Systems in April 2024.
Dominion said its business was damaged by false claims Fox News presented regarding voting fraud in the 2020 election. Fox News chose to settle the case rather than have its executives and on-air talent take the witness stand in a trial.
A separate defamation suit filed by Nina Jankowicz, the former head of the federal Disinformation Governance Board, was dismissed in July. Another case brought by Tony Bobulinski, a former business partner of Hunter Biden, was thrown out on Tuesday.
“Fox News is pleased with these back-to-back decisions from federal courts preserving the press freedoms of the First Amendment,” the network said in a statement.
Epps was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and pleaded guilty in January to a misdemeanor charge for his role in the riot.
Former prime-time host Tucker Carlson is seen in the studio on the set of his show on Fox News in New York in 2018.
(Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times)
Epps testified under oath to the House committee investigating the attack that he had no involvement with the FBI, which has also stated publicly that he had no association with the bureau.
The lawsuit claimed Epps and his wife received threatening voice mails, emails and text messages because of Carlson‘s comments. Epps told the CBS news magazine “60 Minutes” that the lies ruined his Arizona-based business and led to death threats.
Carlson’s prime-time program was pulled from the Fox News lineup on April 24, 2023, the day after Epps appeared on “60 Minutes.”
The end of the election season does not mean the end of political betting, with many platforms allowing users to place wagers on everything from the 2028 election to who will be confirmed to President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet.
“Some people will be amazed by this, but people are already betting on 2026 and 2028,” Maxim Lott, the founder of ElectionBettingOdds.com, told Fox News Digital. “There’s been about a quarter million dollars bet already.”
The comments come after the 2024 election produced plenty of betting action, with users across multiple platforms wagering over $2 billion on the outcome of the latest race.
WHAT ARE ELECTION BETTING ODDS? EXPERT EXPLAINS WHY TRUMP IS CURRENT FAVORITE
President-elect Donald Trump, right, welcomes Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the stage at a Turning Point Action campaign rally at the Gas South Arena on Oct. 23, 2024 in Duluth, Georgia. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
While mega sporting events, such as the Super Bowl and the recent Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight, gives gamblers plenty to wager on after the election, those looking for something political to bet on will still have plenty of options.
One of the most popular topics is who will be the nominees for both major parties in 2028, with ElectionBettingOdds.com showing California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Vice President-elect JD Vance being the current leaders for Democrats and Republicans, respectively.
Other names with a significant amount of attention for betters include Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for the Democratic nomination, while Vance is trailed by names like entrepreneur and future head of the new Department of Government Efficiency Vivek Ramaswamy and Donald Trump Jr. on the Republican side.
“The big Democratic governors are favored to be the next nominee,” Lott said, noting that Vance currently holds a sizable lead over other options on the GOP side.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
TRUMP OPENS UP LARGEST BETTING LEAD SINCE DAYS AFTER BIDEN’S DROPOUT
Vance is also the current betting leader on who will win the 2028 presidential election, ElectionBettingOdds.com shows, followed by Newson and Shapiro as the next two likely options.
However, Lott warned it is still too early to tell what the future holds, noting that the markets will start to provide more clarity as more information becomes known over the next few years.
“As the future becomes clearer… as we get closer to 2026, 2028, these odds will change,” Lott said. “So if the Trump administration is doing really well, the economy is booming, inflation is not out of control, wars are ending, Vance’s odds will certainly go up.”
Bettors also are not limited to wagering on elections, with platforms such as Polymarket allowing users to place bets on Trump’s picks to serve in his Cabinet and whether they will be confirmed. Bettors can also place wagers on questions such as if they believe the war in Ukraine will end in Trump’s first 90 days or if there will be a cease-fire in Gaza in 2024.
Vice President-elect JD Vance. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
According to Lott, taking a look at the current betting odds for many scenarios can help inform you about what is going on in the world, even if you do not place bets yourself.
“People often ask… is there any value to this… it’s just gambling. It’s silly,” Lott said. “But actually it’s very useful… if you want to know what’s going to happen in 2028 or if the Trump administration is going to be a success, you could read 100 news articles on it. Some will misinform you. Or, you can just go to the prediction markets and see… is Vance a 20% chance of becoming the next Republican nominee or is he a 90% chance? That tells you a lot.”
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