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Trump endorsement in battleground state another victory for Senate Republican campaign chair

Trump endorsement in battleground state another victory for Senate Republican campaign chair

Former President Trump made a last minute endorsement in battleground Nevada’s Republican Senate nomination race. “Sam Brown is a fearless American patriot,” the former president wrote in a social media posting Sunday night, hours before Tuesday’s primary in the key western swing state. “As your next Senator, Sam will fight tirelessly to secure our Border, end Migrant Crime, stop Inflation, grow our Economy, STRONGLY SUPPORT OUR GREAT MILITARY/VETS.” Trump’s endorsement, a couple of hours after he headlined a rally in Las Vegas, cements Brown’s status as the frontrunner in a crowded GOP primary field in the fight to face off with Democratic Sen. Jackie Rosen in November in a race that may determine if Republicans win back the Senate majority. TRUMP ANNOUNCES WHO HE’S BACKING IN THIS KEY SENATE BATTLEGROUND RACE The endorsement was also a victory for GOP Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which is the Senate GOP’s campaign arm. It is the latest example of the seemingly strong alliance Daines has forged with Trump to shape the 2024 Senate map in key races across the country, including in states that will be instrumental in shaping both the Senate and presidential elections. “I’m asking him to endorse Sam Brown. Yeah. And I think that’s very close,” Daines predicted in an interview with Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie a week ago. “He likes Sam Brown a lot. I’m confident you’re going to see President Trump endorse Sam Brown in the near future.” 6 KEY SENATE SEATS REPUBLICANS AIM TO FLIP IN NOVEMBER  Brown is a former Army captain who was severely burned and permanently scarred in 2008 when his vehicle ran over an explosive device in the war in Afghanistan. The Trump endorsement will boost Brown, who is making his second straight Senate bid, as he aims to fend off a crowded field of rivals including Jeff Gunter, a wealthy dermatologist who served as the former president’s ambassador to Iceland. “Daines worked behind the scenes to help lock up the Trump endorsement,” a source familiar told Fox News, adding that the NRSC chair spoke with “Trump multiple times about the race.” This year’s Senate map has heavy overlap with must-win states Trump narrowly lost four years ago and needs to carry in order to win back the White House: Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Arizona.  Additionally, Daines and Trump are now aligned in every key battleground state race, with both supporting Brown, former Rep. Mike Rogers in Michigan, Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania, Eric Hovde in Wisconsin and 2022 gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake in Arizona. They were also backing Tim Sheehy in last week’s GOP Senate primary in Montana, a race where Republicans aim to flip a Democratic-held seat in a red state. A senior GOP strategist involved in Senate races, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, told Fox News that Daines and the former president “share the goal of nominating candidates who will help President Trump, rather than hurt him, in must-win states.”  Daines credits his “strong productive working relationship, a friendship,” he has with Trump, which has bridged the still-lingering intra-party divide between the former president and longtime Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. “From the very beginning, the president and I have worked very closely, very carefully, finding candidates that we agree on, that are the best candidates that can not only win primaries but general elections,” Daines emphasized in a Fox News Digital interview last month. Democrats see it differently when it comes to the candidates Daines and Trump are backing. “Now the damaging revelations emerging about the GOP’s Senate recruits have grown to include their lies about their biographies on the campaign trail, scandals stemming from their finances and a lifetime of unvetted statements and policy positions,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee communications director David Bergstein argued in a recent memo. Democrats control the U.S. Senate, 51-49, but Republicans are looking at a favorable Senate map this year, with Democrats defending 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs.  Three of those seats are in red states that former President Trump carried in 2020 — Ohio, Montana and West Virginia, where Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is not running for re-election.  Five more Democrat-held seats are in the key general election battleground states. Democrats are also defending an open seat in blue Maryland, where popular former two-term Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is running for the Senate. “I want 51. That’s the majority,” Daines said last month when asked what he’s aiming for in November’s elections. The senator is striking a very different tone than his predecessor, Sen. Rick Scott of Florida. Scott predicted a 55-seat majority would come out of the 2022 midterms, but he fell far short as Republicans faced ballot box setbacks in key contests and failed to win back the Senate majority they lost in the 2020 cycle. “As we looked at the results of ’22, nobody was happy,” Daines said. “Everybody likes winning. Nobody likes to lose. We looked first and foremost at a strategy that would start with finding candidates that could win not just primary elections but general elections.” Daines made news in a Fox Digital interview in December 2022 as he was coming on board as NRSC chair. The senator vowed to do “whatever it takes to make sure we have a Republican majority.” That included having the NRSC get involved in contested GOP primaries, which marked a significant change from his predecessor on the committee. Fast-forward a year and a half, and Daines said “we’re positioned now in most of these states with candidates that not only can win primaries but are making every general election race right now competitive.” Plenty of the blame for 2022’s GOP Senate election setbacks was directed at Trump, who shaped key primary battles. In some of the races, the nominees either supported or begrudgingly disavowed Trump’s repeated re-litigating of his 2020 election defeat to President Biden and his unproven claims his loss was due

Hunter Biden will not testify in his criminal gun trial

Hunter Biden will not testify in his criminal gun trial

Hunter Biden will not testify in his own defense in his federal gun crime trial, despite earlier indications from his defense attorney Abbe Lowell that he might. Lowell told the judge and jury Monday morning that, “Mr. Biden rests his case.” The prosecution called FBI Special Agent Erika Jensen back to the stand.  Hunter Biden is joined in the courtroom by a cohort of family members, including first lady Jill Biden; his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden; his half-sister Ashley Biden; friend Kevin Morris; his aunt Valerie Biden Owens; and her husband, Jack. President Biden’s brother, James Biden, is also in attendance. HUNTER BIDEN ENTERS DAY 6 OF CRIMINAL TRIAL WITH POSSIBILITY OF TAKING THE STAND Prosecutors are working to prove that Biden lied on a federal firearm form, known as ATF Form 4473, in October 2018 when he ticked a box labeled “No” when asked if he is an unlawful user of a firearm or addicted to controlled substances. Hunter Biden purchased a Cobra Colt .38 from a store called StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply in Wilmington. Federal prosecutors charged the president’s son with making false statements during the gun purchase process, including providing inaccurate information required by federally licensed firearms dealers, and possessing a gun while being unlawfully addicted to or using controlled substances. He pleaded not guilty in the case. It is the first time in U.S. history that a sitting president’s child is on trial. ‘LIKE A SON’: FORMER TOP BIDEN ADVISER WITH DEEP BUSINESS TIES TO CHINA SPOTTED INSIDE HUNTER BIDEN GUN TRIAL The total maximum prison time for the three charges could be up to 25 years. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release. Hunter Biden’s defense team does not deny the first son’s issues with addiction, which are well documented in his memoir, “Beautiful Things.” They instead argue that at the time of the gun purchase, Hunter did not consider himself a user of illegal substances.  Last week, President Biden released the following statement about his son’s trial: “I am the President, but I am also a Dad. Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today. Hunter’s resilience in the face of adversity and the strength he has brought to his recovery are inspiring to us.” HUNTER BIDEN’S WIFE LASHES OUT AT FORMER TRUMP AIDE DURING COURT APPEARANCE: ‘PIECE OF S—‘ “A lot of families have loved ones who have overcome addiction and know what we mean. As the President, I don’t and won’t comment on pending federal cases, but as a Dad, I have boundless love for my son, confidence in him, and respect for his strength. Our family has been through a lot together, and Jill and I are going to continue to be there for Hunter and our family with our love and support,” the statement said. Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom, Brianna Herlihy and Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

How has Benny Gantz’s resignation affected the Israeli government?

How has Benny Gantz’s resignation affected the Israeli government?

EXPLAINER Benny Gantz, the Israeli prime minister’s principal rival, has quit the government. What now? Not as much as you might think. Former general and leader of Israel’s National Unity party Benny Gantz has resigned from the war cabinet, citing the failure of the wider cabinet to agree a plan for Gaza beyond the current war. In mid-May, Gantz submitted a six-point plan for the administration of Gaza beyond the fighting. At the time, he said that if this was not agreed to, he would quit the cabinet. Gantz is regarded as a relative centrist and the principal rival to Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu. Here are the details of what happened and what this may mean for Israel and Palestine: What was Gantz’s plan? Gantz said his proposed six-point plan would include bringing a temporary US-European-Arab-Palestinian system of civil administration for the enclave, with Israel retaining overall control of security. It also proposed spreading the burden of national service across Israelis by including ultra-Orthodox Jews, whose exemption from the draft is protected by two parties in Netanyahu’s coalition cabinet. Gantz addresses the press in Kiryat Shmona on November 14, 2023 [Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters] Why didn’t Netanyahu like Gantz’s plan? There is growing consensus from Israel and abroad that Netanyahu rejected it for personal gain. In his resignation, Gantz said: “Netanyahu is preventing us from advancing toward true victory.” Israel’s principal ally, US President Joe Biden, told Time Magazine on Tuesday that “there is every reason for people” to think Netanyahu is prolonging the war on Gaza for his own political survival. That may be the belief that the war will protect Netanyahu from legal repercussions of the bribery, fraud, and breach of trust charges that have hung over him since his 2019 indictment. It may also be that any future plan for Gaza may split his coalition cabinet – some of whom want to build illegal settlements there and others who, like Gantz, want it administered by an international task force. Netanyahu – who campaigned as “Mr Security” – may also be trying to avoid dealing with the failings of October 7 when Palestinian group Hamas led an attack on Israel that saw 1,139 people killed and dozens taken captive. How does this benefit the far right? Gives them more room to grow. Gantz leaving the war cabinet, which was him, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, leaves a slot open for one of the far-right politicians Netanyahu relies on to sustain his rule. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has already expressed interest in Gantz’s war cabinet seat. The extreme right-wing partnership of Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is strong. Both are in Netanyahu’s coalition cabinet and their combined parliament seats outweigh Gantz’s centre. While Gantz was an ineffective political counterweight, his departure from government will remove a strong voice critical of the far right from Israeli politics. What does this mean for Gaza? Little that’s good. Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are clear that their plan for Gaza involves its people “voluntarily migrating” and Israelis settling it. Netanyahu may oppose this but has yet to confront the far right on anything significant since war was launched on Gaza in October. Will this change how Israelis feel? Israelis still seem to support the war, if starkly divided along political lines, but fewer are confident that Netanyahu will achieve his aims of “destroying Hamas” and freeing the captives through military means. Every week, tens of thousands of people crowd into the so-called Democracy Square in Tel Aviv and other locations around the country to demand an exchange deal to release the captives and the dismissal of Prime Minister Netanyahu. Polling shows Gantz consistently in the lead over Netanyahu in polls, with Netanyahu only edging ahead when Gantz threatened to quit the cabinet, which was deemed unpatriotic. But elections may still be some way off, according to Eyal Lurie-Pardes of the Middle East Institute. He feels that if Netanyahu can hold his coalition together until the summer recess, electoral laws would mean an election could not happen until March. Will it change how Israel’s allies feel? There is little to suggest that Gantz’s resignation, despite being the preferred interlocutor for the United States, will change anything. The US and Western states have continued to supply Israel with arms and diplomatic support since it started bombing Gaza in October – ignoring international accusations of “genocide” and applications for international arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant. Even the apparent rejection of a ceasefire plan presented by Biden has done little to undermine support for Israel from the US. Adblock test (Why?)

Far-right parties surge in EU elections

Far-right parties surge in EU elections

NewsFeed Far-right parties have made significant gains in the European Union’s elections, prompting President Macron to call a snap parliamentary election in France and dealing heavy defeats to leaders such as Germany’s Scholz and Austria’s Nehammer. Published On 10 Jun 202410 Jun 2024 Adblock test (Why?)