Raising the stakes: Are Trump’s expectations too high in Iowa’s Jan. 15 caucuses?
WATERLOO, IA – Former President Donald Trump, back in Iowa for the fourth time in less than a month, with a message of urgency for his supporters. “We’ve got to be sure that we put this thing away,” Trump told his supporters on Tuesday night at a rally in this northeastern Iowa city. “You gotta show up. Even if you think we’re going to win by a lot. You gotta show up.” With less than four weeks to go until the caucus, the Trump campaign’s shifted into a higher gear. The former president is picking up the pace when it comes to stumping in Iowa. And the campaign is training close to 2,000 caucus captains in precincts across the state. “Their sole job is to run each individual caucus that takes place and making sure that the list of the targeted voters supporting President Trump show up,” Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita told Fox News. TRUMP CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES ‘EXTREMELY AGGRESSIVE OPERATION’ IN IOWA The Trump campaign’s ground game operation in Iowa’s leagues ahead of his 2016 effort, when he narrowly lost the caucuses to Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. “Ted Cruz won in 2016 because his ground game was fantastic,” Iowa GOP chair Jeff Kaufmann, who remains neutral in the Republican nomination race, told Fox News. And pointing to the 2024 Trump campaign, Kaufmann emphasized “their ground game has increased immensely.” Trump’s the commanding front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination as he makes his third straight White House run. AS FRONT-RUNNER TRUMP RETURNS TO IOWA, RIVALS HALEY AND DESANTIS TURN UP THE VOLUME – ON EACH OTHER And the latest polls in Iowa, whose Jan. 15 caucuses lead off the GOP presidential nominating calendar, suggest that Trump’s over 50% support and holds a massive double-digit lead over the dwindling field of Republican rivals. Trump and his campaign team are aiming for an overwhelming victory in Iowa, as part of their plan to wrap up the nomination race as quickly as possible and pivot to a general election rematch with President Biden next November. Their major concern – complacency. “The poll numbers are scary because we’re leading by so much,” Trump told the crowd, as he urged them to take part in the caucuses next month. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird told Fox News that “President Trump’s poll numbers are unprecedented for a Republican running in the Iowa caucuses. So that is great news. The key thing to remember is that the only thing that matters is the one that happens on caucus.” Bird, who has endorsed the former president and is a top Trump surrogate in Iowa, said “we are all focused on [the caucus]. His grassroots organization is focused on that. I’m a caucus captain myself in Guthrie County. I will be there at the caucus helping rally votes for President Trump on caucus night. We have to stay focused and our people have to show up. The support is strong, it’s there, but we have to show up.” TRUMP HOLDS A MASSIVE LEAD IN THE POLLS WITH FIVE WEEKS TO GO UNTIL THE IOWA CAUCUSES Another issue for the Trump campaign is making sure they match or beat expectations, which are inflated due to his commanding lead in the polls in Iowa, the other early voting states, and in national surveys. Trump, aware of the expectations he faces, took aim at a familiar target, the media. “If we win in a massive number, but if it’s a little bit less than that, they’ll say ‘oh, he didn’t beat expectations,’ Trump told his supporters. Longtime Republican strategist David Kochel told Fox News that Trump’s “driving his own expectations up…It’s all expectations and Trump’s are sky-high.” “If he’s under 50%, it’s a problem for him given his poll average now is well over 50,” argued Kochel, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns nationally and in Iowa. Seasoned Iowa-based Republican strategist Jimmy Centers said if Trump “wins by more than 20 points and he’s over 50%, my goodness, this thing is over before it even begun.” “But if it’s under 15 points, then I think we have a race if the field consolidates,” added Centers, a veteran of multiple presidential campaigns, gubernatorial and congressional campaigns, and who served as communications director for then-Gov. Terry Brandstad and current Gov. Kim Reynolds. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Biden admin aims to push towns, cities to adopt green energy building codes: ‘Very suspicious’
The Biden administration announced hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to upgrade energy codes nationwide that conform with strict energy efficiency standards, a move experts said is tantamount to a backdoor natural gas ban. The Department of Energy (DOE) said it will begin accepting applications for a total of $530 million in technical assistance competitive grants for local residential and commercial building code upgrades as part of its implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). According to DOE, adoption of the latest model energy codes, zero energy codes and building performance standards would lead to widespread emissions reductions. “Shaping a clean energy future for cities and neighborhoods requires a whole system approach that includes modernizing the building stock to use less energy and be more resilient in the face of increasing natural disasters,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement. BIDEN INVOKES WARTIME POWERS TO FUND ELECTRIC HEATERS AS HE CRACKS DOWN ON GAS APPLIANCES “Thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we’re supporting states and local governments as they adopt and implement proven solutions that will save consumers money, reduce climate pollution and build a place-based workforce of well-paid, in-demand jobs for local community members,” she continued. Overall, the IRA earmarks $1 billion to the DOE for awarding grants to local jurisdictions to adopt the most recent energy codes, the 2021 International Energy Conservation Codes (IECC) developed by the International Code Council. In September, DOE opened applications for another $400 million for building code upgrades under the IRA. The IECC, which is slated to be updated again in 2024, includes various standards guaranteeing a high level of energy efficiency in new building construction. According to the National Association of Home Builders, though, the 2021 IECC could make a new home as much as $31,000 more expensive because of the technological upgrades. EXPERTS WARN BIDEN ADMIN’S WATER HEATER CRACKDOWN WILL HIKE PRICES, REDUCE CONSUMER CHOICE And experts said the federal push to incentivize more efficient energy codes nationwide could lead to policies banning new buildings from having natural gas hookups and require them to be “all-electric.” “It’s a lot of money, and it’s clearly designed to push the Biden administration’s climate agenda onto state and local governments,” Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told Fox News Digital in an interview. “It’s being done through a number of carrots and sticks — carrots in the form of grants to standard-setting bodies and state and local governments if they go along with the climate agenda. “A big part of this is the war on natural gas,” Lieberman continued. “These building codes, that’s where you see these bans on natural gas hookups for new construction. You could also see other things like increasing the safety requirements for natural gas, not out of any legitimate concern over the safety of natural gas, but just trying to make things more expensive and more difficult for natural gas.” MAJOR ‘CLIMATE DECEPTION’ LAWSUIT AGAINST BIG OIL VOLUNTARILY DISMISSED Environmentalists have for years zeroed in on the U.S. buildings sector as part of their efforts to curb emissions and combat global warming. Buildings account for roughly 30% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions including electricity generation, and 13% of emissions excluding electricity, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Several Democratic-led cities, including Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and New York City — collectively home to more than 10 million Americans — have also already enacted varying restrictions on natural gas hookups in recent years. “These local code updates are typically outside the public’s view because they’re so obscure and no one pays attention to them,” Diana Furchtgott-Roth, the director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment, told Fox News Digital in an interview. “But that’s where a lot of the incentives for natural gas bans and electrification mandates are happening. This is over $500 million flowing to those localities for the express purpose of changing codes to effectively ban gas. “It’s going to be more expensive for consumers in the long run. The answer is to have energy and appliances on a level playing field and to let people choose what they want,” she said. “They’re perfectly capable of making those choices, and it’s very suspicious when the government is trying to incentivize them to do one thing or another.” In addition to the Biden administration’s efforts to push new, more energy-efficient building codes nationwide, it has also issued a wide range of new regulations targeting gas-powered home appliances. For example, it has taken aim at gas water heaters, stoves and furnaces, which critics say will only lead to higher prices for consumers.
Tamil Nadu Floods: 10 killed as heavy rains wreak havoc in several districts; schools, colleges shut
Visuals across social media platforms showed buildings going underwater as the Tamraparni river in Tirunelveli breached the danger mark.
Istanbulspor vs Trabzonspor game suspended as Turkish football resumes
Istanbulspor players leave the field in protest after the referee does not call a penalty in the match against Trabzonspor. The president of a Turkish football team ordered his players to leave the field in protest of an officiating decision during a game on Tuesday, just over a week after a referee was punched in the face. Halil Umut Meler had been attacked on the pitch last week after a 1-1 draw in a Super Lig game between Caykur Rizespor and MKE Ankaragucu. Faruk Koca, who was president of Ankaragucu, resigned and was banned by the Turkish Football Federation for punching Meler. Top-flight action returned on Tuesday and this time a match between Istanbulspor and Trabzonspor was in the spotlight. Istanbulspor president Ecmel Faik Sarialioglu came to the field and ordered his players off in the 73rd minute. He was upset that the referee did not call a penalty before Nigerian striker Paul Onuachu scored to give Trabzonspor a 2-1 lead. Egyptian midfielder Trezeguet scored the opening goal for Trabzonspor in the 11th minute at Necmi Kadıoglu Stadium. Muammer Sarikaya levelled in the 39th minute before Onuachu made it 2-1 for Trabzon in the 68th minute. Despite attempts by Trabzonspor’s president Ertugrul Dogan and several Istanbulspor players to convince Sarıalioglu to resume the match, Istanbulspor abandoned the field. The game was then suspended. The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) will make a decision about the match. History of violence against referees Violence in football is common in Turkey despite efforts to clamp down on it although direct attacks on top-level referees are rare. TFF chief Mehmet Buyukeksi blamed last week’s attack on a culture of contempt towards referees. “Everyone who has targeted referees and encouraged them to commit crimes is complicit in this despicable attack,” he said. “The irresponsible statements of club presidents, managers, coaches and television commentators targeting referees have opened the way for this attack.” Pierluigi Collina, chairman of FIFA’s referees committee, said last week’s incident was horrific. “Neither the referee nor the man deserved to live the experience he lived yesterday in Ankara. He was doing his job when he was assaulted on the field of play at the end of a match he just officiated,” Collina said. Referees in Turkey are often criticised by club managers and presidents for their decisions. Adblock test (Why?)
Man City beat Urawa Red Diamonds to book Club World Cup final
European champions City beat Asian champions Urawa Red Diamonds 3-0 to set up a final against Brazil’s Fluminense. Manchester City have set up a Club World Cup final against Brazilian side Fluminense after cruising to a 3-0 win over Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds despite their early struggles at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium in Jeddah. The European champions were frustrated by a well-organised Japanese side during the opening half but took the lead with an own goal by Marius Hoibraten in stoppage time on Tuesday night’s second semifinal. Mateo Kovacic made it 2-0 in the 52nd minute with his first goal since joining City from Chelsea and Bernardo Silva’s deflected shot a few minutes later meant City could play the rest of the game in cruise control. Pep Guardiola’s City, who had won only three of their previous eight games in all competitions, are looking to become the fourth English club to win the title after Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea. “The players know how important it is for the club,” Guardiola, who won the title twice with Barcelona and once with Bayern Munich, said. “To be in this final, you have to do incredible things, like win the Champions League. This may be the only time we play this in our lifetime. “We will try to win the title we don’t have to complete the circle.” City have suffered some domestic wobbles of late and have slipped off the pace in the Premier League in their quest for a fourth successive title. But even with Erling Haaland still missing and Guardiola shuffling his pack after Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace, they had far too much for the J1 League side. The #ClubWC Final is set. 🔒@ManCity | @FluminenseFC — FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 19, 2023 Favourites for world title They will start as heavy favourites in Friday’s final against Copa Libertadores champions Fluminense who on Monday beat Egypt’s Al Ahly 2-0. Fluminense and Al Ahly presented a throwback look at a competition dominated for two decades by the wealthiest European clubs who have hired waves of global talent. A team of 11 South Americans, including nine Brazilians, started against 11 Africans, including nine from Egypt, for the Cairo club. Veteran Brazil internationals Marcelo – a five-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid – and Felipe Melo are being rewarded again for coming home from long careers in Europe to enjoy late-career blooms with the Copa Libertadores winner. Urawa Red Diamonds will face Al Ahly in the third-place playoff on Friday. Fluminense’s Marcelo, German Cano and Guga, from left, celebrate at the end of their semifinal win over Al Ahly FC at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Monday [Manu Fernandez/AP Photo] Adblock test (Why?)
Cambodia’s female tuk-tuk drivers fight prejudice on road to equality
Every day Roeung Sorphy deftly weaves through the streets of Siem Reap, zigzagging past cars, motorbikes and the occasional stray dog as she shepherds tourists to Cambodia’s famous Angkor Wat temple complex. But on the road to joining the small number of women tuk-tuk drivers in the country, the 37-year-old has to dodge not only other road users but also a barrage of taunts, misogyny and prejudice. Cambodia has taken legal and practical steps towards gender equality, but it remains a conservative, patriarchal society. Women are expected to run the home and family rather than seek paid work. It was tough when Roeung Sorphy, who goes by the nickname Sopy, first took to the streets. “At first, they [male drivers] looked down on me … They said we women should stay at home and clean dishes,” she said, describing how she was verbally harassed and assaulted when competing for fares. “But we keep persevering,” she said after she finished cleaning her tuk-tuk, lovingly decorating it with blooming white lotuses. Sopy got her start after borrowing $3,000 to buy her tuk-tuk, and has now been driving through the shaded roads of Angkor Park for more than three years. “We cannot just rely on husbands,” she said, urging more women to join the profession. “We will be strong like men,” said Sopy, whose husband is also a tuk-tuk driver. She charges about $15 per passenger for a tour around Angkor, a sprawling UNESCO World Heritage site. After years, her male colleagues have finally accepted her. “We have won their hearts, they’ve stopped discriminating against us. They think we are the same.” “I love the job. I think all women can do it.” Adblock test (Why?)
Nagaland sees women legislators in 2023 for first time as NDPP-BJP alliance returns to power
All the political parties in the state, including seven NCP legislators and four Independent MLAs, extended unconditional support to the NDPP-BJP dispensation, making it an all-party government for the third time in the state.
‘I have never…’: TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee says this on video of him imitating Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar also expressed his pain over suspended Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee apparently mimicking him during a protest in Parliament premises and said it is “unacceptable” and “the institution of Chairman has been ravaged”.
Trump’s Republican White House rivals rally around the former president in ballot battle
Trump’s competitors for the GOP nomination rallied around the former president on Tuesday evening after the Colorado Supreme Court removed him from the state’s 2024 ballot. Though they want to defeat Trump at the ballot box, the former president’s rivals for the Republican presidential nomination don’t want him to be knocked off the ballot. The divided court ruled that Trump is ineligible to run for the presidency under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause, arguing that his actions fueled the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by right-wing protesters aiming to disrupt congressional certification of President Biden’s 2020 election victory. TRUMP CAMPAIGN BLASTS COLORADO SUPREME COURT RULING KNOCKING HIM OFF THAT STATE’S BALLOT The ruling came as Trump and three of his rivals – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur and first-time candidate Vivek Ramaswamy – campaigned in Iowa with just under four weeks to go until the state’s caucuses lead off the GOP presidential nominating calendar. “The Left invokes ‘democracy’ to justify its use of power, even if it means abusing judicial power to remove a candidate from the ballot based on spurious legal grounds. SCOTUS should reverse,” DeSantis wrote in a social media posting as he attacked what he viewed as judicial overreach. WHAT CRITICS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE COLORADO HIGH COURT’S RULING Haley told reporters that “we don’t need to have judges making these decisions. We need voters to make these decisions. So I want to see this in the hands of the voters. We’re going to win this the right way.” Ramaswamy, who is Trump’s biggest defender in the winnowed down field of remaining rivals for the nomination, vowed to withdraw his name from the Colorado primary ballot and encouraged his opponents to do the same. “This is what an *actual* attack on democracy looks like: in an un-American, unconstitutional, and *unprecedented* decision, a cabal of Democrat judges are barring Trump from the ballot in Colorado,” he charged. “Having tried every trick in the book to eliminate President Trump from running in this election, the bipartisan Establishment is now deploying a new tactic to bar him from ever holding office again.” Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Trump’s most vocal opponent in the GOP presidential nomination field, was campaigning in New Hampshire on Tuesday. The Granite State holds the first primary and second overall contest after Iowa in the Republican calendar. Christie termed the Colorado ruling as “probably premature” because the former president has yet to be tried for inciting the attack on the Capitol. “I do not believe Donald Trump should be prevented from being President of the United States by any court. I think he should be prevented from being President of the United States by the voters of this country,” Christie emphasized. Trump is the commanding front-runner for the Republican nomination as he runs for the presidency a third straight time. Trump made history earlier this year as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime, but his four indictments — including in federal court in Washington, D.C., and in Fulton County court in Georgia on charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss — have only fueled his support among Republican voters. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Colorado’s top court finds Donald Trump ineligible for US presidency
Colorado’s Supreme Court has ruled former United States President Donald Trump is ineligible to run for the White House because of his role in the 2021 assault on the Capitol by his supporters and should be removed from the state’s primary ballot. While the ruling only applies to Colorado, it marks the first time in US history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars from public office anyone who “engaged in insurrection”, has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate and comes as courts in other states consider similar legal actions. “A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” the Colorado high court wrote in its four-three majority decision. “Because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Colorado Secretary of State to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot. “We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” they added. The decision – which Trump’s campaign said it would appeal – drew immediate condemnation from Republicans. The one-time property tycoon and reality TV star faces a raft of court cases, from criminal charges over alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, to mishandling classified documents, hush money payments in the 2016 election and fraud in his business practices. Trump has claimed he is the victim of political persecution. “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us,” the Colorado justices said. “We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.” A lower court earlier found that while Trump incited an insurrection, for his role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, he could not be barred from the ballot because it was unclear that the 14th Amendment was intended to cover the presidency. Noah Bookbinder of the campaign group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which brought the original case along with a group of Colorado voters, welcomed Tuesday’s higher court ruling. The court’s decision is “not only historic and justified, but is necessary to protect the future of democracy in our country”, he said in a statement. “Our Constitution clearly states that those who violate their oath by attacking our democracy are barred from serving in government.” Swift appeal expected The Colorado court placed its ruling on hold until January 4 or until the US Supreme Court rules on the case. State officials say the issue must be settled by January 5, the deadline for the state to print its presidential primary ballots. The Republican primary is due to take place in March. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said they would “swiftly file an appeal” to the Supreme Court, which has the final say on constitutional matters. Cheung claimed Colorado’s “all-Democrat appointed” panel was doing the bidding of a “[George] Soros-funded, left-wing group’s scheme to interfere in an election on behalf of Crooked [President] Joe Biden”. The Supreme Court at the federal level has a six-three conservative majority and includes three judges Trump appointed when he was president. Trump, who is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, faces dozens of lawsuits under Section 3, which was designed to keep former Confederates from returning to government after the Civil War. It bars from office anyone who swore an oath to “support” the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against it, and has been used only a handful of times since the decade after the Civil War. “I think it may embolden other state courts or secretaries to act now that the bandage has been ripped off,” Derek Muller, a Notre Dame law professor who has closely followed the cases, told the Associated Press news agency after Tuesday’s ruling. “This is a major threat to Trump’s candidacy.” The Colorado court decision brought swift rebukes from senior Republicans, including Trump’s one-time rival for the 2016 nomination, Senator Marco Rubio. “The US has put sanctions on other countries for doing exactly what the Colorado Supreme Court has done today,” he wrote on social media. The Colorado ruling stands in contrast with the Minnesota Supreme Court, which last month decided that the state party can put anyone it wants on its primary ballot. It dismissed a Section 3 lawsuit but said the plaintiffs could try again during the general election. In another 14th Amendment case, a Michigan judge ruled that Congress, not the judiciary, should decide whether Trump can stay on the ballot in a ruling that is being appealed. (Al Jazeera) The liberal group behind those cases, Free Speech For People, has also filed a lawsuit in Oregon seeking to remove Trump from the ballot there. Both groups are financed by liberal donors who also support President Biden, who is set to run for a second term in office. Trump has blamed the president for the lawsuits against him. Biden has no role in them. Three Colorado Supreme Court justices dissented in Tuesday’s ruling. One of the dissenting justices, Carlos Samour, said in a lengthy opinion that a lawsuit was not a fair mechanism for determining Trump’s eligibility for the ballot because it deprived him of his right to due process, noting that a jury had not convicted him of insurrection. “Even if we are convinced that a candidate committed horrible acts in the past – dare I say, engaged in insurrection – there must be procedural due process before we can declare that individual disqualified from holding public office,” Samour said. Adblock test (Why?)