Iowa entrance polls show MAGA fans turned out for caucus: Live updates
Donald Trump holds commanding lead over challengers Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy
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The 2024 Republican candidates are eagerly awaiting the results of the Iowa caucuses on Monday – though if polling tells us anything, it’s that Donald Trump has a predictable commanding lead over the other candidates.
In a survey, conducted by The Des Moines Register, NBC News and Medicom, 48 per cent of potential voters said the former president was their first choice of Republican presidential candidates.
Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley was behind Mr Trump with 20 per cent support followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with 16 per cent.
Vivek Ramaswamy had just 8 per cent while only 5 per cent of potential voters said they were still unsure.
Of the survey respondents more than half said they had their minds made up regarding who they would cast their vote for.
But for the 32 per cent who could still be persuaded to support a candidate, the presidential candidates are fighting hard to convince them to join their teams.
Campaign to punish Biden for his support of Israel’s war in Gaza has only just begun
Richard Hall reports:
Joe Biden may have won the Democratic Michigan primary handily yesterday, but anger over his unconditional support for Israel’s war in Gaza led to a significant protest vote that may threaten his chances of winning the state, and the presidency, later this year.
More than 100,000 Democratic presidential primary voters cast their ballots as “uncommitted” on Tuesday following a campaign by activists and lawmakers in the state to impose a political cost on Mr Biden for providing political and financial support for Israel’s war.
In some areas of Dearborn, home to the largest Arab American community in the US, around three quarters of voters chose to cast their ballots as uncommitted.
In a crucial swing state, which Mr Biden only won by 154,000 votes in 2020, those margins could prove to be decisive.
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The campaign to punish Biden for his support of Israel’s war in Gaza has just begun
Biden defenders have tried to play down the campaign in Michigan, but it has only just begun, Richard Hall writes
Amid age questions, doctors say Biden ‘continues to be fit for duty’
President Joe Biden‘s physician says the 81-year-old chief executive “continues to be fit for duty” after he completed his annual physical at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Wednesday.
In a memorandum distributed by the White House press office, Physician to the President Dr Kevin O’Connor summarised his findings by stating that Mr Biden is “a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief”.
Andrew Feinberg reports from the White House:
Biden ‘continues to be fit for duty’ amid age questions, doctor says
Mr Biden’s doctor again says the president is ‘a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, ot include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief’
Fox News told to ‘retract, correct, or update its reporting’ on Biden corruption claims
Martha McHardy reports:
The White House has formally called on Fox News to walk back its coverage of bribery and corruption allegations against Joe Biden.
In a letter sent to Fox News executives, White House spokesperson Ian Sams accused the right-wing network of failing to “retract, correct, or update its reporting” on a false allegation made by FBI informant, Alexander Smirnov, about a bribery scheme worth millions involving the Bidens, according to CNN.
Mr Smirnov allegedly told the FBI that Hunter Biden, who sat on the board of Kyiv-based Burisma, used his father’s name to solicit millions of dollars in bribes from the company.
The claim, which has been central to attempts by Republicans to impeach the Bidens in Congress, was later found to be false.
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White House demands Fox News walk back Biden corruption claims
In a letter sent to Fox News executives, the White House right-wing channel of failing to ‘retract, correct, or update its reporting’
Might North Carolina flip blue in 2024?
Ariana Baio writes:
For the last three presidential election cycles, North Carolina, a red-leaning state, has favoured the Republican presidential candidate. But a January analysis by Moody’s suggests it could flip in 2024.
It projects that the assumed Democratic nominee President Joe Biden will flip North Carolina in Democrats’ favour by less than a percentage point.
It’s no secret that North Carolina’s red has appeared more purple in recent years. Mr Trump barely secured the state in 2020, winning by a margin of 1.3 per cent. Republicans only narrowly won a Senate seat in the 2022 midterms by 3.2 per cent.
Republicans currently have control over the legislature but the governor is a Democrat. With an electorate that is almost completely split between the two parties, neither one can afford to lose any votes.
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Could North Carolina flip blue in 2024?
The last time North Carolina voted for a Democrat was in 2008 when Barack Obama won the state
Youngest member of Congress come to Biden’s defence over age
Ariana Baio spoke with Rep Maxwell Frost:
President Joe Biden has faced mounting criticism over his age in recent weeks, with some polling suggesting it could deter voters from supporting him in the 2024 presidential election. But Mr Biden’s allies, including Florida Representative Maxwell Frost, say that is not true.
Mr Frost, 27, is the youngest member of Congress. He believes that other young voters are less concerned about age than people think – pointing to the perception of Senator Bernie Sanders in 2020 as an example.
“Look, a lot of young people really loved Bernie Sanders, right? He’s also old. So it’s not really about age, but it’s about policies,” Mr Frost told The Independent.
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Maxwell Frost, Congress’s youngest member, comes to Biden’s defence over age scrutiny
Frost insists Gen Z are still highly motivated to vote for the president
Biden challenges Trump to ‘join me’ as he urges Congress to pass border bill
A pair of towns along the US-Mexico border became stages for two presidential candidates on Thursday as President Joe Biden slammed his predecessor and opponent for getting in the way of needed immigration reform and border security legislation.
Andrew Feinberg reports:
Biden urges Trump to back border bill in rival Texas campaign stops
The two men expected to go head-to-head in November’s election were making their pitch on one of the key issues on the same day
Trump pushes lie that ‘no one speaks languages’ of migrants in wild border speech
Mike Bedigan reports:
Donald Trump falsely claimed that “nobody speaks the languages” of migrants crossing the US’s southern border, in another wild and rambling campaign speech, in which he also echoed his previous remarks that were criticised as being similar to Nazipropaganda.
Both Mr Trump and President Joe Biden held duelling campaign trips to the southern border on Thursday in an attempt to seize the narrative around immigration.
The former president, speaking from Eagle Pass, Texas, wildly claimed that there were “millions of people from places unknown” coming into the US that “don’t speak languages”.
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Trump echoes Nazi propaganda in border speech brimming with lies
The former president spoke from the border in Eagle Pass, Texas, on the same day that President Joe Biden made a campaign stop in Brownsville
Every member of Congress who isn’t seeking re-election in 2024
If a presidential election year wasn’t enough in Washington DC, this year will also see a lot of new faces in Congress, as many members have decided to not seek re-election, with many citing frustration with the chambers’ productivity as their reason for stepping down.
Seven Senators and 42 Representatives have announced their intentions to step down from their current post in 2024, with some running for different elected positions and others leaving politics altogether. Some of those could still run for their current seats if they do not win primary elections.
The mass Congressional exodus includes several controversial seats, which could alter the control of each chamber and numerous Committee chairs.
Here is a list of every member of Congress who has announced that they won’t seek re-election in 2024:
Here’s every member of Congress who isn’t seeking re-election in 2024
Amid gridlock and dysfunction in Congress, many members announced their decisions to step down
Biden urges Trump to join him in passing bipartisan border bill
Closing out his border speech in Brownsville, Joe Biden noted that Donald Trump was also in the state visiting the southern border at Eagle Pass.
“Here’s what i would say to Mr Trump, ‘Instead of playing politics with the issue, join me, or I’ll join you, in telling Congress to pass this bill.’”
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