Trump selected 39-year-old Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate last night at the launch of the Republican National Convention. Other potential contenders were drip fed their rejections beforehand…
Venture capitalist Vance wrote a respected 2016 treatise on the intricacies of American (especially middle-) class dynamics and has converted from ardent anti-Trumpism to the intellectual future of the “MAGA movement“. Eyebrows are raised in Ukraine, support for which Vance has heavily criticised…
Trump’s main speech in Milwaukee is on Thursday, which he says he’s changed from a “humdinger” to one of “unity for the country and world“. With a base-oriented VP pick the Trump campaign can get on with pushing its messaging…
Bad news again for Joe Biden as a federal judge today dismissed the ‘classified documents’ case against Donald Trump (who is beginning to look like the recipient of divine intervention). U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida said federal law doesn’t authorise the way the prosecution had been conducted. A major blow for the left wing lawfare effort that has besieged the former President’s campaign…
The indictment saw Trump charged with 40 felony counts – alleging he had deliberately kept classified and secret material after he had left the White House and had refused to give it back. As Trump heads to the Convention one of the main legal cases against him has been kicked out, he just survived an assassination attempt and there are signs the polls are closing in his favour. We’re going to need a bigger bucket for those liberal tears…
Downing Street released a dolled-up video of Starmer’s meeting with Biden. It includes a stilted first handshake and the President’s bizarre second attempt at one once they were sitting. Biden eventually says “Gimme your hand, there, pal” and Starmer has to reach over awkwardly…
The PM has just had to deny that the President is “senile“: “We’ve covered a lot of ground, strategic ground, international stuff … He was on good form.” Funnily enough, Starmer disagrees with Biden’s own party. YouGov shows that the only demographic of Democrat that’s still in favor of a Biden presidential candidacy is… the over 65s. An age group Starmer will soon be in, to be fair…
The consensus from last night’s presidential debate is: It is now dawning on Democrats that Biden will be a serious liability by November, he is letting Trump get away with it. This time around the combatants’ microphones were muted while the other was talking. Not that it helped…
Less than 10 minutes into the debate Biden started freezing. Halfway through the White House began to brief that he had a cold. After a bad bout the President managed to say: “Look, we finally beat Medicare,” before being cut off by moderators. Kamala Harris seriously struggled to defend the performance. Democrats are still pouring in to describe it as an “unmitigated disaster”, “a slow-motion car crash”, “a meltdown”…
All the Trump campaign has had to do is string together the clips of Biden freezing. The debate is so early in the year that Democrats can still replace him at the DNC. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s ears have just pricked up…
The US State Department has just confirmed it has blocked further funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) amid allegations that 12 UNRWA employees may have been involved in the 7th of October Hamas attack on Israel. A spokesman said:
“The Department of State has temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them. There must be complete accountability for anyone who participated in the heinous attacks of October 7“.
The EU is said to be “extremely concerned“, though has not announced it will cease funding. The UK in 2022 sent £16,624,272 to UNRWA – the 13th biggest global donor – and has ramped up funding in recent months. Labour’s position when the US last suspended funding was that the UNRWA is “a vital UN refugee agency” and stopping funding was “shameful“. Has that position changed?
Guido has asked the FCDO if it plans to do the same.
UPDATE: The FCDO has released a statement:
“The UK is appalled by allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel, a heinous act of terrorism that the UK Government has repeatedly condemned.
The UK is temporarily pausing any future funding of UNRWA whilst we review these concerning allegations.
We remain committed to getting humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza who desperately need it“.
With 2024 set to be a mega election year, hacks and boffins are considering the implications of synchronous November elections in the USA and UK. The last time they coincided was in 1964, and remember how that went…
Guido hears Tory strategist Isaac Levido had some thoughts of his own this week in CCHQ. Levido’s said to reckon a Trump campaign and/or eventual presidency coinciding with a British general election would be a bit of a boon to Sunak’s chances thanks to the chaos it would create. The rationale is that voters would balk at the “dangerous world” unfolding and be more inclined to vote for Reliable Rishi as a safe pair of hands. A sliver of a silver lining.
