The Conversation -- March 6, 2024
Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court has scheduled argument for April 25 to review Donald Trump's claim that he is immune from criminal prosecution on charges of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The case will be heard on the final day of the court's argument calendar and will determine whether and how quickly Trump faces trial in D.C. for allegedly trying to block Joe Biden's election victory. The high court's decision to consider Trump's claims, rather than letting stand a lower court decision that he can be prosecuted, drew criticism for further delaying the election obstruction trial. It was originally scheduled to begin this week." Note from CJ Roberts to All Justices: Hey, I planned to set arguments for October, but Sonia threatened to make me a soprano if I did.
Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) announced Wednesday that he would suspend his long-shot presidential campaign, giving up his primary challenge of President Biden after struggling to convince Democrats that he would perform better than Biden in a race against Republican Donald Trump.... Phillips acknowledged his campaign's shortcomings in an interview with local Minneapolis radio host Chad Hartman, saying that he endorses Biden.... After the series of defeats, Phillips acknowledged his lack of popularity, posting 'Congratulations to Joe Biden, Uncommitted, Marianne Williamson, and Nikki Haley for demonstrating more appeal to Democratic Party loyalists than me' on X ... on the night of Super Tuesday."
Kylie Atwood & Arit John of CNN: "Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announced Wednesday that she is exiting the Republican presidential race, leaving ... Donald Trump as the party's presumptive nominee.... Haley did not endorse Trump during her address. Instead, she called on the former president to earn the support of voters who backed her. The plan appears to leave room for her to endorse Trump ahead of the general election in November, sources familiar with her plans told CNN prior to her speech." ~~~
~~~ Trump Consolation Prize. Lisa Mascaro of the AP: "Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell endorsed Donald Trump for president on Wednesday, a remarkable turnaround from the onetime critic who blamed the then-president for 'disgraceful' acts in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack but now supports his bid to return to the White House. McConnell, who was the last top GOP leader in Congress to fall in line with Trump, declared his support in a short statement after Super Tuesday wins pushed the GOP front-runner closer to the party nomination. The two men have not spoken since 2020 when McConnell declared Democrat Joe Biden the winner of that year's presidential election. But more recently, their teams had reopened talks about an endorsement." MB: Now all the chickenshits have come home to roost. Nice to see Mitch confirm that he thinks this country merits nothing better than a "disgraceful" president*.
AND, In an Effort to Unify the GOP.... Sarah Fortinsky of the Hill: "Former President Trump lashed out at fellow GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Super Tuesday, calling her 'crazy' and a 'very angry person.'"
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Presidential Primary Races
(by state in alpha order)
Shane Goldmacher & Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump rolled up victories across the country on Super Tuesday, and by the end of the evening it was clear that the former president had left Nikki Haley in the delegate dust. Mr. Trump's coast-to-coast wins -- in California, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and beyond -- brought a new mathematical certainty to what has been the political reality for some time: Mr. Trump is barreling toward the Republican Party's presidential nomination. But tucked inside Mr. Trump's often dominant statewide victories, there were still signs of vulnerability. He showed some of the same weakness in the swingy suburban areas that cost him the White House in 2020.... Here are five takeaways from the results[.]...
"Mr. Biden, who has had only nominal opposition for the Democratic nomination, also rolled to big-margin victories across the country: Alabama, Maine, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia, to name a few. By the end of the night, he swept all 15 states. But yet again there were flashing lights for a president who is struggling to rally the whole of his party behind him. With results still coming in, nearly 20 percent of Democrats in Minnesota voted uncommitted, in an apparent protest vote against Mr. Biden's support of the Israel military response to the Hamas terrorist attack of Oct 7."
The New York Times liveblog of primary races is here. Where not otherwise indicated the NYT entries are from the liveblog. The New York Times general results page, with links to state pages, is here.
CNN's liveblog of Super Tuesday night developments is here.
Democratic Races:
Reid Epstein: "In a statement that mentions Donald Trump four times in five paragraphs, President Biden said that the Super Tuesday results made clear the choice of the 2024 election. 'Are we going to keep moving forward, or will we allow Donald Trump to drag us backwards into the chaos, division and darkness that defined his term in office?' Biden asked."
Alabama:
NYT Results page: Joe Biden is projected to win the Alabama primary.
Arkansas:
Neil Vigdor of the NYT: "President Biden is the winner of the Arkansas Democratic primary, according to The A.P."
California:
NYT Results page: The AP has called the state for President Biden.
Chris Cameron of the NYT: "President Biden has also won in California, The A.P. said, taking the crown jewel of Super Tuesday contests. California will distribute 424 Democratic delegates."
Colorado:
Alyce McFadden of the NYT: "Colorado's Democratic primary goes for President Biden, according to The A.P."
Iowa:
Vigdor of the NYT: "President Biden won Iowa's Democratic caucuses, which were conducted entirely by mail this year and received little fanfare after the party changed its nominating calendar. The Associated Press called the race shortly before 6 p.m. Eastern time."
New York Times Results page: With 94% of the vote counted, President Biden has received 90.0% of the vote, Uncommitted 3.9%, Dean Phillips, 3.0% & Marianne Williamson 2.2%. Biden received 40 of the 40 Iowa convention delegate votes.
Maine:
NYT Results page: President Biden is projected to win the primary.
McFadden of the NYT: "The A.P. projects that President Biden will win the Democratic primary in Maine."
Massachusetts:
NYT Results page: Joe Biden is projected to win.
Minnesota:
Cameron of the NYT: "President Biden has won the Democratic primary in Minnesota, according to The Associated Press. It will be some time before we have the final vote tallies, and observers are watching to see how much of the vote will go to the 'uncommitted' ballot option, which had earlier success in Michigan as a vehicle to protest Biden's handling of the war in Gaza.""
Epstein & Nicholas Nehamas of the NYT: "With nearly 80 percent of ballots counted on Tuesday night, 'uncommitted' had earned 19 percent support, enough to send delegates to the Democratic National Convention. The number of protest votes in Minnesota suggested that dissatisfaction over Mr. Biden's stance on the war in Gaza had spread beyond Muslim Americans to progressives and younger voters."
North Carolina:
McFadden of the NYT: "President Biden has won the North Carolina Democratic primary, according to The Associated Press. He was the only candidate to appear on ballots. Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson failed to qualify in the state."
Oklahoma:
Cameron of the NYT: "The Democratic primary in the state was also called for President Biden."
Tennessee:
Vigdor: "President Biden also won in Tennessee, in the Democratic primary, The A.P. said."
Texas:
Cameron of the NYT: "President Biden also easily swept Texas, The A.P. projects, which will award 244 Democratic delegates."
Utah:
Cameron of the NYT: "President Biden has won the Utah presidential primary, according to The Associated Press. The state will distribute a modest 30 Democratic delegates."
Vermont:
Vigdor of the NYT: "President Biden won the Vermont Democratic primary, according to The Associated Press. It was the third victory of the night for the president, who has faced nominal competition for the party's nomination."
Virginia:
Chris Cameron of the NYT: "President Biden won the Virginia Democratic primary, according to The Associated Press. He had no major competitors in the race, but it is his first major victory of Super Tuesday. Virginia has 99 Democratic delegates."
American Samoa. This is hilarious:
McFadden of the NYT: "President Biden took his first loss of the Democratic nomination race, being bested on Tuesday night in American Samoa by Jason Palmer, a relatively unknown technology entrepreneur from Maryland, according to The Associated Press. Mr. Palmer was the only Democrat to campaign in the island territory, about 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii. Its residents are not eligible to vote in the general election. Mr. Palmer won four of the territory's six Democratic delegates, which are awarded proportionally to the final vote totals. Mr. Biden won the remaining two delegates. Dean Phillips, the Minnesota congressman, was the only other Democrat who appeared on ballots, but did not win any delegates." Here's more from the AP on Jason Palmer. ~~~
~~~ Update. McFadden of the NYT: "Jason Palmer did not win a majority of delegates in the American Samoa Democratic caucus Tuesday evening, but rather tied with President Biden. A rounding error in the party's results is to blame for the error. The two candidates each earned three delegates."
Republican Races:
** Maegan Vazquez, et al., of the Washington Post: "Nikki Haley, a former U.N. ambassador and governor of South Carolina, will suspend her presidential campaign Wednesday morning, according to several people familiar with her plans, leaving Donald Trump with no major opponents left on his path to becoming the 2024 Republican nominee.... Haley does not plan to announce an endorsement Wednesday, the people said.... By the end of the race, Haley's campaign had become a rallying point for the disparate anti-Trump forces in the party, including some wealthy donors, activists and others whose influence has been limited in recent years." A CBS News story is here.
Michael Gold of the NYT: "Despite dominating the Super Tuesday nominating contests..., Donald J. Trump gave a victory speech short on celebration or exultation and long on sinister evocations of what he portrayed as a grim fate for the country if President Biden is re-elected. 'We've watched our country take a great beating over the last three years,' Mr. Trump told supporters on Tuesday night at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Palm Beach, Fla. 'And nobody thought a thing like this would be possible.'... A somber Mr. Trump recited a meandering list of grievances, insisting that the nation was descending toward chaos under Mr. Biden's leadership."
Alabama:
NYT Results page: Donald Trump is projected to win the Alabama primary.
Alaska:
Victoria Kim of the NYT: "Donald Trump won the Alaska Republican caucuses late Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, beating Nikki Haley with 87% of the vote."
Arkansas:
Vigdor of the NYT: "Donald Trump topped Nikki Haley in the Arkansas Republican primary, according to The A.P."
California:
NYT Results page: The AP has called the state for Trump.
Colorado:
NYT Results page: The AP has called the state for Trump.
Maine:
McFadden of the NYT: "Donald Trump has won the Maine Republican primary, according to The Associated Press. Only yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states did not have the authority to bar Trump from running, prompting Maine's secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, to withdraw her ruling that he was ineligible for the primary because of his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol."
Massachusetts:
NYT Results page: Donald Trump is projected to win.
Minnesota:
Cameron of the NYT: "Donald Trump has also won the Republican primary in Minnesota, the A.P. said...."
North Carolina:
McFadden of the NYT: "Donald Trump won the Republican primary in North Carolina, according to The Associated Press. It's his second victory so far tonight."
Oklahoma:
Cameron of the NYT: "Donald Trump has won the Oklahoma Republican primary, according to The A.P., beating out Nikki Haley once again. Oklahoma has 43 Republican delegates, which will be allocated proportionally based on the final vote tally."
Tennessee:
NYT Results page: Trump has won the state's primary; with 3% of the vote counted, Trump has 81.4%, Haley has 15.5%.
Vigdor: "Donald Trump defeated Nikki Haley in the Tennessee Republican primary, according to The Associated Press."
Texas:
NYT Results page: The AP projects Trump with will the state.
Utah: Not called as of 11:45 pm ET. Update: Trump won, with 58% of the vote to 41% for Haley, with 54% of the vote counted. ~~~
~~~ "Chaos Ensued"! Emily Stern, et al., of the Salt Lake Tribune: "After dealing with significant voting system issues on Super Tuesday night, the Utah GOP shared its first numbers around midnight. With 66% of precincts reporting, the party said, Trump was ahead of Haley 57.1% to 41.8%, according to early returns.... The Utah GOP urged caucus attendees to pre-register through their website to make the check-in process go smoothly. But chaos ensued Tuesday night after digital systems crashed at multiple caucus locations. At several locations, lack of internet slowed down and even stopped the process, leaving attendees stuck in long lines, according to a Utah Republican source familiar with the issues who wasn't authorized to speak to media. Caucus-goers also had problems with the party's online system, further fouling up the voting process. At Copper Hills High School, those problems reportedly caused hundreds of potential attendees to give up and go home.... One couple who attended the Riverton caucus said they'd first gone to Herriman High School, were sent from there to Draper, and from there to Riverton -- only to be told that they should be caucusing at Herriman."
Vermont:
Vigdor of the NYT: "Vermont delivered an elusive and seemingly inconsequential victory for Nikki Haley over Donald Trump in its Republican primary, which The Associated Press called for the former South Carolina governor more than three hours after the polls closed."
Virginia:
Cameron of the NYT: "Donald Trump has defeated Nikki Haley in the Virginia Republican primary, according to The Associated Press, his first major victory of Super Tuesday. Virginia has 48 delegates, which will be allocated proportionally based on the final vote tally."
New York Times Results page: with 6% of the votes counted, Trump has 65.3%; Haley 32.6%.
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More on the Presidential Race
Two of the Most Corrupt, Abominable Rich Guys in the U.S. Conspire. Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "Donald Trump, who is urgently seeking a cash infusion to aid his presidential campaign, met on Sunday in Palm Beach, Fla., with Elon Musk, one of the world's richest men, and a few wealthy Republican donors, according to three people briefed on the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private discussion. Mr. Trump and his team are working to find additional major donors to shore up his finances as he heads into an expected general election against President Biden. Mr. Trump has praised Mr. Musk to allies and hopes to have a one-on-one meeting with the billionaire soon, according to a person who has discussed the matter with Mr. Trump.... With a net worth of around $200 billion, according to Forbes, Mr. Musk could decide to throw his weight behind Mr. Trump and potentially, almost single-handedly, erase what is expected to be Mr. Biden and his allies' huge financial advantage over the former president." ~~~
~~~ Marcy Wheeler: "... when Elon Musk flew to West Palm Beach the other day, it was to allow Trump to beg him for cash. Musk famously demands full board control in business negotiations; imagine how such a discussion would go with Trump's campaign team, who thus far have run a far more professional show than Trump’s past Presidential elections. Or, for that matter, Xitter under Musk's direction." ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE. Lauren Irwin of the Hill: "The Republican National Committee (RNC) failed to earn enough support from states to bring a resolution to ban paying former President Trump's legal bills to a vote. Henry Barbour, who serves as Mississippi's national committeeman, confirmed to several news outlets that the resolutions he drafted that would have prohibited the committee from covering the former president's growing legal bills is dead."
** Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. "But Her Emails," 2024 Edition! Lucian Truscott of Salon: "First, whoever is in charge of the [New York Times'] polls is not doing their job. Second, whoever is choosing what to emphasize in Times coverage of the campaign for the presidency is showing bias. Third, the Times is obsessed with Joe Biden's age at the same time they're leaving evidence of Donald Trump's mental and verbal stumbles completely out of the news.... At a rally on Saturday night in Virginia, Trump confused Barack Obama, who left office seven years ago, with President Biden for the third time over the last six months.... You won't find that verbal stumble and the crowd's stunned reaction in the Times coverage of the campaign over the weekend. You'll have to read other publications ... if you want to learn how often Trump is losing his way mid-sentence at rallies and just mumbling incoherently. The Times on Sunday, however, had this headline ready for your morning coffee: 'Majority of Biden's 2020 Voters Now Say He's Too Old to be Effective.' It's another grab from the New York Times/Siena College poll they published on Saturday that is so outrageously flawed, a cottage industry has sprung up to pick apart its methodology and point out its glaring contradictions and straight-up bias." ~~~
~~~ Oliver Darcy of CNN: "The New York Times is facing a sustained wave of backlash. The Gray Lady has for several weeks been in the crosshairs of a vocal set of critics and readers who believe that Donald Trump poses a grave threat to American democracy and that the influential news organization isn't adequately conveying those stakes to the public.... The latest salvo in the now weeks-long stream of criticism against The Times burst into view over the weekend when the newspaper published a poll it conducted with Siena College that found a majority of Biden voters believe he is too old to be an effective president.... 'That they even asked this question is evidence of the bias -- the agenda -- in their poll,' Jeff Jarvis, ... [of] CUNY ... posted on Threads. 'Who made age an "issue"? The credulous Times falling into the right-wing's projection. This is not journalism. Shameful.... 'NY Times, did you ask your random voters whether Trump is too insane, doddering, racist, sexist, criminal, traitorous, hateful to be effective as President?'..."
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While Trump is Double-dealing for Dollars (i.e., trading ordinary Americans' rights & needs for cash) ~~~
~~~ Elizabeth Schulze & Justin Gomez of ABC News: "President Joe Biden on Tuesday touted his administration's latest effort to slash credit card late fees in a move that's estimated to collectively save families $10 billion every year. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule Tuesday that will cut the typical credit card late fee to $8 from $32. 'That's the average of $220 in savings annually for more than 45 million Americans who typically have to pay late fees. A lot of money,' Biden said while meeting with his Competition Council. 'We estimate banks are generated five times more in late fees than it costs to collect late payments. They're padding their profit margins,' he said."
Kara Scannell of CNN: "In a longshot bid..., Donald Trump is asking the judge overseeing E. Jean Carroll's defamation case against him to significantly reduce the $83.3 million jury award or grant a new trial. Trump argued that Judge Lewis Kaplan wrongly prohibited him from defending himself during his brief testimony and that warrants a new trial. In court filings Tuesday, Trump's lawyers said Kaplan erred when he stopped Trump from testifying about 'his own state of mind' and when he gave an 'erroneous jury instruction on the definition of common-law malice.' Trump's lawyers said the jury should have been told they needed to find that it was Trump's 'sole, exclusive desire to harm' Carroll.... Before the trial began, Kaplan restricted Trump's testimony, saying he could not deny raping Carroll or deny making the defamatory statements following a judgment that was already determined by a different jury in 2023. The judge made the attorneys preview what questions Trump would be asked and what his answers would be. In the end, Trump answered just a handful of questions."
More Charges Against Bribable Bob. Benjamin Weiser & Tracey Tully of the New York Times: "Senator Robert Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were charged with obstruction of justice in a new federal indictment on Tuesday, adding to the wide-ranging bribery and corruption charges they already face. Prosecutors accused the couple of trying to cover up a bribe by making it look like a loan. In the process, they lied to their own lawyers, who in turn inadvertently misrepresented the arrangement to federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York, according to the updated indictment." The AP's report is here.
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** Arizona Senate Race. Alexandra Marquez & Sahil Kapur of NBC News: "Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced Tuesday that she will not run for re-election this year, leaving the Senate after one term that saw her paint Arizona blue, leave the Democratic Party and play a key role in numerous legislative negotiations in a tightly divided Senate.... Sinema's decision paves the way for a tough and expensive fight for her seat -- though it will be more straightforward than the messy three-way contest she would have prompted by staying in. The leading Republican, 2022 gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, and the leading Democrat, Rep. Ruben Gallego, are already running hard to replace Sinema. In her video, Sinema said partisan warfare has carried the day." (Also linked yesterday.) A New York Times story is here.
Arizona. Jack Healy of the New York Times: "Gov. Katie Hobbs of Arizona vetoed a bill on Monday that would have authorized the state police to arrest undocumented immigrants. It was the first veto of the year from Ms. Hobbs, a Democrat who shot down a record number of bills passed by Arizona's Republican-controlled Legislature in 2023 dealing with abortion, elections, L.G.B.T.Q. rights and other hot-button issues." (Also linked yesterday.)
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Israel/Palestine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Wednesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Hamas said Wednesday morning that it will continue to negotiate through mediators toward a cease-fire deal, with talks underway in Egypt, and that it has shown flexibility in the talks so far. A day earlier, an Israeli government spokesman told reporters that Israel has put its 'cards on the table,' expressing hope for an agreement. A former Egyptian official familiar with the negotiations said the United States was putting great pressure on Israel to reach a deal.... The babies of 5,500 women who are due to give birth in the next month in Gaza are at risk of dying, the U.N. agency for children, UNICEF, reported.... Benny Gantz, a member of Israel's war cabinet and a political rival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Senate Majority Leader Schumer during a U.S. visit Tuesday. Austin requested Gantz's support for increasing humanitarian shipments to Gaza, according to a Pentagon readout. Gantz is due to visit the United Kingdom Wednesday." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Wednesday are here. CNN's live updates are here.
Ukraine, et al.
Jon Hudson & Tyler Pager of the Washington Post: "Olena Zelenska, Ukraine's first lady, declined an invitation from the White House to attend Thursday's State of the Union address, forgoing one of Washington's most dignified events and underscoring the complicated politics facing her war-torn country. The intent had been to seat first lady Jill Biden near Zelenska and Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died last month in an Arctic prison, according to officials.... Though [Navalnaya's] late husband is widely hailed as an anticorruption icon who risked his life to oppose Putin, Navalny's legacy in Ukraine is clouded by past statements that Crimea, which Putin annexed in 2014, belonged to Russia. Even though Navalny's views later evolved into support for Ukraine's internationally recognized 1991 borders, many Ukrainians view him as out of step with Kyiv's goals.... Navalnaya also declined to attend Biden's address, according her spokeswoman, who cited fatigue as a factor."
Adam Taylor of the Washington Post: "The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants Tuesday for two Russian military leaders in connection with alleged war crimes in Ukraine. The court said in a statement that it issued warrants for Lt. Gen. Sergei Ivanovich Kobylash and Adm. Viktor Kinolayevich Sokolov. At the time of the alleged crimes, Kobylash was the commander of long-range aviation of the aerospace force in the Russian armed forces, while Sokolov was commander of the Russian navy's Black Sea fleet. The court's pretrial chamber found that the 'two suspects bear responsibility for missile strikes carried out by the forces under their command against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure from at least 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023,' the ICC said in the statement."