Trump news - live: Trump attacks old ally Rupert Murdoch after bombshell Fox News Dominion revelations
Donald Trump has raged at his one-time ally Rupert Murdoch over new revelations that the Fox News executive admitted his hosts endorsed the bogus election fraud claims about the 2020 election.
“Why is Rupert Murdoch throwing his anchors under the table, which also happens to be killing his case and infuriating his viewers, who will again be leaving in droves – they already are,” the former president said.
“There is MASSIVE evidence of voter fraud & irregularities in the 2020 Presidential Election. Just look at the documentary ‘2000 MULES’ and you will see large scale ballot stuffing caught on government cameras, or votes cast without Legislatures approval, or just recently, the FBI/Twitter Files Scandal. RIGGED!!!”
Mr Murdoch admitted during a sworn deposition that top personalities at Fox promoted a baseless narrative that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen from Mr Trump, according to a recent filing in Dominion Voting System’s billion-dollar lawsuit against the network.
The chair of the right-wing media empire said that hosts including Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro “endorsed at times this false notion of a stolen election,” claims that the former president and his allies continue to amplify as he seeks re-election in 2024.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump holds a big lead over Ron DeSantis and other potential 2024 contenders, garnering support from 55 per cent of self-identified GOP voters, according to a new poll.
Key Points
Trump fumes at Rupert Murdoch over his bombshell Fox News Dominion testimony
Murdoch admits Fox stars ‘endorsed’ bogus election fraud claims
Poll shows Trump with big lead over Ron DeSantis among Republicans
Former president launches attack on ‘weak and totally ineffective’ Pete Buttigieg over Ohio train derailment
Trump lawyers reject validity of Georgia investigation
The CPAC speaker lineup
15:30 , Alex Woodward
From Wednesday through Saturday, some of the nation’s most prominent Republicans will address audiences of young activists, party officials, and veteran operatives as they make their respective cases for their own personal brands of conservatism.
The Indepedent’s John Bowden takes a look at the lineup of speakers at this year’s CPAC, including Trump, Nikki Haley, Mike Pompeo, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ted Cruz:
Who is speaking at CPAC and when?
Poll shows Trump with big lead on DeSantis as Florida governor and other GOP hopefuls skip CPAC
15:15 , Alex Woodward
Trump holds a commanding lead over a field of potential Republican primary challengers as the 2024 campaign season approaches, with the former president garnering support from 55 per cent of self-identified GOP voters, a new Emerson College poll shows.
His next closest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, only clocks in with support from a quarter of the hypothetical GOP primary electorate polled in the survey of 1,060 voters. That’s four percentage points lower than the 29 per cent who said they’d support the Florida governor in a similar survey last month.
Andrew Feinberg reports:
Trump takes lead over DeSantis in four key polls as ex-president returns to CPAC
DeSantis team accused of threatening Trump fans with police outside of book signing
15:00 , Alex Woodward
Notably absent from CPAC’s lineup this year? Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
His team, meanwhile, has been accused of threatening to call the police on a group of Trump supporters who were demonstrating outside of a book signing event at a Florida mall on Tuesday.
Far-right activist and white nationalist conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer recorded the group’s interaction with police and posted a video to social media:
DeSantis team accused of threatening Trump fans with police outside of book signing
Jair Bolsonaro will speak at CPAC this week
14:55 , Alex Woodward
Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is among prominent right-wing officials delivering remarks to the CPAC crowd this year.
Pro-Trump former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro will speak at CPAC this week
America’s Frontline Doctors, the Covid denialist organisation sponsoring CPAC
14:50 , Alex Woodward
This year’s CPAC will be sponsored by an advocacy organisation once dubbed “among the top purveyors” of Covid-19 misinformation by a member of Congress.
The group, called America’s Frontline Doctors, passes itself as any other medical organisation, but public health experts and critics have called the group “the 21st century, digital version of snake-oil salesmen” that promoted pseudoscientific Covid cures like using horse dewormer, fostered anti-vaccine sentiment, and abused donor funds.
The Independent’s Josh Marcus reports:
What is America’s Frontline Doctors, the Covid denial organisation sponsoring CPAC?
Donald Trump returns to CPAC
14:45 , Alex Woodward
The annual Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, returns today for another round of Republican grandstanding, grievance-airing and MAGA merchandise as the party and right-wing groups strategise ahead of critical 2024 races.
The four-day event that bills itself as the “largest and most influential gathering of conservatives in the world” returns to the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, for the first time in two years after relocating to Florida and then Texas to take advantage of those states’ more relaxed Covid-19 restrictions during the pandemic.
So, what might the twice-impeached president, currently under criminal investigation, have to say this time?
Is Donald Trump speaking at CPAC?
Judge clears Trump Georgia grand jury foreperson over ‘media tour’
14:30 , Joe Sommerlad
Members of the Fulton County, Georgia, special purpose grand jury that examined former president Donald Trump’s effort to overturn his 2020 election loss in the Peach State are free to discuss the contents of the grand jury’s final report so long as they avoid speaking about their own internal discussions.
Judge Robert McBurney told ABC News on Monday that the former grand jurors are free to “talk about the final report” but said it could be “problematic” if they inadvertently “synthesise the testimony” heard during the investigation and the internal discussions about that testimony, which under Georgia law cannot be disclosed.
He explained to the network that he spoke to grand jurors at a “farewell session” and “reminded them of their oath, which is a statutory obligation that they not discuss with anyone outside their group their deliberations – that’s the one word that’s in the oath”.
Read more:
Judge clears Trump Georgia grand jury foreperson over ‘media tour’
ICYMI: Fox News refuses to air advert revealing how stars rejected Trump election fraud claims: ‘They lied to you’
14:00 , Joe Sommerlad
Fox News reportedly rejected a television advert from a progressive advocacy group and political action committee that highlighted recently uncovered reactions from the network’s top stars and executives to Donald Trump’s bogus election fraud claims and conspiracy theories surrounding a voting machine company that is suing the network for defamation.
The ad from MoveOn addresses viewers directly while quoting from text messages and emails uncovered in the lawsuit, which revealed how network personalities and Rupert Murdoch shared their behind-the-scenes irritation with false claims while the network continued to amplify them.
“Texts show they lied to you about the 2020 election for profit,” the ad says.
Read more:
Fox News refuses to air ad with bombshell election fraud texts: ‘They lied to you’
What can we expect from Trump at CPAC this year?
13:30 , Joe Sommerlad
Speaking of CPAC, Mr Trump is scheduled to cap off the four-day festival of anti-woke grievance airing with a Saturday speaking slot.
A number of high-profile Republicans, including Ron DeSantis and estranged former veep Mike Pence, are skipping the event this year, however.
So what we can we expect from Big Don – and will he be upstaged by Jair Bolsonaro?
Read more:
Is Donald Trump speaking at CPAC?
What’s happening at CPAC this year?
13:00 , Joe Sommerlad
The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is returning to the DC area as the 2024 primary contest begins to heat up with the announcements of Donald Trump and Nikki Haley, the first official contenders.
From Wednesday through Saturday, some of the nation’s most prominent Republicans will address audiences of young activists, party officials and veteran operatives as they make their respective cases for their own personal brands of conservatism.
Just as notable as those attending the event, however, is the list of those who declined invitations: Florida governor Ron DeSantis, thought to be one of the strongest potential 2024 GOP primary candidates, will not be attending while former US vice president Mike Pence, also thought to be readying a 2024 bid, has spurned the gathering.
John Bowden has this look at the most notable conservatives who will be there.
Who is speaking at CPAC and when?
Is Pete Buttigieg the worst transportation secretary in history?
12:30 , Joe Sommerlad
Donald Trump would certainly say so and Mr Buttigieg certainly often divides opinion but transit experts say that the former South Bend mayor, who has little experience managing mass transit and has never held an elected office higher than leading that small city in Indiana, has done a solid job at the Department of Transport, overseeing an important agency with roughly 55,000 employees and a budget of nearly $90bn.
In the process, he’s elevated what’s normally considered a fairly staid cabinet position to put himself at the centre of both policymaking and surrogacy for the administration at large. Though, in doing so, Mr Buttigieg has also opened himself to unrelenting partisan attacks as the country experiences transit crisis after transit crisis, from chaos at airports to lengthy backlogs in the international supply chain.
Read more:
Is Pete Buttigieg the best – or worst – transportation secretary ever?
Trump launches attack on 'weak and totally ineffective' Pete Buttigieg over Ohio train derailment
12:00 , Joe Sommerlad
In another recent Truth Social diatribe, the former commander-in-chief issues some rare praise for The Washington Post (he used to deride the legendary newspaper as “the Amazon Washington Post”) as a means of attacking US transport secretary Pete Buttigieg, whom his loathsome eldest son Don Jr recently suggested had been a “diversity hire” by the Biden administration because he is gay.
Of the beleaguered Mr Buttigieg, who arrived in East Palestine, Ohio, a day after Mr Trump last week to inspect the costly chemical cleanup after the freight train derailment of 3 February, he writes, somewhat confusingly:
Jury weighs whether Cowboys for Trump flouted campaign law
11:30 , Joe Sommerlad
Cowboys for Trump co-founder Couy Griffin confronted a trial by jury on Tuesday on charges that he failed to register a political organisation without filing related public financial disclosures.
The two-day trial began yesterday with jury selection in state District Court at Alamogordo, the New Mexico community where Mr Griffin served as an Otero County commissioner until he was banished from office last year for his role in the Capitol riot.
In 2019, Mr Griffin forged a group of rodeo acquaintances into the promotional group called Cowboys for Trump, which staged horseback parades to spread the then-president’s conservative messages about gun rights, immigration controls and abortion restrictions.
But Mr Griffin has resisted pressure to register the group as a political committee, including filing an unsuccessful petition to the 10th District Court of Appeals.
Read more:
Jury weighs whether Cowboys for Trump flouted campaign law
Steve Bannon-linked border wall nonprofit is defunct, lawyer says
11:00 , Joe Sommerlad
We Build the Wall, the nonprofit prosecutors say Steve Bannon worked with to dupe donors who gave money to build a wall on the US southern border, is effectively out of business and can’t afford to defend itself in a New York fraud case, a lawyer for the organisation said on Tuesday.
Justin Weddle, seeking to be removed from the case, told a judge that the last member of We Build the Wall’s board is resigning and that the entity has racked up a “significant outstanding bill” for legal services and that he has "no prospect of getting paid”.
“Are you saying you’d like to withdraw because of the lack of resources or because you don’t have a client?” Judge Juan Manuel Merchan asked.
“Both,” Weddle responded.
Mr Bannon and We Build the Wall are co-defendants in a state-level reboot of a federal case cut short in January 2021 by Bannon’s presidential pardon. They have pleaded not guilty to charges including money laundering, fraud and conspiracy.
Read more:
Lawyer: Steve Bannon-linked border wall nonprofit is defunct
DeSantis team accused of threatening Trump fans outside book signing
10:30 , Joe Sommerlad
The Florida governor’s team has been accused of threatening to call the police on supporters of Donald Trump who were demonstrating outside of a book signing event at a Leesburg, Florida, mall on Tuesday afternoon.
A small group of Trump supporters gathered in the mall parking lot with Trump signs and flags, but were told to disperse in a video recorded and posted to Twitter by far-right activist Lara Loomer.
MUST WATCH: I’m at the Leesburg, FL mall outside of Books A Million for my pro-Trump rally with @Villagers4Trump, & @GovRonDeSantis & his staff ordered the police to make “anyone wearing a Trump shirt” or anyone with any “Trump gear” to leave!
Ron DeSantis is anti-free speech! pic.twitter.com/qAcJBQuHZ4— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) February 28, 2023
This beef is warming up nicely.
Read more:
DeSantis team accused of threatening Trump fans with police outside of book signing
Trump rages at old enemies on Truth Social
10:00 , Joe Sommerlad
It’s that time of day where we check in on the good word from Mar-a-Lago to see how the 45th president is getting on and whether he is embracing the joys of spring.
Ah… Astonishingly, it seems he’s engaged in partisan score-settling over ancient grudges instead.
MSNBC, Morning Joe, Fox, “Failed former Congressman David McIntosh and his Globalist friends at Club for Growth”, Ron “DeSanctus” (?) and Jeb Bush are in for it this time.
Ron DeSantis admits his Disney World wedding is ‘ironic’
09:30 , Joe Sommerlad
Florida Republican governor Ron DeSantis has admitted that his wedding taking place at Disney World is “kind of ironic” as he’s now engaged in a battle with the company.
The governor married his wife Casey DeSantis at the Walt Disney World Resort in 2009, according to Insider.
“In looking forward to what we ended up doing as governor and some of the face-offs that we had with some major institutions in Florida, it’s kind of ironic,” Mr DeSantis told SiriusXM Patriot radio in an interview set to be broadcast on Monday, a transcript obtained by Insider revealed.
Read more:
Ron DeSantis admits his Disney World wedding is ‘ironic’
DeSantis moves toward GOP presidential bid on his own terms
08:30 , Joe Sommerlad
Republican presidential contenders typically fight for prime speaking slots at the Conservative Political Action Conference. But as conservative activists gather in suburban Washington this week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will be courting donors more than a thousand miles away in Texas and California.
The apparent CPAC snub is nothing new for DeSantis, who has emerged in the early phase of the 2024 presidential election as a leading contender for the GOP nomination even as he ignores many conventions of modern politics.
Read more:
DeSantis moves toward GOP presidential bid on his own terms
Ted Cruz accused of hypocrisy over ‘political theatre’ jibe at Zelensky
07:30 , Joe Sommerlad
Texas Republican senator Ted Cruz has been mocked for saying that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky engages in political “theatre” because he wore a “sweatshirt and fatigues” during US president Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv last week (despite this being Mr Zelensky’s customary attire since the war began).
The Recount, crying hypocrisy, notes that during a 2021 visit to the US-Mexico border in Mission, Texas, Mr Cruz himself chose to forego the usual suit and tie in favour of combat camouflage. Astonishing!
Read more:
Ted Cruz border outfit mocked as he claims Zelensky’s t-shirt is political ‘theatre’
Rupert Murdoch gave Jared Kushner confidential information about Biden election ads, Dominion filing claims
06:30 , John Bowden
Rupert Murdoch leaked confidential information to Jared Kushner about Joe Biden’s strategic moves in the lead up to the 2020 presidential election, according to a bombshell court filing by Dominion Voting Systems.
The company that sells hardware and software used during elections has slapped a $1.6bn defamation lawsuit against Fox News and accused the network of airing lies and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
Dominion opposed Fox News’s move to throw out the lawsuit in the new filing on 27 February.
It alleged, through depositions, internal texts and emails, that Fox Corporation chairman Mr Murdoch had provided Donald Trump’s son-in-law advance knowledge of the then-Democratic presidential candidate’s advertisements and debate preparations.
Read more:
Rupert Murdoch gave Jared Kushner ‘confidential information’ about Biden election ads
WATCH: Jeb Bush calls for Ron DeSantis to run for president
05:30 , Joe Sommerlad
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, most notable for his expensive failed 2016 presidential campaign – one of many ground up and cast aside by the Trump machine – is wading into national GOP politics once again.
In an interview with Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade, he calls for current Florida governor Ron DeSantis – currently polling competitively against Mr Trump – to run for president and block The Donald from office again.
Watch below:
Jeb Bush endorses Ron Desantis for president. pic.twitter.com/qBF0YGHcG4
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) February 26, 2023
Poll shows Trump with big lead on DeSantis as Florida governor and other GOP hopefuls skip CPAC
04:30 , John Bowden
Former president Donald Trump holds a commanding lead over a field of potential Republican primary challengers as the 2024 campaign season approaches, with Mr Trump garnering support from 55 per cent of self-identified GOP voters, a new Emerson College poll shows.
Mr Trump’s next closest rival in his quest for a rematch against President Joe Biden, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, only clocks in with support from a quarter of the hypothetical GOP primary electorate pulled in the survey of 1,060 voters. That’s four percentage points lower than the 29 per cent who said they’d support Mr DeSantis in a similar survey last month.
Only two other GOP figures, former vice president Mike Pence and ex-UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, managed to garner more than one per cent of support from respondents, with Mr Pence earning eight per cent of support and Ms Haley getting the nod from just five per cent of respondents.
Read more:
Poll shows Trump with big lead on DeSantis as other GOP hopefuls skip CPAC
Murdoch claims Sean Hannity was ‘privately disgusted’ with Trump, according to court filings
03:30 , John Bowden
Fox News personality Sean Hannity, who hosts the network’s most-watched programme, was “privately disgusted” with Donald Trump’s actions after his loss in the 2020 presidential election, while the network continued to amplify his baseless narrative that the election was stolen from him, according to a filing in a defamation lawsuit against the network.
Dominion Voting Systems is suing the right-wing media company for $1.6bn for what it has characterised as damaging, false claims about the company that were amplified by the network while hosts, executives and producers privately rejected them.
Conservative media mogul and Fox Corporation chair Rupert Murdoch conceded in a sworn deposition that he “would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing” bogus election claims but admitted that his network stars were “endorsing” them.
Read more:
Murdoch claims Sean Hannity was ‘privately disgusted’ with Trump: court filings
Trump fumes at Rupert Murdoch over his bombshell Fox News Dominion testimony
02:30 , John Bowden
Donald Trump went after media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his network Fox News in rants on Truth Social on Tuesday where he once again pushed the baseless and debunked claim that the 2020 election was fraudulent.
Mr Murdoch has admitted during a sworn deposition that Fox News hosts pushed the fact-free narrative that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Mr Trump, a recent filing in a voting machine company’s billion-dollar lawsuit against Fox shows.
The Fox News chair said hosts such as Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro “endorsed at times this false notion of a stolen election”.
“I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it in hindsight,” he added, according to legal filings related to the lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems.
Read more:
Trump fumes at Rupert Murdoch over his bombshell Fox News Dominion testimony
McCarthy defends giving Tucker Carlson Jan. 6 trove access
01:30 , John Bowden
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is defending his decision to give Fox News‘ Tucker Carlson “exclusive” access to Jan. 6 security footage of the Capitol attack, despite the conservative commentator’s own work raising false claims and conspiracy theories about the 2021 riot over Joe Biden’s election.
McCarthy vowed Tuesday to eventually make roughly 42,000 hours of sensitive Capitol Police security videos available to the broader public “as soon as possible,” but made it clear the Fox News commentator had first dibs.
Read more:
McCarthy defends giving Tucker Carlson Jan. 6 trove access
Video of Marjorie Taylor Greene following Parkland victims resurfaces as she complains of harassment
00:30 , John Bowden
Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia was none too happy after a patron at the restauraunt she was dining at on Monday night allegedly yelled at her.
“I was attacked in a restaurant tonight by an insane women and screamed at by her adult son,” Ms Greene tweeted on Tuesday morning. “They had no respect for the restaurant or the staff or the other people dining or people like me who simply have different political views. They are self righteous, insane, and completely out of control.”
But commenters on social media thought that her unhappiness about being yelled should prompt her to rethink her own past behaviour.
Read more in The Independent:
Video of Marjorie Taylor Greene following Parkland victims resurfaces after complaint
Fox News refuses to air advert revealing how stars rejected Trump election fraud claims: ‘They lied to you’
Tuesday 28 February 2023 22:28 , John Bowden
Fox News reportedly rejected a television advert from a progressive advocacy group and political action committee that highlighted recently uncovered reactions from the network’s top stars and executives to Donald Trump’s bogus election fraud claims and conspiracy theories surrounding a voting machine company that is suing the network for defamation.
The ad from MoveOn addresses viewers directly while quoting from text messages and emails uncovered in the lawsuit, which revealed how network personalities and Rupert Murdoch shared their behind-the-scenes irritation with false claims while the network continued to amplify them.
“Texts show they lied to you about the 2020 election for profit,” the ad says.
Read more:
Fox News refuses to air ad with bombshell election fraud texts: ‘They lied to you’
Latino Republicans push back on party’s immigration agenda
Tuesday 28 February 2023 21:45 , John Bowden
More than half of the residents in the slice of Miami that includes Little Havana were born abroad. And when Republican congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar ran for re-election last year, she won by 15 percentage points.
The GOP’s dominance of Florida’s 27th congressional district is emblematic of the party’s inroads with Latino voters in recent years in much of the US and especially in Florida. Those gains helped governor Ron DeSantis decisively win re-election last year and contributed to the GOP taking back control of the House of Representatives.
That strong showing, however, is leading to some tension as the newly emboldened Republicans in Washington aim to launch an aggressive agenda, particularly around immigration policy. Ms Salazar is among a handful of Republicans pushing back against a sweeping proposal being considered in the House that would restrict asylum at the US-Mexico border.
Here’s more.
Latino Republicans push back on party's immigration agenda
Gaetz cites Chinese propaganda to justify Ukraine aid cuts during Armed Services hearing
Tuesday 28 February 2023 21:11 , John Bowden
Florida Representative Matt Gaetz may have left Tuesday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing more than a bit chagrined after a top Pentagon official called him out for an attempt to cite a Chinese propaganda outlet’s reporting as a reason to cut defence assistance to Ukraine.
The moment happened as Mr Gaetz attempted to question Undersecretary of Defence for Policy Colin Kohl about whether US weapons were finding their way to the Azov Battalion, a Ukrainian far-right militia accused of neo-Nazi sympathies.
Watch the moment and read more in The Independent:
Gaetz cites Chinese propaganda to justify Ukraine aid cuts at Armed Services hearing
Who is speaking at CPAC and when?
Tuesday 28 February 2023 19:30 , David Taintor
Speaking of CPAC, the agenda for the conservative confab is becoming clear.
From Wednesday through Saturday, some of the nation’s most prominent Republicans will address audiences of young activists, party officials, and veteran operatives as they make their respective cases for their own personal brands of conservatism.
The Independent’s John Bowden breaks down what we know about the schedule:
Who is speaking at CPAC and when?
Is Trump speaking at CPAC this year?
Tuesday 28 February 2023 18:58 , David Taintor
The annual Conservative Political Action Conference returns to the Washington DC area this week, with a slew of high-profile republicans slated to speak. Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to cap off the festivities with a Saturday speaking slot.
A number of high-profile Republicans, including Florida Gov Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence, are skipping the event this year.
Read more:
Is Donald Trump speaking at CPAC?
Judge clears Trump Georgia grand jury foreperson over ‘media tour’
Tuesday 28 February 2023 18:13 , Andrew Feinberg
Members of the Fulton County, Georgia, special purpose grand jury that examined former president Donald Trump’s effort to overturn his 2020 election loss in the Peach State are free to discuss the contents of the grand jury’s final report so long as they avoid speaking about their own internal discussions.
Judge Robert McBurney on Monday told ABC News that the former grand jurors are free to “talk about the final report” but said it could be “problematic” if they inadvertently “synthesize the testimony” heard during the investigation and the internal discussions about that testimony, which under Georgia law cannot be disclosed.
He explained to the network that he spoke to grand jurors at a “farewell session” and “reminded them of their oath, which is a statutory obligation that they not discuss with anyone outside their group their deliberations -- that’s the one word that’s in the oath”.
Read more:
Judge clears Trump Georgia grand jury foreperson over ‘media tour’
Murdoch claims Sean Hannity was ‘privately disgusted’ with Trump, according to court filings
Tuesday 28 February 2023 17:52 , Alex Woodward
Fox News personality Sean Hannity, who hosts the network’s most-watched programme, was “privately disgusted” with Donald Trump’s actions after his loss in the 2020 presidential election, while the network continued to amplify his baseless narrative that the election was stolen from him, according to a filing in a defamation lawsuit against the network.
Dominion Voting Systems is suing the right-wing media company for $1.6bn for what it has characterised as damaging, false claims about the company that were amplified by the network while hosts, executives and producers privately rejected them.
Conservative media mogul and Fox Corporation chair Rupert Murdoch conceded in a sworn deposition that he “would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing” bogus election claims but admitted that his network stars were “endorsing” them.
Read more:
Murdoch claims Sean Hannity was ‘privately disgusted’ with Trump: court filings
Full story: Trump fumes at Rupert Murdoch over his bombshell Fox News Dominion testimony
Tuesday 28 February 2023 17:27 , Gustaf Kilander
Donald Trump went after media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his network Fox News in rants on Truth Social where he once again pushed the baseless and debunked claim that the 2020 election was fraudulent.
Mr Murdoch has admitted during a sworn deposition that Fox News hosts pushed the fact-free narrative that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Mr Trump, a recent filing in a voting machine company’s billion-dollar lawsuit against Fox shows.
The Fox News chair said hosts such as Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro “endorsed at times this false notion of a stolen election”.
“I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it in hindsight,” he added, according to legal filings related to the lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems.
Read more:
Trump fumes at Rupert Murdoch over his bombshell Fox News Dominion testimony
Trump rages at Rupert Murdoch after Fox exec admits hosts pushed Big Lie
Tuesday 28 February 2023 17:14 , David Taintor
Donald Trump is raging against Rupert Murdoch after the Fox executive admitted that some of his network’s stars “endorsed” the bogus claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent.
“Why is Rupert Murdoch throwing his anchors under the table, which also happens to be killing his case and infuriating his viewers, who will again be leaving in droves - they already are. There is MASSIVE evidence of voter fraud & irregularities in the 2020 Presidential Election. Just look at the documentary “2000 MULES” and you will see large scale ballot stuffing caught on government cameras, or votes cast without Legislatures approval, or just recently, the FBI/Twitter Files Scandal. RIGGED!!!” Mr Trump said on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday.
In court filing this week, Mr Murdoch admitted that some of his hosts had pushed the baseless election fraud narrative. “I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it in hindsight,” Mr Murdoch admitted, according to court documents.
Murdoch family ordered Fox hosts to dial back anti-Trump comments, Dominion lawsuit claims
Tuesday 28 February 2023 17:00 , John Bowden
Billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s eldest son targeted a Fox News anchor for his “anti-Trump” stance that was deemed “smug and condescending”, a legal filing in a billion-dollar defamation lawsuit claimed.
This was revealed in a new legal filing on 27 February which is part of a $1.6bn defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News.
The filing also revealed that Lachlan Murdoch demanded a reprimand of Shephard Smith who quit Fox News in 2019 to join CNBC.
Read more:
Murdoch family ordered Fox hosts to dial back anti-Trump comments, lawsuit claims
Poll shows Trump with big lead on DeSantis as Florida governor and other GOP hopefuls skip CPAC
Tuesday 28 February 2023 16:38 , Andrew Feinberg
Former president Donald Trump holds a commanding lead over a field of potential Republican primary challengers as the 2024 campaign season approaches, with Mr Trump garnering support from 55 per cent of self-identified GOP voters, a new Emerson College poll shows.
Mr Trump’s next closest rival in his quest for a rematch against President Joe Biden, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, only clocks in with support from a quarter of the hypothetical GOP primary electorate pulled in the survey of 1,060 voters. That’s four percentage points lower than the 29 per cent who said they’d support Mr DeSantis in a similar survey last month.
Only two other GOP figures, former vice president Mike Pence and ex-UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, managed to garner more than one per cent of support from respondents, with Mr Pence earning eight per cent of support and Ms Haley getting the nod from just five per cent of respondents.
Read more:
Poll shows Trump with big lead on DeSantis as other GOP hopefuls skip CPAC
Rupert Murdoch gave Jared Kushner confidential information about Biden election ads, Dominion filing claims
Tuesday 28 February 2023 16:36 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Rupert Murdoch leaked confidential information to Jared Kushner about Joe Biden’s strategic moves in the lead up to the 2020 presidential election, according to a bombshell court filing by Dominion Voting Systems.
The company that sells hardware and software used during elections has slapped a $1.6bn defamation lawsuit against Fox News and accused the network of airing lies and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
Dominion opposed Fox News’s move to throw out the lawsuit in the new filing on 27 February.
It alleged, through depositions, internal texts and emails, that Fox Corporation chairman Mr Murdoch had provided Donald Trump’s son-in-law advance knowledge of the then-Democratic presidential candidate’s advertisements and debate preparations.
Read more:
Rupert Murdoch gave Jared Kushner ‘confidential information’ about Biden election ads
Murdoch family ordered Fox hosts to dial back anti-Trump comments, Dominion lawsuit claims
Tuesday 28 February 2023 16:30 , Shweta Sharma
Billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s eldest son targeted a Fox News anchor for his “anti-Trump” stance that was deemed “smug and condescending”, a legal filing in a billion-dollar defamation lawsuit claimed.
Former Fox News anchor Leland Vittert, who has now joined NewsNation, was called out by CEO Suzanne Scott at the directions of Fox Corporation executive chairman and CEO Lachlan Murdoch, Mr Murdoch’s oldest son, according to court documents.
This was revealed in a new legal filing on 27 February which is part of a $1.6bn defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News.
Murdoch family ordered Fox hosts to dial back anti-Trump comments, lawsuit claims
Rupert Murdoch admits Fox News stars ‘endorsed’ bogus election fraud claims
Tuesday 28 February 2023 16:29 , Alex Woodward
Rupert Murdoch admitted during a sworn deposition that top personalities at Fox News promoted a baseless narrative that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump, according to a recent filing in a voting machine company’s billion-dollar lawsuit against the network.
The chair of the right-wing media empire said that hosts including Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro “endorsed at times this false notion of a stolen election,” claims that the former president and his allies continue to amplify as he seeks re-election to office in 2024.
“I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it in hindsight,” Mr Murdoch said, according to court documents.
Read more:
Rupert Murdoch admits Fox News stars ‘endorsed’ bogus election fraud claims
WATCH: Jeb Bush calls for Ron DeSantis to run for president
Tuesday 28 February 2023 15:18 , John Bowden
WATCH: Jeb Bush calls for Ron DeSantis to run for president
Former Florida Gov Jeb Bush, most notable for his expensive failed 2016 presidential campaign which was one of many ground up and cast aside by the Trump machine, is wading into national GOP politics once again.
In an interview with Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade, he calls for current Florida Gov Ron DeSantis — currently polling competitively against Mr Trump — to run for president and block The Donald from office again.
Watch below:
Jeb Bush endorses Ron Desantis for president. pic.twitter.com/qBF0YGHcG4
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) February 26, 2023
ICYMI: Trump accuses prosecutors of ’trying to steal a second Presidential Election’
Tuesday 28 February 2023 14:15 , Joe Sommerlad
Former president Donald Trump has accused prosecutors who are investigating him of trying to steal the 2024 presidential election, repeaitng his lie that the 2020 contest was stolen.
“Crooked Democrat Prosecutors, many of them Racists in Reverse, are trying to steal a second Presidential Election. They did it in 2020, and we’re not going to let them do it again in 2024. MAGA!!!” the former president posted on his Truth Social platform on Monday morning.
Read more:
Trump accuses prosecutors of ’trying to steal a second Presidential Election’
Latino Republicans push back on party’s immigration agenda
Tuesday 28 February 2023 13:30 , Joe Sommerlad
More than half of the residents in the slice of Miami that includes Little Havana were born abroad. And when Republican congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar ran for re-election last year, she won by 15 percentage points.
The GOP’s dominance of Florida’s 27th congressional district is emblematic of the party’s inroads with Latino voters in recent years in much of the US and especially in Florida. Those gains helped governor Ron DeSantis decisively win re-election last year and contributed to the GOP taking back control of the House of Representatives.
That strong showing, however, is leading to some tension as the newly emboldened Republicans in Washington aim to launch an aggressive agenda, particularly around immigration policy. Ms Salazar is among a handful of Republicans pushing back against a sweeping proposal being considered in the House that would restrict asylum at the US-Mexico border.
Here’s more.
Latino Republicans push back on party's immigration agenda
Jeb Bush, whose White House run was crushed by Trump, backs DeSantis for 2024
Tuesday 28 February 2023 13:00 , David Taintor
Former presidential candidate Jeb Bush said that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has the opportunity to run for president in 2024 in a bid to beat former president Donald Trump, who crushed Mr Bush in the 2016 Republican presidential primary.
Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade asked Mr Bush, himself a former Florida governor, whether 2024 offered his successor an opportunity to seek the White House.
“I think it is,” Mr Bush said. “He’s been a really effective governor. He’s young. I think we’re on the verge of a generational change in our politics. Kind of hope so.”
Read more:
Jeb Bush, whose White House run was crushed by Trump, backs DeSantis for 2024
Ted Cruz accused of hypocrisy over ‘political theatre’ jibe at Zelensky
Tuesday 28 February 2023 12:30 , Joe Sommerlad
Texas Republican senator Ted Cruz has been mocked for saying that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky engages in political “theatre” because he wore a “sweatshirt and fatigues” during US president Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv last week (despite this being Mr Zelensky’s customary attire since the war began).
The Recount, crying hypocrisy, notes that during a 2021 visit to the US-Mexico border in Mission, Texas, Mr Cruz himself chose to forego the usual suit and tie in favour of combat camouflage. Astonishing!
We’re old enough to remember Ted Cruz showing up to the southern border dressed like this. pic.twitter.com/FH0zR7xuNY https://t.co/riM4k6zy5o
— The Recount (@therecount) February 27, 2023
Gustaf Kilander has the details.
Ted Cruz border outfit mocked as he claims Zelensky’s t-shirt is political ‘theatre’
Marjorie Taylor Greene votes against resolution mourning loss of life in Turkey-Syria earthquake
Tuesday 28 February 2023 12:00 , Joe Sommerlad
I mean, honestly, what is there left to say?
Sravasti Dasgupta is here to have a go.
MTG votes against Turkey-Syria earthquake resolution
Jan 6 suspect ‘Sedition Panda’ arrested
Tuesday 28 February 2023 11:30 , Joe Sommerlad
A man who allegedly took part in the insurrection on January 6 2021 wearing the head of a panda costume has been arrested by the FBI.
Jesse James Rumson was arrested in Florida on Monday. He is accused of storming the US Capitol among hundreds of other Trump supporters in an attempt to block Congress from certifying the 2020 election victory of President Joe Biden.
Court records state that Mr Rumson faces several charges including assaulting, resisting, or impeding an officer and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds.
Gustaf Kilander has more.
