In order for
Joe Biden the candidate to stay put as president, he must own April and all of autumn. For the next couple months, while
Donald Trump will likely be defending himself in a Manhattan criminal court against charges he manufactured a hush-money scheme to silence porn star
Stormy Daniels to help him win the
White House — former Defense secretary and CIA director Leon Panetta thinks it opens up a chance for President Joe Biden to up his ground game and go on the offensive. "I think it's a critical moment here," he said during an interview on
CNN. "I think Trump is in a difficult position. He's gonna be going into a trial; he's not able to go out and do a lot of campaign events." ALSO READ : A criminologist explains why half of America does not care about Trump's crimes Trump's sidelining could end up being Biden's gain. "This is a moment where a Joe Biden can basically dominate in the campaign arena," Panetta said. "So it is important that he get out to the country. It's important that they well-planned these campaign events to make sure that they are successful and that he continues to fundraise; all of those things are critical to his ability to be able to lay the groundwork for a strong campaign in the fall." The 45th president was indicted last year on 34 felony counts for covering up an alleged affair with Daniels by paying out a six-figure sum through his former attorney and fixer
Michael Cohen (who was convicted in the scheme and served
prison time) as political cover 12 days before the 2016 presidential election, which he won. The timing of the alleged incidents was critical since Trump was already reeling from the release of the infamous "Access Hollywood" hot mic video that had the real estate tycoon suggesting grabbing women's privates was acceptable if you're a big shot celebrity like him . The trial, set to begin jury selection on April 15 , marks the first time a former president is being tried on criminal charges. Trump has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty. Panetta made clear Biden has to mount an effective messaging strategy that stands on some of the foundations that landed him the presidency as Nov. 5 nears. "That messaging has to be about health care, about the Affordable Care Act that messaging has to be about the
economy and what needs to be done to make sure we continue to improve the economy that messaging has to obviously deal with reproductive rights which is a critical issue." Watch below or click the link here. Former President Donald Trump and his allies have racked up an enormous sum in defamation suit losses, wrote Aaron Blake for The
Washington Post on Wednesday — and that could add yet another headache to their 2024 challenges. This comes as Kari Lake, the failed gubernatorial candidate now running for
Senate in
Arizona, opted to skip her own defense in the defamation suit brought against her by Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer for her claims he helped rig the 2022
election against her, and asked a judge to go ahead and assess whether she owes damages. On top of this, "Trump owes more than $86 million after losing a pair of defamation cases against a woman, E. Jean Carroll, whom he has arguably continued to defame ," wrote Blake. "Throw in the $787.5 million
Fox News agreed to pay a voting machine company over bogus theories that it aired bolstering Trump’s stolen-election claims and the $148 million judgment against Giuliani, and the combined bill is north of $1 billion — and potentially growing, thanks to Lake’s capitulation and other lawsuits ." ALSO READ : A criminologist explains why half of America does not care about Trump's crimes This staggering amount of money highlights "just how careless and demagogic the MAGA movement has become," Blake added. Trump managed to get something of a reprieve this week when an appellate court in
New York reduced his bond to appeal his more than $450 million civil fraud judgment — but he still has to produce $175 million, and will be on the hook for the whole amount if his appeal fails. At a certain point, Blake wrote, all of this is going to limit the ability of the MAGA movement to raise and spend money for campaigns in the first place. "Stolen-election claims have been everywhere, but they’ve rarely led a specific entity to be targeted by Trump backers. When they have, the record for election deniers is ugly," concluded Blake. "Politics has always involved stretching the truth about your political opponents. But it tends to be done with a deft touch and plausible deniability ... The sum total: Serial defamers could figure heavily into the
Republican Party’s hopes of retaking both the presidency and the Senate." CONTINUE READING Show less A conservative's defense of Ronna McDaniel — the former Republican National Committee chair ousted from
NBC when her hiring spurred an uproar — came back to bite the GOP when it hit
Social Media Wednesday.
Washington Post commentator Hugh Hewitt appeared on Fox News Wednesday to share his views on the news network's decision to drop McDaniel over the support the RNC that, under her leadership, threw behind Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. "I don't know who is going to keep MSNBC informed of what normal people think because Ronna McDaniel is about as normal as they come," Hewitt said. "She represents the Republican Party." ALSO READ : A criminologist explains why half of America does not care about Trump's crimes Hewitt's argument stands in direct contrast to the MSNBC audience, reporters, and staff who balked at the former chair's $300,000 contract. On-air personalities Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow both went on air to condemn the hire . The conservative also positioned himself against former President Donald Trump , who took to Truth Social to mock McDaniel after her ouster was announced. "Wow! Ronna McDaniel got fired by
fake news NBC," Trump posted. "She only lasted two days, and this after McDaniel went out of her way to say what they wanted to hear." But Hewitt's words also struck a chord with viewers who watched his interview on social media Wednesday and found themselves agreeing that McDaniel does represent the Republican party. "That may be true," said Bernadette Hanson . "And that’s a very big problem." "She actively participated in the attempts to overturn a free and fair election," replied Matthew Spira . "That may be normal for conservatives these days, but that is NOT normal." "Ronna McDaniel participated in the illegal unconstitutional fake elector scheme," added Respectful Dialogue . "Sadly her complicity to criminal behavior does 'represent the Republican Party.'" "BINGO," replied The Resistor Sister . "Therein lies the Problem" Watch the video below or click the link here. CONTINUE READING Show less Donald Trump's behavior during a recent answer to a question about receiving funds from a foreign government raised red flags for one body language expert. Dr. Jack Brown, who previously analyzed the GOP debaters and found them presenting "insincerity and chronic deception," has also analyzed Trump's so-called "neck of fear." Now, Brown is turning to Trump's recent conduct following the reduction of a bond in his massive civil fraud appeal. ALSO READ : A criminologist explains why half of America does not care about Trump's crimes "Yesterday, a New York appeals court ruled that Trump has ten days to pay a reduced bond of $175 million (down from $454 million) in his civil fraud case – and he has 10 days to pay it," Brown said . "In a press scrum afterwards, Trump was asked, 'Do you ever accept money from a foreign government to pay the bond, or your fines, or any of your legal bills?' What follows is a verbal analysis (statement analysis), paralanguage, body language analysis of his response." Brown goes on to note that Trump "interrupts the journalist before she has completed her question." "Taking his eyes off the journalist, Trump then looks immediately to his far right (0:03 - 0:04), (Although there is a small amount of torso twisting, this movement was isolated almost exclusively to the eyes [not to neck or torso turning])," he continued. "Lack of eye contact during a question regarding questions of possible malfeasance or any alleged wrongdoing is highly suspicious for deception." Further, according to Brown, Trump said, "No, I don't, I don't [pause] do that..." "Trump is not a stutterer, so his stutter here is highly significant, particularly amidst whilst speaking the very words of denial," the expert added. One particular piece "screamed deception," according to Brown. "Of particular note is Trump's pause in this sentence 'No, I don't, I don't [pause] do that...'. In the midst of a denial, it's screaming deception." Brown says that the ex-president "then shrugs multiple times." "Although we cannot see his hands and lower arms in this camera angle, with the observed movement of his shoulders and upper arms, we can say with confidence that Trump is displaying several different varieties of shrugs," Brown said. See the video below or click the link. CONTINUE READING Show less