Trump attacks Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter again as he attends NYPD officer’s funeral: Updates

Kentucky lawmakers gave final approval Thursday to a bill stripping the state’s Democratic governor of any role in picking someone to occupy a U.S. Senate seat if a vacancy occurred in the home state of 82-year-old Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

The legislation calls for a special election to fill any Senate vacancy from the Bluegrass State. The special election winner would hold the seat for the remainder of the unexpired term.

“So it would be a direct voice of the people determining how the vacancy is filled,” Republican Senate President Robert Stivers said while presenting the bill to his colleagues.

The state Senate voted 34-3 after a brief discussion to send the bill to Gov. Andy Beshear. The governor has denounced the measure as driven by partisanship, but the GOP supermajority legislature could override a veto when lawmakers reconvene for the final two days of this year’s session in mid-April.

The bill’s lead sponsor is Republican House Majority Floor Leader Steven Rudy. He has said the measure has nothing to do with McConnell, but instead reflected his long-running policy stance on how an empty Senate seat should be filled.

Rudy refers to McConnell as a “great friend and a political mentor,” and credits the state’s senior senator for playing an important role in the GOP’s rise to dominance in the Kentucky legislature.

Rudy has said his bill would treat a Senate vacancy like that of a vacancy for a congressional or legislative seat in Kentucky — by holding a special election to fill the seat. The bill includes an emergency clause, meaning it would take effect immediately if enacted into law.

Rudy introduced the bill in February and it cleared a House committee a day after McConnell’s announcement that he will step down from his longtime Senate leadership position in November. The decision set off a wave of speculation back home in Kentucky about the future of his seat.

Senator Susan Collins of Maine has shocked probably absolutely no one by saying on Thursday that she will not be voting for Donald Trump in November, The Portland Press Herald reports.

The five-term Republican senator, who previously endorsed Nikki Haley in the primary, says she “cannot support” the former president as makes a third run for the White House.

“I don’t think it should surprise anyone that I will not support him,” she said.

Ms Collins was one of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict Mr Trump at his second impeachment trial in January 2021 on charges that he incited the mob that stormed the US Capitol.

During a tour of a medical centre in Portland, Maine, she told media that she would not leave the Republican Party, unlike her colleague Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who has mulled running an independent who caucuses with Republicans.

When asked about the other candidates in November’s election she said she is “not happy with President Biden’s administration” and laughed when asked about Robert F Kennedy Jr.

“Like many Mainers, I don’t like the choice that appears to be coming our way since I do not think either President Trump or President Biden should be president.

“I don’t know what I shall do. It’s a long ways between now and November.”

Republican Senator Todd Young of Indiana has also said he will not endorse Mr Trump.

Ms Cheney wrote on X: “Trump is repeatedly and maliciously attacking a judge’s daughter on social media. He knows this will bring threats of violence against her and the judge. Trump is depraved and unstable. This unconscionable behavior shows yet again why he is unfit for any office.”

Let’s check in on how shares in Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) are trading a couple of days after they were launched on Tuesday.

As you may recall, Donald Trump’s fledgling social media company debuted on the Nasdaq, opening at $70.90 per share, before soaring to $79.38 as fans of the former president and traders (who presumably have some sort of clever plan?) bought in.

The initial lustre quickly wore off and by the close of trading on Thursday it was down $4.26 on the opening, settling at $61.96.

So… what are the prospects now?

Its market valuation, just over $8 billion, is still stunning for a social media fledgling with an unproven business model that has struggled to attract users and advertisers, burned through cash and wracked up losses.

“The valuation of the company should be several hundred million, not the billions it is currently valued at,” University of Florida professor Jay Ritter said.

Thursday’s slide into the red could be just the beginning, market observers say. Ritter predicts the vanity stock ticker DJT will bottom out around $2 a share – or worse.

“The stock will continue to be very volatile, with sharp moves up and down. But the long-term trend will be down,” he said. “The company has about $2 in cash per share, but it will probably burn through that money and the most likely outcome is eventual bankruptcy.”

Trump also used a vanity ticker for his Atlantic City casino business, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, when it went public in 1995. The company never turned a profit and ended up bankrupt in 2004.

Here’s some more background on trading in Truth Social:

Donald Trump describes attending the wake of slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller in his own inimitable way…

Statement from President Joe Biden on the Wrongful Detention of Evan Gershkovich

Today we mark a painful anniversary: one year of American journalist Evan Gershkovich’s wrongful detention in Russia.

Journalism is not a crime, and Evan went to Russia to do his job as a reporter —risking his safety to shine the light of truth on Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine. Shortly after his wholly unjust and illegal detention, he drafted a letter to his family from prison, writing: “I am not losing hope.”

As I have told Evan’s parents, I will never give up hope either. We will continue working every day to secure his release. We will continue to denounce and impose costs for Russia’s appalling attempts to use Americans as bargaining chips. And we will continue to stand strong against all those who seek to attack the press or target journalists—the pillars of free society.

To Evan, to Paul Whelan, and to all Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad: We are with you. And we will never stop working to bring you home.

Here’s how The Wall Street Journal marked today’s anniversary:

On 15 March, the Committee of Unsecured Creditors – which represents individuals and entities to whom Mr Giuliani owes money or soon could — filed a motion in bankruptcy court requesting the court to force the former mayor to sell his Florida condo.

Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and some big names from the entertainment world teamed up Thursday night to deliver a rousing New York embrace of President Joe Biden that hauled in a record-setting $26 million-plus for his reelection campaign.

The mood at Radio City Music Hall was electric as Obama praised Biden’s willingness to look for common ground and said, “That’s the kind of president I want.” Clinton said simply of the choices facing voters in 2024: “Stay with what works.”

Biden himself went straight at Donald Trump, saying his expected GOP rival’s ideas were “a little old and out of shape.”

Moderator Stephen Colbert, in an armchair conversation with the trio, called them “champion talkers” and joked that the three presidents had come to town “and not one of them is here to appear in court,” a dig at Trump’s many legal troubles.

The eye-popping fundraising haul was a major show of Democratic support for Biden at a time of persistently low poll numbers. The president will test the power of his campaign cash as he faces off with Trump, who proved with his 2016 win over Democrat Hillary Clinton that he didn’t need to raise the most money to seize the presidency.

During the nearly hourlong conversation, Obama and Clinton explained just how hard Biden’s job is. They spoke of loneliness and frustration over policies that work but aren’t immediately felt by the public. They gave an insider’s view of the office as they sought to explain why Biden was best for the job.

“It is a lonely seat,” said Obama, who had hitched a ride to New York on Air Force One with Biden.

Protesters angry at Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza and strong support of Israel briefly disrupted the show, drawing a pledge from Biden to keep working to stop civilian deaths, particularly of children. But he added, “Israel’s existence is at stake.” Hundreds more protested outside in the drizzling rain, many demanding a cease-fire and waving Palestinian flags.

President Joe Biden and former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton participate in a fundraising event with Stephen Colbert:

Three current and former Democratic presidents rally together on stage:

President Joe Biden participates in a discussion moderated by Stephen Colbert:

Fox News’s Jessica Tarlov holds her own again on The Five observing that, in terms of fundraising: “The RNC is in complete tatters. The DNC is cruising.”

Contrasting that with Donald Trump flogging bibles for $60 to pay his legal fees, she unsurprisingly gets a little bit of pushback from her co-hosts:

Democrats did not arrest the former president. Grand juries indicted him on criminal charges based on evidence of crimes they believe he committed.