All posts tagged: New Hampshire

Trump Always Manages to Escape

Trump Always Manages to Escape

Published by skeptic

For almost a decade, the country has been just one simple trick away from relegating Donald Trump to obscurity. Most recently, Trump-skeptical Republicans wrung their hands that a too-large field of challengers in the 2024 presidential primary was preventing GOP voters from coalescing around a good alternative candidate. If a consensus anti-Trump candidate emerged, the hope went, the party could finally buck him. So much for that. When the field finally did shrink rapidly, after Iowa and New Hampshire, Nikki Haley was left as the sole contestant for the non-Trump mantle, just what the anti-Trumpers believed was needed. This weekend, in the South Carolina Republican primary, Trump trounced Haley, 59-39—an easy victory that came even with Trump opposition united behind her, her fundraising ascendant, and a race on her home turf. The win leaves him poised for a quick and easy march to the nomination. So much for that simple trick. This has been the pattern for as long as pundits have been placing bets on such simple tricks: Trump always manages to escape. Read: …

In South Carolina Nikki Haley’s Bill Comes Due

In South Carolina Nikki Haley’s Bill Comes Due

Published by Sam

The afternoon before Donald Trump’s blowout win in South Carolina’s primary, Shellie Hargenrader and Julianne Poulnot emerged from a rally for the former president bubbling with righteous conviction. They had spent the previous hour listening to the candidate’s son Donald Trump Jr. regale supporters at the campaign’s headquarters in an office park outside Charleston. The crowd had been energized, frequently calling out in response to his words as if at a church service as Trump Jr. lacerated President Joe Biden, the media, the multiple legal proceedings against his father and the punishment of the January 6 insurrectionists. “Trump is my president,” one man shouted. Hargenrader and Poulnot were still feeling that spirit when they stopped on their way out from the rally to talk with me. When I asked them why they were supporting Trump over Nikki Haley, the state’s former governor, they started with conventional reasons. “Because he did a great job and he can do it again,” Hargenrader told me. Poulnot cut in to add: “He stands for the people and he tells …

New Hampshire man convicted of killing 5-year-old daughter

New Hampshire man convicted of killing 5-year-old daughter

Published by skeptic

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire man was convicted of second-degree murder Thursday in the death of his 5-year-old daughter, who police believe was killed nearly two years before she was reported missing in 2021 and whose body was never found. Adam Montgomery, 34, did not attend the trial and wasn’t present when jurors returned their verdict. He had proclaimed his innocence, saying in court last year in an unrelated case that he loved Harmony Montgomery “unconditionally.” “I am grateful to the judge, jury, and Department of Justice for delivering justice for Harmony,” New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said in a statement. “Adam Montgomery is a monster and deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison.” Adam Montgomery’s attorneys earlier acknowledged his guilt on two lesser charges, that he “purposely and unlawfully removed, concealed or destroyed” her corpse and falsified physical evidence, but said he didn’t kill his daughter. The jury also convicted him of assaulting Harmony Montgomery in 2019 and of tampering with the key prosecution witness, his estranged wife and …

Why South Carolina Matters – The Atlantic

Why South Carolina Matters – The Atlantic

Published by skeptic

For more than four decades, South Carolina has been the decisive contest in the Republican presidential primaries—the state most likely to anoint the GOP’s eventual nominee. On Saturday, South Carolina seems poised to play that role again. Since the state moved to its prominent early position on the GOP presidential-primary calendar in 1980, the candidate who has won there has captured the nomination in every contested race except one. Given Donald Trump’s overall lead in the GOP race, a victory for him in South Carolina over Nikki Haley, the state’s former governor, would likely uphold that streak. “We all underestimate how deeply ingrained the Trump message is in the rank and file of our party,” Warren Tompkins, a longtime South Carolina–based GOP strategist and lobbyist, told me. “Take the personality out of it: What he stands for, what he says he’ll do, and what he did as president; he’s on the money.” This year, though, there may be a twist in South Carolina’s usual role of confirming the eventual GOP winner: Even as the state …

Tech companies sign pact to combat AI-generated election deepfakes

Tech companies sign pact to combat AI-generated election deepfakes

Published by skeptic

Major technology companies signed a pact Friday to voluntarily adopt “reasonable precautions” to prevent artificial intelligence tools from being used to disrupt democratic elections around the world. Executives from Adobe, Amazon, Google, IBM, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI and TikTok gathered at the Munich Security Conference to announce a new framework for how they respond to AI-generated deepfakes that deliberately trick voters. Twelve other companies — including Elon Musk’s X — are also signing on to the accord. “Everybody recognizes that no one tech company, no one government, no one civil society organization is able to deal with the advent of this technology and its possible nefarious use on their own,” said Nick Clegg, president of global affairs for Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, in an interview ahead of the summit. The accord is largely symbolic, but targets increasingly realistic AI-generated images, audio and video “that deceptively fake or alter the appearance, voice, or actions of political candidates, election officials, and other key stakeholders in a democratic election, or that provide false information to …

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin announces he won’t run for president in 2024

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin announces he won’t run for president in 2024

Published by skeptic

NEW YORK (AP) — West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin announced on Friday that he is not running for president, saying he didn’t want to be a “spoiler.” “I will not be seeking a third-party run,” he said in a speech at West Virginia University. “I will not be involved in a presidential run. I will be involved in making sure that we secure a president that has the knowledge and has the passion and has the ability to bring this country together.” The speech was billed as part of a national listening tour Manchin announced when he decided not to seek another Senate term. He told the Morgantown audience that he had no interest in being “a deal-breaker, if you will, a spoiler, whatever you want to call it.” “I just don’t think it’s the right time.” The centrist Democrat who often bucked his party’s leadership had been considering a run for the presidency and had said he thought it would be clear by March if there was a path for a third-party candidate this …

Four-Term New Hampshire Governor Delivers His Final State-Of-The-State Speech

Four-Term New Hampshire Governor Delivers His Final State-Of-The-State Speech

Published by skeptic

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Republican Gov. Chris Sununu delivered his final state-of-the-state address Thursday, urging lawmakers to continue on the path of fiscal prudence and limited government that he said has made New Hampshire “a beacon of success.” “Continued success is not inevitable. We must continually challenge ourselves, putting individuals before the system, to strive to be better stewards of taxpayer dollars and more accountable to the people of the state,” he said. “Over these last seven years, New Hampshire has stood out as a beacon of success and a safe haven for freedom and opportunity. We have all put in the hard work, and this has always been a true team effort.” Sununu, who is only the second governor in New Hampshire history to serve four terms, has just under a year left in the corner office. After flirting with running for U.S. Senate and president, he announced in July that he wouldn’t seek another term as governor, though he joked about that decision Thursday. “The filing period to run again isn’t until June, …

Man Imprisoned for Running Unlicensed Bitcoin Business Owes Victims .5 Million, Judge Rules

Man Imprisoned for Running Unlicensed Bitcoin Business Owes Victims $3.5 Million, Judge Rules

Published by skeptic

A federal judge in New Hampshire has determined that a man sentenced to eight years in prison for running an unlicensed bitcoin exchange business owes 29 victims more than $3.5 million in restitution. Prosecutors said Ian Freeman, a libertarian activist and radio show host, created a business that catered to fraudsters who targeted elderly women with romance scams, serving as “the final step in permanently separating the victims from their money.” The judgment was entered Friday and announced by the U.S. attorney’s office Tuesday. “Ian Freeman’s money laundering business caused many vulnerable people unnecessary anguish. Nothing will ever take away the pain he caused these victims, but I am grateful that the dedicated prosecution team on this case was able to make many of them financially whole,” U.S. Attorney Jane Young said in a news release. Freeman’s attorney, Mark Sisti, said the judgement was a negotiated agreement and that he was pleased with the outcome. Photos You Should See Freeman, 43, was sentenced last year. He said he did not believe he broke the law …

The Perils of Turning ‘SNL’ Into a Campaign Stop

The Perils of Turning ‘SNL’ Into a Campaign Stop

Published by skeptic

Watching the real Nikki Haley spar with a fake Donald Trump was awkward—and not very funny. Will Heath / NBC February 4, 2024, 1:50 PM ET Last night, audiences who tuned into Saturday Night Live to see The Bear star and Emmy winner Ayo Edebiri host for the first time were greeted with an awkward surprise: The sight of the Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, trying her best to seem at ease opposite a fake Donald Trump. Haley popped up in the cold open, playing herself as a “concerned South Carolina voter” attending a CNN town hall with James Austin Johnson’s Trump. “Why won’t you debate Nikki Haley?” she asked. In response, Johnson started rambling about Nancy Pelosi—mistaking the former South Carolina governor for the Democratic congresswoman—which Haley followed up by asking “Donald” to take a mental-competency test. While Johnson went on an absurdist Trumpian rant about how he was deemed “mental,” Haley tried to make herself seem like a reasonable alternative, maintaining a stiff posture and a persistent smile. It was framed as a …