All posts tagged: town hall

Nikki Haley Says Pardoning A Convicted Donald Trump Would Be ‘Healing’ For The Country

Nikki Haley Says Pardoning A Convicted Donald Trump Would Be ‘Healing’ For The Country

Published by skeptic

Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley said it would be bad for America to see Donald Trump “sitting in a jail cell” should he be convicted in any of the multitude of legal cases against him, but added she would not preemptively pardon him. “For me, the last thing we need is an 80-year-old president sitting in jail because that’s just going to further divide our country,” Haley said during a town hall event with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Thursday. “This is no longer about whether he’s innocent or guilty. This is about the fact: How do we bring the country back together?” Trump currently faces 91 criminal charges in four separate indictments and has been forced to see-saw from the campaign trail to the courtroom as the Republican presidential primary heats up. He handily won the Iowa caucuses this week and currently leads in the New Hampshire primary, according to recent polls. But he has amped up his attacks against Haley as she sits firmly in second place in the state before next Tuesday’s presidential …

DeSantis interrupted by protesters during Fox News town hall

DeSantis interrupted by protesters during Fox News town hall

Published by skeptic

Protesters belonging to the environmental advocacy group Sunrise Movement briefly interrupted a Fox News town hall in Iowa with GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis on Tuesday, chanting “no oil money.”  The protesters interrupted a response DeSantis was giving to a voter’s question about Republicans distancing themselves from abortion bans in the aftermath of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022.  As DeSantis said he is the only candidate who has successfully accomplished enacting restrictions on abortion, protesters stood up chanting with a banner and briefly blocked the camera. They were escorted out within a few moments. “You live and you learn with these people, right?” DeSantis said as they were being escorted out.  “That was a mistake. You guys didn’t get that one right,” he added before continuing with his response.  Sunrise Movement pledged in a statement to The Hill further confrontations throughout the week ahead of the caucuses. The group also said that two other activists “snuck in questions” during the town hall about fracking and green jobs by telling Fox they were …

How Trump Could Manipulate the Military

How Trump Could Manipulate the Military

Published by skeptic

When my colleague Tom Nichols, who taught at the Naval War College for 25 years, warns people that Donald Trump might be a threat to democracy, they often ask him to prove it. Yes, Trump has said dictator-like things, but if he won a second term, aren’t there barriers in place to prevent him from acting on his rhetoric? Would he really be able to persuade senior command in the military to use force against American citizens? Would he be able to get past the Geneva Conventions? Wouldn’t Congress or the courts intervene to stop him from acting on his worst impulses? Nichols has never served in the military, but he knows its rules and its culture well. And he has watched over the years as some of his students became more openly partisan. In this episode of Radio Atlantic, Nichols explains how a reelected President Trump could bend the military to his will and how political schisms in the military could happen. He emphasizes how close Trump came to achieving some of his goals …

Trump Says He’ll Be a Dictator on Day One

Trump Says He’ll Be a Dictator on Day One

Published by skeptic

Donald Trump, the former president of the United States who tried to steal the 2020 election, says he’ll be a dictator on day one of a second term. That’s not the rhetorical excess of the mainstream press, nor is it the cynical spin of a political rival. It’s just what Trump said. During a town hall in Iowa last night, Fox News’s Sean Hannity tossed Trump what ought to have been softball question. “Under no circumstances, you are promising America tonight, you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?” Hannity asked. “Except for day one,” Trump replied. David A. Graham: Trump isn’t merely unhinged This is a remarkable enough admission—practically every president abuses his power in some way, but few boast about it. What followed was even wilder. “He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’” Trump riffed. “I said: ‘No, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.’” It’s not unusual for political candidates to accuse their …

90 Minutes in a Van With Dean Phillips

90 Minutes in a Van With Dean Phillips

Published by skeptic

Like many politicians, Representative Dean Phillips likes to look people in the eye. And because he’s a politician, Phillips can glean things, just as President George W. Bush did when he peered into Vladimir Putin’s eyes and saw his soul. “I’ve looked Benjamin Netanyahu in the eye,” Phillips told a group of students at Dartmouth College, in Hanover, New Hampshire, last week. And? “I did not like what I saw,” Phillips said of the Israeli prime minister. “I do not like his government. He’s got to go.” Philips has also looked into Donald Trump’s eyes. That, too, was ominous. It was a few years ago, and the former president had invited a bunch of new House members to the White House for an introductory visit. “I looked him in the eye for the better part of an hour,” Phillips told me. And? “I saw right through him,” Phillips said. “I know exactly how to handle weaklings like Donald Trump.” How? “You’ll see,” he said. “Why would I give away my special sauce?” Phillips was telling …

Doug Burgum Knows You Don’t Know Him

Doug Burgum Knows You Don’t Know Him

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The phrase one percent could be used to describe Doug Burgum’s socioeconomic status and, less gloriously, his national-polling average. On a recent Thursday night in New Hampshire, the North Dakota governor squared up to the reality of his presidential campaign: “The first question I get is ‘When are you going to drop out?’” He was speaking to about 100 people in a private back room at Stark Brewing Company, in downtown Manchester. Republicans had come together to celebrate the state GOP’s 170th birthday, sheet cake and all. Burgum was the biggest star on the program, along with former Representative Will Hurd, who was a no-show after ending his own campaign three days earlier. The next-biggest name? Perry Johnson, a businessman who attempted to deliver his remarks by phone and, about a week later, would also drop out. Burgum is an affable midwestern guy with virtually zero national name recognition. He spins his long-shot bid for the Republican nomination as “an entrepreneur’s dream”—huge market potential. Like another one-percenter, Succession’s Connor Roy, Burgum is fighting for his …

The State That Could Fix the Housing Crisis

The State That Could Fix the Housing Crisis

Published by skeptic

In 2015, a physical therapist named Nathan Dugan moved to Whitefish, Montana, and fell in love with the place. How could you not? The glaciers, the pine air, the small-town feel. Whitefish was always expensive: When he first got there, Dugan camped on and off for a month before he found an affordable home. But it got far more expensive during the pandemic, when wealthy retirees and digital nomads flooded the tiny town’s tiny housing market. Out-of-staters were making cash offers on homes, sight unseen. Airbnbs started going for Bay Area prices. Rentals dried up. This has become a familiar story across America, where the housing crisis has gotten so severe that even rural communities in northern Montana are feeling the pinch. Here’s another familiar story: Seeking to capitalize on the real-estate gold rush, a developer proposed building a handsome 318-unit community just north of downtown, on Whitefish Lake. The property would include a series of low-slung apartment buildings and townhomes, including units reserved for low-income families. Whitefish’s residents freaked. Hundreds submitted letters to the …