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New sexual assault law in New York state has opened another door for former president’s accuser
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Kanye West releases 2024 campaign video after meeting with Trump
Disgraced rapper and anti-semite Kanye West has continued to describe his visit to Mar-a-Lago this weekend, claiming that Donald Trump shouted at him in response to a proposal that the former president join Mr West as running mate on a third-party presidential ticket in 2024.
The erratic Mr West claims to be running for president again after a sometimes disturbing quasi-campaign flamed out in 2020. He was apparently accompanied to Mr Trump’s residence by notorious far-right racist troll Nick Fuentes, whom he says “impressed” their host.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump is facing a second lawsuit from author E Jean Carroll, who accuses him of raping her in a New York department store in the 1990s.
Availing herself of a new state law that comes into effect today, Ms Carroll is suing Mr Trump for rape and sexual assault as well as defamation over recent comments he made calling her a “con job” and accusing her of lying about her allegations.
And on another front, the Justice Department is reportedly seeking to question Mike Pence as part of its ongoing investigation into January 6 and Donald Trump’s months-long effort to overturn the 2020 election.
Donald Trump’s middle son Eric Trump has claimed that the ex-president, who escaped service in the Vietnam War after a doctor claimed he suffered from bone spurs, somehow “fought” for the US despite never spending a single day in uniform.
The Trump Organization executive made the outrageous claim in a video posted to social media by attorney Ron Fillipowski.
Eric Trump tells an interviewer who is shown speaking to him remotely: “My father fought for this country. Tom Brady always fought and played for his team.”
Continuing, Mr Trump adds that his father is “playing for Team America”.
Andrew Feinberg has more.
Ex-president famously avoided being called up by citing bone spurs
Former president Donald Trump launched a Thanksgiving rant on social media and lashed out at one of the prosecutors investigating allegations of misconduct, including tax fraud.
“The Manhattan DA Case should never have been brought,” the 45th president posted on Truth Social on Thursday, adding that it was a “total witch hunt”.
Mr Trump rued: “The DA’s ‘Star’ witness, who has been harassed and brutalised, and is scared beyond belief, has nevertheless totally confirmed our story and defence.”
“This case should be dismissed immediately, and the large, highly paid and ‘prestigious’ accounting firm that we relied on to do their job, but didn’t, should pay us a fortune in damages,” Mr Trump added, attacking the Mazars Group, which used to handle the accounting for his organisation.
In another post, Mr Trump said: “Give me freedom or give me death.”
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar reports:
‘The Manhattan DA Case should never have been brought’
A billionaire member of former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club says the twice-impeached ex-president’s life in Florida is filled with sycophants and hangers-on but lacking in any actual friendships.
Mr Trump decamped to Florida after leaving the White House in January 2021 despite having spent nearly his entire life in New York City, where his family’s real estate and licensing business empire has been based for decades.
He switched his primary residence to the Sunshine State in a fit of pique over investigations into his business practices by a series of New York law enforcement agencies and has made his home at Mar-a-Lago an integral part of his political life as he looks to return to the White House.
Andrew Feinberg has the full story.
Donald Trump says he wasn’t aware that Nick Fuentes was a known Holocaust denier and antisemite before meeting with him.
On Tuesday, the former president met with the rapper and fashion designer Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, who has taken on Mr Fuentes to advise the hip-hop star’s 2024 presidential campaign.
The three spoke with each other during a meeting on Tuesday at Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
“Kanye West very much wanted to visit Mar-a-Lago,” Mr Trump said in a statement. “Our dinner meeting was intended to be Kanye and me only, but he arrived with a guest whom I had never met and knew nothing about.”
Permanently beleagued Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker, who is stuck polling behind incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock in their runoff contest, has been hesitant to participate in any debates with his rival – but he appears more keen to sit down with MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid, who said she is happy to have him on the show any time:
Speaking to the Financial Times, one of Donald Trump’s richest neighbours in Florida has described the former president’s social life – and going by his description, it’s a lonely one.
“I don’t think he has any friends,” said Jeff Greene. “I mean honestly, I have this friend who . . . plays golf with him all the time but you know, he never went to the White House. I don’t even think he was even invited.
“It’s all transactional. They want to be around him because he’s the ex-president. He likes people to defer to him . . . and tell him how good he is.”
Read the interview here.
Author E Jean Carroll has filed a new lawsuit accusing Donald Trump of raping her in the late 1990s, availing herself of a new state law that allows sexual abuse survivors the chance to file a claim after the statute of limitations has expired.
Ms Carroll is already suing Mr Trump for defamation over his previous claims that she is lying about her allegation, but her new case points to subsequent accusations he levelled more recently in social media posts calling her a “con job”.
The former president has long denied all the allegations against him, and has fought for years to stop Ms Carroll’s case being heard in court.
Read more:
Author accuses former president of raping her in a New York department store in the 1990s
Besides associating himself with notorious racist Nick Fuentes, Kanye West has apparently hired professional far-right troll Milo Yiannopoulos as an adviser to his supposed campaign. Having appeared in the video Mr West released yesterday – looking far less flamboyant than usual in a muted suit and alt-right-style undercut – he is now giving statements on behalf of whatever it is Mr West is doing, and not to Donald Trump’s benefit.
Donald Trump may not have availed himself of Elon Musk’s generous decision to allow him back on Twitter, but disgraced rapper Kanye West is already embracing his unlocked account, giving him a platform for what may yet turn out to be a sincere effort at mounting a 2024 presidential campaign.
But while Mr Trump and Mr West may be the two most conspicuous returnees, there are various others in their neck of the political woods awaiting the chance to return. Martyn Landi takes a look at who might yet benefit from the erratic Mr Musk’s impulsive thinking:
A number of controversial accounts could be reinstated by the site’s new billionaire owner
Kanye West claims that on his recent trip to Florida, he took with him to Mar-a-Lago Nick Fuentes, a notorious far-right racist who has made a career of blurring the line between trolling and actual incitement to violence.
At his America First conference this year, he hosted none other than extremist Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene – something not lost on Adam Kinzinger, who is calling out his colleagues for allowing their party to become even fleetingly hopsitable to Mr Fuentes and his ilk.
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Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago
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