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A glaring omission
Former President Donald Trump has ramped up his attacks on former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley ahead of the New Hampshire primary, weaponizing her South Asian heritage to spread “birther” conspiracy theories. In a Truth Social post, Trump referred to Haley by her birth name Nimarata (which he misspelled as Nimrada) and shared another post that suggested Haley is ineligible to run for president because her parents were not U.S. citizens when she was born.
Haley has responded with critiques of her own, slamming his support for raising the retirement age, increasing the federal gas tax, and adding to the national debt. Most recently, Haley attacked Trump’s and Biden’s ages, saying that most Americans “think that having two 80-year-olds running for president is not what they want.”
But apparently, she’s tongue-tied when it comes to Trump’s history of sexual abuse.
Earlier this week, CNN’s Dana Bash asked Haley how she felt about Trump being held liable for sexual abuse in the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial. “First of all, I haven’t paid attention to his cases and I’m not a lawyer,” Haley responded. “All I know is he’s innocent until proven guilty.”
It’s hard to believe Haley hasn’t been paying attention. But innocence isn’t the point here. Trump has already been found liable for sexually abusing Carroll. “The fact that Mr. Trump sexually abused — indeed raped — Ms. Carroll has been conclusively established,” noted New York Judge Lewis Kaplan.
Haley is still trying to walk that razor-thin line of running against Trump while not turning away his MAGA supporters.
A story you should be following: Abortion on the 2024 ballot
The Biden re-election team is launching a new abortion rights campaign as America marks what would have been the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
Elsewhere, abortion-rights groups in Missouri are fighting to put a constitutional abortion amendment on the 2024 ballot. Fellow advocates in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, South Dakota, Montana, Nevada and Nebraska similarly hope to get abortion rights on the ballot in November. (A constitutional amendment is already on the ballot in Maryland.)
In Florida, activists collected enough signatures for a ballot initiative, but the conservative state Supreme Court must weigh in after the Florida attorney general challenged the ballot effort.
I’ll be watching closely to see whether voters in Missouri and other states can successfully pass these ballot initiatives, and if abortion rights continue to be a winning issue in November.
A video you should watch: The Lincoln Project’s ‘God Made a Dictator’
Trump has claimed to be a lot of things over the years, from “a genius” to a “billionaire” and even “the chosen one.”
A few days before the Iowa caucuses, his campaign shared an ad suggesting Trump is the Messiah. (Yes, you read that correctly.) And this was not a joke.
In response, the Lincoln Project corrected the record, releasing an ad portraying Trump as what he is — not the second coming but a full-fledged dictator.
Mirroring the tone and style of Trump’s video, the ad likens Trump’s pursuit of absolute power to that of autocrats throughout history. It’s just a hint at what we can expect from the many former Trump employees and advisers who no longer stand by increasingly alarming rhetoric.
‘The Weekend’ co-host Michael Steele’s weekend routine
What show are you bingeing right now?
Not really bingeing, but the last thing I watched and really enjoyed was “Matt Rife: Natural Selection.” And I am trying to catch up on “The Crown.”
What’s the last book you read?
I usually read three or four books at a time. Right now, it’s “Who Killed the President” by Christopher B. Emery and “The Inside Story of the Vatican II” by Rev. Ralph M. Wiltgen.
What time do you wake up on the weekends?
Well, now I wake up at 5:00 a.m. to get ready for “The Weekend” (airing 8-10 a.m. ET on Saturdays and Sundays on MSNBC).
How do you take your coffee?
With cream, sugar and one or two espresso shots.
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