The Conversation -- March 8, 2024

Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Katie Britt's Republican response to Joe Biden's State of the Union address drew responses ranging from the baffled to the satirical to the appalled, even among fellow right-wingers.... 'It's one of our biggest disasters ever,' [an] unnamed Republican strategist told the Daily Beast.... Britt's speech, delivered with overt theatricality, oscillating in tone between the wholesome and the wholly horrific, did not land well even in her own party.” Oh, read on for some takes on Britt's kitchen-table performance.

Alayna Treene, et al., of CNN: "Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, stepped down from her role Friday as Donald Trump looks to reshape the party now that he is its presumptive presidential nominee." MB: I wonder if Ronna Romney McDaniel will get her whole name back now -- not that she'll be invited to the Romney family picnic anytime soon.

Benjamin Weiser & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump on Friday posted a nearly $92 million bond in a defamation case he recently lost to the writer E. Jean Carroll, a move that will allow him to appeal the verdict without having to pay Ms. Carroll. A federal jury awarded Ms. Carroll $83.3 million in January, and Mr. Trump recently asked that the judgment be paused. The judge presiding over the case, Lewis A. Kaplan, denied Mr. Trump's request for a preliminary reprieve, putting pressure on Mr. Trump to either come up with the money himself or secure a bond from an outside company. With a Monday deadline looming, Mr. Trump secured the $91.6 million bond, which is higher than the $83.3 million judgment because the former president is also responsible for interest." At 11:30 am ET, this is a developing story. ~~~

     ~~~ Kara Scannell of CNN: "Insurance company Chubb underwrote the bond for Trump, which the former president signed on Tuesday. Under the terms of the bond, Chubb will only secure the appeal of the $83.3 million judgment, not any future appeals."

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President Biden's State of the Union Address

My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy. A future based on the core values that have defined America: honesty, decency, dignity, equality. To respect everyone. To give everyone a fair shot. To give hate no safe harbor. Now, other people my age see a different story: an American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution. That's not me. I was born amid World War II, when American stood for the freedom of the world. -- President Biden, SOTU

Tyler Pager & Toluse Olorunnipa of the Washington Post: "President Biden delivered a fiery State of the Union address Thursday night, making a forceful case for a second term while attacking ... Donald Trump as a threat to individual rights, freedom and democracy. Biden engaged in repeated exchanges with Republican lawmakers in the House chamber, at times, turning the address into a form of political theater as he seemingly taunted his opponents in an attempt to spotlight policy disagreements on the economy, immigration and abortion. Unlike a traditional State of the Union address consisting of a laundry list of policy goals, Biden started assailing Trump less than four minutes into his speech, blasting him for suggesting that he would encourage Russia to 'do whatever the hell they want' to NATO allies that did not spend enough on defense.... Republicans shout[ed] out to interrupt Biden midsentence on multiple occasions as he criticized their positions on issues including taxes, Social Security and immigration. Biden and his team had clearly anticipated the disruptions, and the president was ready with retorts." The AP's story is here.

Here's the full address, including President Biden's entering the chamber. He takes the podium at about 26 minutes in: ~~~

Here are the President's remarks as prepared, via the White House.

Here's the Guardian's highlights video. Great moment at about 2:10 minutes in, where Republicans heckle the President over the bipartisan immigration bill: ~~~

Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault at home as they are today. What makes our moment rare is the freedom of democracy, under attack both at home and overseas. -- President Biden, SOTU

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Biden used his State of the Union address on Thursday to launch a series of fiery attacks against ... Donald Trump, a competitor whom he did not mention by name but made clear was a dire threat to American democracy and stability in the world. In a televised speech to a joint session of Congress, Mr. Biden brought the energy his allies and aides had hoped he would display to warn of what could happen should Ukraine continue to lose ground to Russia. Invoking an overseas war at the top of his address was an unusual introduction to a speech that was in many ways a political argument for his re-election.... Mr. Biden used his time in front of one of the biggest audiences he will have before the November election to tell Americans that personal freedoms, diplomatic relationships and democratic rule in the United States are at stake if Mr. Trump is re-elected. Mr. Biden assailed Mr. Trump for his soft treatment of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.... He called out the former president's behavior, including Mr. Trump's lie that Mr. Biden had stolen the 2020 election from him. 'You can't love your country only when you win,' Mr. Biden said....

"Mr. Biden also tried to quell dissatisfaction within his own party over his handling of the conflict in Gaza. Earlier on Thursday, the Biden administration said the United States would build a temporary seaport off Gaza to assist with the delivery of humanitarian aid. 'Israel also has a fundamental responsibility, though, to protect innocent civilians in Gaza,' Mr. Biden said.... Mr. Biden focused extensively on reproductive rights, which have become a galvanizing issue for his party.... 'Clearly those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women,' Mr. Biden said. 'But they found out when reproductive freedom was on the ballot and we won in 2022, 2023, and we'll win again in 2024.'" This is the pinned item of a liveblog. Here are some other entries.

Peter Baker: "Biden is delivering a feisty, confrontational and loud speech, demonstrating energy in part through volume and defiance in a clear effort to dispel concerns about his age. He has mangled words a few times and coughed occasionally, but he has gone off the TelePrompter repeatedly to engage in vigorous back-and-forth with Republican hecklers."

Lisa Lerer: "It is notable that Republicans did not stand for Biden's calls to increase humanitarian aid or for the region to find a two-state solution, which was long the standard thinking among presidents of both parties."

Erica Green: "Vice President Kamala Harris, who delivered the most forceful and critical assessment of the conditions of Gaza we've heard from the administration during a speech in Selma this weekend, stood and clapped for all of President Biden's references to the humanitarian catastrophe and the need for Israel to do more to allow for the delivery of aid to suffering Palestinians. Speaker Johnson, notably, did not."

Lerer: "The president was energetic, feisty with his Republican opponents and loose. He both laid out a contrast with Trump -- calling him just his 'predecessor' -- and some ideas for what he would try to do with a second term.... I've already heard from some Biden allies who are very happy with this performance."

Jim Tankersley: "So much of Biden's economic storytelling tonight seemed squarely targeted at young voters: student loans, housing costs, even shrinkflation. He often sped through his message on the strength of the recovery from recession. But he lingered on what aides have been saying for days would be a central theme: trying to label Trump as the candidate of the wealthy and corporations, and himself as a fighter for workers."

Gaya Gupta: "In white pantsuits, turtlenecks and scarves, Democratic women stood out once again in a sea of dark suits at the State of the Union address on Thursday night, wearing suffragist white as a form of solidarity and protest against ... Donald J. Trump."

Shane Goldmacher: "Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi praised Biden's speech on CNN, and specifically how he handled the question of his age, while noting she is older than he is. 'Hard for anyone at any age to give that performance,' Pelosi said, later adding of him leaning into his age: 'What are you going to do? You can't make yourself younger.'"

Michael Shear: "Steve Nikoui, the father of a U.S. Marine who was killed in 2021 during the evacuation of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for interrupting President Biden during his State of the Union address, according to Capitol Police."

Rebecca O'Brien: "Presiding over his first State of the Union address as speaker of the House, Mike Johnson sat at center stage, just over President Biden's left shoulder, with one of the worst poker faces in American politics. His eyebrows arched and fell. He pursed his lips. He couldn't decide whether he should stand up, smile or frown. He smirked. He corrected himself. He sort of rolled his eyes. He looked down. He sighed. He shook his head. He swallowed. He smiled again. He looked amused and patient when he clearly intended to look serious and not pleased at all.... 'I am afraid he may have practiced it in front of a mirror,' said the presidential historian Douglas Brinkley.... Part of Mr. Johnson's challenge was one of contrast. Seated to his right, Vice President Kamala Harris managed to appear both relaxed and disciplined, her face always on message."

And a few words about the GOP rebuttal:

Michael Bender: "[Sen. Katie] Britt [R-Ala.] has wrapped up what can be described as uneven speech, toggling between a seemingly forced smile and a furrowed brow as she delivered ominous warnings about illegal immigration."

Emily Cochrane: "Katie Britt directly says that she and the rest of the Republican Party support access to IVF, on the heels of the backlash in her home state. But she -- like her colleagues in the Alabama legislature -- doesn't address the thornier questions about whether embryos should be considered children or how frozen embryos should be treated under law."

Washington Post Editors: "President Biden began his vigorous and combative State of the Union address by invoking President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who, with World War II raging, declared that the country faced 'a moment unprecedented in the history of the Union.' Now, with freedom and democracy under attack, Mr. Biden said he wants to wake up Congress and the country to a similar reality today.... Mr. Biden had to advance a case not only for his record and his plans, but also for a worldview based on American strength and optimism. With notable energy -- his prepared remarks contained 80 exclamation points -- he largely succeeded. The top of Mr. Biden's speech was a stirring call for the United States to be its best self.... The president implored Congress to keep the United States' promises to Ukraine, to help that country's struggle to confront authoritarianism on the borders of the free world, arguing that the threat would not contain itself if it is not confronted. Mr. Biden addressed threats to freedom and democracy at home, too, starting with the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.... These same ideals, he explained, undergird the battle for reproductive rights.... Mr. Biden also ably threaded the needle on the war between Israel and Hamas, stressing the former's right to self-defense as well as its obligation to protect the human rights of the civilians who live in Gaza."

Julian Borger of the Guardian: "US forces will build a temporary port on the Gaza shoreline in the next few weeks to allow delivery of humanitarian aid on a large scale, Joe Biden will announce in the State of the Union speech, amid warnings of a widespread famine among the territory's 2.3 million Palestinians. 'We are not waiting on the Israelis. This is a moment for American leadership,' a senior US official said on Thursday, reflecting growing frustration of what is seen in Washington as Israeli obstruction of road deliveries on a substantial scale. The port will be built by US military engineers operating from ships off the Gaza coast, who will not need to step ashore, US officials said. The aid deliveries will be shipped from the port of Larnaca in Cyprus, which will become the main relief hub." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ A Hero for the Hardest Times. Christina Morales of the New York Times: "Since October, organizers and Palestinian cooks working with the World Central Kitchen -- the aid organization founded by the renowned Spanish chef José Andrés -- have served more than 32 million meals in Gaza, the group has said. Plans for the U.S. military to build a floating pier to bring aid into the enclave would give the group critical access to a steady supply of food they'd need to more than double the meals they're serving daily and further aid people in the northern portion of Gaza, Mr. Andrés said in an interview on Thursday.... The organization has established 65 community kitchens in Gaza that are managed by local Palestinians, with plans to add at least 35 more, Mr. Andres said. About 350,000 meals are being served every day, but Mr. Andrés said he would like to distribute more than a million meals.... The association is the largest emergency feeding program ever set up by a group of chefs, serving more than 350 million meals since it was founded. Its impact is immediate because he and his staff can network quickly, organize kitchens in harsh conditions and source ingredients and equipment. The kitchens, like those in Gaza, are often managed by locals, who cook their cuisine."

Meltdown at Mar-a-Lardo. Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump's live commentary of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address was cut short on Thursday after his social network Truth Social went offline. Ahead of Biden's address, Trump announced, 'Tonight I'm going to be doing the role on The State of the Union that the Media should be doing, but won't because they are corrupt and compromised. TUNE INTO TRUTH SOCIAL, THE REAL VOICE OF AMERICA!'... Unfortunately, Truth Social went offline before Biden began his speech, leaving Trump's commentary in the dark.... Social media users who attempted to view Trump's commentary were greeted with a perpetual 'loading...' wheel and were unable to access any of the former president's posts." ~~~

     ~~~ Matt Novak of Gizmodo: "'THE DRUGS ARE WEARING OFF!' Trump wrote without any further context, making it's unclear if he was talking about Biden or himself."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Dan Froomkin figures out why the New York Times campaign coverage is so bad: "Why would a newsroom full of talented and mostly liberal reporters be engaging in such damaging behavior?... It's because that's what the publisher wants." In a speech At Oxford University, A.G. Sulzberger, probably accidentally, admitted culpability: "Sounding the alarm, it turns out, is anathema to Sulzberger's notion of independent journalism. Independent journalism should instead 'empower our fellow citizens with the information they need to make decisions for themselves.' And ... according to Sulzberger, independent journalism requires being 'willing to take a simple, easy, or comfortable story and complicate it with truths that people don't want to hear.'... What that mean[s] -- practically speaking -- to the editors and reporters.... One: You will earn my displeasure if you warn people too forcefully about the possible end to democracy at the hands of a deranged insurrectionist. And two: You prove your value to me by trolling our liberal readers." Thanks to Charles S. for the link.

John Hudson of the Washington Post: "The United States has quietly approved and delivered more than 100 separate foreign military sales to Israel since the Gaza war began Oct. 7, amounting to thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms and other lethal aid, U.S. officials told members of Congress in a recent classified briefing.... 'That's an extraordinary number of sales over the course of a pretty short amount of time, which really strongly suggests that the Israeli campaign would not be sustainable without this level of U.S. support,' said Jeremy Konyndyk, a former senior Biden administration official and current president of Refugees International."

Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "The House on Thursday passed a measure that would require the detention of any migrant who commits theft or burglary. The bill, which passed with the support of all House Republicans in attendance plus 37 Democrats, is named after nursing student Laken Riley, who was found dead last month after going out for a run in Athens, Ga.... The Riley Act passed 251-170. While it had the support of some Democrats, the bill is unlikely to pass in the Senate and is instead more of a political messaging vehicle for Republicans seeking to draw attention to issue of immigration." CNN's report is here.

The Trials of Trump

Ben Protess & Kate Christobek of the New York Times: "A New York judge on Thursday effectively barred ... Donald J. Trump from exposing the identities of potential jurors at his first criminal trial later this month, emphasizing a need to protect those who might decide the highly sensitive case. The judge presiding over the trial, Juan M. Merchan, granted a request from the Manhattan district attorney's office to withhold the names of jurors from the public. The judge also ordered that their addresses be kept from everyone except the lawyers in the case. Mr. Trump's legal team, which is defending the former president from accusations of covering up a potential sex scandal during the 2016 election, agreed that it was appropriate to keep the jury's information private.... Justice Merchan suggested that he would address any potential punishments for Mr. Trump when he rules on another request from [Manhattan District Attorney Alvin] Bragg -- that the former president be subject to a gag order. The order, if the judge approves it, would bar Mr. Trump from 'making or directing others to make' statements about witnesses concerning their roles in the case. Mr. Bragg also asked that Mr. Trump be barred from commenting on prosecutors on the case, other than Mr. Bragg himself, as well as court staff members."

Benjamin Weiser & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "A federal judge [-- Lewis Kaplan --] in Manhattan on Thursday declined Donald J. Trump's request to temporarily block the writer E. Jean Carroll from collecting an $83.3 million civil defamation judgment against him while the judge considers his request for a longer delay. The ruling, only four paragraphs long, comes just days before Ms. Carroll will be allowed to begin taking action to collect her award, one of two civil judgments totaling more than half a billion dollars that the former president is seeking to delay while he pursues appeals in both cases.... 'Mr. Trump's current situation is a result of his own dilatory actions,' Judge Kaplan wrote. 'He has had since Jan. 26 to organize his finances.'" CNBC's report is here.

Brian Melley of the AP: "... Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a six-figure legal bill to a company founded by a former British spy that he unsuccessfully sued for making what his lawyer called 'shocking and scandalous' false claims that harmed his reputation. A London judge, who threw out the case against Orbis Business Intelligence last month saying it was 'bound to fail,' ordered Trump to pay legal fees of 300,000 pounds ($382,000), according to court documents released Thursday. Orbis was founded by Christopher Steele, who once ran the Russia desk for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6." (Also linked yesterday.)

Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "Adding to Donald Trump's cash crunch woes as he scrambles to find cash to cover the half billion dollars he owes in civil damages is the specter of throwing his existing loans into default. In an analysis into the multiple paths the former president could take to pay what he owes, the Atlantic's David Graham claimed Trump is hemmed in by a myriad of financial complications -- with the clock ticking and interest piling up. He's also facing the potential for asset forfeiture or a fire sale of his business empire if he can't find the money.... Graham [wrote] that Trump's real estate may be heavily encumbered by existing loans, which would lessen the amount of equity he has to secure the hundreds of millions he needs to pay.... He wrote that court filings describe loans from Deutsche Bank that force him to keep a substantial amount of cash on hand, as well as setting a floor for his net worth that would be heavily impacted by his taking on an extraordinary amount of new debt.

It's Not Merrick's Fault! Marcy Wheeler, in an MSNBC opinion column, explains why it took the DOJ so long to bring charges against Donald Trump. "The delays created by Covid, use of encryption, attorney-client and executive privilege claims were unavoidable, even for the most obvious evidence. Take the tweet Trump sent at 2:24 p.m. Jan. 6: 'Mike Pence didn't have the courage.' It was right there in public! But to present that in court first required the exploitation of at least two phones, nine months of fights over executive privilege, a 23-day stall from Twitter and two sets of interviews with at least eight different top aides. One delay that was unnecessary was caused by some of the people who most loudly blamed Garland: the Jan. 6 Committee."

Danny Hakim & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "A new investigation unfolding at the Georgia State Capitol is previewing the turbulence that Fani T. Willis, the district attorney prosecuting Donald J. Trump, may face even if a judge allows her to keep the high-stakes case. At a hearing on Wednesday before a special committee of the State Senate, which recently began investigating Ms. Willis, the defense lawyer leading the disqualification effort [-- Ashleigh Merchant --] testified that Ms. Willis had once taken a large sum of money from her political campaign for her personal use. The senator presiding over the hearing, Bill Cowsert, a Republican, was taken aback by the allegation.... There is no evidence to back up the allegation. In fact, Ms. Willis lent her first campaign nearly $50,000, drawn from a retirement account, and was paid back only a fraction of that, according to her office, campaign finance records and her past remarks."

Presidential Race

Good Grief! Dan De Luce & Andrea Mitchell of NBC News: "U.S. intelligence agencies plan to provide briefings to ... Donald Trump this year if he secures the Republican presidential nomination, even though he faces federal criminal charges that he mishandled classified information after he left office. The intelligence community is likely to adhere to past practices for nominees and has no plan to cancel the briefings if Trump becomes the GOP nominee, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. Scrapping the briefings for Trump could open President Joe Biden up to accusations of politicizing access to intelligence, one of the sources said.... Intelligence briefings to presidential nominees focus on national security threats and are typically not as detailed as those provided to sitting presidents or presidents-elect, according to former intelligence officials. The briefings do not include classified documents or information related to intelligence sources, the former officials said.... Former CIA Director John Brennan agreed that the information provided to nominees is limited."

Marie: I missed this the other day, but it's worth watching at least the first bit where Seth lays out the CV of the Republicans' choice for president*, who is, BTW, spending time after the SOTU speech getting dictator tips from Viktor Orban:

No Labels Has Plan to Help Trump. Thomas Beaumont & Steve Peoples of the AP: "The third-party presidential movement No Labels is planning to move toward fielding a presidential candidate in the November election, even as high-profile contenders for the ticket have decided not to run, two people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. After months of leaving open whether the group would offer a ticket, No Labels delegates are expected to vote Friday in favor of launching a presidential campaign for this fall's election, according to the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the group's internal deliberations." MB: Any candidate these yahoos field. unless she's to the right of Trump, will takes votes away from Biden. (Also linked yesterday.)

It's Cap'n Ronny Now. Dan Diamond & Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "The Navy demoted [Dr. Ronny Jackson] in July 2022 following a damaging Pentagon inspector general's report that substantiated allegations about his inappropriate behavior as a White House physician, a previously unreported decision confirmed by [two U.S. officials].... Jackson [-- who retired as a rear admiral --] is now a retired Navy captain, those people said -- a demotion that carries significant financial burden in addition to the social stigma of stripped rank in military circles. Despite the demotion, Jackson has continued to refer to himself as a retired rear admiral, including in statements released since the Navy reclassified him as a retired captain.... Donald Trump and other Republicans have also continued to publicly describe Jackson using his former rank; it's unclear if they were aware of his demotion.... Katherine L. Kuzminski, a military policy expert..., said that it was inappropriate for Jackson to describe himself as a retired rear admiral." (Also linked yesterday.) CNN's report is here.

Perry Stein of the Washington Post: "Federal prosecutors have arrested a soldier and intelligence analyst who allegedly sold national security secrets related to military weapons, exercises and development plans to a man who purported to be a Hong Kong-based geopolitical consultant, according to a federal indictment filed this week in Tennessee. Korbein Schultz, who served in the Army, received 14 payments totaling $42,000 between June 2022 and around October 2023, according to the indictment. He is charged with multiple crimes, including conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information and bribery of a public official.... Schultz held a 'top secret security clearance,' according to the indictment...." The AP story is here.

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Texas. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs & David Goodman of the New York Times: "State investigators concluded that the largest wildfire on record in Texas history was 'ignited by power lines,' a spokeswoman for the Texas A&M Forest Service, which conducted the inquiry, said on Thursday.... Xcel Energy, an electric and gas company that operates in a mostly rural part of Texas, said in a statement that its 'facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition' of the blaze, the Smokehouse Creek fire, which has led to two deaths and killed thousands of cattle and other livestock."

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Israel/Palestine, et al. CNN's live updates of developments Friday in the Israel/Hamas war are here.

Sweden. Emily Rauhala of the Washington Post: "Sweden officially joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Thursday, a historic shift that highlights how Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine is transforming European security in ways he may not have foreseen. At a meeting in Washington, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson deposited the final paperwork with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the last step needed for the former militarily nonaligned nation to become NATO's 32nd member. Sweden's neighbor, Finland, joined last year. To justify his aggression in Ukraine, Putin cited the possibility of NATO expansion. Now, in one of the conflict's many twists, his war has brought a bigger, stronger alliance to his door. Russia will have to live with the consequences for years." MB: Kind of the ultimate troll of the Putin/Trump alliance. (Also linked yesterday.)

News Lede

New York Times: "Steve Lawrence, the mellow baritone nightclub, television and recording star who with his wife and partner, the soprano Eydie Gorme, kept pop standards in vogue long past their prime and took America on musical walks down memory lane for a half-century, died on Thursday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 88."

The Conversation -- March 7, 2024

Julian Borger of the Guardian: "US forces will build a temporary port on the Gaza shoreline in the next few weeks to allow delivery of humanitarian aid on a large scale, Joe Biden will announce in the State of the Union speech, amid warnings of a widespread famine among the territory's 2.3 million Palestinians. 'We are not waiting on the Israelis. This is a moment for American leadership,' a senior US official said on Thursday, reflecting growing frustration of what is seen in Washington as Israeli obstruction of road deliveries on a substantial scale. The port will be built by US military engineers operating from ships off the Gaza coast, who will not need to step ashore, US officials said. The aid deliveries will be shipped from the port of Larnaca in Cyprus, which will become the main relief hub."

Here are some excerpts from tonight's SOTU address, via the White House.

Marie: I missed this the other day, but it's worth watching at least the first bit where Seth lays out Trump's CV, who is, BTW, spending his time during the SOTU speech getting dictator tips from Viktor Orban:

Brian Melley of the AP: "... Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a six-figure legal bill to a company founded by a former British spy that he unsuccessfully sued for making what his lawyer called 'shocking and scandalous' false claims that harmed his reputation. A London judge, who threw out the case against Orbis Business Intelligence last month saying it was 'bound to fail,' ordered Trump to pay legal fees of 300,000 pounds ($382,000), according to court documents released Thursday. Orbis was founded by Christopher Steele, who once ran the Russia desk for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6."

No Labels Has Plan to Help Trump. Thomas Beaumont & Steve Peoples of the AP: "The third-party presidential movement No Labels is planning to move toward fielding a presidential candidate in the November election, even as high-profile contenders for the ticket have decided not to run, two people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. After months of leaving open whether the group would offer a ticket, No Labels delegates are expected to vote Friday in favor of launching a presidential campaign for this fall's election, according to the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the group's internal deliberations." MB: Any candidate these yahoos field -- unless she's to the right of Trump -- will takes votes away from Biden.

It's Cap'n Ronny Now. Dan Diamond & Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "The Navy demoted [Dr. Ronny Jackson] in July 2022 following a damaging Pentagon inspector general's report that substantiated allegations about his inappropriate behavior as a White House physician, a previously unreported decision confirmed by [two U.S. officials].... Jackson [-- who retired as a rear admiral --] is now a retired Navy captain, those people said -- a demotion that carries significant financial burden in addition to the social stigma of stripped rank in military circles. Despite the demotion, Jackson has continued to refer to himself as a retired rear admiral, including in statements released since the Navy reclassified him as a retired captain.... Donald Trump and other Republicans have also continued to publicly describe Jackson using his former rank; it's unclear if they were aware of his demotion.... Katherine L. Kuzminski, a military policy expert..., said that it was inappropriate for Jackson to describe himself as a retired rear admiral."

Emily Rauhala of the Washington Post: "Sweden officially joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Thursday, a historic shift that highlights how Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine is transforming European security in ways he may not have foreseen. At a meeting in Washington, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson deposited the final paperwork with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the last step needed for the former militarily nonaligned nation to become NATO's 32nd member. Sweden's neighbor, Finland, joined last year. To justify his aggression in Ukraine, Putin cited the possibility of NATO expansion. Now, in one of the conflict's many twists, his war has brought a bigger, stronger alliance to his door. Russia will have to live with the consequences for years." MB: Kind of the ultimate troll of the Putin/Trump alliance.

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Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "President Biden enters his State of the Union speech on Thursday with an economic record that has defied forecasters' gloomy expectations, avoiding recession while delivering stronger growth and lower unemployment than predicted.... Mr. Biden's State of the Union speech will 'discuss the historic achievements he's delivered for the American people and lay out his vision for the future,' Lael Brainard, who heads the president's National Economic Council, told reporters ahead of the speech. She stressed recent wage gains, low unemployment and new factory construction that she said were linked to Mr. Biden's agenda. Ms. Brainard and other administration officials said the president would try to draw sharp contrasts with Mr. Trump on economic issues during his annual speech, including on tax policy and reducing consumer costs."

Aishvarya Kavi of the New York Times on the guests Jill Biden has invited to join her at the State of the Union address. CNN's story is here.

Good Luck with That, Mike! Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is urging GOP lawmakers to maintain decorum when President Biden delivers his State of the Union address Thursday night, after Republicans had a number of outbursts during last year's speech. Johnson made the request during a closed-door GOP conference meeting Wednesday morning, three Republican lawmakers who attended the gathering told The Hill.... [Republicans' bad behavior] was on full display last year, when some GOP lawmakers heckled the president throughout his speech in the House chamber.... The heckling about Social Security and Medicare led to an unusual back-and-forth between Biden and his Republican critics, which prompted an agreement from individuals in the room that the two programs should remain intact. 'Well, I'm glad to see -- and now, I tell you, I enjoy conversion,' Biden said, prompting laughs."

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "The House on Wednesday passed a $460 billion spending bill to fund about half the federal government through the fall, moving to avert a partial shutdown at the end of the week and offering the first glimmer of resolution to bitter spending fights that have consumed Congress for months. The 339-to-85 vote capped months of heated negotiations over federal funding that have repeatedly pushed the government to the edge of shutdown as Republicans pressed for cuts and conservative policies. It was yet another instance in which Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to steer around the opposition of the hard right and turn to Democrats to supply the bulk of the votes for critical legislation to keep the government running. The Senate was expected to take up and pass the bill easily, sending it to President Biden in time for it to become law before a midnight deadline on Friday." The AP's report is here.

Whatever Happened to Those Articles of Impeachment? Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "It has been nearly a month since House Republicans impeached [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas by a single vote, racing ahead with a case that constitutional scholars called groundless before Democrats won a special election in Long Island and wiped away the majority support needed to approve the charges. But instead of quickly sending the articles over to the Senate to try to force out one of the officials they blame for chaos at America's southern border, Republicans have sat on them.... They are taking their time before suffering that high-profile defeat [in the Senate].... The current strategy is to wait until Republicans and Democrats have finished negotiating and passing a series of spending bills, a process expected to last until a March 22 deadline, Republicans say.... Democrats see a pattern in House Republicans rushing to score temporary wins to satisfy their conservative base without thinking through how to achieve any lasting victories."

Presidential Race

Hawaii. AP & Star Advertiser: "President Joe Biden handily won the Democratic Party of Hawaii's caucus Wednesday night, but 'uncommitted' equaled nearly 30% of the votes tallied. A total of 1,563 votes were cast statewide, with Biden receiving 1,032, or 66%, while uncommitted took 455 votes, or 29%. Other candidates receiving votes were self-help author and spiritual guru Marianne Williamson with 50, or 3%, and U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips with 15, or 1%, according to the party. Two other candidates had single-digit vote tallies. Party officials released the results after 10 p.m. but did not release the delegate allocation because they were still waiting for results from Lanai Democrats."

Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: During an hour-long White House meeting, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) urged President Biden to more clearly define the contrast between Democrats & Republicans. "In an interview, Sanders said Biden has 'has a lot to be proud of' and that Biden should 'proudly talk about those achievements' but that the president should be far more focused on articulating a forward-looking agenda than he has been thus far."

Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) announced Wednesday that he would suspend his long-shot presidential campaign, giving up his primary challenge of President Biden after struggling to convince Democrats that he would perform better than Biden in a race against Republican Donald Trump.... Phillips acknowledged his campaign's shortcomings in an interview with local Minneapolis radio host Chad Hartman, saying that he endorses Biden.... After the series of defeats, Phillips acknowledged his lack of popularity, posting 'Congratulations to Joe Biden, Uncommitted, Marianne Williamson, and Nikki Haley for demonstrating more appeal to Democratic Party loyalists than me' on X ... on the night of Super Tuesday." (Also linked yesterday.) CNN's report is here.

     ~~~ Thanks to RAS for the link.

Kylie Atwood & Arit John of CNN: "Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announced Wednesday that she is exiting the Republican presidential race, leaving ... Donald Trump as the party's presumptive nominee.... Haley did not endorse Trump during her address. Instead, she called on the former president to earn the support of voters who backed her. The plan appears to leave room for her to endorse Trump ahead of the general election in November, sources familiar with her plans told CNN prior to her speech." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Trump Consolation Prize. Lisa Mascaro of the AP: "Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell endorsed Donald Trump for president on Wednesday, a remarkable turnaround from the onetime critic who blamed the then-president for 'disgraceful' acts in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack but now supports his bid to return to the White House. McConnell, who was the last top GOP leader in Congress to fall in line with Trump, declared his support in a short statement after Super Tuesday wins pushed the GOP front-runner closer to the party nomination. The two men have not spoken since 2020 when McConnell declared Democrat Joe Biden the winner of that year's presidential election. But more recently, their teams had reopened talks about an endorsement." MB: Now all the chickenshits have come home to roost. Nice to see Mitch confirm that he thinks this country merits nothing better than a "disgraceful" president*. (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.

AND, In an Effort to Unify the GOP.... Sarah Fortinsky of the Hill: "Former President Trump lashed out at fellow GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Super Tuesday, calling her 'crazy' and a 'very angry person.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ That was before Haley dropped out of the race. Just as she did so, Trump wrote this on his fake X platform: "Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion, despite the fact that Democrats, for reasons unknown, are allowed to vote in Vermont, and various other Republican Primaries." Via digby. ~~~

~~~ And this from the Biden campaign: "Donald Trump made it clear he doesn't want Nikki Haley's supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign. I know there is a lot we won't agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America's adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground." More here. ~~~

~~~ Dave Weigel on Semafor: "A super PAC that urged non-Republicans to cast primary votes for Nikki Haley is pivoting to November, urging Haley's voters to support President Joe Biden. Starting [Wednesday], Primary Pivot will become Haley Voters for Biden, and urge anyone who supported Haley in a swing state to stick with the president in November.... In a statement, Primary Pivot said it would focus on Haley voters in states where they could be counted -- nearly 300,000 in Michigan, and nearly 250,000 in North Carolina. The super PAC, which started by urging New Hampshire Democrats to temporarily switch their registrations, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to activate potential Haley voters in South Carolina and Super Tuesday states."

Brian Schwartz of CNBC: "A growing number of Republican National Committee members believe its campaign arm should help pay mounting legal bills for ... Donald Trump, a move that could strain the party's ability to financially support other candidates in the 2024 election. RNC Committeeman Solomon Yue, who is from Oregon, told CNBC he believes 'more than a majority' of members are in favor of helping offset the bills from Trump's lawyers in four pending criminal cases, and at least three other civil cases."

Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "Former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Toobin said that given Donald Trump''s poor credit history, the former president's only option for paying off his legal judgments may be to turn to foreign entities for financing." Toobin made the observation after CNN's John King told him, "Elon Musk said today that despite recent meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, he will not be donating money to either candidate." Toobin said, "What if he goes to Azerbaijan?.... What if he goes to Russia?... What does that mean if a candidate for president is on the hook for multiple, multiple millions of dollars to a foreign source? Because that, it seems to me, is the most likely source."

Marie: Donald Trump's consistent campaign pitch has been that only he will protect us from the murderers, rapists, drug dealers and criminals who are pouring into the U.S. via the U.S./Mexico border. While I don't doubt that a few criminals are crossing into the U.S., I'm more concerned about the crime wave involving or surrounding Trump himself. That is, what appears to be a scapegoating, fear-mongering campaign strategy is more likely Trump's well-known propensity to project his own shortcomings onto others. After all, a New York jury found him liable for what the judge in the case called rape. Trump's White House was awash in drugs, improperly dispensed by Trump's favorite doctor (and now Congressman) Ronny Jackson. Trump himself is charged with 91 criminal felonies. And now it turns out that a Congressional candidate Trump endorsed is wanted for murder (story linked below). So murderers, rapists, drug dealers and criminals? Check, check, check and check.

Conservative Amanda Carpenter in If You Can Keep It: "... Donald Trump ... and his MAGA allies are, once again, rolling out the red carpet for their favorite authoritarian, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. He'll be welcomed at the Heritage Foundation on Thursday and at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club on Friday.... For the MAGA movement, Orban is a model for retaking the executive office and then consolidating power to maximum effect. Like Trump, Orban was ousted by voters and then spent time out of office making plans to win the next election, get control of the levers of power, and abolish democratic checks in the system so he would never lose again.... Orban has now held power for 14 years and counting in a corrupt system of his own making that the European Parliament condemned as a 'hybrid regime of electoral autocracy.' [The Heritage Foundation's written] plans [for a second Trump administration] map almost exactly onto the strategies Orban has used to build an enduring, illiberal, nationalist, authoritarian state in Hungary."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Fox "News" accidentally gave Joe Biden a boost on Super Tuesday. Via the Daily Dot. Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

Thanks @FoxNews! pic.twitter.com/nHz7u5hkpa

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) March 6, 2024

Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court has scheduled argument for April 25 to review Donald Trump's claim that he is immune from criminal prosecution on charges of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The case will be heard on the final day of the court's argument calendar and will determine whether and how quickly Trump faces trial in D.C. for allegedly trying to block Joe Biden's election victory. The high court's decision to consider Trump's claims, rather than letting stand a lower court decision that he can be prosecuted, drew criticism for further delaying the election obstruction trial. It was originally scheduled to begin this week." Note from CJ Roberts to All Justices: Hey, I planned to set arguments for October, but Sonia threatened to make me a soprano if I did. (Also linked yesterday.)

Judd Legum & Tesnim Zekeria of Popular Information: "On Tuesday, billionaire Elon Musk told his 175 million followers on X that President Biden had committed 'treason' by 'secretly' flying '320,000 illegal immigrants' from Latin America to US airports.... The only problem is that nearly everything Musk said is a lie." Do read on for the explanations, including the sourcing of Musk's claim. He is as susceptible to disinformation he encourages on his own platform as is the dimwittiest of X users. Thanks to RAS for the link.

Julia Jacobs of the New York Times: "The armorer who put a live round into the gun that Alec Baldwin was rehearsing with on the set of the film 'Rust' when it went off, killing the cinematographer, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter on Wednesday. The conviction of the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, marks the first time a jury has weighed in at trial on the fatal shooting of the cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins."

Benjamin Mueller of the New York Times: A 62-year-old German man got 217 Covid shots over the course of 2-1/2 years -- and he's fine! "The man had seemingly never been infected with the coronavirus. He reported no vaccine side effects. And, most interestingly to the researchers, his repertoire of antibodies and immune cells was considerably larger than that of a typical vaccinated person, even if the precision of those immune responses remained effectively unchanged. The researchers found that even the 217th shot boosted the man's immune response. And while they were carefully looking for signs of a progressive weakening in his immune reactions over time -- an unwelcome type of immune tolerance that sometimes develops during long-term viral infections -- they reported seeing no such drop-off in responses."

Somino Sengupta & Delger Erdenesanaa of the New York Times: "Winter was weirdly warm for half the world's population, driven in many places by the burning of fossil fuels, according to an analysis of temperature data from hundreds of locations worldwide. That aligns with the findings published late Wednesday by the European Union's climate monitoring organization, Copernicus: The world as a whole experienced the hottest February on record, making it the ninth consecutive month of record temperatures. Even more startling, global ocean temperatures in February were at an all-time high for any time of year, according to Copernicus. Taken together, the two sets of figures offer a portrait of an unequivocally warming world that, combined with a natural El Niño weather pattern this year, has made winter unrecognizable in some places."

~~~~~~~~~~

Alabama. Praveena Somasundaram of the Washington Post: "Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) on Wednesday signed a bill to protect providers and patients doing in vitro fertilization from legal liability if embryos they create are damaged or destroyed.... The bill, signed into law less than three weeks after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are people and individuals could be held liable for destroying them, gives criminal and civil immunity 'for death or damage to an embryo' related to IVF. The unprecedented ruling alarmed medical professionals and reproductive rights advocates, who warned it would jeopardize IVF access in the state. Several Alabama providers halted IVF treatments within days of the decision."

Florida. Lauren Irwin of the Hill: "The Florida State Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would prohibit local agencies from implementing heat protections for workers. The GOP-controlled Senate voted 28-11 to pass the bill, which would ban cities and counties from adopting mandatory water breaks and other extreme heat relief measures that go beyond what is required by state or federal law.... It comes just after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed that 2023 was the hottest single year ever recorded. The summer season was also confirmed to be the warmest on record." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This sounds just like a bill Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed into law last summer. We know Republican elected officials despise women, especially sexually-active women. They hate LGBTQ+ people. They hate minorities. They hate East- and West-Coast "elites." They hate deadbeats -- including children -- who receive government benefits. But now they hate the people who are working in the noonday sun, the majority of whom are probably men, many of whom are white guys. So there's hardly anybody they don't hate. Why is that? And why do the people they hate keep voting for those who hate them?

Nevada/Texas. Sky Palma of the Raw Story: "An arrest warrant has been issued for a former Republican candidate for Congress in connection to a homicide that took place on the Las Vegas Strip last year that resulted from a fight inside a hotel room. Daniel Rodimer, who is also a former professional wrestler, has been charged with murder in the death of 47-year-old Christopher Tapp.... [Rodimer] unsuccessfully ran as a Republican for Nevada's third congressional district in 2020 and a Texas congressional seat in 2021." Erik Loomis, in LG&$, publishes a photo of Donald Trump giving Rodimer the thumbs-up.

North Carolina Governor's Race. Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: "On Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson won the GOP primary to become his party's nominee for North Carolina governor, presumably with the help of female voters. 'I absolutely want to go back to the America where women couldn't vote,' Robinson said in a newly resurfaced video of his remarks at a March 2020 event hosted by the Republican Women of Pitt County.... The North Carolina Republican's longing for the days when women couldn't vote ties into his history of demeaning women and mocking feminism, especially on social media. He's claimed that feminism was created by Satan. He's said that men who identify as feminists are 'about as MANLY as a pair of lace panties' and are 'weak mined, jelly backed men."' He's routinely referred to feminists as 'fem-nazis' and, in one particularly colorful post, described those who support equal rights for women as 'sexist, hairy armpit having, poo-poo hat wearing pinkos.' 'The only thing worse than a woman who doesn't know her place, is a man who doesn't know his,' he wrote on Facebook in December 2017." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I remind you that Robinson is the man whom Donald Trump believes is "Martin Luther King on steroids." Then again, we never had any illusions about self-professed and found-liable sexual assaulter Trump's opinion of women. ~~~

     ~~~ Frank Bruni of the New York Times has more to say about Robinson & Trump, including stuff we didn't know. Like this: "As a devastating article by Jeffrey Billman in the North Carolina publication The Assembly detailed in January, Robinson has been delinquent on taxes and repeatedly filed for bankruptcy, and his wife, Yolanda Hill, has prospered from the acquisition -- and then forgiveness -- of Covid-era Paycheck Protection Program loans from the federal government."

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Hamas said in a statement Thursday that its delegation has left cease-fire negotiations in Cairo 'to consult with the leadership of the movement' on issues including aid and the return of displaced people. Egyptian state media reported that talks would resume next week. Pressure is growing on parties to reach a cease-fire deal as the Islamic holy month of Ramadan approaches early next week. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters Wednesday that he was still optimistic a deal could be reached.... Houthi militants struck a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned commercial vessel off the coast of Yemen on Wednesday, killing three civilian mariners, U.S. officials said -- the first known fatalities since the Houthis began targeting ships in what they describe as a response to Israel's actions in Gaza. At least four people were injured in the Houthi missile attack on the True Confidence ship, said U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the region. The United States conducted self-defense strikes Wednesday evening against two unmanned aerial vehicles that threatened U.S. Navy and maritime vessels in the Gulf of Aden area." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Thursday are here. CNN's live updates are here.

News Lede

New York Times: "A specialized laboratory examining the brain of the gunman who committed Maine's deadliest mass shooting found profound brain damage of the kind that has been seen in veterans exposed to repeated blasts from weapons use. The lab's findings were included in an autopsy report that was compiled by the Maine chief medical examiner's office and released by the gunman's family. The gunman, Robert Card, was a grenade instructor in the Army Reserve. In 2023, after eight years of being exposed to thousands of skull-shaking blasts on the training range, he began hearing voices and was stalked by paranoid delusions, his family said. He grew increasingly erratic and violent in the months before the October rampage in Lewiston, in which he killed 18 people and then himself."

The Conversation -- March 6, 2024

Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court has scheduled argument for April 25 to review Donald Trump's claim that he is immune from criminal prosecution on charges of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The case will be heard on the final day of the court's argument calendar and will determine whether and how quickly Trump faces trial in D.C. for allegedly trying to block Joe Biden's election victory. The high court's decision to consider Trump's claims, rather than letting stand a lower court decision that he can be prosecuted, drew criticism for further delaying the election obstruction trial. It was originally scheduled to begin this week." Note from CJ Roberts to All Justices: Hey, I planned to set arguments for October, but Sonia threatened to make me a soprano if I did.

Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) announced Wednesday that he would suspend his long-shot presidential campaign, giving up his primary challenge of President Biden after struggling to convince Democrats that he would perform better than Biden in a race against Republican Donald Trump.... Phillips acknowledged his campaign's shortcomings in an interview with local Minneapolis radio host Chad Hartman, saying that he endorses Biden.... After the series of defeats, Phillips acknowledged his lack of popularity, posting 'Congratulations to Joe Biden, Uncommitted, Marianne Williamson, and Nikki Haley for demonstrating more appeal to Democratic Party loyalists than me' on X ... on the night of Super Tuesday."

Kylie Atwood & Arit John of CNN: "Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announced Wednesday that she is exiting the Republican presidential race, leaving ... Donald Trump as the party's presumptive nominee.... Haley did not endorse Trump during her address. Instead, she called on the former president to earn the support of voters who backed her. The plan appears to leave room for her to endorse Trump ahead of the general election in November, sources familiar with her plans told CNN prior to her speech." ~~~

~~~ Trump Consolation Prize. Lisa Mascaro of the AP: "Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell endorsed Donald Trump for president on Wednesday, a remarkable turnaround from the onetime critic who blamed the then-president for 'disgraceful' acts in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack but now supports his bid to return to the White House. McConnell, who was the last top GOP leader in Congress to fall in line with Trump, declared his support in a short statement after Super Tuesday wins pushed the GOP front-runner closer to the party nomination. The two men have not spoken since 2020 when McConnell declared Democrat Joe Biden the winner of that year's presidential election. But more recently, their teams had reopened talks about an endorsement." MB: Now all the chickenshits have come home to roost. Nice to see Mitch confirm that he thinks this country merits nothing better than a "disgraceful" president*.

AND, In an Effort to Unify the GOP.... Sarah Fortinsky of the Hill: "Former President Trump lashed out at fellow GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Super Tuesday, calling her 'crazy' and a 'very angry person.'"

~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Primary Races
(by state in alpha order)

Shane Goldmacher & Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump rolled up victories across the country on Super Tuesday, and by the end of the evening it was clear that the former president had left Nikki Haley in the delegate dust. Mr. Trump's coast-to-coast wins -- in California, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and beyond -- brought a new mathematical certainty to what has been the political reality for some time: Mr. Trump is barreling toward the Republican Party's presidential nomination. But tucked inside Mr. Trump's often dominant statewide victories, there were still signs of vulnerability. He showed some of the same weakness in the swingy suburban areas that cost him the White House in 2020.... Here are five takeaways from the results[.]...

"Mr. Biden, who has had only nominal opposition for the Democratic nomination, also rolled to big-margin victories across the country: Alabama, Maine, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia, to name a few. By the end of the night, he swept all 15 states. But yet again there were flashing lights for a president who is struggling to rally the whole of his party behind him. With results still coming in, nearly 20 percent of Democrats in Minnesota voted uncommitted, in an apparent protest vote against Mr. Biden's support of the Israel military response to the Hamas terrorist attack of Oct 7."

The New York Times liveblog of primary races is here. Where not otherwise indicated the NYT entries are from the liveblog. The New York Times general results page, with links to state pages, is here.

CNN's liveblog of Super Tuesday night developments is here.

Democratic Races:

Reid Epstein: "In a statement that mentions Donald Trump four times in five paragraphs, President Biden said that the Super Tuesday results made clear the choice of the 2024 election. 'Are we going to keep moving forward, or will we allow Donald Trump to drag us backwards into the chaos, division and darkness that defined his term in office?' Biden asked."

Alabama:

NYT Results page: Joe Biden is projected to win the Alabama primary.

Arkansas:

Neil Vigdor of the NYT: "President Biden is the winner of the Arkansas Democratic primary, according to The A.P."

California:

NYT Results page: The AP has called the state for President Biden.

Chris Cameron of the NYT: "President Biden has also won in California, The A.P. said, taking the crown jewel of Super Tuesday contests. California will distribute 424 Democratic delegates."

Colorado:

Alyce McFadden of the NYT: "Colorado's Democratic primary goes for President Biden, according to The A.P."

Iowa:

Vigdor of the NYT: "President Biden won Iowa's Democratic caucuses, which were conducted entirely by mail this year and received little fanfare after the party changed its nominating calendar. The Associated Press called the race shortly before 6 p.m. Eastern time."

New York Times Results page: With 94% of the vote counted, President Biden has received 90.0% of the vote, Uncommitted 3.9%, Dean Phillips, 3.0% & Marianne Williamson 2.2%. Biden received 40 of the 40 Iowa convention delegate votes.

Maine:

NYT Results page: President Biden is projected to win the primary.

McFadden of the NYT: "The A.P. projects that President Biden will win the Democratic primary in Maine."

Massachusetts:

NYT Results page: Joe Biden is projected to win.

Minnesota:

Cameron of the NYT: "President Biden has won the Democratic primary in Minnesota, according to The Associated Press. It will be some time before we have the final vote tallies, and observers are watching to see how much of the vote will go to the 'uncommitted' ballot option, which had earlier success in Michigan as a vehicle to protest Biden's handling of the war in Gaza.""

Epstein & Nicholas Nehamas of the NYT: "With nearly 80 percent of ballots counted on Tuesday night, 'uncommitted' had earned 19 percent support, enough to send delegates to the Democratic National Convention. The number of protest votes in Minnesota suggested that dissatisfaction over Mr. Biden's stance on the war in Gaza had spread beyond Muslim Americans to progressives and younger voters."

North Carolina:

McFadden of the NYT: "President Biden has won the North Carolina Democratic primary, according to The Associated Press. He was the only candidate to appear on ballots. Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson failed to qualify in the state."

Oklahoma:

Cameron of the NYT: "The Democratic primary in the state was also called for President Biden."

Tennessee:

Vigdor: "President Biden also won in Tennessee, in the Democratic primary, The A.P. said."

Texas:

Cameron of the NYT: "President Biden also easily swept Texas, The A.P. projects, which will award 244 Democratic delegates."

Utah:

Cameron of the NYT: "President Biden has won the Utah presidential primary, according to The Associated Press. The state will distribute a modest 30 Democratic delegates."

Vermont:

Vigdor of the NYT: "President Biden won the Vermont Democratic primary, according to The Associated Press. It was the third victory of the night for the president, who has faced nominal competition for the party's nomination."

Virginia:

Chris Cameron of the NYT: "President Biden won the Virginia Democratic primary, according to The Associated Press. He had no major competitors in the race, but it is his first major victory of Super Tuesday. Virginia has 99 Democratic delegates."

American Samoa. This is hilarious:

McFadden of the NYT: "President Biden took his first loss of the Democratic nomination race, being bested on Tuesday night in American Samoa by Jason Palmer, a relatively unknown technology entrepreneur from Maryland, according to The Associated Press. Mr. Palmer was the only Democrat to campaign in the island territory, about 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii. Its residents are not eligible to vote in the general election. Mr. Palmer won four of the territory's six Democratic delegates, which are awarded proportionally to the final vote totals. Mr. Biden won the remaining two delegates. Dean Phillips, the Minnesota congressman, was the only other Democrat who appeared on ballots, but did not win any delegates." Here's more from the AP on Jason Palmer. ~~~

~~~ Update. McFadden of the NYT: "Jason Palmer did not win a majority of delegates in the American Samoa Democratic caucus Tuesday evening, but rather tied with President Biden. A rounding error in the party's results is to blame for the error. The two candidates each earned three delegates."

Republican Races:

** Maegan Vazquez, et al., of the Washington Post: "Nikki Haley, a former U.N. ambassador and governor of South Carolina, will suspend her presidential campaign Wednesday morning, according to several people familiar with her plans, leaving Donald Trump with no major opponents left on his path to becoming the 2024 Republican nominee.... Haley does not plan to announce an endorsement Wednesday, the people said.... By the end of the race, Haley's campaign had become a rallying point for the disparate anti-Trump forces in the party, including some wealthy donors, activists and others whose influence has been limited in recent years." A CBS News story is here.

Michael Gold of the NYT: "Despite dominating the Super Tuesday nominating contests..., Donald J. Trump gave a victory speech short on celebration or exultation and long on sinister evocations of what he portrayed as a grim fate for the country if President Biden is re-elected. 'We've watched our country take a great beating over the last three years,' Mr. Trump told supporters on Tuesday night at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Palm Beach, Fla. 'And nobody thought a thing like this would be possible.'... A somber Mr. Trump recited a meandering list of grievances, insisting that the nation was descending toward chaos under Mr. Biden's leadership."

Alabama:

NYT Results page: Donald Trump is projected to win the Alabama primary.

Alaska:

Victoria Kim of the NYT: "Donald Trump won the Alaska Republican caucuses late Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, beating Nikki Haley with 87% of the vote."

Arkansas:

Vigdor of the NYT: "Donald Trump topped Nikki Haley in the Arkansas Republican primary, according to The A.P."

California:

NYT Results page: The AP has called the state for Trump.

Colorado:

NYT Results page: The AP has called the state for Trump.

Maine:

McFadden of the NYT: "Donald Trump has won the Maine Republican primary, according to The Associated Press. Only yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states did not have the authority to bar Trump from running, prompting Maine's secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, to withdraw her ruling that he was ineligible for the primary because of his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol."

Massachusetts:

NYT Results page: Donald Trump is projected to win.

Minnesota:

Cameron of the NYT: "Donald Trump has also won the Republican primary in Minnesota, the A.P. said...."

North Carolina:

McFadden of the NYT: "Donald Trump won the Republican primary in North Carolina, according to The Associated Press. It's his second victory so far tonight."

Oklahoma:

Cameron of the NYT: "Donald Trump has won the Oklahoma Republican primary, according to The A.P., beating out Nikki Haley once again. Oklahoma has 43 Republican delegates, which will be allocated proportionally based on the final vote tally."

Tennessee:

NYT Results page: Trump has won the state's primary; with 3% of the vote counted, Trump has 81.4%, Haley has 15.5%.

Vigdor: "Donald Trump defeated Nikki Haley in the Tennessee Republican primary, according to The Associated Press."

Texas:

NYT Results page: The AP projects Trump with will the state.

Utah: Not called as of 11:45 pm ET. Update: Trump won, with 58% of the vote to 41% for Haley, with 54% of the vote counted. ~~~

     ~~~ "Chaos Ensued"! Emily Stern, et al., of the Salt Lake Tribune: "After dealing with significant voting system issues on Super Tuesday night, the Utah GOP shared its first numbers around midnight. With 66% of precincts reporting, the party said, Trump was ahead of Haley 57.1% to 41.8%, according to early returns.... The Utah GOP urged caucus attendees to pre-register through their website to make the check-in process go smoothly. But chaos ensued Tuesday night after digital systems crashed at multiple caucus locations. At several locations, lack of internet slowed down and even stopped the process, leaving attendees stuck in long lines, according to a Utah Republican source familiar with the issues who wasn't authorized to speak to media. Caucus-goers also had problems with the party's online system, further fouling up the voting process. At Copper Hills High School, those problems reportedly caused hundreds of potential attendees to give up and go home.... One couple who attended the Riverton caucus said they'd first gone to Herriman High School, were sent from there to Draper, and from there to Riverton -- only to be told that they should be caucusing at Herriman."

Vermont:

Vigdor of the NYT: "Vermont delivered an elusive and seemingly inconsequential victory for Nikki Haley over Donald Trump in its Republican primary, which The Associated Press called for the former South Carolina governor more than three hours after the polls closed."

Virginia:

Cameron of the NYT: "Donald Trump has defeated Nikki Haley in the Virginia Republican primary, according to The Associated Press, his first major victory of Super Tuesday. Virginia has 48 delegates, which will be allocated proportionally based on the final vote tally."

New York Times Results page: with 6% of the votes counted, Trump has 65.3%; Haley 32.6%.

~~~~~~~~~~

More on the Presidential Race

Two of the Most Corrupt, Abominable Rich Guys in the U.S. Conspire. Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "Donald Trump, who is urgently seeking a cash infusion to aid his presidential campaign, met on Sunday in Palm Beach, Fla., with Elon Musk, one of the world's richest men, and a few wealthy Republican donors, according to three people briefed on the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private discussion. Mr. Trump and his team are working to find additional major donors to shore up his finances as he heads into an expected general election against President Biden. Mr. Trump has praised Mr. Musk to allies and hopes to have a one-on-one meeting with the billionaire soon, according to a person who has discussed the matter with Mr. Trump.... With a net worth of around $200 billion, according to Forbes, Mr. Musk could decide to throw his weight behind Mr. Trump and potentially, almost single-handedly, erase what is expected to be Mr. Biden and his allies' huge financial advantage over the former president." ~~~

     ~~~ Marcy Wheeler: "... when Elon Musk flew to West Palm Beach the other day, it was to allow Trump to beg him for cash. Musk famously demands full board control in business negotiations; imagine how such a discussion would go with Trump's campaign team, who thus far have run a far more professional show than Trump’s past Presidential elections. Or, for that matter, Xitter under Musk's direction." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Lauren Irwin of the Hill: "The Republican National Committee (RNC) failed to earn enough support from states to bring a resolution to ban paying former President Trump's legal bills to a vote. Henry Barbour, who serves as Mississippi's national committeeman, confirmed to several news outlets that the resolutions he drafted that would have prohibited the committee from covering the former president's growing legal bills is dead."

** Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. "But Her Emails," 2024 Edition! Lucian Truscott of Salon: "First, whoever is in charge of the [New York Times'] polls is not doing their job. Second, whoever is choosing what to emphasize in Times coverage of the campaign for the presidency is showing bias. Third, the Times is obsessed with Joe Biden's age at the same time they're leaving evidence of Donald Trump's mental and verbal stumbles completely out of the news.... At a rally on Saturday night in Virginia, Trump confused Barack Obama, who left office seven years ago, with President Biden for the third time over the last six months.... You won't find that verbal stumble and the crowd's stunned reaction in the Times coverage of the campaign over the weekend. You'll have to read other publications ... if you want to learn how often Trump is losing his way mid-sentence at rallies and just mumbling incoherently. The Times on Sunday, however, had this headline ready for your morning coffee: 'Majority of Biden's 2020 Voters Now Say He's Too Old to be Effective.' It's another grab from the New York Times/Siena College poll they published on Saturday that is so outrageously flawed, a cottage industry has sprung up to pick apart its methodology and point out its glaring contradictions and straight-up bias." ~~~

~~~ Oliver Darcy of CNN: "The New York Times is facing a sustained wave of backlash. The Gray Lady has for several weeks been in the crosshairs of a vocal set of critics and readers who believe that Donald Trump poses a grave threat to American democracy and that the influential news organization isn't adequately conveying those stakes to the public.... The latest salvo in the now weeks-long stream of criticism against The Times burst into view over the weekend when the newspaper published a poll it conducted with Siena College that found a majority of Biden voters believe he is too old to be an effective president.... 'That they even asked this question is evidence of the bias -- the agenda -- in their poll,' Jeff Jarvis, ... [of] CUNY ... posted on Threads. 'Who made age an "issue"? The credulous Times falling into the right-wing's projection. This is not journalism. Shameful.... 'NY Times, did you ask your random voters whether Trump is too insane, doddering, racist, sexist, criminal, traitorous, hateful to be effective as President?'..."

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While Trump is Double-dealing for Dollars (i.e., trading ordinary Americans' rights & needs for cash) ~~~

     ~~~ Elizabeth Schulze & Justin Gomez of ABC News: "President Joe Biden on Tuesday touted his administration's latest effort to slash credit card late fees in a move that's estimated to collectively save families $10 billion every year. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule Tuesday that will cut the typical credit card late fee to $8 from $32. 'That's the average of $220 in savings annually for more than 45 million Americans who typically have to pay late fees. A lot of money,' Biden said while meeting with his Competition Council. 'We estimate banks are generated five times more in late fees than it costs to collect late payments. They're padding their profit margins,' he said."

Kara Scannell of CNN: "In a longshot bid..., Donald Trump is asking the judge overseeing E. Jean Carroll's defamation case against him to significantly reduce the $83.3 million jury award or grant a new trial. Trump argued that Judge Lewis Kaplan wrongly prohibited him from defending himself during his brief testimony and that warrants a new trial. In court filings Tuesday, Trump's lawyers said Kaplan erred when he stopped Trump from testifying about 'his own state of mind' and when he gave an 'erroneous jury instruction on the definition of common-law malice.' Trump's lawyers said the jury should have been told they needed to find that it was Trump's 'sole, exclusive desire to harm' Carroll.... Before the trial began, Kaplan restricted Trump's testimony, saying he could not deny raping Carroll or deny making the defamatory statements following a judgment that was already determined by a different jury in 2023. The judge made the attorneys preview what questions Trump would be asked and what his answers would be. In the end, Trump answered just a handful of questions."

More Charges Against Bribable Bob. Benjamin Weiser & Tracey Tully of the New York Times: "Senator Robert Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were charged with obstruction of justice in a new federal indictment on Tuesday, adding to the wide-ranging bribery and corruption charges they already face. Prosecutors accused the couple of trying to cover up a bribe by making it look like a loan. In the process, they lied to their own lawyers, who in turn inadvertently misrepresented the arrangement to federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York, according to the updated indictment." The AP's report is here.

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** Arizona Senate Race. Alexandra Marquez & Sahil Kapur of NBC News: "Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced Tuesday that she will not run for re-election this year, leaving the Senate after one term that saw her paint Arizona blue, leave the Democratic Party and play a key role in numerous legislative negotiations in a tightly divided Senate.... Sinema's decision paves the way for a tough and expensive fight for her seat -- though it will be more straightforward than the messy three-way contest she would have prompted by staying in. The leading Republican, 2022 gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, and the leading Democrat, Rep. Ruben Gallego, are already running hard to replace Sinema. In her video, Sinema said partisan warfare has carried the day." (Also linked yesterday.) A New York Times story is here.

Arizona. Jack Healy of the New York Times: "Gov. Katie Hobbs of Arizona vetoed a bill on Monday that would have authorized the state police to arrest undocumented immigrants. It was the first veto of the year from Ms. Hobbs, a Democrat who shot down a record number of bills passed by Arizona's Republican-controlled Legislature in 2023 dealing with abortion, elections, L.G.B.T.Q. rights and other hot-button issues." (Also linked yesterday.)

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Israel/Palestine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Wednesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Hamas said Wednesday morning that it will continue to negotiate through mediators toward a cease-fire deal, with talks underway in Egypt, and that it has shown flexibility in the talks so far. A day earlier, an Israeli government spokesman told reporters that Israel has put its 'cards on the table,' expressing hope for an agreement. A former Egyptian official familiar with the negotiations said the United States was putting great pressure on Israel to reach a deal.... The babies of 5,500 women who are due to give birth in the next month in Gaza are at risk of dying, the U.N. agency for children, UNICEF, reported.... Benny Gantz, a member of Israel's war cabinet and a political rival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Senate Majority Leader Schumer during a U.S. visit Tuesday. Austin requested Gantz's support for increasing humanitarian shipments to Gaza, according to a Pentagon readout. Gantz is due to visit the United Kingdom Wednesday." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Wednesday are here. CNN's live updates are here.

Ukraine, et al.

Jon Hudson & Tyler Pager of the Washington Post: "Olena Zelenska, Ukraine's first lady, declined an invitation from the White House to attend Thursday's State of the Union address, forgoing one of Washington's most dignified events and underscoring the complicated politics facing her war-torn country. The intent had been to seat first lady Jill Biden near Zelenska and Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died last month in an Arctic prison, according to officials.... Though [Navalnaya's] late husband is widely hailed as an anticorruption icon who risked his life to oppose Putin, Navalny's legacy in Ukraine is clouded by past statements that Crimea, which Putin annexed in 2014, belonged to Russia. Even though Navalny's views later evolved into support for Ukraine's internationally recognized 1991 borders, many Ukrainians view him as out of step with Kyiv's goals.... Navalnaya also declined to attend Biden's address, according her spokeswoman, who cited fatigue as a factor."

Adam Taylor of the Washington Post: "The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants Tuesday for two Russian military leaders in connection with alleged war crimes in Ukraine. The court said in a statement that it issued warrants for Lt. Gen. Sergei Ivanovich Kobylash and Adm. Viktor Kinolayevich Sokolov. At the time of the alleged crimes, Kobylash was the commander of long-range aviation of the aerospace force in the Russian armed forces, while Sokolov was commander of the Russian navy's Black Sea fleet. The court's pretrial chamber found that the 'two suspects bear responsibility for missile strikes carried out by the forces under their command against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure from at least 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023,' the ICC said in the statement."