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Afternoon Briefing: Pritzker calls out ‘do-nothing' Democrats

Afternoon Briefing: Pritzker calls out ‘do-nothing' Democrats

Yahoo28-04-2025

Good afternoon, Chicago.
Gov. JB Pritzker sharply criticized fellow Democrats yesterday for not doing enough to oppose President Donald Trump, drawing a clear divide between himself and other high-profile Democrats seen as future presidential contenders. Pritzker delivered the keynote address at the New Hampshire Democratic Party's McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner, the latest and most high-profile in a series of speeches this year.
While Pritzker continued to attack Trump, he also focused on what he says are shortcomings in his own party, assailing Democrats for listening to 'a bunch of know-nothing political types' instead of everyday Americans. Without naming names, he called out Democrats 'flocking to podcasts and cable news shows to admonish fellow Democrats for not caring enough about the struggles of working families.'
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Original Sin: how Team Biden wished away his decline until it was too late
Original Sin: how Team Biden wished away his decline until it was too late

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Original Sin: how Team Biden wished away his decline until it was too late

Joe Biden mistook his victory in 2020 for a sweeping, FDR-like mandate. Officially, that was before age and decay caught up. Horrifically, for Democrats, in June 2024 a debacle of a debate against Donald Trump confirmed what Washington insiders had only dared whisper but what most voters had known: Biden should not have sought re-election. Less than a month later, he was out, replaced as Democratic nominee by his vice-president, Kamala Harris. Now, Trump runs wild and Biden's legacy is buried beneath a heap of unkind reporting – and bouquets of sympathy, after news of his cancer. 'It was an abomination,' one prominent Democratic strategist is quoted as saying by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson. 'He stole an election from the Democratic party; he stole it from the American people.' Tapper and Thompson concur. Over 350 engrossing pages, they deliver a stinging judgment, trenchantly written and well-sourced. 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Biden dismisses Trump inquiry into his cognitive decline as a ‘distraction'
Biden dismisses Trump inquiry into his cognitive decline as a ‘distraction'

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  • Yahoo

Biden dismisses Trump inquiry into his cognitive decline as a ‘distraction'

Joe Biden accused Donald Trump of 'distraction' after he launched an investigation into the former Democratic president's time in office, claiming Biden's top aides had covered up his cognitive decline and taken decisions on his behalf. Biden said in a statement widely emailed to US media that the move announced late on Wednesday came at a time when Trump was pushing a major piece of legislation that critics had said included massive tax cuts and huge slashes to social spending. 'This is nothing more than a distraction by Donald Trump and congressional Republicans who are working to push disastrous legislation that would cut essential programs like Medicaid and raise costs on American families, all to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations,' Biden said. Biden added: 'Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn't is ridiculous and false.' Trump has repeatedly attacked Biden over his actions in the latter years of his presidency, even going so far as to promote a conspiracy theory that Biden was executed in 2020 and replaced by a robot clone. However, there has been a broader focus on Biden's mental acuity and physical health, especially after a book co-authored by the CNN anchor Jake Tapper was published containing a detailed account of Biden's physical and mental decline as his presidency wore on – something the book said worsened as the 2024 election loomed. In that campaign, Biden was forced to drop out after a disastrous debate performance heightened concerns over his abilities and age. He was eventually replaced by his vice-president, Kamala Harris, who lost the November 2024 election to Trump. In his announcement of an investigation, Trump directed the counsel to the president, in consultation with the attorney general, Pam Bondi, and other officials, to investigate 'whether certain individuals conspired to deceive the public about Biden's mental state and unconstitutionally exercise the authorities and responsibilities of the president'. The investigation will center on Biden's use of the autopen to sign legislation. An autopen is a mechanical device that is used to replicate a person's authentic signature, and has been used by US presidents to sign executive actions for decades. Trump called Biden's use of an autopen 'one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history'. The announcement comes as Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act runs into high-profile opposition, as the US president and his political allies try to ram it through Congress. His one-time ally Elon Musk – who recently appears to have broken with Trump after helping him slash government spending – has called the legislation a 'disgusting abomination'. The bill includes about $3.75tn in tax cuts – extending the expiring 2017 individual income tax breaks and temporarily adding new ones that Trump campaigned on, including no taxes on tips. The revenue loss would be partly offset by nearly $1.3tn in reduced federal spending elsewhere, namely through Medicaid and food assistance. As a result, 7.8 million people would no longer have health insurance with changes to Medicaid, including 5.2 million from the proposed new work requirements on non-disabled adults up to age 65, with some exceptions, the analysis said. About 1.4 million people who are in the US without legal status in state-funded health programs would no longer have coverage. The Associated Press contributed to this report

Eyes on Senate Republicans as Trump and Musk feud over tax and spend bill
Eyes on Senate Republicans as Trump and Musk feud over tax and spend bill

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Eyes on Senate Republicans as Trump and Musk feud over tax and spend bill

As the simmering tensions between Donald Trump and his once top adviser, the billionaire Elon Musk, erupted into public view on Thursday, eyes turned to the Republican lawmakers still weighing whether to pass the president's so-called 'big, beautiful bill'. It was approved by just a single vote in the House of Representatives with no Democratic support last month, and nonpartisan analysts have found the sweeping legislation could add a whopping $2.4tn-$5tn to the $36.2tn US national debt and make deep cuts to Medicaid and food-assistance programs. Seen as an outline of Trump's 'America first' agenda, the bill would also extend tax cuts, fund beefed-up immigration enforcement and impose new work requirements for enrollees of federal safety net programs. In a barrage of tweets over its cost, which Musk warned would undo Doge's efforts to save the government money by cancelling programs and pushing federal workers out of their jobs, the billionaire called on conservatives to withdraw their support for the bill. Along with personal barbs aimed at Trump – including trumpeting support for his impeachment and signaling the president's ties to child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – Musk spent Thursday afternoon re-posting years-old quotes from the House speaker Mike Johnson and the Senate leader John Thune, when the Republican lawmakers spoke critically of federal debt. Musk's intense withdrawal of support for the administration has magnified a rift in the Republican party that was already threatening the bill's passage in the Senate. 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He knew it better than almost anybody, and he never had a problem until right after he left.' 'Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will any more,' the president said. The falling-out came days after Musk had stepped down as head of Trump's 'department of government efficiency' (Doge) and then pivoted to attacking the One Big, Beautiful Bill. Musk responded almost immediately on X, saying that the president's comment was 'false', and 'this bill was never shown to me even once'. He then pivoted to personal attacks on Trump, after praising him just days earlier in an Oval Office appearance to mark the end of his time leading Doge. 'Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,' he said, responding to a video of Trump's remarks. 'Such ingratitude.' Gabrielle Canon contributed reporting

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