Latest news with #StateOfTheUnion
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Jeffries says Americans ‘aren't interested in bending the knee to a wannabe king'
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Sunday that Americans 'aren't interested in bending the knee to a wannabe king,' referring to President Trump. 'Donald Trump has learned an important lesson, the American people aren't interested in bending the knee to a wannabe king,' Jeffries said on CNN's 'State of the Union' to the outlet's Dana Bash. 'It's the reason why Donald Trump actually is the most unpopular president at this point of a presidency in American history,' he added. The president's approval rating currently sits at 45.9 percent in the Decision Desk/The Hill polling average, with 51.7 percent in the average not backing the president. The president recently went through consistent drops in his approval ratings, but his approval rating in the Decision Desk/The Hill average now sits above 2 points higher than it was at the start of May. Trump and his administration have taken swift action on issues such as how the federal government functions, immigration, trade policy, and LGBTQ rights in his first few months since returning to Washington. The action has drawn pushback from those on the American left and Democrats, but Democrats have also been criticized for a perceived lack of response to Trump administration moves. 'Democrats, of course, are the party that is determined to make life more affordable for everyday Americans, for hardworking American taxpayers,' Jeffries said Sunday. Republican strategist Karl Rove said in a recent opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal that President Trump's tariff rhetoric could cost the GOP its majorities in Congress. 'Republicans should hope the president really believes in reciprocity—the policy that if countries lower their tariffs, we'll lower ours. He should have confidence that America can compete if the playing field is level,' he added. The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
CNN guest makes very unfortunate Joe Biden prediction hours before former president's cancer diagnosis
A top confidant of Joe Biden 's took to CNN to argue that the former president could have served a second term - only hours before Biden announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn made the ill-timed remarks to CNN 's Jake Tapper on State of the Union Sunday morning, while casting doubt on accounts of Biden's mental decline. Biden's office would later issue a statement that saying an 'aggressive form' of prostate cancer had metastasized to the point where it had spread throughout the former president's bones. Speaking to Tapper on Sunday morning, Clyburn, 84, insisted his friend could have stayed in office through 2029. 'I talked to him on the telephone very often,' the long-serving South Carolina Democrat said. 'And I never saw anything that I thought was outside of the ordinary.' Tapper asked Clyburn if he thought that Biden 'really would have been able to perform as president all the way through January 2029?' 'Yes, I thought that back then,' the congressman replied. 'I still think that.' Tapper and political reporter Alex Thompson' spoke to some 200 sources for their new book, Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again. Among them were multiple Biden advisors who expressed alarm or came forward with anecdotes detailing the former president's memory lapses in the buildup to the 2024 election - accounts Clyburn dismissed as fiction. 'The fact of the matter is, I saw Biden often,' Clyburn told Tapper on Sunday. 'I never saw anything I thought was unusual,' he continued. 'I never saw anything that allowed me to think that Joe Biden was not able to do the job.' Clyburn - who last year received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Biden at the White House - admitted to being 'concerned' by Biden's debate performance against Donald Trump last year. 'A lot of us were a bit concerned about his schedule in the run-up to the debate,' he said. Clyburn chalked the performance up to factors beyond the president's control, calling it the result of 'preparation overload' brought on by his aides. 'They were cramming at the end, into a four- or five-day period, [all of the] preparation for the debate,' the congressman said. 'The question is, is this a condition, or is this an incident?' he asked. 'These kinds of concerns are out there, but none of us thought that there was anything here that created any suspicions of any prolonged condition.' Axios, the news site that employs Thompson, on Friday published new audio from a 2023 meeting between Biden and his special counsel, Robert Hur, who had been investigating the commander-in-chief's handling of classified documents. It suggested Biden had been experiencing at least some difficulty answering simple questions and important dates, including some surrounding the death of his son, Beau. Clyburn told Tapper that he did not view the recordings as a cause for concern, and that Biden's cognitive capabilities were as strong as ever. Tapper asked whether Clyburn believed his party's current 'low standing' stems from similar stances within the party. 'It very well could have. I haven't looked at the numbers behind the numbers to come to any conclusion as to what exactly is going on here,' the congressman replied. 'I have talked to people, talked to students,' he continued. 'And people still feel that Joe Biden had the capacity to do the work that needed to be done. 'They still feel that Joe Biden was a good president. And I do as well.' He added: 'But these people are also concerned when they look back at those tapes, they remember the debate. I have no way of knowing which one is true.' Hours later, Biden officials revealed the cancer diagnosis. The cancer had already metastasized and spread to his bones, the statement said.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Abcarian: America was gaslit by the arrogance of Joe Biden and his enablers
In March 2024, I wrote a column about President Biden's State of the Union speech with a confident headline that made perfect sense to me at the time: 'Chill out, my fellow Americans. Your president isn't cognitively impaired.' Boy was I wrong. For months, critics and supporters had been raising pointed questions about the president's physical health and intellectual acuity. Had he won the November election, after all, he would have been the oldest president in American history. (Since he lost, that honor goes to the current White House occupant.) But during his hourlong speech to Congress, Biden had sparred repeatedly with Republican hecklers. He was on his game. Democrats were relieved. Having watched Trump raise spurious questions during the 2016 campaign about Hillary Clinton's health —particularly after she was visibly ill at a 9/11 ceremony in Manhattan — I thought Republicans were harping on the issue of Biden's age more as a tactic than anything else. It was a good distraction, considering that his opponent, then-former President Trump, was only a few years younger and given to rambling incoherence himself. Read more: Abcarian: Finally, a 'beautiful' Trump tariff move? Republicans may have exaggerated Biden's issues, but they were, as we soon learned, in the main, correct. By the time the president stood slack-jawed and confused on a debate stage with Trump only three months after his triumphant State of the Union address, it was clear that something was very, very wrong. The debate stage can be a cruel place, and with no prepared speech loaded onto a teleprompter, Biden was suddenly naked in the spotlight. It was not a pretty sight, and suddenly, he was no longer a tenable presidential candidate. But why are we talking about this old news when we have a president flouting every ethical norm of his office, wantonly violating the Constitution and cozying up to murderous dictators such as Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince whom the CIA concluded had ordered the 2018 killing and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist and Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi? Biden is back in the news thanks to 'Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,' by longtime CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios White House correspondent Alex Thompson. The book, whose subtitle says it all, has been excerpted in the New Yorker and reviewed by other publications. Its publication date is Tuesday. Read more: Abcarian: Another Big Lie: RFK Jr. wants to make America healthy again I tried to get my hands on a copy, but the publishing house blew me off. In any case, so much of the book's insider information has been made available that it is possible to make a convincing case, even from a distance, that Biden's insistence on running for a second term, despite his promise to be a one-term 'bridge,' and his belated decision to drop out, is how we got to where we are today: in the grip of a chaotic, despotic self-dealing president who is turning the Constitution on its head. Heckuva job, Joe! I was as surprised as anyone that Biden became the nominee in 2020. I recall watching him stump in Iowa, certain that he was too old for the job. Onstage, he was shouty, his voice rising and falling for no particular reason — 'mistaking volume for passion,' as I wrote back then. Read more: Abcarian: The government's pronatalism warps family values And yet, for all his faults, gaffes and frailties, I would still prefer an impaired Biden to the corrupt felon who currently occupies the Oval Office. Those who have read 'Original Sin' say that it does not contain any bombshells. What it offers is a detailed account of the systematic effort by family and advisors to conceal the truth from the American people, and calls out the cowardly Democratic leaders who knew Biden was not up to a second term but were afraid to cross him. As the Washington Post put it in its review: 'The book is a damning account of an elderly, egotistical president shielded from reality by a slavish coterie of loyalists and family members united by a shared, seemingly ironclad sense of denial and a determination to smear anyone who dared to question the president's fitness for office as a threat to the republic covertly working on behalf of Trump.' Read more: Calmes: Will the Qatar gift to Trump fly? Co-author Thompson, as it happens, was one of the few mainstream political journalists to aggressively report on Biden's worsening condition and the struggle — you might even call it gaslighting — to keep it from the public. For that, the White House Correspondents' Assn. awarded him its top honor in April. In his acceptance speech, Thompson was unflinching. 'President Biden's decline and its cover-up by the people around him is a reminder that every White House, regardless of party, is capable of deception,' he said. 'But being truth tellers also means telling the truth about ourselves. We, myself included, missed a lot of this story, and some people trust us less because of it. We bear some responsibility for faith in the media being at such lows. ... We should have done better.' I take his point. We are now living with the consequences of our failures. @ and @rabcarian If it's in the news right now, the L.A. Times' Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Jill Biden lands new job following four years as first lady
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways Jill Biden landed a new job following her four years in the White House: leading a California-based think tank's initiative aimed at improving women's health. "From endometriosis to healthy aging, the White House Initiative on Women's Health Research made important investments in research and development, while making clear it will take collaboration across industries to bring these innovations to scale," Biden said, according to a Milken Institute press release published April 29. "I am honored to join the Milken Institute as we unite leaders around a shared mission: for women everywhere to benefit from the lifesaving, world-changing research we know is possible." The Milken Institute describes itself as a nonpartisan economic think tank based out of Santa Monica that focuses on "financial, physical, mental, and environmental health" to "bring together the best ideas and resourcing to develop blueprints for tackling some of our most critical global issues." Biden will serve as the chair of the think tank's new Women's Health Network. Biden, who is a teacher and holds a doctorate in education, focused as first lady on the Biden Cancer Moonshot plan to end cancer, the Joining Forces initiative to support veteran families and caregivers, and launching the White House Initiative on Women's Health Research. Jill Biden's State Of The Union Guests: Alabama Ivf Patient, Swedish Pm, Uaw President And More President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden in the East Room of the White House in March 2024. Biden joined the Milken Institute's 28th annual Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, Monday. Other notable guests who addressed the conference included Trump administration Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Trump administration Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz, the Los Angeles Daily News reported. Read On The Fox News App Biden's new role serving as chair of the Milken Institute's initiative will focus on "galvanizing participation, collaboration, and shared action in the Women's Health Network to improve women's health and wellbeing," according to the think tank's press release announcing the former first lady's new role. Former President Joe Biden signed a presidential memorandum in 2023 that launched the White House Initiative on Women's Health Research. Jill Biden led the White House initiative, which worked to beef up funding for and research into women's health. The Biden White House argued at the time that "TOO MANY medical studies have focused on men and left women out" and that too many of "the medicine dosages, treatments, medical school text books, are based on men and their bodies – and that information doesn't always apply to women." Jill Biden led the 2023 White House initiative on Women's Health Research, which worked to beef up funding for and research into women's health. Jill Biden said during Milken's conference Monday that her husband had been eager to "infuse" the "federal government with money" when they launched the White House women's health initiative in 2023. "So one of the things we did was we got to work right away," Jill Biden said during the Milken Institute conference Monday. "Joe said, 'You know, let's infuse – really, the federal government with money.' In one year, we put in $1 billion to advance women's research." "And we worked a lot through the (National Institutes of Health) and the way that they did research, and we made sure that they disaggregated the data and that they separated the research on women and men differently, and we worked with (the Department of Defense) DOD – they put a lot of money into women's research – and then we put a lot of money in to de-risk the investment. So there were a lot of things that, really, private equity wasn't willing to take on because it was too risky, and we thought, let's push this forward, and let's try to find answers more quickly." Jill Biden 'Stunned' Joe's Family During Health Scare, Marking Her Status As 'Full-fledged' Biden: Book Fox News Digital reached out to the Milken Institute Tuesday for additional comment on the former first lady's new role, but did not immediately receive a reply. Jill Biden's new role comes as political books recapping the Biden administration hit bookshelves nationwide, with several reporting that concerns over the president's mental acuity and age had gripped the administration. Jill Biden worked as a professor at Northern Virginia Community College from 2009 to December 2024, when she announced she wrapped up her final semester as her husband prepared for his Oval Office exit. Top 5 Revelations In 2024 Campaign Books, From Obama Working Against Harris To Biden's 'Out Of It' Demeanor Jill Biden's new role comes as political books recapping the Biden administration hit bookshelves nationwide, with several reporting that concerns over the president's mental acuity and age had gripped the administration across its four years. The book "2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America," for example, is set to be released in July and authored by three reporters from the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Washington Post, and reportedly details how Biden's team chose not to have the president take a cognitive test in February 2024 due to concerns that taking the test itself would raise more questions about his age. Another book, Chris Whipple's "Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History," reported that White House staffers allegedly kept Biden from socializing with others, including close allies and friends, out of fear the 46th president "might say the wrong thing or might feed the mental acuity narrative." Original article source: Jill Biden lands new job following four years as first lady
Straits Times
27-04-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
US' Rubio says Russia-Ukraine peace deal needs to happen soon
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration will spend the coming week deciding whether to continue as a mediator. PHOTO: REUTERS WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on April 27 that a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine needs to happen soon, adding that the Trump administration will spend the coming week trying to determine whether to continue as a mediator. "It needs to happen soon. We cannot continue to dedicate time and resources to this effort if it's not going to come to fruition," Mr Rubio told NBC's Meet The Press programme. "This week is going to be a really important week in which we have to make a determination about whether this is an endeavor that we don't want to continue to be involved in, or if it's time to sort of focus on some other issues," he said. Mr Rubio spoke a day after US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky met in Rome during the funeral of Pope Francis to revive faltering efforts to end Russia's war with Ukraine. Mr Zelensky said the meeting could prove historic if it delivers the kind of peace he is hoping for, and a White House spokesperson called it "very productive." Mr Rubio said Washington has held off imposing sanctions on Russia to allow diplomacy to work but warned that Mr Trump has options for dealing with any party that resists a peace deal. "If it doesn't happen, it doesn't come to fruition, then as a nation state, there are options that we have for those who we hold responsible for not wanting the peace," the secretary of state said. "But we prefer not to get to that stage yet, because we think it closes the door to diplomacy." US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on April 27 that he worries that Mr Trump will "cave in to Putin." "To just abandon Ukraine, after all the sacrifice that they made, after so much loss of life, and with the rallying of the whole West against Putin, it would just be a moral tragedy," Mr Schumer said on CNN's State Of The Union. Mr Schumer said siding with Russia in the conflict would tear apart alliances with Europe and embolden dictators around the world. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
