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The Guardian
30-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump campaign chief claims he visited Australia to advise Liberals at start of election campaign
One of the architects of Donald Trump's 2024 victory claims he made an unpublicised visit to Australia to advise the Liberal party about 'structural issues' related to Peter Dutton ahead of the federal election. The veteran Republican strategist Chris LaCivita told undercover reporters posing as prospective clients for political consulting work he was working as a private consultant on the visit to Australia, not in an official capacity or as an adviser to the US president. Footage of the undercover conversations was published on Thursday by the Europe-based organisations Correctiv and the Centre for Climate Reporting. ''I was in Australia two weeks ago helping the Liberal party there, on some of their structural issues that they were having with Peter Dutton,' LaCivita said on 16 April in the first of two calls. Australia's election campaign began on 28 March. 'Things somewhat seem to be moving in the right direction there… those efforts are strictly political in nature and don't require me to engage with the United States government.' LaCivita told the undercover reporters in a second call on 24 April he made the trip without publicity. He contrasts this to media reporting about his paid work with Albania's opposition party. 'Never knew I was there,' he said, in reference to his claimed visit to Australia. 'I try to maintain a degree of discretion … it just it gives us a degree of freedom of movement.' A Coalition spokesman denied LaCivita had any connection to the Dutton campaign. 'Mr LaCivita is not advising, has never advised, and is not involved in any way with the Coalition campaign. Mr Dutton has not met with him. In a statement, LaCivita told Guardian Australia: 'I did not and do not work for the Liberal Party of Australia. I provide consulting to a wide variety of business interests – some in Australia some in the US etc in terms of a political party – I have not. 'Also, I have never met Mr Dutton, but I hope to when he is elected prime minister.' LaCivita was Trump's co-campaign manager in his successful 2024 presidential run, along with the current White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. Trump thanked LaCivita in his victory speech and LaCivita briefly took the microphone to thank the president, saying Trump was 'a hell of a candidate, and he's going to be a hell of a great 47th president'. Visits and knowledge-sharing between like minded political parties and consultants are not uncommon in election campaigns. Anthony Albanese has previously talked up ties with UK Labour. The ALP's campaign boss Paul Erickson offered advice to strategists working to elect Sir Keir Starmer ahead of the UK's 2024 election. Erickson was later invited to present at Labour's annual party conference. A US Marine veteran who received a Purple Heart for service in the first Gulf War, LaCivita helped craft the infamous Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign, considered a fatal blow for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in his 2004 race against George W Bush. Dutton has distanced himself from associations with Trump during the campaign after initially pursuing policies that nodded to parts of the US president's agenda – promising to sack 41,000 public servants, announcing a role for senator Jacinta Nampinjinpa Price in pursuing 'government efficiency', claiming students were being 'indoctrinated' by the school curriculum and denouncing the ABC and Guardian Australia as 'hate media'. During the second leaders' debate of the campaign, Dutton said: 'We trust the US. I don't know the president. I've not met him.' Labor has tried to tie Dutton to Trump-style politics as polling showed voters were increasingly uncomfortable with the actions of the US president, particularly following the implementation of trade tariffs. The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has labelled the opposition leader 'Dogey Dutton', referring to the so-called department of government efficiency (Doge) set up by Trump under the leadership of Elon Musk. Labor is likely to point to claims about LaCivita's visit as more evidence Dutton's agenda is being guided by the unpopular Trump, but it also signals close ties between the Coalition and key members of the president's inner circle, likely advantageous if Dutton wins Saturday's election. LaCivita's credentials within Trump's orbit are strong. Donald Trump Jr. called him 'a supremely competent nuts-and-bolts guy,' in an interview with New York magazine. 'He doesn't care about getting credit, he doesn't care about stroking his own ego, he only cares about getting the job done and delivering for my father,' Trump Jr. said.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - Dear Democrats: Stop thinking you are smarter than Republicans.
In 2004, I was on leave from the Marines and went to Ohio to visit a girl I was dating. It was right before the election between George W. Bush and John Kerry, and the Buckeye State was the swing state to decide it all. During a get together with several of her friends, some started remarking how it was unfeasible that Bush might win again. Why? Because he was 'stupid', 'dumb' and 'unintelligent.' One person even remarked about his low SAT scores and that meant she was clearly more qualified to be president than him. I was a bit baffled. Yes, Bush did the whole laid back, slow talking Texan thing and had a whole bunch of Archie Bunker-style malapropisms. But if you actually paid attention to politics, Bush was one of the most cunning and ruthless politicians ever to run for office. He could (and would) kneecap opponents by any means necessary. Look up John McCain in the 2000 South Carolina Republican primary or Kerry and the so-called 'Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.' Of course, Ohio and the election went to Bush. Democrats pulled out their hair and wondered how someone so 'dumb' could be president. Twenty years later, here we are again, not learning the lessons of the past. Democrats still have an air of superiority which leads them to vastly underestimate their opponents. This attitude has led to many baffling election losses in which they appear more inept than the party over which they claim intellectual superiority. Like many liberals, I have seen just about all the Jordan Klepper vignettes that he has done for 'The Daily Show,' going to Trump rallies and finding some poor souls to bait into saying incredibly stupid things. Of course, it is all edited and packaged to seem like everyone there is a nitwit, and it works. Klepper, along with other similar acts like Walter Masterson and The Good Liars have carved out a nice living making MAGAs look stupid. This act is nothing new. Jay Leno did it with the average American on the streets of Los Angeles. Jesse Watters did the same for Fox News, targeting liberals. And now, with TikTok, a whole slew of interviewers create videos intended to portray whole groups as stupid. Whether it be Americans, college kids, women, MAGA supporters or football fans, it works because it makes the viewer feel smarter. The problem is, we all buy it and then assume that this extends to everyone, in the group, including Donald Trump. As liberals, we need to be honest right now. We have treated everyone from Trump to Bush to Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) as imbecilic, then watched as they won elections and took control of the country. Maybe we need to start accepting that Republicans are just better at winning elections, and that we persistently underestimate them. One of the reasons they do this is because of education. Yes, a higher percentage of Democratic voters have college degrees than Republicans, which used to not be the case. But most Republican politicians, despite their attacks on higher education, came through higher education. Bush went to Yale and Harvard. Trump attended Penn. Vivek Ramaswamy went to Harvard, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to Princeton and Harvard, Peter Hegseth to Princeton and Harvard, Vice President JD Vance to Yale, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) to Harvard and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to Yale and Harvard. Even more Republicans went to top-notch state schools and have advanced degrees in law, business, policy and STEM fields. And while excelling at those schools, they learned a valuable lesson. Only they themselves need to be the smartest guys in the room in order to win elections. They are correct. By utilizing culture wars, populism, religious differences and faux patriotism, while building a distrust in education and government, Republican politicians are using their own educations to control government. It is about time Democrats shed the dumb Republican stereotype and start treating their political opponents as equals, if not as their intellectual superiors. Maybe then they won't be stuck on the sidelines trying to explain to their voters why they keep losing to the party they look down on. Jos Joseph, a Marine veteran who served in Iraq, is a master's candidate at the Harvard Extension School at Harvard University. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
10-02-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Dear Democrats: Stop thinking you are smarter than Republicans.
In 2004, I was on leave from the Marines and went to Ohio to visit a girl I was dating. It was right before the election between George W. Bush and John Kerry, and the Buckeye State was the swing state to decide it all. During a get together with several of her friends, some started remarking how it was unfeasible that Bush might win again. Why? Because he was 'stupid', 'dumb' and 'unintelligent.' One person even remarked about his low SAT scores and that meant she was clearly more qualified to be president than him. I was a bit baffled. Yes, Bush did the whole laid back, slow talking Texan thing and had a whole bunch of Archie Bunker-style malapropisms. But if you actually paid attention to politics, Bush was one of the most cunning and ruthless politicians ever to run for office. He could (and would) kneecap opponents by any means necessary. Look up John McCain in the 2000 South Carolina Republican primary or Kerry and the so-called 'Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.' Of course, Ohio and the election went to Bush. Democrats pulled out their hair and wondered how someone so 'dumb' could be president. Twenty years later, here we are again, not learning the lessons of the past. Democrats still have an air of superiority which leads them to vastly underestimate their opponents. This attitude has led to many baffling election losses in which they appear more inept than the party over which they claim intellectual superiority. Like many liberals, I have seen just about all the Jordan Klepper vignettes that he has done for 'The Daily Show,' going to Trump rallies and finding some poor souls to bait into saying incredibly stupid things. Of course, it is all edited and packaged to seem like everyone there is a nitwit, and it works. Klepper, along with other similar acts like Walter Masterson and The Good Liars have carved out a nice living making MAGAs look stupid. This act is nothing new. Jay Leno did it with the average American on the streets of Los Angeles. Jesse Watters did the same for Fox News, targeting liberals. And now, with TikTok, a whole slew of interviewers create videos intended to portray whole groups as stupid. Whether it be Americans, college kids, women, MAGA supporters or football fans, it works because it makes the viewer feel smarter. The problem is, we all buy it and then assume that this extends to everyone, in the group, including Donald Trump. As liberals, we need to be honest right now. We have treated everyone from Trump to Bush to Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) as imbecilic, then watched as they won elections and took control of the country. Maybe we need to start accepting that Republicans are just better at winning elections, and that we persistently underestimate them. One of the reasons they do this is because of education. Yes, a higher percentage of Democratic voters have college degrees than Republicans, which used to not be the case. But most Republican politicians, despite their attacks on higher education, came through higher education. Bush went to Yale and Harvard. Trump attended Penn. Vivek Ramaswamy went to Harvard, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to Princeton and Harvard, Peter Hegseth to Princeton and Harvard, Vice President JD Vance to Yale, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) to Harvard and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to Yale and Harvard. Even more Republicans went to top-notch state schools and have advanced degrees in law, business, policy and STEM fields. And while excelling at those schools, they learned a valuable lesson. Only they themselves need to be the smartest guys in the room in order to win elections. They are correct. By utilizing culture wars, populism, religious differences and faux patriotism, while building a distrust in education and government, Republican politicians are using their own educations to control government. It is about time Democrats shed the dumb Republican stereotype and start treating their political opponents as equals, if not as their intellectual superiors. Maybe then they won't be stuck on the sidelines trying to explain to their voters why they keep losing to the party they look down on.
