Latest news with #politicaldivide
Russia Today
3 days ago
- Business
- Russia Today
Musk proposes new political party after break with Trump
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has proposed creating the 'America Party,' marking a sharp shift in political strategy. The move comes after a public falling out with US President Donald Trump, whom Musk strongly supported during last year's election. Musk set up and funded a pro-Trump political group, donating over $260 million, and was appointed by Trump in January to co-lead the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasked with reducing federal bureaucracy and wasteful spending. In response to the growing political divide, Musk conducted a poll on X this week, asking his 220 million followers whether it was time to launch a new political party representing the '80% in the middle.' The poll drew more than 5.6 million responses, with around 80% expressing support. Musk declared, 'The people have spoken. A new political party is needed in America,' and proposed the name 'America Party.' The rift between Musk and Trump deepened after Musk condemned Trump's $2.4 trillion tax and spending bill, calling it a 'disgusting abomination.' Trump retaliated by threatening to cancel federal contracts with Musk's companies, including SpaceX and Tesla. The conflict spilled onto social media, where Musk accused Trump of ties to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and called for his impeachment. Epstein, a financier and convicted sex offender, was arrested in 2019 on charges of trafficking minors. He died in jail under disputed circumstances, sparking ongoing scrutiny of his connections to high-profile figures. Some Democratic lawmakers have suggested that Musk might pivot politically. Others, however, welcomed the falling out. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said, 'These two huge egos were not longed for being together in this world as friends,' calling the split 'long overdue.' The feud has also rippled through financial markets. Tesla shares dropped 14%, while Trump Media stock fell 8% on Thursday, recovering some of its losses the next day. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev humorously offered to mediate a 'peace deal' between Trump and Musk. 'We are ready to facilitate the conclusion of a peace deal between D and E for a reasonable fee and to accept Starlink shares as payment. Don't fight, guys,' Medvedev wrote in a post on X.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Automotive
- The Guardian
Musk and Trump are enemies made for each other – united in their ability to trash their own brands
The scriptwriters of Trump: the Soap Opera are slipping. The latest plot development – the epic falling-out between the title character and his best buddy, Elon Musk – was so predictable, and indeed predicted, that it counts as the opposite of a twist. Still, surprise can be overrated. Watching the two men – one the richest in the world, the other the most powerful – turn on each other in a series of ever-more venomous posts on their respective social media platforms has been entertainment of the highest order. X v Truth: it could be a Marvel blockbuster. But this is more than mere popcorn fodder. Even if they eventually patch things up, the rift between the president and Musk has exposed a divide inside the contemporary right, in the US and beyond – and a fatal flaw of the Trump project. Naturally, much of it is personal. That's why so many declared from the start that this was a star-cross'd bromance, whose destiny was only ever heartbreak. Even as Musk was declaring, back in February, that 'I love @realDonaldTrump as much as a straight man can love another man,' wiser heads knew it was doomed. The egos were too large, the narcissism too strong, for their love to survive. In the Trump universe, as in the Musk galaxy, there is room for only one sun. In their case, the personal combines with business. On this reading, Musk's disenchantment began in his pocket, his opposition to Trump's 'big, beautiful bill', or 'BBB', currently before Congress, fuelled chiefly by the legislation's axing of a $7,500 tax credit on the purchase of electric vehicles. With Tesla sales plunging, Musk needed that incentive to lure potential Tesla customers and was furious with Trump for scrapping it. That's certainly the story Trump is telling. 'I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted … and he just went CRAZY!' Trump posted. The suggestion that Musk's driving motive was profit seems to have particularly antagonised the billionaire, prompting him to call for his former paramour to be impeached and to claim that Trump is named in the Jeffrey Epstein files, in effect implicating the president in a paedophile ring. Musk wants to present his objection not as self-serving but as ideological, casting himself as the fiscal conservative appalled by Trump's 'disgusting abomination' of a bill because it will increase the already gargantuan US deficit by trillions of dollars. Who's right? It seems a stretch to argue that Trump's hostility to electric cars was the problem: as Trump himself pointed out, Musk knew about that when he jumped on the Maga train last year. As for ballooning the deficit, you can see why that would irritate Musk. Adding trillions in red ink makes a mockery of the 'cost-cutting' drive he headed up with his so-called department of government efficiency. The billionaire was already smarting from the failure of Doge to cut anything like the $2tn in spending he promised would be easy. All he succeeded in doing by, for instance, feeding the US agency for international development, or USAID, into 'the wood chipper' was to take the lives of 300,000 people, most of them children, who had depended on that agency and its grants, according to a Boston University study. Even if you are minded, charitably, to accept Musk's own estimate, he only shrank the federal budget by about $150bn. To watch as that effort was cancelled out by a $600bn tax cut to people earning more than $1m a year would be a humiliation indeed. Whatever its true cause, the Trump-Musk spat has illuminated a fault line in the right – and not only in the US. Battered and quieted by the Trump phenomenon, there still remain a few old-school conservatives with a vestigial presence in the Senate, for whom fiscal rectitude remains an article of faith. While Democrats oppose the 'BBB' because its cuts to Medicaid will deprive more than 10 million Americans of basic health cover, these traditional Republicans are queasy about the Liz Truss-style risks of a massive unfunded tax giveaway. Overnight, Musk has become their champion. Ranged against them are the forces of nationalist conservatism, embodied by former Trump strategist and ex-convict Steve Bannon. They don't have a libertarian yearning for a minimal state; on the contrary, they quite like muscular displays of state power. Witness Trump's insistence on a Pyongyang-style military parade to celebrate his birthday, and note Bannon's response to Musk's impudence in challenging the ruler – he called for Musk's businesses, Starlink and SpaceX, to be nationalised. Indeed, nationalist conservatism might not be quite the right term for what Bannon offers: nationalist socialism might be more apt, though something close to that has already been taken. There have been other manifestations of this divide. Musk opposed Trump's tariffs; Bannon is for them. Musk wanted to see the US remain open to high-skilled, tech-savvy immigrants; Bannon wants to shut the door on them. These, then, are the two camps. (You can see similar faultlines on the British right, dividing Thatcherite Conservatives from Reform UK.) For a while, the anti-woke loathing of DEI policies was strong enough to keep the opposing blocs – free traders and protectionists; deficit hawks and big spenders – together. But that glue, as Trump said of Musk, is 'wearing thin'. That has some serious implications for US politics and Trump's presidency. It is conceivable that Trump won't have the numbers to pass this bill, his central legislative goal, in its current form: the Republican majority in the House is wafer-thin, and one more defecting Republican could sink the proposal in the Senate. Musk has given would-be dissenters cover. The gazillionaire had promised to spend big to help Republicans in the November 2026 midterm elections. Much can happen between now and then, but Trump may now need to look elsewhere for a patron. Who knows, Musk might even follow through on his threat to fund the president's Democratic opponents. Even if he does not go that far, he controls a prime platform of the right: X could soon become hostile territory for Trump. The point is, Musk is not your usual Trump antagonist. He has as loud a megaphone, and more money, than the president. It all adds up to a sad tale of two men who once had so much in common – perhaps one thing above all. Each has been lucky enough to find themselves in charge of a brand that once enjoyed global admiration and clout – and each man has systematically set about trashing that brand in the eyes of the world. Musk has done it more than once. He bought what had become an admittedly imperfect meeting place of some of the planet's most influential people, Twitter, and turned it into a sewer of bigotry and lies, X. He built a company, Tesla, whose most obvious customers were high earners concerned about the planet and repelled them by association with a nationalist authoritarian who wants to 'drill, baby, drill'. Trump, meanwhile, has taken the US, once a magnet for talent from across the globe, and done his best to dismantle all that made it attractive: its stability, its protection of free speech, the independence of its institutions, the quality of its science and universities. This week's moves – the travel ban, the suspicion of overseas students, the war on Harvard – to say nothing of the ongoing hostility to democratic allies and coddling of foreign dictators, are just the latest instances of Trump doing to the US brand what Musk has done to Twitter and Tesla. No wonder Trump and Musk have broken up: they were always far too alike. Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist
Fox News
6 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Gingrich warns 'very profound cultural civil war' underway, says Democrats doubling down on 'weird values'
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich warned Tuesday of a "very profound underlying cultural civil war underway," touching on the great divide between the right and left, as the two sides of the political aisle seem to separate even further. "The American people are increasingly on the side of Donald Trump because they believe he stands up against the very values that are at the heart of the Obama-Biden system," he said on Fox News' "Hannity." "That system was racist," he continued. "It spent money like crazy. It believed in weird values, and I think the American people said no." Gingrich lambasted the rhetoric of former Vice President Kamala Harris and her 2024 running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, for being "shallow" and not having "a clue" about America while similarly broadening his scope to call out Democrats' reluctance to go back to the drawing board for course correction after last year's loss. Since that defeat, he says, the party has doubled down on extremism. "You have people who are out of touch with reality, so you're not really having a debate between two realistic systems. You're having a debate between people who believe in America, people who believe in the work ethic, people who believe in fundamental honesty [and] people who are nuts, and I think we don't have the right language yet to place these two debates the way they should be," he continued. "As a result, we actually allowed the other side to pretend," Gingrich added. Elaborating, he used the example of Democrats frequently claiming the "Big Beautiful Bill" will cut Medicaid for many deserving of help. Gingrich pushed back on that rhetoric, asserting that only illegal immigrants, those who refuse to work, and "crooks" will be affected by any changes. "The truth is they can't win any honest debate about any major topic," he said. "And Trump, like Reagan, understands how to pitch the issue in a way that people look up and go, 'Yeah, that's obvious. I'm with him.'"
Fox News
7 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Tomi Lahren Discusses Her 'Breakfast Club' Appearance and Reaching Across the Aisle: 'Dialogue is Important'
Tomi Lahren, host of Tomi Lahren is Fearless on OutKick and Fox News Contributor, joined The Guy Benson Show today to reflect on her appearance on The Breakfast Club, explaining why she walked into a hostile environment and how she believes the conversation helped bridge political divides. Lahren also ripped into California's willingness to cooperate with the Chinese Communist Party, even while defying Trump's leadership and his tariff plans. Guy and Tomi also discussed the rising violence tied to far-left and pro-Palestinian movements following a firebomb attack in Boulder, Colorado, and why she encourages Jews to practice self-defense and personal protection. Listen to the full interview below! Listen to the full interview below: Listen to the full podcast below:
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Newport teen to read award-winning essay at state's Memorial Day ceremony
Rogers High School Senior Grace Rochelle of Newport is shown on the campus of Notre Dame University where she plans to enroll in the fall. (Courtesy of Grace Rochelle) The 2024 presidential election had not happened when Grace Rochelle wrote an essay for her AP comparative government class at Rogers High School in Newport responding to the question of 'Is America Today Our Forefathers' Vision?' But her perspective on the growing divide between conservatives and liberals remains relevant four months into the second administration of President Donald Trump. Rochelle sees the lack of political and social connection and collaboration at the national, state and local levels as hindering the country's progress. Grace Rochelle will read her award-winning VFW Voice of Democracy essay as the featured speaker at the 51st annual Memorial Day Commemoration on Monday, May 16, at 1 p.m. at the Rhode Island Veterans Cemetery in Exeter. Listen to the audio version of essay here. 'I thought about the issues in America, and I don't really feel like we're in a place where we can be proud, I guess you could say, of where we're at because a lot of issues need to be resolved,' Rochelle said. History teacher Coleen Turner made the essay a mandatory assignment for her students and gave them the option of recording the essay and submitting it to the 2024-2025 Veterans of Foreign War Voice of Democracy National Scholarship Competition through VFW Post 406 in Newport. Rochelle, a competitive tennis player with three State and All-Division honors to her name, including 1st team All-State this year, was fair game. 'I thought I already did the essay, I might as well do the recording,' Rochelle, 17, a Rogers senior, recalled. 'It took a few tries, or more like 20, 25 tries,' she said. 'It was either too short or too long depending on how I was pacing myself. But I just thought you know why not? We'll see what happens.' What happened was the VFW Department of Rhode Island named Rochelle the state winner. She won a total of $2,000 in scholarships and received a trip to the 2025 VFW Washington Conference held March 2-6, 2025, in Washington, D.C. 'It was the best trip I've ever been on. It was cool to be around a bunch of different kids,' Rochelle said, adding she made several new friends. 'I got (to be) pretty good friends with Oklahoma and Guam and Louisiana and New Jersey. Those were the four girls I really clicked with.' Rochelle will read her award-winning essay as the featured speaker at the 51st annual Memorial Day commemoration on Monday at 1 p.m. at the Rhode Island Veterans Cemetery in Exeter to honor service members who sacrificed their lives for our nation. Gov. Dan McKee, the state's four congressional delegates and state office holders and lawmakers are scheduled to attend. The 88th Army Band of the Rhode Island National Guard will perform and Gold Star Family members will participate in the ceremony. Rochelle is the daughter of Brian and Carrie Rochelle, both Army veterans who served tours in Iraq. Her parents work at Naval Undersea Warfare Center where her mother is a contracting officer and her father is a contracts manager. She plans to attend the University of Notre Dame to study political science and economics, with hopes of going to law school and making a career in international politics and government. Her dream job is to become a diplomat for the U.S. State Department or the United Nations. I thought about the issues in America, and I don't really feel like we're in a place where we can be proud, I guess you could say, of where we're at because a lot of issues need to be resolved. – Grace Rochelle, 17, of Newport In discussing this year's VFW Voice of Democracy question with her comparative government students, Turner had them the ideas of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness emerging from the Declaration of Independence and the contradictions over the meaning of equality as applied to different demographic groups. 'It was a good question. It fit in well with my curriculum,' Turner said of the class which looks at six different countries in relation to life in the United States. Rochelle's award-winning essay takes a contrarian view. She argues that the U.S. has been weakened by divisiveness and that's not what the founding fathers envisioned at all. 'You go back to George Washington's farewell address and he warned about political factions and that's where we are as a society. We have political factions,' Rochelle said. 'I don't necessarily feel like they are a horrible thing, but what political parties do however, is make people close-minded from what I've seen a lot of times. People aren't willing to hear the other side and even consider the other side, and I think that's where the real issue comes.' The solution, she said, is to somehow bring people back to the moderate side of both parties. 'I do think the majority of Americans are somewhat moderate. They're the less outspoken ones and I think we need to be uplifting the voices of those who are moderates and giving them the bigger platform than people who are far left and far right.' Turner said Rochelle presented a 'unique voice and a different perspective.' 'It came out really well,' Turner said of Rochelle's essay. 'She's made us all proud. She's going to do great things.' By Grace Rochelle When answering whether America today is our forefathers' vision, there may be a variety of responses. On one hand, Americans are still some of the most passionate people when it comes to upholding liberties, democracy, and nationalism. But on the other hand, we have never been more fractionalized, and the divide between conservatives and liberals seems to continue to grow. I will attempt to navigate these complexities and demonstrate that overall, America today is not our forefathers' vision. The struggle to answer this question is mainly the stark differences between the late 18th century and the 21st century. Our forefathers could not possibly imagine the advancements we have today, especially when it comes to technology, transportation, and media. For example, Thomas Jefferson, a major proponent for privacy and freedom, may find mass surveillance and data gathering disturbing and unconstitutional. Furthermore, the further in time we progress, the more different our country will look compared to when it was founded. So how can we compare values from the late 1700s to today's? I believe that as time progresses, central values may also have to progress and/or change to better fit the people of the time. Next, we look into what the forefathers wanted for our country. The most important and main issue was independence. In Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary, independence meant, 'A state of being not dependent; complete exemption from control, or the power of others; as the independence of the Supreme Being.' I argue that today, we are greatly economically dependent on other countries through the trade of goods and services which goes against our Founding Fathers' vision. Dependency, such as our large debt to China and reliance on their goods, leads us to be vulnerable to instability if a country were to collapse or eliminate trade with us. Since World War I, the U.S. has taken a sort of overseer role in the world. As a global power, we always appear to aid countries in need, whether it be supplies or money. While this certainly is a morally good thing, it also can undermine what gets done internally. In addition to the question of our true independence as a state, many of the forefathers were very weary and against the forming of political factions, but today we have not been more divided as a country since the Civil War because of factions. The current split between the conservatives and liberals has seriously hindered the progress of the legislature in this country, divided not just the government but also citizens, and weakens the country's internal strength. The Founding Fathers knew the importance of unity, as they brought the 13 colonies together not just for the Revolutionary War against the British, but also to form a new country. They promoted and inspired nationalism in the colonies and preached that unity was vital to protecting America from external influences. With the constant stalemate we see in Congress, we have seriously fallen behind in making a budget for our country and addressing social and other important political issues. I believe the current disunity in this country is the complete opposite of what the forefathers hoped to continue for America. The internal conflict disrupts the nation's progress and displays our weaknesses to our largest enemies such as China, Russia, and Iran. Although America today has seemed to have fallen on a different path from what our forefathers were envisioning, we have always and will continue to have fighting spirits. When it comes to civil liberties and social issues, Americans are some of the most vocal out of any groups in the world. While this is one of the main causes for discontinuity, it does show the freedom and pride that people have to improve this country. In the beginning days of our country, the Forefathers wanted the people's voices to be heard, setting up a system to ensure that was made possible. Today we see that same system allowing citizens to protest issues such as abortion and gun laws, without prosecution. That system in the 18th century instilled a sense of identity and nationalism into the new American people and continues to do that in Americans today. Overall, America today is not our forefathers' vision, whether it be the issue of independence or political factions. And while we have fulfilled some of their manifestations, altogether the drastic difference in society now has prevented their vision from completely continuing. While I wouldn't expect America to be fully on the path of our forefather's vision, I do believe they would feel we seriously need to fix our current system, economically, socially, and politically. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
