Donald Trump has angrily posted that the “lamestream network media” refused to cover his “BIG, IMPORTANT” and “STARTLING” rally in the Bronx on Thursday, despite it being covered by almost all news outlets.
During his remarks at the rally — his first in New York state for eight years — he made the extraordinary claim that China is building a migrant sleeper cell army within the US. The Republican presidential candidate also told the crowd at Crotona Park in the South Bronx: “If a New Yorker can’t save this country, no one can.”
Mr Trump declared he was “thrilled” to be back campaigning in the city, which he modestly claimed to have “helped build”.
He also promised a major mass deportation operation should he regain the Oval Office, pledged to indemnify police officers against prosecution, and praised Hungary’s “strongman” Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
It comes after another big week for the former president in the courts.
Manhattan prosecutors and defense attorneys rested their cases in his high-profile hush money trial ahead of closing arguments on Tuesday while a Florida pre-trial hearing into the classified documents against him collapsed into a chaotic shouting match.
Veepstakes: New frontrunner emerges to be Trump running mate — it’s not who you’d think…
Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC:
Former president Donald Trump is reportedly considering Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton to be the Republican nominee for vice president in this year’s general election, a move that could outrage some Democrats but would bring an experienced, low-drama personality onto the GOP ticket.
According to The New York Times, Mr Trump began discussing Mr Cotton as a vice presidential contender in recent weeks, adding to a mix of candidates that include three other Republicans from the upper chamber: Marco Rubio of Florida, Tim Scott of South Carolina and Ohio’s JD Vance.
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2024 12:45
Was Trump ‘hotter’ before or after being president?
He really did ask the crowd at his Bronx rally this.
James Liddell has the story:
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2024 10:45
Hush money trial: Could Trump see the inside of a prison cell?
But what would his imprisonment look like?
What would jail be like for Donald Trump?
Imprisoning a former president would involve major planning, including a workaround for his Secret Service detail, as well as accommodations for where he might be held and what he might eat and wear
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2024 08:45
Hush money trial: Stephen Colbert takes jab at Trump over ego-boosting tactic
Throughout his trial – with the former president denying all charges – Mr Trump has spoken to reporters outside the courthouse, often been armed with a stack of print-outs in hand to aid his remarks.
On Thursday’s Late Show, Colbert asks his audience if they know about “those weird pieces of paper that Donald Trump always carries around and reads flattering quotes about him from?”
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2024 06:45
Garland refutes Trump’s ‘false and extremely dangerous’ assassination attempt lie
John Bowden reports from Washington, DC:
Mr Trump made the claim on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday after newly unsealed court filings showed that four additional classified documents were discovered in the former president’s bedroom in the months following the initial search.
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2024 04:45
Hush money trial: What does the prosecution need to prove?
The former president is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records – misdemeanor crimes on their own, but “stepped up” to more serious felony charges that Mr Trump committed fraud with the intent to commit or conceal another crime.
Next week, New York Justice Juan Merchan will give jurors crucial instructions that will frame how they think about the testimony and evidence, and they will start deliberating as soon as 29 May, setting in motion what could potentially be the first-ever criminal verdict against a US president.
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2024 02:45
Watch: Trump claims he will win New York and ‘take over the country’
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2024 02:15
Hush money trial: Comey says ‘zero chance of an acquittal’ for Trump
Former FBI director James Comey says that there is “zero chance” that Donald Trump will be acquitted by the jury in his New York City hush money trial.
“There’s an overwhelming chance of a conviction, a significant, but much smaller chance, of a hung jury and zero chance of an acquittal,” Mr Comey told host NewsNation Dan Abrams on Wednesday.
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2024 01:45
Watch: Jeffries says ‘everything we care about’ is on ballot in November
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2024 00:45
How big was Trump’s Bronx rally?
How big was Donald Trump’s first rally in New York state in eight years?
While there are supporters on social media claiming somewhere between 30,000-40,000 people showed up, they are either lying or being willfully misled.
For starters, the permit was for 3,500 people. Second, here’s an aerial shot, with Mr Trump on the stage and the local news report from which it was taken:
That’s a lot of green space left to fill.
The part of the Bronx in which Crotona Park sits is the tenth most Democrat constituency in the country.
US Rep Ritchie Torres was blunt about what he saw in the crowd that did attend, noting that many appeared to be “transplants” from outside the district.
An estimated 30,000 people showed up to see the former president at Wildwood on the Jersey Shore on May 11, though wild estimates circulated that the crowd was nearer 80,000-100,000. This turned out to be an estimate of the number of visitors to the town that day, not attendees of the rally.
Oliver O’Connell25 May 2024 00:15