The Conversation -- January 24, 2024

Monica Alba, et al., of NBC News: "The United Auto Workers union endorsed President Joe Biden Wednesday. 'If our endorsement must be earned, then Joe Biden has earned it!' UAW President Shawn Fain said in a lengthy speech before introducing the president at the union's conference in Washington.... Biden expressed enthusiasm in his remarks for UAW workers, saying, 'I've always believed that the union movement in America is important because it produces the best-skilled workers in the world. That's what happens. It's good for everybody. It's good for companies. It increases the quality of the job, the quality of the product. It's good for economic growth.... Tens of thousands of auto jobs were lost nationwide through Trump's presidency,' Biden said. 'During my presidency, we've opened 20 auto factories and more to come. We've created more than 250,000 auto jobs all across America.' In his speech, Biden alluded to his experience last fall when he became the first sitting president to join a picket line when he visited auto workers outside Detroit who were striking for higher wages and cost-of-living increases." ~~~

Alicia Menendez said on MSNBC that Trump lost in both Iowa and New Hampshire in the groups of GOP caucus-goers/voter who said (1) that Joe Biden won the 2020 election, and (2) that Trump would be disqualified if he were convicted of a felony. As Menendez said, one would hope that reality-conscious voters who don't think a felon should be the POTUS are the sort you would hope would participate in elections. MB: I couldn't find the polls on this, but I assume Menendez didn't invent them.

Today's New York Times liveblog on the presidential primaries is here. ~~~

Chris Cameron: "Nikki Haley was set to return home to South Carolina on Wednesday after her loss to Donald J. Trump in the New Hampshire primary, projecting optimism and determination to push on in what by all appearances will be an arduous road. She faces daunting and perhaps insurmountable challenges, lagging far behind Mr. Trump in polls in her home state and confronting growing calls from other Republicans to abandon the presidential race. Yet Ms. Haley, the former South Carolina governor, vowed to fight on, delivering a concession on Tuesday night in what sounded more like a victory speech.... Mr. Trump has also been lobbing increasingly bitter attacks against Ms. Haley in recent days, raising the possibility that the race could adopt a particularly noxious tone by the time votes are cast in South Carolina on Feb. 24.... On Tuesday night, he hinted that a new wave of vitriol could soon be trained in her direction, alluding vaguely to 'little stuff that she doesn't want to talk about.'"

Katie Glueck: "In a call with reporters this morning, [President Biden's] campaign officials sought to frame what they see as the choice in 2024: 'Donald Trump is running a campaign of revenge and retribution that threatens American democracy and our fundamental freedoms, while Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are running to move the country forward and make life better for working people,' said Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the campaign manager."

Maggie Astor: "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s campaign sent volunteers to polling sites in New Hampshire yesterday to collect signatures to put his name on the general-election ballot there. The campaign says it collected the 3,000 signatures that the state requires; local officials will need to review their validity before the secretary of state's office determines whether to include Kennedy...."

Nick Corasaniti: "A record number of voters cast a ballot in New Hampshire's Republican primary on Tuesday, according to a New York Times analysis of election data.... The total of more than 300,000 votes as of early Wednesday surpassed the previous high-water mark for a Republican primary, when more than 287,000 voters turned out in 2016. The previous record for either party was the Democrats' 2020 contest, with more than 296,000 voters, many supporting Senator Bernie Sanders of neighboring Vermont."

The New York Times' full page of the results in New Hampshire's Republican primary is here.

Marie: Most of the news stories about Trump's win mention how pissed-off he was that Haley did fairly well in the primary, then delivered an upbeat speech in which she vowed not to quit. But over there in Right Wing World, the Fox "News" headline is "Trump 'honored' by New Hampshire win, says Republican party is 'very united.'" ~~~

~~~ The Unhappy Insurrectionist. Steve Benen of MSNBC: "For speechwriters, remarks after a primary victory are an easy lift.... Candidates thank their supporters..., they express their appreciation to their campaign staff, they congratulate their defeated rivals, and they say a few words about the road ahead.... But [Trump] ... went in a very different direction.... During relatively brief remarks, the likely GOP nominee not only slammed Haley for appearing pleased about the primary results, he also referenced unnamed Haley scandals that 'she doesn't want to talk about' and even took aim at her attire. 'You can't let people get away with bull----,' Trump added. 'And when I watched her in the fancy dress that probably wasn't so fancy, I said, "What's she doing? We won."' The former president concluded, 'I don't get too angry, I get even.' On his social media platform, he was every bit as agitated, condemning Haley as 'DELUSIONAL!!!' for sticking around after losing. He added, 'Could somebody please explain to Nikki Haley that she lost -- and lost really badly.' For good measure the former president wrote, 'NIKKI CAME IN LAST, NOT SECOND!'... The irony of the circumstances is staggering.... Why, Trump effectively asked, can't Haley simply accept defeat? Self-awareness isn't among the former president's strong suits." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yes, if only Haley had had the grace to repeatedly complain Trump cheated, then complain there is a conspiracy against her (which apparently there is), then sue, then stage a coup. ~~~

~~~ The irony (and lack of self-awareness) doesn't end with Trump. In today's Comments, RAS writes, "When I hear Haley disingenuously attacking Biden by saying we can't have a Harris presidency I'm reminded that she is attacking and insinuating that a fellow Indian woman, Kamala Harris, is not fit for the job. But Haley is Republican so she has to signal to her people that she is as racist and misogynistic as they are. And Harris is a boogeyman the Right likes to attack because she is both puppet master pulling all of Biden's strings controlling everything and an incompetent affirmative active hire who is only in her position because of the color of her skin and because she is a woman."

Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: "More than 21 million people have signed up for health plans through the Affordable Care Act's health insurance marketplaces, the Biden administration announced Wednesday. The record level of enrollment comes as ... Donald Trump ... is again vowing to repeal the program if elected. Sign-ups in the health insurance marketplaces -- a jump of 5 million since last year and the third straight year of record enrollment -- were partly driven by states 'unwinding' pandemic-era protections in Medicaid, with millions of people culled from the safety net health program, said Biden officials and outside researchers. The enrollment figures reflect a roughly 80 percent surge in sign-ups for the ACA since President Biden took office in 2021 and expanded the subsidies available to consumers."

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Presidential Race

The New York Times has the results of the New Hampshire Democratic primary here. The AP called the race for Biden early on, but the results so far (at 10:00 pm ET) make it appear Dean Phillips (21.5%) is ahead of President Biden (14.3 %). However, 56.9 percent are listed as "Unprocessed Write-Ins." Presumably the vast majority of those unprocessed write-in votes will go to Biden. Update: At 4:00 am ET today, the tally is Biden (51.4%), Phillips (19.8%) & "Unprocessed" (14.2%). ~~~

     ~~~ NPR's report is here.

Here's the New York Times liveblog of developments in Tuesday's New Hampshire Republican primary. Results are here and on the NYT front page. Some entries & excerpts: ~~~

Shane Goldmacher & Reid Epstein: "Donald J. Trump defeated Nikki Haley in the New Hampshire primary election on Tuesday, continuing his momentum toward the Republican nomination and raising fresh questions about her viability going forward. Mr. Trump's victory [was] called by The Associated Press just as final polls closed at 8 p.m. Eastern.... On the Democratic side, President Biden triumphed in his party's presidential primary, carried by his supporters' write-in campaign after he declined to appear on the state's ballot following a dispute over the primary's timing.... Mr. Trump delivered a crude, bitter victory speech attacking Ms. Haley; her chief surrogate, Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire; and the state's primary process, which allows independent voters to participate in party primaries."

Katie Glueck: President Biden's "victory, called by The Associated Press, was good, if expected, news for Mr. Biden. But votes were still being counted, and the final margin of his win will be closely watched.... Before the vote on Tuesday, however, a memo from the Write-In Biden campaign emphasized the complex nature of the race and cautioned against drawing sweeping conclusions from the results. 'Write-in campaigns are very difficult, and Joe Biden's vote total on Jan. 23 will understate his actual support among New Hampshire Democrats and independents,' the memo warned.... The more consequential tests for Mr. Biden will come when he competes in the Democratic primary contests next month in South Carolina, Nevada and Michigan, and the Biden campaign will have to show it can mobilize its most loyal voters."

Maggie Haberman: "Haley is getting ahead of any Trump victory announcement by trying to frame her second-place finish as a victory."

Chris Cameron: "Haley has once again equated Trump and Biden as equally bad for the country: 'With Donald Trump you have one bout of chaos after another. This court case, that controversy, this tweet, that senior moment. You can't fix Joe Biden's chaos with Republican chaos.'"

Michael Gold: "Donald Trump is celebrating his win with a post on Truth Social: 'Haley said she had to WIN in New Hampshire. SHE DIDN'T!!!'"

Gold: "Trump does not seem to be pleased with Haley's speech, calling her 'delusional' on Truth Social and pointing out she came in third in Iowa. She trailed Ron DeSantis, who dropped out of the race on Sunday, by about 2,000 votes."

Gold: "Trump, in an exclusive interview with Fox News, said Haley 'should' suspend her campaign, saying 'if she doesn't drop out, we have to waste money instead of spending it on Biden, which is our focus.' Earlier today, he told reporters at a campaign stop that he would 'never ask anybody to pull out.'"

Glueck: "The Biden campaign has released a statement on the New Hampshire primary election, but it makes no mention of the president's write-in victory, turning the focus squarely on Trump and effectively declaring the general election underway. 'Tonight's results confirm Donald Trump has all but locked up the G.O.P. nomination, and the election-denying, anti-freedom MAGA movement has completed its takeover of the Republican Party,' read the statement from Julie Chávez Rodríguez, the Biden campaign manager."

Gold: At his victory party, "Trump is really knocking Haley. 'Who the hell was the impostor that went up on the stage that went before and claimed victory?' he said. 'She did very poorly actually.'"

Kellen Browning: "Trump is now taking shots at Gov. Chris Sununu, who backed Haley. He calls him 'very unpopular.'..." ~~~

[~~~ Marie: I don't like Sununu, but he is among the most popular governors in the U.S.]

Browning: "'You can never forget history,' says Trump, who has tried to paper over the history of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. In this case, he was referring to his debunked claims of fraud in the 2020 election." ~~~

[~~~ Marie: As Rachel Maddow noted on MSNBC, Trump falsely claimed he had won New Hampshire in the general elections of 2016 & 2020. (MSNBC carried about a minute of Trump's victory speech but cut it off after Trump started lying.)]

Glueck: "Biden has now released a statement.... 'It is now clear that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee.... And my message to the country is the stakes could not be higher.' He thanked 'all those who wrote my name in this evening in New Hampshire,' and added, 'It was a historic demonstration of commitment to our democratic process.' Biden also extended a hand to independents and Republicans 'who share our commitment to core values of our nation.'"

     ~~~ Marie: Oh thank goodness; people voting in the Republican primary in my little town went for Haley over Trump, 57% to 42%. Still, more than 600 of my neighbors are blithering idiots. Yesterday, I remarked that I had voted in New Hampshire, and that as tempting as it was to vote for Vermin Supreme, I wrote in Joe Biden instead. Glad I did because a fellow I talked to after I voted told me that Vermin Supreme has been running for 20 years, and he hasn't won yet. I guess people just aren't turned on by the thought of rat-topped pizza pies. Update: Now, I find out that, like many a low-information voter, I made a terrible mistake. RAS points out that I coulda hadda a pony: ~~~

Eric Bradner of CNN extracts five takeaways from the New Hampshire primaries. Donald Trump is pissed off. Nikki Haley says he's a loser. And more.

Daniel Dale of CNN: "... Donald Trump made several false claims in a speech Tuesday night after CNN and other media outlets projected that he would win the Republican presidential primary in New Hampshire. CNN also watched rival candidate Nikki Haley's Tuesday night speech in New Hampshire; Haley's claims were either accurate or too general to fact check. Here is a fact check of some of Trump's assertions."

Say Whaaaa? Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "President Joe Biden's campaign social media team pounced when ... Donald Trump slurred through an incoherent chunk of a rally speech and also appeared to commit a gaffe in which he quoted himself in the third person.... [In] a daffy chunk ... [of his speech in Laconia, New Hampshire, Monday night,] Trump describes the operation of the Iron Dome the way a fifth-grader would cut down cops and robbers on a playground.... During the already-bizarre chunk of Trump's speech where he waxes apocalyptic over a hypnotic cult musical score, he threw in a stray self-quote: 'How foolish, are we? How stupid are our leaders? We can be energy independent and even energy dominant. Yes. Oh, yes. And quickly, says President Trump. We will be there very quickly.' And minutes later, he took a tumble down a chunk about the death penalty, slurring as he told the crowd: 'We have become a drug-infested, crime-ridden nation which is incapable of solvin' even the swollest, smallest problem, the simplest of problems we can no longer solve. We can't do anything. We are an institute in a powerful death penalty! We will put this on!' Team Biden highlighted both moments on their Twitter/X feed[.]" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You might think that Trump had made these incoherent remarks during a foaming-at-the-mouth tirade. But no. If you listen to the clips, you can hear him speaking quietly, slowly, listlessly and apparently trying to carefully read from a teleprompter. He isn't up to it. ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Donald Trump's recent campaign appearances "signal we're headed for a lengthy debate over the relative cognitive abilities of the candidates in the most geriatric election in modern history.... Plenty of people are noting [Trump's flubs], including Fox News, Haley, Ron DeSantis's campaign before he dropped out and increasingly the Biden campaign, which has taken to promoting Trump's flubs on social media. It has also launched an ad on the subject.... While the age issue was basically a wash in the 2020 election, [President] Biden's many senior moments as president have led to a sharp rise in reservations about his mental fitness.... Trump has reaped benefits from trying to attach his own liabilities to his opponents. Now the Biden campaign has clearly set about trying to do that, and Trump's unsteady return to a packed campaign schedule suggests he could deliver plenty of fodder." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "... New Hampshire showed us, beyond all doubt, that Donald Trump is very, very confused.... I went to Trump's rally on Saturday night in Manchester..., and noticed that, even though his text was fed to him through a teleprompter, he told many of the same stories over and over again, repeating some lines almost word for word in the same speech, with no apparent awareness that he had done so.... He mangles names and words -- a visiting foreign dignitary becomes a 'foreign dignity' -- and occasionally just talks nonsense.... In fairness, the Trump of four and eight years ago was also plenty erratic. But a closer look at his public performances -- his courtroom outbursts and on the stump -- suggests the very stable genius is off his game." Milbank also went to a Phillips rally & a Haley rally.

Marshall Cohen of CNN: “The Massachusetts State Ballot Law Commission has dismissed a challenge against Donald Trump's candidacy based on his role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection. The panel rejected the case on procedural grounds Monday, finding that the commission didn't have jurisdiction to address the matter. The outcome is a victory for the former president, but the panel avoided grappling with questions around his culpability for the deadly attack on the US Capitol.... Decisions made by the commission can be appealed in Massachusetts courts." (Also linked yesterday.)

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Biden headlined a rally in support of abortion rights on Tuesday, trying to focus on an issue that has galvanized his supporters even as he was interrupted every few minutes by at least 10 people protesting the war in Gaza, an issue that has just as quickly divided Democrats. Mr. Biden, a practicing Catholic who has been a reluctant supporter of abortion rights, has leaned on Vice President Kamala Harris to be the most vocal activist in his administration. But on Tuesday, in front of a banner reading 'Restore Roe,' Mr. Biden raised his voice to a yell in support of Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion before the Supreme Court overturned it in 2022. His yelling also helped drown out the voices of people waving Palestinian flags, shouting 'Genocide Joe' and demanding a cease-fire. 'Please don't jump,' he said to one protester waving a sign in a balcony." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Too bad these nitwits don't seem to realize that President Biden is heavily engaged in realpolitik negotiations to effect a ceasefire, while Donald Trump's Middle East policy is First Kill All the Muslims. Biden is pushing against Netanhayu's war-mongering; Trump would be egging Bibi on.

Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "President Biden has approved a shake-up of the leadership of his campaign, and will dispatch two top White House aides to take over functional control of his re-election effort.... Jennifer O'Malley Dillon, who was the campaign manager for Mr. Biden's 2020 campaign and has served as a deputy chief of staff in the White House since he became president, will move to the Biden 2024 headquarters in Wilmington, Del., and direct the campaign's efforts, according to five people familiar with the discussions. Mike Donilon, a senior adviser who has worked for Mr. Biden for decades, will also move to Wilmington and become the campaign's chief strategist.... The moves formalize a setup in which Ms. O'Malley Dillon has for months overseen the campaign's direction from Washington and Mr. Donilon has helped shape its strategy."

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The full federal appeals court in Washington on Tuesday rejected ... Donald J. Trump's bid to lift a gag order imposed on him in the criminal case in which he stands accused of trying to subvert the results of the 2020 election. The terse ruling, issued on behalf of the 11 judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, leaves Mr. Trump with only the option of appealing to the Supreme Court if he wants to keep fighting the gag order, which restricts his ability to publicly criticize certain people involved in the legal proceeding." (Also linked yesterday.)

Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "The trial of E. Jean Carroll's defamation lawsuit against Donald J. Trump has been postponed for another day and will resume Thursday, a federal court announced on Tuesday. The court did not offer a reason for the additional delay, but the trial was originally postponed for a day after Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said in court Monday that a juror had reported flulike symptoms and would be getting a Covid test." (Also linked yesterday.)

Rebecca Carballo of the New York Times: "Federal regulators have ruled that Intuit, the maker of the tax-filing software TurboTax, must stop marketing its services as free, unless they are free to everyone or exceptions are clearly disclosed. TurboTax had for years claimed customers could file their taxes online for free. The Federal Trade Commission said in an opinion and final order issued on Monday that its advertising was deceptive because two-thirds of taxpayers were not eligible to file with the free product. The commission also found that the company's attempts to disclose that not everybody qualified for free services were 'ineffective and often inconspicuous.'" ProPublica's story is here.

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New York. Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "A man from upstate New York was found guilty on Tuesday of second-degree murder for fatally shooting a young woman who was riding in a car that had mistakenly driven up his driveway. On the night of April 15, the defendant, Kevin Monahan, fired two shots with a .20-gauge shotgun, one of which struck a car carrying Kaylin Gillis, 20, who was hit in the neck and died soon after. Ms. Gillis and a group of six friends had been trying to find a friend's house for a Saturday night party when they drove up Mr. Monahan's half-mile-long driveway in the rural town of Hebron, N.Y., about 55 miles north of Albany."

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Europe. Ben Hubbard & Lara Jakes of the New York Times: "Turkey's Parliament voted on Tuesday to allow Sweden to join NATO, putting the Nordic country one step closer to entering the military alliance and easing a diplomatic stalemate that has clouded Turkey's relations with the United States and hampered Western efforts to isolate Russia over its war in Ukraine. The measure passed after a vote of 287 to 55, with four abstentions in the 600-member body. It will go into effect once it is published in the country's official gazette, usually a swift formality. That would make Hungary the only NATO member that has not approved Sweden's accession, depriving the alliance of the unanimity required to add a new member.... On Tuesday before the vote, Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary invited Sweden's prime minister to Hungary to 'negotiate' Sweden's accession, suggesting that Hungary may seek concessions in exchange for its support." The AP's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Trump  Orban.

CNN: "A Russian military plane has crashed in the Belgorod region of Russia, near the Ukrainian border, Russian state media has reported. The plane had 74 people on board, according to Russia's RAI Novosti news agency. State media reported that 65 Ukrainian servicemen were on board the plane, being flown to Belgorod ahead of a prisoner swap. CNN has not independently verified this claim." This is a liveblog.

Middle East

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Wednesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Doctors Without Borders says thousands of people are unable to evacuate from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis despite an Israeli order to leave, as heavy bombing and fighting approach the facility's surroundings. It is one of two remaining hospitals in southern Gaza able to treat critically wounded patients, the medical group said. Fighting has intensified in the city in recent days, and Israel says its troops have encircled it.... Israel is trying to create a buffer zone on the Gaza side of the enclave's border with Israel, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said Tuesday, after 21 Israeli soldiers were killed while placing explosives there. The IDF has been destroying buildings in Gaza as part of the buffer zone plan, he said.... U.S. strikes early Wednesday destroyed two anti-ship missiles in Yemen that were aimed at the Red Sea and 'prepared to launch,' U.S. Central Command said. They were the ninth this month." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Wednesday are here.

Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "The United States on Tuesday carried out military strikes against three facilities in western Iraq associated with Iran-linked militias that American officials say attacked a major base in Iraq on Saturday, according to the Pentagon's Central Command, injuring at least four U.S. service members. The American strikes near Iraq's border with Syria on Tuesday hit headquarters, training locations and storage areas for rockets, missiles and drones belonging to the Kataib Hezbollah militia and other Iran-affiliated groups in Iraq, according to Central Command. 'These precision strikes are in direct response to a series of escalatory attacks against U.S. and coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias,' Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said in a statement."

News Ledes

New York Times: "The rare torrent of rain that slammed the San Diego area on Monday forced numerous residents to navigate life-threatening scenes that they had trouble believing even as they recounted them. The authorities would later call it a miracle that no one died and very few people were injured in a suddenly calamitous storm that prompted state and local leaders to declare a state of emergency.... The record pace of the rainfall -- a deluge of nearly three inches in three hours -- had quickly overwhelmed drainage systems."

New York Times: "A Boeing 757 plane operated by Delta Air Lines lost a nose wheel as it prepared to take off from Atlanta's main airport on Saturday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. It was the latest troubling episode involving one of the manufacturer's aircraft.... More than 170 passengers who were aboard had to deplane, but no one was hurt, the report said." ~~~

~~~ NBC News: "The CEO of Alaska Airlines said new, in-house inspections of the carrier's Boeing 737 Max 9 planes in the wake of a near-disaster earlier this month revealed that 'many' of the aircraft were found to have loose bolts."

The Conversation -- January 23, 2024

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The full federal appeals court in Washington on Tuesday rejected ... Donald J. Trump's bid to lift a gag order imposed on him in the criminal case in which he stands accused of trying to subvert the results of the 2020 election. The terse ruling, issued on behalf of the 11 judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, leaves Mr. Trump with only the option of appealing to the Supreme Court if he wants to keep fighting the gag order, which restricts his ability to publicly criticize certain people involved in the legal proceeding."

Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "The trial of E. Jean Carroll's defamation lawsuit against Donald J. Trump has been postponed for another day and will resume Thursday, a federal court announced on Tuesday. The court did not offer a reason for the additional delay, but the trial was originally postponed for a day after Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said in court Monday that a juror had reported flulike symptoms and would be getting a Covid test."

Here's the New York Times liveblog of developments in today's New Hampshire primary. After 7:00 pm ET, I'll post this on Wednesday's page.

Marie: I just voted in New Hampshire, and I would say turnout was light because I breezed in and out in no time. As tempting as it was to vote for Vermin Supreme, I wrote in Joe Biden instead. Glad I did because a fellow I talked to after I voted told me that Vermin Supreme has been running for 20 years, and he hasn't won yet. I guess people just aren't turned on by the thought of rat-topped pizza pies.

Marshall Cohen of CNN: "The Massachusetts State Ballot Law Commission has dismissed a challenge against Donald Trump's candidacy based on his role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection. The panel rejected the case on procedural grounds Monday, finding that the commission didn't have jurisdiction to address the matter. The outcome is a victory for the former president, but the panel avoided grappling with questions around his culpability for the deadly attack on the US Capitol.... Decisions made by the commission can be appealed in Massachusetts courts."

Say Whaaaa? Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "President Joe Biden's campaign social media team pounced when ... Donald Trump slurred through an incoherent chunk of a rally speech and also appeared to commit a gaffe in which he quoted himself in the third person.... [In] a daffy chunk ... [of his speech in Laconia, New Hampshire, Monday night,] Trump describes the operation of the Iron Dome the way a fifth-grader would cut down cops and robbers on a playground.... During the already-bizarre chunk of Trump's speech where he waxes apocalyptic over a hypnotic cult musical score, he threw in a stray self-quote: 'How foolish, are we? How stupid are our leaders? We can be energy independent and even energy dominant. Yes. Oh, yes. And quickly, says President Trump. We will be there very quickly.' And minutes later, he took a tumble down a chunk about the death penalty, slurring as he told the crowd: 'We have become a drug-infested, crime-ridden nation which is incapable of solvin' even the swollest, smallest problem, the simplest of problems we can no longer solve. We can't do anything. We are an institute in a powerful death penalty! We will put this on!' Team Biden highlighted both moments on their Twitter/X feed[.]" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You might think that Trump had made these incoherent remarks during a foaming-at-the-mouth tirade. But no. If you listen to the clips, you can hear him speaking quietly, slowly, listlessly and apparently trying to carefully read from a teleprompter. He isn't up to it. ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Donald Trump's recent campaign appearances "signal we're headed for a lengthy debate over the relative cognitive abilities of the candidates in the most geriatric election in modern history.... Plenty of people are noting [Trump's flubs], including Fox News, Haley, Ron DeSantis's campaign before he dropped out and increasingly the Biden campaign, which has taken to promoting Trump's flubs on social media. It has also launched an ad on the subject.... While the age issue was basically a wash in the 2020 election, [President] Biden's many senior moments as president have led to a sharp rise in reservations about his mental fitness.... Trump has reaped benefits from trying to attach his own liabilities to his opponents. Now the Biden campaign has clearly set about trying to do that, and Trump's unsteady return to a packed campaign schedule suggests he could deliver plenty of fodder."

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Presidential Race

Haley Routs Trump. Alyce McFadden of the New York Times: "The first votes in the New Hampshire primary have been cast in the township of Dixville Notch. All six of them. Nikki Haley took 100 percent of the vote, with 100 percent turnout. The polls -- or poll, in this case -- opened just after the clock struck midnight, as they have here for 64 years, to great fanfare. And 10 minutes later, the voting was done. The event is as much a press spectacle as it is a serious exercise in democracy: There were more than 10 journalists for every voter, including representatives from major TV networks, newspapers, wire services and foreign press from over a dozen countries." McFadden spoke with the voters.

Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "In a first-of-its-kind effort, some Democrats are trying early this election year to drum up a symbolic show of support for the president, who has faced no formidable primary challengers, even as he has drawn low approval ratings. The unusual New Hampshire initiative is one of the results of a revampe Democratic nominating calendar. [President] Biden and the Democratic National Committee moved South Carolina to the front of the pack, but New Hampshire decided to continue to hold its long-prized first-in-the-nation primary earlier, in defiance of the new party rules. The contest carries no practical weight since the DNC has stripped the state of its delegates to the nominating convention and Biden opted not to put his name on the ballot. But Democrats here say their vote ... offer[s] the first show of support for Biden in his party before other states hold contests. And Biden's allies have been aggressive in promoting him in the state, with a super PAC run by a former party official spending more than $1.2 million on ads and mail, and many surrogates close to the campaign, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), campaigning for the write-in effort." ~~~

~~~ Alex Seitz-Wald & Mike Memoli of NBC News: "The New Hampshire attorney general's office says it is investigating what appears to be an 'unlawful attempt' at voter suppression after NBC News reported on a robocall impersonating President Joe Biden telling recipients not to vote in Tuesday's presidential primary. 'Although the voice in the robocall sounds like the voice of President Biden, this message appears to be artificially generated based on initial indications,' the attorney generals office said in a statement. '... New Hampshire voters should disregard the content of this message entirely.' The investigation comes after a prominent New Hampshire Democrat, whose personal cell phone number showed up on the caller ID of those receiving the call, filed a complaint." (Also linked yesterday.)

Colby Hall of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump defended his confusing GOP primary rival Nikki Haley with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi in an interview with Fox News's Bret Baier, saying he recently aced a cognitive test.... [Bret Baier of Fox asked Trump in an interview,] '[Nikki Haley] said, are you mentally fit? That's basically what she said.... How do you respond to that?' 'Well, I did a cognitive test recently, and I aced it,' Trump replied. He then explained his previous gaffes, like when he appeared to confuse Obama for Biden, that it was all part of a bit[.]" MB: Hall doesn't say so, but Trump took the "recent" cognitive test he claims to have aced about four years ago. Update: I just heard a clip of Trump's saying he took the test "a few months ago." It is not impossible that a doctor readministered the test, but my own doctor told me doctors are not routinely giving these cognitive tests anymore. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Josephine Harvey of the Huffington Post (Nov. 27, 2023): "Last week, Trump's campaign released a vague note from a doctor declaring that his 'overall health is excellent' and his 'cognitive exams were exceptional,' without providing any specifics about the results." MB: So perhaps I was wrong and Trump did "recently" take a cognitive test. However, I encourage you to think about the meaning of "exceptional": it does not necessarily mean "exceptionally good." ~~~

     ~~~ Oh, and this from Ashley Parker & Dan Diamond of the Washington Post (Jan. 19): "'I think it was 35, 30 questions,' the former president said in Portsmouth, N.H., of the test, which he said involved a few animal identification queries. 'They always show you the first one, like a giraffe, a tiger, or this, or that -- a whale. "Which one is the whale?" Okay. And that goes on for three or four [questions] and then it gets harder and harder and harder.' The only problem: The creator of the test in question, called the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, or MoCA, said it has never included the specific combination of animals described by Trump in any of its versions over the years. In fact, Ziad Nasreddine, the Canadian neurologist who invented the test, said the assessment ... has never once included a drawing of a whale.... Experts also note that the assessment is not an I.Q. or intelligence test, though Trump has often talked about it as if it was."

~~~ Colby Hall of Mediaite: Donald Trump "made a series of flubs and missteps that serious minds should want to know more about. And yet, his stumbles are barely getting covered on cable news.... There also seems to be some reticence over the issue in light of [President] Biden's apparent decline." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post: "... don't mistake [Donald Trump] for a colossus leading a mighty band. This view ignores the opportunism behind many of the endorsements he is winning and the sharp split between Republicans who want to govern and those who don't.... Trump's apparent dominance distracts from what the behavior of elected GOP politicians in Washington teaches us day after day: The party is a mess." (Also linked yesterday.)

Michael Bender & Nicholas Nehamas of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump plumbed new depths of degradation in his savage takedown of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, a yearlong campaign of emasculation and humiliation that helped force one of the party's rising stars out of the presidential race after just one contest and left him to pick up the pieces of his political future. In front of enormous rally audiences, Mr. Trump painted Mr. DeSantis as a submissive sniveler, insisting that he had cried and begged 'on his knees' for an endorsement in the 2018 Florida governor's race. In a series of sexually charged attacks, Mr. Trump suggested -- without a shred of proof -- that Mr. DeSantis wore high heels, that he might be gay and that perhaps he was a pedophile. He promised that intense national scrutiny would leave Mr. DeSantis whining for 'mommy.' Mr. DeSantis shied from fighting back, which only inflicted more pain on his campaign." ~~~

~~~ Return on Investment: from Little to Nothing. Liz Skalka of the Huffington Post: "... the DeSantis campaign and its allied super PAC, Never Back Down, spent at least $53 million to ultimately win the vote of 23,420 Iowans. As other outlets have noted, it works out to roughly $2,262 per voter -- although not every penny was spent to court Iowans, and DeSantis' outlay in the final weeks of the campaign won't be available until the end of the month.... Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy spent $22 million, including more than $15 million of his own money, to win the votes of 8,449 Iowans. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a wealthy one-time software company executive, spent more than $15 million, with $12 million from his own pocket, on a campaign that he abandoned before any votes had even been cast." ~~~

~~~ Marie: Contributor RockyGirl made me feel sorry for Ron DeSantis -- for the first time ever -- when she suggested in yesterday's Comments that he "must be on the Spectrum"; that is, that DeSantis suffers from at least a mild form of autism. I'm guessing RockyGirl was kidding. But if it's true, think of the sympathy DeSantis would have garnered by becoming such a success despite his disability. Our jokes about him would have been considered cruel. Even some Trump supporters would have faulted Trump for his nasty attacks (and, yes, Trump would have attacked anyway). However, autism does not explain away Rhonda's own very mean streak. Ron DeSantis is a cruel man, who has taken lives with his condemnation of Covid vaccines, endangered others and damaged minorities and LGBTQ+ people with his despicable "anti-woke" agenda. So, on the whole, I guess I don't feel very sorry for Rhonda. Have a chocolate puddin' cup, Rhonda, and go away. ~~~

~~~ Not feeling sorry for DeSantis: Stephen Colbert, who notes that Ron's parting "Winston Churchill" quotation was actually from "an old Budweiser ad": ~~~

CNN had a liveblog yesterday covering E. Jean Carroll's defamation trial against Donald Trump, but the court adjourned for the day because of a sick juror. "Both Trump and Carroll were in the courtroom when the cancellation was announced.... Trump attorney Alina Habba told the judge that the former president plans to testify in the trial, but he cannot be in court on Tuesday because of the New Hampshire primary." MB: There's nothing forcing Trump to be in New Hampshire on primary day. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Maria Cramer & Kate Christobek of the New York Times have the story here. Judge Lewis Kaplan had not yet decided as of Monday morning when the trial would continue but he told Trump lawyer Alina Habba, who requested the trial be delayed until Wednesday, "Circumstances may result in your getting what you ask for. And maybe not." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update 2. Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: "Former President Trump's defamation trial brought by E. Jean Carroll won't resume until Wednesday morning, according to a court spokesperson, a timeline that enables Trump to wait until after the New Hampshire primary before deciding whether to testify."

     ~~~ Ana Faguy of Forbes: "... Donald Trump took to Truth Social Monday attacking writer E. Jean Carroll in more than three dozen separate posts, hours after the defamation trial against Trump was canceled for the day because of a juror illness.... The former president posted more than 40 times in the span of less than an hour Monday morning, attacking Carroll using snippets of interviews Carroll has done with the media, purported Facebook posts from Carroll and original posts from Trump attacking Carroll's claims about him."

Gary Fineout of Politico: "A push by some Florida Republicans to use taxpayer money to help pay for ... Donald Trump's multiple legal battles quickly fell apart after Gov. Ron DeSantis threatened to veto the legislation. State Sen. Ileana Garcia, a Miami Republican who endorsed Trump's reelection, has filed a bill for this year's legislative session that could allow the state to hand out up to $5 million to the embattled Republican front-runner for president. The legislation has already won the endorsement from Jimmy Patronis, the state's Republican chief financial officer, who for months has been publicly calling for taxpayers to pay to defend Trump from criminal charges.... Garcia late Monday night announced she would withdraw the bill... less than two hours after DeSantis publicly posted on X ... that he did not support the measure.... Roughly 12 hours earlier, Garcia stated in a release, put out by Patronis' office, that 'we're in the midst of an historic moment where we're watching an election that's trying to be stolen by left wing prosecutors, the Biden Administration and even Blue States.'" MB: "Trying to be stolen"? At least we know Garcia is inarticulate. More seriously, this bill was an abomination.

Danny Hakim & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "A Georgia judge unsealed a divorce case on Monday that has entangled the Atlanta district attorney prosecuting ... Donald J. Trump, but halted plans to force the testimony of the prosecutor, Fani T. Willis. One of the parties to the divorce, Nathan Wade, is the lawyer whom Ms. Willis hired to manage the election interference case against Mr. Trump and his allies.... The accusations do not change the underlying facts in the Trump prosecution.... But [they] complicate the case considerably.... The judge ... stayed Ms. Willis's deposition [demanded by a subpoena from Mr. Wade's wife, Joycelyn Wade], which had been planned for Tuesday, saying he wished to hear from Mr. Wade first." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post is in high dudgeon over the Willis-Wade affair. "What in the world was Willis thinking?... In government or out, you don't hire your boyfriend. You know who knows this? Fani Willis. 'I certainly will not be choosing people to date that work under me,' she said in a 2020 campaign appearance helpfully recirculated by the Georgia GOP chairman.... The arrangement stinks, and it plays right into Trump's hands.... It might not damn her case in court, but the damage in the court of public opinion is immense." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Marcus makes two assumptions here: (1) that Willis & Wade were in a relationship before Willis hired Wade, and (2) that the affair has something to do with "thinking." I don't think there's any publicly-available evidence yet of when the affair began, but we don't need direct evidence to know that most "inappropriate" sexual liaisons don't involve much, if any, thinking. People who work closely together are always having affairs. And most of them know, on some level, that the affairs are, at best, inadvisable. But, as often as not, sex will best propriety. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Ruth's disapproval got me to wondering if she herself might have had an "inappropriate" affair that began in the workplace. So I found this 2017 story about Ruth's career. Down the page we learn, "Soon she was promoted to the paper's national staff, where she covered legal issues, including the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. Her future husband was working for the Senate Judiciary Committee during the Thomas hearings, and their romance blossomed after he became one of her sources. How perfect is that?" Oh my stars & garters. I don't know where "Having Affair with Source" fits into the journalistic ethics code, but I'll bet it's in the "Don't Do This" section. What were you thinking, Ruth?

Mark Walker of the New York Times: "The Federal Aviation Administration recommended late Sunday night that airlines begin visual inspections of door plugs installed on Boeing 737-900ER planes, the second Boeing model to come under scrutiny this month. The F.A.A. said the plane has the same door plug design as the 737 Max 9, which had 171 jets from its fleet grounded after a door panel was blown off one of the jets shortly after an Alaska Airlines flight left Portland, Ore., on Jan. 5., forcing an emergency landing. The door plugs are placed as a panel where an emergency door would otherwise be if a plane had more seats." (Also linked yesterday.)

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Kentucky. Roshan Abraham of Vice: "Republican politicians in Kentucky are rallying behind a new bill that would authorize the use of force -- and potentially deadly force -- against unhoused people who are found to be camping on private property. The bill would also criminalize unsanctioned homeless encampments and restrict cities and towns from preempting state laws. The bill, known as the 'Safer Kentucky Act,' or HB5, would target homelessness, drug possession and mental illness by drastically increasing criminal penalties for a range of offenses. Introduced last week by Republican state representative Jared Bauman, it already has 52 sponsors in Kentucky's House of Representatives. A vote is scheduled for this week.... The bill says the use of force is 'justifiable' if a defendant believes that criminal trespass, robbery or 'unlawful camping' is occurring on their property. In addition, it says that 'deadly physical force' is justifiable if a defendant believes that someone is trying to 'dispossess' them of their property or is attempting a robbery or committing arson, language that could also have ramifications for tenants overstaying their lease." (Also linked yesterday.)

** Texas. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration on Monday, allowing federal officials to cut or remove parts of a concertina-wire barrier along the Mexican border that Texas erected to keep migrants from crossing into the state. The ruling, by a 5-to-4 vote, was a victory for the administration in the increasingly bitter dispute between the White House and Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, an outspoken critic of President Biden's border policy who has shipped busloads of migrants to northern cities.... Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court's three liberal members to form a majority." The Texas Tribune story is here. MB: What's disgusting, not to mention ominous, is that four so-called justices thought it was fine for a state to assert itself over a federal prerogative and institute cruel & unusual punishment against people crossing the border. ~~~

     ~~~ Then There's Clay Higgins. Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "After the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Biden administration in its fight with Texas for control of the southern border, [Rep. Clay] Higgins [R-La.] weighed in on social media. 'My thoughts are that the feds are staging a civil war, and Texas should stand their ground,' wrote Higgins." MB: This is nonsensical. If anyone was "staging a civil war," it was Greg Abbott, who tried to usurp the federal government's power. And Higgins himself came close to joining a civil war when he voted against certifying the duly-chosen Arizona and Pennsylvania Electors and claimed late last year that FBI agents unloaded from "ghost buses" and orchestrated the insurrection.

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Israel/Palestine, et al.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Tuesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "The Israel Defense Forces said 21 soldiers were killed in southern Gaza in the deadliest single attack on its forces since they began their operation in the enclave.... IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said the soldiers who died in southern Gaza were rigging buildings with mines when a strike appeared to trigger the explosives and collapse the buildings with the troops inside.... The IDF said its ground troops encircled Khan Younis and 'deepened the operation' around the area. The southern Gazan city is the hometown of Hamas leader Yehiya Sinwar and the site of heavy fighting in recent weeks that has forced thousands of people to flee.... The United States and Britain, with the support of four allies, launched new airstrikes on eight Houthi targets in Yemen, heightening fears of a prolonged, retaliatory military campaign from the Iranian-backed militant group." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's live updates for Tuesday are here.

Sammy Westfall of the Washington Post: "Twenty-three American citizens, most of whom served in the Israel Defense Forces, have been killed in the Israel-Gaza war since Oct. 7, according to the U.S. State Department.... After receiving draft notices as part of a wider mobilization, about 10,000 people living in the United States have reported for duty with the IDF, Israeli officials said in November. Many had previously done service in the IDF or remain reservists.... At least 32 Americans were killed by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel. At least 10 Americans are believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, with two released under a hostage exchange deal late last year." MB: So as I understand it, at least 55 Americans have been killed in the war.

"From the River to the Sea." Ishaan Tharoor of the Washington Post: "The phrase 'from the river to the sea' has sparked controversy in both Israel and the United States, where pro-Palestinian protesters have invoked the slogan in demands for freedom and rights for Palestinians living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Many Israelis equate these demands to calls for the erasure of the Israeli state, citing Hamas's own past rhetoric. U.S. House lawmakers pushed legislation deeming the slogan 'antisemitic.' But Netanyahu and his ruling Likud party have their own fixed vision of what should exist between the river and the sea -- Likud's original party platform insists that 'between the Sea and the Jordan there will be only Israeli sovereignty.' And the reality cemented under successive Netanyahu governments is one of Jewish supremacy and Israeli control over a large population of Palestinians whose lives are circumscribed by Israel's security imperatives."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Charles Osgood, a newscaster who told unconventional stories on the radio in unconventional ways -- sometimes with rhyme, sometimes with humor, often with both -- died on Tuesday at his home in Saddle River, N.J. He was 91."

The New York Times liveblogged the Academy Awards nominations. Here's Variety's list of nominees.

New York Times: "Dexter Scott King, who as one of four children of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. worked closely with -- but also frequently fought against -- his siblings and the civil rights community over his father's legacy, died on Monday at his home in Malibu, Calif. He was 62.... Mr. King was the longtime chairman of the King Center, an institution established by his mother, Coretta Scott King, in 1968 to advance the vision of her husband. He was also the president of the King Estate, which managed licensing of his father's image and likeness."

New York Times: "Norman Jewison, whose broad range as a filmmaker was reflected in the three movies that earned him Academy Award nominations for best director -- the socially conscious drama 'In the Heat of the Night,' the big-budget musical 'Fiddler on the Roof' and the romantic comedy 'Moonstruck' -- died on Saturday at his home. He was 97.... Mr. Jewison, whose career began in Canadian television and spanned more than 50 years, was, like his close friend Sidney Lumet and a select few other directors, best known for making films that addressed social issues." ~~~

     ~~~ "Here are some films of his available to stream, no matter your mood," via the NYT.

Sample Ballot -- First in the Nation

Marie: Here is a genuine screenshot of my sample ballot for registered Democrats in Tuesday's primary election, issued by the Secretary of State of New Hampshire. I have studied it carefully, and cannot decide whether I should write in some random candidate or make it easy on myself and go with some declared candidate like Vermin Supreme from Rockport, Mass.