Biden mocks Trump as ‘the great MAGA King’ in speech on economy
As Donald Trump’s chosen candidate David Perdue struggles to gain momentum in Georgia’s gubernatorial primary, Mike Pence has announced he will visit the state to get out the vote for incumbent Brian Kemp – a Republican who refused to bow to Mr Trump’s insistence that the state was stolen from Joe Biden in 2020.
Meanwhile, the select committee investigating the 6 January attack on the US Capitol has issued subpoenas to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and four other GOP lawmakers who are close allies of Donald Trump: Representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Andy Biggs of Arizona, and Mo Brooks of Alabama. Each was given the opportunity to voluntarily give evidence.
And the Department of Justice is now investigating whether former President Trump or any of his aides violated federal law by mishandling classified documents that ended up at Mar-a-Lago instead of at the national archives at the end of his term.
On Friday, the former president shared some thoughts on Elon Musk’s plan to buy Twitter, saying the billionaire would not pay a ‘ridiculous price’ for the platform as it is mostly “BOTS or spam accounts”.
Trump says Elon Musk will not buy Twitter at such a ‘ridiculous price’
Donald Trump says Elon Musk will not buy Twitter at “such a ridiculous price” after the billionaire announced he had paused his $44bn purchase of the platform.
The Tesla boss says he is “still committed” to buying Twitter but that the deal is on hold until he had gathered more information about the spam and fake accounts on the platform.
Mr Musk has vowed to let Mr Trump back onto the platform once he has taken control of it, but the one-term president cast doubt on that ever happening in a post on his own Truth Social platform.
Oliver O’Connell13 May 2022 17:55
ICYMI: A pro-Trump Netflix could be coming your way
A bespoke social media platform (albeit a beleagured one) is all very well, but Donald Trump now seems to be pursuing another venture to provide a “refuge” for the president’s fans: a right-wing alternative to Netflix.
The Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) is recruiting staff for the new venture. In an ad posted on Wednesday, the group announced that the streaming service, named TMTG+, will be “a ‘Big Tent’ platform offering broad-based entertainment rooted in free speech”.
It added that “in addition to the Social Media platform Truth Social, our SVOD [Subscription Video on Demand] platform TMTG+ will be the home for a wide variety of non-scripted, scripted, and original content”.
Sravasti Dasgupta has more.
Oliver O’Connell13 May 2022 17:37
Trump has thoughts on Elon Musk’s intention to buy Twitter
Former President Donald Trump has taken to his own social media site, Truth Social, to share some thoughts on Elon Musk’s intention to buy Twitter.
He wrote (truthed?): “There is no way Elon Musk is going to buy Twitter at such a ridiculous price, especially since realizing it is a company largely based on BOTS or Spam Accounts. Fake anyone?”
The former president continued: “By the time you get rid of them, if that can even be done, what do you have? Not much? If it weren’t for the ridiculous Billion Dollar breakup fee, Elon would have already been long gone. Just my opinion, but Truth Social is MUCH better than Twitter and is absolutely exploding, incredible engagement!”
Mr Musk had previously said he would allow Mr Trump back on Twitter, from which he has been banned since 6 January 2021. Earlier today Mr Musk said his purchase of the micro-blogging social media site was “on hold” while a review was conducted into how many bots and spam accounts existed on the platform.
Oliver O’Connell13 May 2022 17:26
Kevin McCarthy clams up…
Having been subpoenaed by the 6 January select committee, House Minority Leader Kevin…