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The notion that Americans should dial down their incendiary rhetoric is undeniable, but that message cannot be delivered credibly by the person who literally sent a mob to the US Capitol, and then sat back and cheered the thugs who assaulted cops for three hours.

The plea to ease up on hate speech cannot be made by the guy who invented a patois of political violence, who prods supporters to assault hecklers, threatens to shoot undocumented immigrants and looters, jeers the husband of a rival who was assaulted with a hammer, and refers to opposition as “vermin.”

And the idea that the toxic talk has gone too far sounds hollow coming from a demagogue who thinks Hillary Clinton’s fate might best be settled by “Second Amendment people,” that Liz Cheney should be sent before a military tribunal, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Mark Milley, should be executed.

This is the political atmosphere that Donald Trump has nurtured, so when he whines about how “the rhetoric of Biden and Harris” has inspired two troubled people (both likely Republicans) to shoot at him with assault rifles, it can be dismissed as one of the most pitiful attempts at gaslighting from a deranged felon who has made a career of it.

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JD Vance has suggested that American support for NATO should be predicated on the European Union not regulating Elon Musk and his X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter.

The Republican vice presidential nominee and Ohio senator claimed in an interview with YouTuber Shawn Ryan that a top EU official had threatened to arrest the billionaire if he allowed former President Donald Trump back on X.

“The leader, I forget exactly which official it was within the European Union, but sent Elon this threatening letter that basically said, ‘We’re going to arrest you if you platform Donald Trump,’ who, by the way, is the likely next president of the United States,” Vance said in the interview published last week.

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Trump claims to be a “leader on fertilization.” His party wants to leave it up to the whims of states, with disastrous consequences.

Trump told many lies at last week's debate against Vice President Kamala Harris. One, it seems increasingly clear, is the stumbling claim---meant to shore up his support of in vitro fertilization, or IVF---that he is "a leader on fertilization."

On Tuesday, Senate Republicans provided even more evidence of Trump's lie, by voting---again---to block a floor vote on a bill that would protect IVF access nationwide. Introduced by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who said she used IVF to give birth to her two daughters, the legislation would prevent states from enacting restrictions on fertility treatments.

Trump has done far more to impede IVF access than protect it. He is, in fact, the reason it's in the news at all: Trump appointed three of the five conservative Supreme Court justices who overruled Roe in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, imperiling IVF access in states like Alabama. (The state's Supreme Court ruled in February that frozen embryos, often discarded in the IVF process, could be considered children under state law.)

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Florida Judge Aileen Cannon failed to disclose lavish trips hosted by influential conservative law school

Florida District Court Judge Aileen Cannon failed to disclose her attendance at several right-wing judicial seminars — including one that took place after she began overseeing former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case, which she ultimately threw out — in apparent violation of federal court rules.

According to a Tuesday report from ProPublica, in May of 2023, Cannon attended a swanky banquet hosted by George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School

one of the leading conservative law schools in the nation. The school was renamed in honor of the late Supreme Court justice after a $20 million donation brokered by Supreme Court architect Leonard Leo, who controls a billion-dollar dark money fund and serves as co-chair chairman of of the Federalist Society, the powerful conservative lawyers network. 

Cannon, a longtime member of the Federalist Society, attended a lecture and dinner alongside members of the society, Scalia's family members, and prominent federal judges, according to materials obtained by ProPublica. Cannon submitted several reimbursement requests to the law school related to her travel expenses.

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Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) tore into Republicans as many of them blame the Democrats' rhetoric for the second assassination attempt on former President Trump.

Trump was the target of an apparent assassination attempt while he was golfing at his resort in Florida on Sunday. No one was hurt, but Trump has since blamed Democrat rhetoric for the second attempt on his life in just two months.

CNN's Jim Acosta on Monday asked Sherrill Monday whether the protection around the former president needs to change in the wake of the latest incident. She suggested that the attempted assassination stemmed from the GOP's rhetoric and the availability of assault rifles in the country.

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New York police have defended their actions after a bystander was shot in the head as two officers tackled a fare-evader armed with a knife in a busy subway station.

The man was in critical condition after the shooting at Sutter Avenue L station in Brooklyn on Sunday afternoon. Three others, including the suspect, were wounded.

Millions of Americans will vote this fall – but six Republican justices might have the final say, in a Bush v Gore redux

It’s frighteningly easy to imagine. Kamala Harris wins Georgia. The state elections board, under the sway of its new Trump-aligned commissioners, grinds the certification process to a slow halt to investigate unfounded fraud allegations, spurring the state’s Republican legislature to select its own slate of electors.

Perhaps long lines in Philadelphia lead to the state supreme court holding polls open until everyone has a chance to vote. Before anyone knows the results, Republicans appeal to the US supreme court using the “independent state legislature” (ISL) theory, insisting that the state court overstepped its bounds and the late votes not be counted.

Or maybe an election evening fire at a vote counting center in Milwaukee disrupts balloting. The progressive majority on the state supreme court attempts to establish a new location, but Republicans ask the US supreme court to shut it down.

Maybe that last example was inspired by HBO’s Succession. But in this crazy year, who’s to say it couldn’t happen? The real concern is this: if you think a repeat of Bush v Gore can’t happen this year, think again.

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Donald Trump on Friday said he does not enjoy running for president and criticized state and federal prosecutors for not offering him plea deals, capping a rough seven days for the Republican presidential nominee.

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Emmitt Martin III testified he wrongfully told his colleagues that the 29-year-old was a violent offender before they pulled him over and beat him.

Police officers violated protocol when they used excessive force against Tyre Nichols and overstated his actions, a former officer who has pleaded guilty in the case testified.

Emmitt Martin III, who initiated the traffic stop against Nichols, said in federal court Monday that Nichols never posed a threat and that officers downplayed their own actions during the Jan. 7, 2023 encounter, which led to Nichols' brutal beating and subsequent death.

Martin testified he was angry that night because he hadn't yet made an arrest, but then he noticed Nichols driving a little fast as a traffic light was turning red and saw him changing lanes without signaling.

The Iran-backed militant group said handheld communication devices belonging to its members had blown up across the country.

The militant group Hezbollah said Tuesday that pagers belonging to its members had blown up across Lebanon, killing at least eight and injuring more than 2,700, according to the country's Health Ministry.

Iran-backed Hezbollah pinned the blame for the widespread and seemingly simultaneous blasts on Israel, without providing evidence for its claim. Israel did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the accusations and the pager explosions.

More than 200 people were in critical condition after the blasts, Public Health Minister Dr. Firas Abiad told reporters.

Amid what was developing into a nationwide health emergency, Lebanese officials ordered the public to avoid using handheld communication devices.

Mojtaba Amani, Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, was among those injured, according to the country's embassy. In an post on X, it described his injuries as "superficial," and added that Amani was in a good condition.

Nearly half of Republicans say they won't accept the results of the presidential election if their candidate loses, and some of them say they would "take action to overturn" the results, according to data released Tuesday.

About a quarter of Democrats said they wouldn't accept the results if their candidate loses, and fewer Democrats than Republicans said they would "take action to overturn" the results.

The nonpartisan World Justice Project, which keeps an index of how strong the rule of law is in more than 100 countries, gathered the data as part of a larger study. The poll was conducted through online interviews with 1,046 American households between June 10 and June 18.

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