WTF Just Happened Today

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

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1/ Trump doubled down on his racist and xenophobic comments that undocumented immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” and rebuffed bipartisan criticism that his rhetoric echos Hitler. “They’re destroying the blood of our country,” Trump said about undocumented immigrants at a speech in Iowa. “That’s what they’re doing. They’re destroying our country. They don’t like it when I said that — and I never read ‘Mein Kampf.’ They said, ‘Oh, Hitler said that.’” Hitler used of the term “blood poisoning” to denigrate immigration in his manifesto “Mein Kampf.” Nevertheless, Trump brushed off the Hitler comparison and claimed that Hitler meant it “in a much different way,” without making his meaning clear. Undocumented immigrants, Trump added, were “destroying the blood of our country” and “destroying the fabric of our country.” Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination. (New York Times / Bloomberg / Politico / NBC News / Associated Press / ABC News)

2/ Biden said there’s “no question” that Trump supported the Jan. 6 insurrection, a day after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump was disqualified from the state’s 2024 ballot. “Well I think certainly it’s self-evident,” Biden said. “You saw it all. Now whether the 14th Amendment applies, I’ll let the court make that decision. But he certainly supported an insurrection. No question about it — none, zero. And he seems to be doubling down on everything.” Biden’s comments came hours after the state Supreme Court ruled that Trump was ineligible to serve as president because of his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. “Once again,” Biden said, “[Trump] embraces political violence instead of rejecting it. We can’t let this happen.” Republican Senator Thom Tillis, meanwhile, introduced legislation that would withhold federal election administration funds for states that “misuse” 14th Amendment. The bill would amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and add language to clarify that the Supreme Court has “sole jurisdiction” to adjudicate such 14th Amendment cases. (NBC News / Politico / ABC News / Bloomberg / USA Today / Axios / The Hill)

3/ Trump urged the Supreme Court to hold off on deciding whether he is entitled to immunity from federal criminal charges for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. ...

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