Becerra widens lead over other Democrats in California governor race
Center
More California voters are leaning toward backing Democrat Xavier Becerra, the former Health and Human Services secretary, in the state’s gubernatorial race, according to a new survey. The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) released new polling on Wednesday, which showed the former Biden administration official leading the pack of bipartisan candidates with 23 percent…
Democrats simply cannot or will not find a normal candidate to run in competitive or hostile Senate races. That leads to candidates such as Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico, who have to run away from their bizarre past comments to avoid alienating voters. On paper, the Senate race in Texas should at least be […]
The former hedge fund titan is waging one of the most expensive gubernatorial campaigns in US history — on a platform the business community hates.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will lead Thursday afternoon's White House press briefing, hours after the new app for the Trump administration's newborn investment accounts went live. President Trump has touted the investments, dubbed "Trump Accounts" and established under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as another economic win ahead of the midterms. Under the plans, [...]
E. Jean Carroll, a co-founder of multiple hookup sites whom Elle fired as a columnist in 2020, has accused numerous men of sexual abuse decades after the alleged incidents supposedly happened.Whereas other allegations didn't go much further than the pages of her imaginative tell-alls, Carroll's allegations against President Donald Trump ended up centering a pair of civil lawsuits — one in which she alleged that Trump sexually abused her in the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan back in the 1990s and the other in which she alleged defamation over Trump's denial that the incident happened.'Her counsel sat by and allowed her to do so, knowing full well that her testimony was false,' Trump's attorneys claimed.Carroll's legal offensive ultimately left the president on the hook for a $83.3 million jury award — but now, she may have to go on defense.The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into Carroll, sources familiar with the matter told multiple publications, including CNN and the New York Times. Investigators are reportedly looking into whether the fired columnist committed perjury in testimony linked to her lawsuits against Trump.The probe reportedly focuses on Carroll's assertion in a 2022 deposition statement that she received no outside funding for her lawsuit, which was later shown to be demonstrably false.RELATED: Trump’s anti-weaponization fund puts GOP cowards on trial Anti-Trump activist Reid Hoffman. Jason Alden/Bloomberg/Getty Images.When asked on Oct. 14, 2022, whether anyone else was paying her legal fees, Carroll definitively answered, "No."A jury found Trump civilly liable for sexual abuse and defamation in May 2023.However, several weeks earlier, Carroll's attorneys admitted in an April 10, 2023, letter that LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, a big-time Biden donor and anti-Trump activist, had been funding Carroll's lawsuit, prompting Trump's legal team to raise hell.Attorneys for the president said in an April 13, 2023, letter to U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan — the Clinton-appointed judge overseeing the case — that the belated disclosure "raises significant concerns as to plaintiff's bias and motive in commencing the instant lawsuit."Trump's attorneys also rejected the suggestion that Carroll suddenly remembered all that money didn't come ex nihilo:Of course, the proposition that plaintiff has suddenly “recollected” the source of her funding for this high-profile litigation — which has spanned four years, spawned two separate actions, and been before numerous state, federal, and appellate courts — is not only preposterous, it is demonstrably false. Indeed, it simply defies logic to believe that plaintiff’s attorneys — four of whom were present at her deposition — were unaware that their own firm had “secured additional funding from a nonprofit organization” to bankroll their client’s various lawsuits and ensure their bills were being paid.Trump's attorneys noted in summary that Carroll "apparently perjured herself during her deposition; her counsel sat by and allowed her to do so, knowing full well that her testimony was false; and then they conspired to conceal the truth for nearly six months, only to disclose it on the eve of trial."At the time, Kaplan denied the request by Trump's attorneys to delay the case so they could properly investigate the funding issue.Carroll's lawyers, meanwhile, suggested that the outside funding — from the largest donor to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin — was irrelevant, even though it buttressed Trump's 2019 claim that the lawsuit was a setup intended to "carry out a political agenda."Carroll's lawyers also claimed that she had nothing to do with securing the outside funding or outsider funding source.The inquiry into Carroll was reportedly launched by the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Andrew Boutros. Having previously represented Trump, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has allegedly recused himself from the investigation.Carroll did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News, and the DOJ declined to comment.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Key 2026 races are heating up across the country, including the Texas and Michigan Senate contests, the California governor’s race and Los Angeles mayoral showdown. Plus, a new poll shows former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg leading among potential Democratic presidential candidates. Join The Hill’s senior vice president of editorial content, Bill Sammon, and Decision Desk HQ’s…
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is leading in new polling on a hypothetical Democratic presidential primary as the party seeks a new path after 2024 losses. An Emerson College Polling survey released Thursday found Buttigieg at the top of the pack with 18 percent support, followed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) at 16 percent. …
Friends,I do not wish Trump ill. While he hasn’t shown a shred of compassion for anyone other than himself, this doesn’t justify our lacking compassion for him.It’s also in the interest of America and the world that he be physically and mentally able to discharge the duties of his office.So we have reason to be concerned about Trump’s visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center early Tuesday for what the White House called a “routine annual dental and medical assessment.”Trump turns 80 next month. I feel entitled to comment on the practical meaning of this milestone because I’ll also turn 80 next month (he was born 10 days before me).Let’s just say that reaching it doesn’t mean altogether good things, unless you consider the alternative.Even in a healthy person, small things begin to break down as one approaches 80. Everything takes just a bit more time and effort. Joints ache. Energy isn’t quite as abundant.The 80-year-old mind isn’t as quick. The frontal lobe’s capacity to remember names goes. (Yesterday, I could barely remember the name of a garage mechanic whom I’ve known for nearly half a century.)Taken separately, such minor frailties are typically no more than a personal frustration, but they begin to mount up. In a president of the United States, they can pose a major challenge to the nation and world.Trump frequently proclaims he’s in excellent health. “Just finished my 6-month physical at Walter Reed Military Medical Center. Everything checked out PERFECTLY,” he wrote on Truth Social early yesterday afternoon. “Thank you to the great Doctors and Staff! Heading back to the White House.”But even “PERFECTLY” is a relative concept for someone ending his seventh decade and beginning his eighth, who’s the oldest person to assume the presidency and the second-oldest to hold the office. (Joe Biden was 82 when he left in 2025.)Presidents aren’t legally required to release their medical records, but, given the effluvium of lies in which Trump permanently floats, we’d be excused if we didn’t entirely trust this PERFECTLY report.Plus, there are his bruised hands, swollen ankles, bouts of drowsiness, exceedingly long blinks during official meetings (some call them “naps”), and erratic — if not off-the-charts weird — behavior.Add in the frequency of his health “checkups.”Tuesday’s visit to Walter Reed was Trump’s third in-person doctor’s visit in a little over a year. His first physical of this term of office was in mid-April last year. He returned in early October for a “semiannual physical.” In early January, he had what was described as a brief dental appointment. Earlier this month, another dental appointment. Followed by his return to Walter Reed on Tuesday for his third “annual” physical in 13 months.Consider also the shifting explanations. In July, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, Trump’s physician, explained that bruises on Trump’s right hand were “consistent with minor soft tissue irritation from frequent handshaking.” The explanation seemed plausible until the bruises spread to his left hand.Then there’s the changing story about Trump’s scans. In December he told reporters that he’d had an MRI in October but wasn’t sure what part of his body was scanned. “It wasn’t the brain,” he said, defensively, “because I took a cognitive test and I aced it.” Barbabella then issued a memo explaining it had been a scan of his heart and abdomen, and that in both cases the advanced imaging was “perfectly normal.”In January, Trump altered his story to say it was a CT scan rather than an MRI. Why? Trump being Trump, he doesn’t want anyone to know anything about his health that might reveal something he fears enemies and critics might see as a weakness.“In retrospect, it’s too bad I took [the scan] because it gave them a little ammunition,” Trump said. “I would have been a lot better off if [I] didn’t, because the fact that I took it said, ‘Oh gee, is something wrong?’ Well, nothing’s wrong.”What’s he afraid of? Probably that the American public will catch on to his rapidly diminishing capacities.Three years ago, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll, only 28 percent of the public thought Trump insufficiently healthy to hold the nation’s highest office. Earlier this month, the same poll found that 55 percent of the public thought his health insufficient for him to serve effectively.Behind the public’s mounting worries is a growing sense that Trump isn’t mentally all there.Physical and mental health aren’t easily separated, especially as one reaches 80. I often can’t remember where I put my wallet and keys or why I’ve entered a room. I also have less patience than I used to.