Bragg Won’t Drop Trump’s ‘Hush Money’ Sentencing, But May Suspend It for 4 Years

THE CENTER SQUARE—Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Tuesday that his office will oppose President-elect Donald Trump’s motion to dismiss his felony conviction in New York. Bragg said that despite plans to oppose Trump’s motion, his office would agree to hit pause on the proceedings pending the judge’s decision on Trump’s motion to dismiss. Bragg also suggested the case could wait until Trump finishes his term in the White House.  “No current law establishes that a president’s temporary immunity from prosecution requires dismissal of a post-trial criminal proceeding that was initiated…

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Donald Trump’s Latest Violent Fantasy

Traditionally, a campaign’s closing argument is supposed to hammer home its main themes. At a rally in Lititz, Pennsylvania, Donald Trump did exactly that—by once again fantasizing about violence against his perceived enemies. Describing how his open-air podium was mostly surrounded by bulletproof glass, the former president noted a gap in that protection, and added: “To get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news, and I don’t mind that so much.” And by “fake news,” he meant the members of the press covering his rally. [Read: The…

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Trump’s Red-Pill Podcast Tour

One weirdness of listening to Donald Trump talk for any length of time is that, amid the syllable minestrone, he occasionally says something that is both intelligible and honest. One such moment came during his appearance on the popular podcast hosted by the computer scientist Lex Fridman this week. “To get the word out,” Trump said, is important in politics, and television was becoming “a little bit older and maybe less significant.” The online sphere—podcasts and forums such as Spaces, on X—has usurped its importance. “I just see that these…

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Trump’s Crocodile Tears for the Jews

Last week, Donald Trump went on Fox News and took offense on behalf of the Jews. Asked about Vice President Kamala Harris choosing Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate over Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, the former president declared: “I think it’s insulting to Jewish people.” Trump’s own running mate, J. D. Vance, expressed similar sentiments at a Philadelphia rally, saying that he “felt bad” for Shapiro, and that “whatever disagreements on policy you have about somebody,” the fact “that the vice-presidential race on the Democratic side became so focused…

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Trump’s Deregulatory Promises, Past and Future

This week, Donald Trump officially becomes the Republican nominee. Soon, he is likely to again be president, according to the most accurate predictions, which come from people who put their money where their mouths are—people who bet. They currently give Trump a 67% chance of winning. President Joe Biden’s chances have fallen below 20%. This is good news to those of us who fear America is gradually being strangled by ever-increasing regulations. Trump promises to get rid of bad rules. “Remove the anchor dragging us down!” he said. “We’re going…

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Let’s Talk About Trump’s Gibberish

Perhaps the greatest trick Donald Trump ever pulled was convincing millions of people—and the American media—to treat his lapses into fantasies and gibberish as a normal, meaningful form of oratory. But Trump is not a normal person, and his speeches are not normal political events. For too long, Trump has gotten away with pretending that his emotional issues are just part of some offbeat New York charm or an expression of his enthusiasm for public performance. But Trump is obviously unfit—and something is profoundly wrong with a political environment in…

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