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Jelly Roll was spotted shaking hands and smiling with president-elect Donald Trump at a UFC match New York City’s Madison Square Garden last month, leading to controversy surrounding the country star’s political opinions. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news However, Jelly cleared the air alongside his wife […]
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Source: Fulton County Jail / Fulton County Sheriff’s Office
Donald Trump’s claims of presidential immunity to dismiss his hush money conviction were struck down by the presiding judge in New York, dealing him a temporary loss.
On Monday (Dec. 16), New York District Court Judge Juan Merchan ruled that Donald Trump cannot use presidential immunity as a reason to overturn his felony conviction in the “hush money” election interference case. The decision is a blow to the president-elect weeks before he is set to return to the White House and comes after he has already seen several wins in other court cases against him.
“The People’s use of these acts as evidence of the decidedly personal acts of falsifying business records poses no danger of intrusion on the authority and function of the executive branch,” wrote Judge Merchan in a 41-page document detailing the ruling. Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to covering up an affair he had with adult film star Stormy Daniels, which was overseen by his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who paid Daniels $130,000. Trump would eventually repay Cohen.
The ruling is not the definitive ending to this case. Judge Merchan has paused sentencing in the case several times, and prosecutors have signaled that they wouldn’t stand in the way of putting the case on hold until after Trump has served his time in office. While the conviction does carry a potential sentence of up to four years in prison, Judge Merchan can uphold the conviction but not impose any prison time or any other punishment. Trump can also argue for the conviction to be thrown out if he chooses to take it to the conservative Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor concerning presidential immunity in June.
Representatives for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined to comment. Steven Cheung, a spokesman for President-elect Trump, called the decision “a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s decision on immunity,” adding: “This lawless case should have never been brought, and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed.”
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Chris Rock’s monologue for SNL jabbed at multiple figures in the news, including Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the CEO of UnitedHealthcare who was killed in midtown Manhattan.
Last Saturday’s (Dec. 14) episode of Saturday Night Live was hosted by veteran comedian Chris Rock. His opening monologue wasted no time in going after multiple people prominent in today’s news but started off with a playful jab at show director Lorne Michaels for “25 great years of Saturday Night Live!” (The show is currently celebrating 50 years on the air.) Rock was a former cast member on the show from 1990 to 1993 and has hosted SNL three times in 1996, 2014, and 2020. He took a shot at Diddy first by bemoaning having to walk by a pack of “baby oil-sniffing dogs.”
He continued by talking about the capture of Luigi Mangione, the suspected shooter of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in midtown Manhattan earlier this month. “I really feel sorry for the family,” Rock began. “Everybody’s fixated on how good-looking this guy looks. If he looked like Jonah Hill, no one would care. They’d already given him the chair already — he’d be dead. But he actually killed a man — a man with a family, a man with kids. I have condolences. This is a real person, you know? But you also got to go, ‘You know, sometimes drug dealers get shot.’”
The Top Five actor also made sure to roast President-elect Donald Trump and his base of supporters by calling out the history of past American presidents and his proposed plans for mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. “Menendez brothers are getting out of jail — just in time to get deported. Trump is going to deport their ass, you murdering Mexicans!” he quipped before taking aim at tech billionaire Elon Musk. “He’s working with the number one African American in the world. The richest African American in the world: Elon Musk. That’s right. He is African American. Elon’s got more kids than the Cleveland Browns. That’s right. Nobody knows how to get rid of people like a South African.”
Check out the entire monologue above.
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Donald Trump hosted a news conference this week at his Mar-a-Lago residence that covered a variety of topics for the incoming president-elect. Of Donald Trump’s comments made during the conference, some took note of the fact that he said he would consider pardoning New York Mayor Eric Adams if he is convicted.
Donald Trump, 78, was asked by media in attendance at the conference if he would consider pardoning Mayor Adams, who has been accused of abusing the power of his office by taking travel benefits from Turkey’s leadership and was accused of asking for illegal campaign donations from the nation. Trump said that Adams had been targeted unfairly by federal prosecutors, something he feels has happened to him as well regarding his legal matters in the state of New York.
Shortly after Trump’s event, Mayor Adams held a news conference on Monday and believes that he shouldn’t face charges in connection with his dealings with Turkish officials.
“I have an attorney that is going to look at every avenue to ensure I get justice,” Adams said. “I did nothing wrong.”
Adams’ defense attorney is Alex Spiro, who also represents Jay-Z and has done so for Elon Musk, a Trump ally, in the past.
Some observers believe Adams is cozying up to Trump and his political agenda concerning illegal immigration in exchange for a potential pardon should he face legal ramifications in connection to the donations from Turkey.
[h/t New York Times]
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ABC News has sparked the ire of many on social media after reports went wide that the network settled a $15 million lawsuit brought by President-elect Donald Trump. The money from the settlement will go toward a charity that will use the funds to build Donald Trump’s presidential library.
As reported by the Associated Press over the weekend, ABC News will pay $15 million as a “charitable contribution” that will be deposited into the care of a non-profit organization that will help build the library for the incoming president.
Trump brought a lawsuit against ABC News and George Stephanopoulos after the veteran anchor said on-air that Trump was found civilly liable for raping E. Jean Carroll, with a jury awarding the writer $88 million in damages stemming from a pair of lawsuits filed by Carroll, who accused Trump of the assault in the 1990s. The verdicts of those matters are under appeal.
As part of the settlement, ABC News shared an editor’s note apologizing for Stephanopoulos offering his take on the legal matter in a report delivered on the This Week program. ABC will also pay $1 million to the law firm of Trump’s attorney Alejandro Brito to cover legal fees.
“We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing,” ABC News spokesperson Jeannie Kedas said.
As the news of the settlement went wide, many were moved to outrage that the network decided to settle instead of locking into a legal fight. Some believe this is the network pledging fealty to Trump and his incoming leadership team while others have used more colorful language to describe the outcome.
On X, formerly Twitter, ABC News has found itself hammered with criticism. We have those reactions below.
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Amazon and Meta are contributing $1 million each to the inauguration fund for Donald Trump in an attempt to curry good favor with him.
According to reports, Meta and Amazon are donating $1 million to the inauguration fund for President-elect Donald Trump. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, made its announcement of the move on Wednesday (Dec. 11), weeks after founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Amazon announced its decision the following day, with Trump claiming that he would meet with Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos next week.
In addition, Amazon will livestream the inauguration ceremony on Prime Video, representing an “in-kind” donation totaling up to $1 million. Amazon also did the same with President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021. “Big congratulations to our 45th and now 47th President on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory,” Bezos wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Nov. 6. “No nation has bigger opportunities. Wishing @realDonaldTrump all success in leading and uniting the America we all love.”
The donations come after Trump’s turbulent history with Amazon and Facebook. Trump opposed a proposed ban on social media giant TikTok, claiming that Meta would benefit if it took place. “If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. He also accused Facebook of interfering in the 2020 presidential election.
Trump has also blasted Bezos, calling the “Fake Washington Post” an Amazon lobbying arm and alleging that Amazon was avoiding paying U.S. Postal Service rates in full during his first presidential administration. The two seemed to reconcile after the assassination attempt on Trump’s life in Pennsylvania in July, and Bezos recently said at the DealBook Summit last week that Trump “seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation. And my point of view is, if I can help him do that, I’m going to help him, because we do have too much regulation in this country.”
The moves are seen as a way to gain favor with the incoming administration – the Trump team has promised donors who contribute $1 million top-tier benefits, which include six tickets to inaugural events from January 17 to 20 as well as tickets to the ceremony and “an elegant and intimate dinner with President Donald J. Trump and Mrs. Melania Trump” on Jan. 19.
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Source: The Washington Post / Getty
Donald Trump has been named TIME Magazine’s Person of The Year for the second time, and social media users displeased at the choice made their opinions known.
On Thursday (December 12), TIME Magazine announced that President-elect Donald Trump would be its Person of The Year for the second time. He had graced the cover of the publication after winning the presidential election back in 2016. To commemorate the occasion, Trump was at the New York Stock Exchange in lower Manhattan to ring the opening bell as his family stood nearby. Chants of “U-S-A!!” could be heard during the moment. “He has reshaped the American electorate, activating young male voters who propelled him to a decisive victory that saw him win the popular vote for the first time and turn every swing state red,” the outlet wrote in the issue.
“His 2024 win is history-making in multiple ways: he will be the oldest President in U.S. history, and he was convicted earlier this year by a New York jury of 34 counts of fraud, making him the first convicted felon to be elected President.”
Time’s editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs praised Trump in the magazine, writing: “On the cusp of his second presidency, all of us — from his most fanatical supporters to his most fervent critics — are living in the Age of Trump.” Trump himself has unsurprisingly had a turbulent relationship with TIME Magazine – while he praised TIME as a “very important” publication and said being named person of the year in 2016 was a “tremendous honor”. But he would sour on the outlet’s description of him being “president of the divided states of America.” He also blasted the magazine in 2011 for leaving him off a list of influential people, claiming it had “lost all credibility”. In 2013, upset over another snub, he stated that TIME would soon go out of business. He’s also criticized other Person of The Year choices, including pop superstar Taylor Swift who nabbed the honor last year.
The news of Trump’s becoming TIME’s Person of The Year was met with disbelief by many, including those on social media. Democratic presidential nominee and current Vice President Kamala Harris was on the shortlist for the honor, as well as Catherine, Princess of Wales and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is a close advisor to Trump and poised to be head of the Department of Government Efficiency.
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Source: The Washington Post / Getty
Donald Trump’s first post-election network interview with NBC News’ Kristin Welker was widely trashed for his numerous false claims and Welker’s apparent lack of pushback on his answers.
The first network interview for President-elect Donald Trump, which was recorded to be aired on NBC’s Meet The Press on Sunday (December 8), was derided by observers who tuned in, noting that he repeated many of the false claims that were a hallmark of his campaign with re-election. Trump was interviewed by the news program’s host, Kristin Welker, being combative with her as he has been in the past, reacting to her questioning of his proposed policies in his return to the White House. “You have such potential. If you could be just non-biased… you hurt yourself so badly,” he remarked as Welker’s frustration could be seen.
Trump maintains his composure as “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker grows frustrated.
“You have such potential. If you could be just non-biased… you hurt yourself so badly.” pic.twitter.com/YYQmniPH4h
— Julianna Frieman (@JuliannaFrieman) December 8, 2024
Trump made false claims again about migrants in the United States, misusing an Immigration and Customs Enforcement statistic to say 13,000 immigrants who had committed murder were “released into our country over the last three years.” When asked about his proposal to remove so many undocumented immigrants, he replied: “Well, I think you have to do it, and it’s a hard – it’s a very tough thing to do,” Trump said. “But you have to have rules, regulations, laws. They came in illegally. You know the people that have been treated very unfairly are the people that have been on line for ten years to come into the country. And we’re going to make it very easy for people to come in in terms of they have to pass the test.” He also lied about the United States being the only nation granting birthright citizenship – 30 other nations also do so.
Trump also claimed that he “was able to get hundreds of billions of dollars put into NATO just by a tough attitude.” The false claim refers to NATO countries agreeing to put more money into boosting their military forces but The New York Times noted that the agreement was in place since 2014. Trump also falsely claimed that “just prior to Covid coming in, I had polls that were the highest.” In truth, at that point in 2020 he had a 48% approval rating, placing him lower than all but three presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman.
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Donald Trump appeared on Meet The Press Sunday morning (Dec. 8), marking his first televised interview since becoming the president-elect in November after a tight race with Vice President Kamala Harris. Sitting down with Meet The Press moderator Kristen Welker, Donald Trump was measured at times but also slippery on some of his positions as observers on the X social media platform pointed out contradictions and flat-out lies in his statements where he received little pushback.
President-elect Donald Trump, 78, spoke in a conversational tone as he sat across from Kristen Welker, displaying a muted version of expressing himself in comparison to some of his fiery and off-the-rails campaign speeches. With the presidential victory in hand and emboldened by officially winning the Republican Party majority of both the House and Senate, Trump toned down the rhetoric but also said that he would carry out unpopular policies despite growing murmurs of discontent among his base and those far outside of it.
Trump spoke to Welker’s inquiry about his plans for the first 100 days in the White House, a longstanding marker of the president making his intentions known and setting a tone for the government as his leadership continues to come into view over the next four years.
After a rambling answer that covered everything from tackling crime in major cities and extending the so-called “Trump tax cuts,” Trump defended his nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth despite the mounting allegations against him. Trump’s answer was a masterclass of avoiding the actual question by using filler words and highlighting how much Fox News supported Hegseth, once more ignoring the fact that some of the allegations against his nominee originated within the network.
Early in the chat, Welker lobbed a question regarding tariffs, which some felt was one of several softballs tossed at Trump. Instead of getting Trump to explain how he’ll attack inflation and lower prices, since it was a key campaign point and why many voters pulled the lever for him, he elected not to offer a guarantee on one of his top promises.
“I can’t guarantee anything. I can’t guarantee tomorrow. But I can say that if you look at my — just pre-Covid, we had the greatest economy in the history of our country. And I had a lot of tariffs on a lot of different countries, but in particular China,” Trump said before meandering and calling the tariffs “beautiful,” but Welker did remind Trump that those “beautiful” tariffs cost Americans billions.
In other portions of the conversation, Trump still refused to concede the 2020 election results despite overwhelming evidence that the presidency was not stolen from him. He also doubled down on false claims that he improved the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which he continues to refer to as “Obamacare,” a law that took cues from Sen. Mitt Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts and the state’s health care reform law.
Trump continues to claim he “saved Obamacare” despite his many attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and insert a law of his own, even though it could harm those who voted for Trump in the long run. Trump also stuck to his incorrect statement that 13,099 murders in the past three years were allegedly committed by illegal immigrants. Welker attempted to get Trump to understand the number includes four decades of data but Trump insisted this exaggerated number came under President Joe Biden’s tenure.
On X, formerly Twitter, Donald Trump’s Meet The Press interview found its way onto the timeline with many pointing out how it missed several marks. Check out the replies below.
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Source: Brandon Bell / Getty / Elon Musk / Donald Trump
Elon Musk was not pinching pennies during the presidential election. The Tesla Chief donated a lot of money to ensure Donald Trump slimed his way back into the White House.
NBC News reports that Musk donated over $20 million to a mysterious super PAC at the end of Felon 47’s campaign as part of the $250 million he spent to help make America racist again; oops, we meant “great” again, according to new finance reports.
Per NBC News:
Musk financed RBG PAC, according to the report the group filed Thursday night with the Federal Election Commission. The super PAC, which did not disclose its donors before the election, launched ads contending that Trump did not support a federal abortion ban.
All of the money the group pulled in — $20.5 million — came from a single donation from the Elon Musk Revocable Trust in Austin, Texas. RBG PAC spent almost all of its money on digital ads, mailers and text messages, according to the campaign finance report, which covered Oct. 17 through Nov. 25.
The news website also reports that Musk donated $238 million to the America PAC throughout the election cycle, including an extra $120 million in the election’s final weeks.
We Can’t Forget About Those $1 Million Giveaways
According to federal disclosures, America PAC used the money for canvassing and get-out-the-vote efforts via text message, printing, postage, and digital ads. America PAC also ran a controversial $1 million giveaway that saw Musk hand checks to people who signed up for the PAC’s heavily conservative-leaning petition.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner sued Musk and the PAC in late October to stop the giveaway. Still, a judge in the state sided with Musk and America PAC, allowing them to continue with the giveaway.
The Justice Department also warned America PAC that the giveaway was damn near close to being illegal, but subsequently, no action was taken by the department.
According to America PAC’s finance report, the $1 million bribes, oops, we mean prizes, were listed as payments for a “spokesperson consultant.”
Bootleg Tony Stark also gave $3 million to the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) Alliance, a super PAC affiliated with Donald Trump’s pick to run HHS, Robert F. Kenndey Jr.
So, Musk, who Sweet Potato Mussolini tapped to run the made-up Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to help cut government spending, spent a lot to ensure he had plenty of influence when President-Elect Trump took office.
We see the jig.