USA 2024: – 240, No Labels will have a candidate; Biden criticizes Trump for Orban

An additional uncertainty about the presidential elections on November 5th: in addition to the uncertainties related to Joe Biden’s age and Donald Trump‘s legal troubles, there will be a candidate – yet to be identified – from No Labels, the bipartisan movement that yesterday decided to present its own ticket during a convention with 800 delegates. The goal: to offer an alternative to voters disappointed by the candidacies of the two ‘old giants’. After months of speculation, the bipartisan movement has resolved its doubts. The presidential and vice-presidential candidates will be chosen through a selection process and will be decided by a convention in April in Dallas. No Labels had pledged to enter the field as a third party if a rematch of the 2020 Biden-Trump duel were confirmed.

Nikki Haley, former US Ambassador to the UN who withdrew from the race for the Republican nomination, has ruled out running with No Labels; the same goes for independent Senator Joe Manchin. Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, another potential candidate, is aiming for the Senate.

Independent candidates are not lacking this year: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a pacifist and denier; Cornel West, a left-wing guru; and others. They have no hopes of winning, but they can, in an currently unpredictable manner, influence the balance of power between Biden and Trump.

USA 2024: State of the Union speech gives boost to Biden
President Biden’s State of the Union speech, delivered Thursday night with unusual vigor, pleased American viewers: according to a CNN poll, 62% of viewers had a positive reaction; and 62% also believe that the policies outlined will lead the United States in the right direction – an increase from 45% before the speech. However, it should be noted that the audience watching the State of the Union address on CNN is politically engaged and tends to be progressive, and therefore does not represent a cross-section of the American electorate. The president’s campaign has announced that the two hours before and during the speech were the most successful ever in terms of fundraising.

Yesterday, Biden criticized Trump for meeting with Viktor Orban at Mar-a-Lago: the Hungarian Prime Minister – the president reminded – “openly declared that he does not believe democracy works and that he seeks dictatorship. I envision a future where we will defend democracy instead of undermining it,” he said in a campaign rally on the outskirts of Philadelphia.

USA 2024: Shutdown averted, test measure approved
The Senate has definitively averted a partial shutdown of federal activities, approving – following the House – the bill that funds, at least until September 30, the end of the fiscal year in the United States, and government activities. With a widely bipartisan vote of 75 to 22, spending for $467.5 billion in agriculture, transportation, energy, housing, and more has been approved. President Biden’s signature is a formality.

USA 2024: Republican Party renews its leadership
The Republican National Committee has elected Michael Whatley and Lara Trump, Donald’s daughter-in-law, as president and co-president, strengthening the magnate’s control over conservatives. Whatley, a staunch Trump supporter, and Eric’s wife Lara were personally chosen by the former president. Whatley, a purveyor of lies about the stolen 2020 election, could play a crucial role if the 2024 vote were contested. Lara Trump has an even more delicate role: raising funds for the party and convincing it to use them for the legal expenses of her father-in-law, who is both a candidate (and indicted).

USA 2024: Judicial developments, funds deposited, a documentary about the porn star
Trump has deposited $91.6 million in bail and has thus been able to appeal the judgment that sentenced him to pay $83.3 million in damages to writer E. Jean Carroll, who was defamed by the magnate, who, when he was president, insisted on denying – a sexual assault that took place in the nineties in a luxury department store in the Big Apple and whose truthfulness had already been established in court.

In view of the criminal trial that is due to begin in New York on March 25, ‘Stormy’ is about to be released, a documentary about the porn star Stormy Daniels, born Stephanie Clifford. The porn actress was paid in cash in 2016 to keep quiet about a story between her and Trump from years earlier. In the trailer for the documentary, just released, the woman says: “I will not give up because I tell the truth.” According to the trailer, the film “delves into Stormy Daniels’ life, tells her story, and the events that have become part of American history.” The documentary takes the audience behind the scenes as the protagonist juggles being a mother and her work, with unseen images and videos.