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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Chris Stein (now) and Fran Lawther (earlier)

Mike Pence officially enters 2024 US presidential race, pitting himself against former boss Donald Trump – as it happened

Nikki Haley MAGA Donald Trump Joe Biden Abortion United States Kamala Harris Ron DeSantis CNN DNC
Mike Pence at the Iowa Roast and Ride on Saturday.
Mike Pence at the Iowa Roast and Ride on Saturday. Photograph: Dave Kaup/Reuters

Closing summary

Mike Pence filed the paperwork necessary to run for president, though he will wait till Wednesday to make his campaign official with a speech in Iowa. Meanwhile in Washington, attorneys for Donald Trump stopped by the justice department, where special counsel Jack Smith is reportedly nearing a decision on whether to recommend charges over the classified documents federal agents discovered last year at Mar-a-Lago.

Here’s what else happened today:

  • New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu declined to jump into the race for the GOP’s presidential nomination, instead saying he will work to defeat Trump.

  • But the 2024 campaign did get another entrant: philosopher, author, critic, actor and civil rights activist Cornel West.

  • Military jets attempted to establish contact with a plane that overflew restricted airspace in Washington, DC on Sunday and later crashed, killing all onboard, but the pilot appeared slumped over and never responded.

  • Nikki Haley participated in a CNN-moderated town hall last night, but even they couldn’t get her to make her stance on abortion access clear.

  • Pence’s edge over other Republicans: he actually rides motorcycles.

CNN has inserted itself prominently in the American political conversation in recent weeks by hosting town halls with Donald Trump, Nikki Haley and, on Wednesday, Mike Pence. But the network was also heavily criticized for how it handled the event with Trump, and to make matters worse, the Atlantic last week published a damning portrait of the network’s chief executive Chris Licht and his decision making. It’s a major story in American media, and here’s the Guardian’s Adam Gabbatt with the latest:

The embattled CNN chief executive, Chris Licht, apologized to his employees on Monday after an Atlantic magazine profile revealed he had been aware of the “extra-Trumpy” make-up of the crowd at a widely criticized town hall with the former president last month.

According to the Atlantic, Licht had also been critical of CNN’s performance under his predecessor, telling employees they had alienated potential viewers through hostility to Donald Trump.

In an editorial call Monday morning, Licht – who had committed to a number of interviews for the Atlantic profile – apologized for his involvement in the piece.

The Washington, DC area was yesterday rattled by a sonic boom caused by military jets sent to pursue a wayward plane that later crashed into a remote part of Virginia.

The Washington Post reports that military F-16s and air traffic controllers received no response from the Cessna Citation despite repeated attempts to establish contact, but one aviator saw the pilot slumped over. That may be an indication that the cabin had lost pressure, rendering all onboard unconscious and leaving the aircraft to fly on until it lost fuel and crashed, killing all four people onboard.

At today’s White House press briefing, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby gave reporters a full account of how the military responded to the plane’s overflight of the city, which saw it traverse airspace restricted since the 9/11 attacks:

These sorts of rants from Donald Trump are one reason why he’s earned the ire of a segment of the Republican party.

Count New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu among them. Today, the moderate Republican told CNN he would not stand for president in 2024, and in a column for the Washington Post elaborated on his reasons why.

“Since 2017, the national Republican Party has lost up and down the ballot, in red states and in blue states, and in elections spanning the House, Senate and presidency. That will happen again unless we Republicans undergo a course correction,” he wrote.

The governor continued:

Current polls indicate Trump is the leading Republican candidate in 2024. He did not deliver on his promises to drain the swamp, secure the border and instill fiscal responsibility while in office — and added $8 trillion to our national debt — yet now he wants four more years.

If he is the nominee, Republicans will lose again. Just as we did in 2018, 2020 and 2022. This is indisputable, and I am not willing to let it happen without a fight.

By choosing not to seek the nomination, I can be more effective for the Republican Party in ways few other leaders can. The microphone afforded to the governor of New Hampshire plays a critical role in an early nominating state. I plan to endorse, campaign and support the candidate I believe has the best chance of winning in November 2024.

We’ll see how big of a threat Sununu’s opposition poses to Trump’s campaign for another four years in the White House. But here are a few other considerations that may have kept Sununu out of the race: his comparatively loose stance on abortion rights, unwillingness to adopt an aggressive gerrymander of the state’s district maps in favor of the GOP, and other centrist policies. He may have figured he wouldn’t have had a chance of winning over the party’s powerful conservative base.

Donald Trump made liberal use of the caps lock key in crafting this Truth social post from a few hours ago, on the day his attorneys paid a visit to the justice department:

Trump lawyers met with justice department staff, not Garland

The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reports that the lawyers for Donald Trump who turned up today at the justice department were meeting with senior officials, but not attorney general Merrick Garland, as they had requested:

Such meetings are typical when justice department investigations near their conclusion, as special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago appears to be.

Smith is also looking into Trump’s involvement in the January 6 insurrection, and the broader plot to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election win. Those inquiries appear to be ongoing.

Should Ron DeSantis’s new feud with California governor Gavin Newsom head to the courts, it would be just the latest instance in which the Florida governor and presidential aspirant’s policies have cost his state money, the Guardian’s Maya Yang reports:

Since Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, took office in 2019 and embarked on his culture wars, lawsuits from various communities whose rights have been violated have been stacking up against the far-right Republican.

As DeSantis fights the lawsuits with what critics have described as a blank check from the state’s supermajority Republican legislature, the mounting legal costs have come heavily at the expense of Florida’s taxpayers.

In recent years, DeSantis’s ultra-conservative legislative agenda has drawn ire from a slew of marginalized communities as well as major corporations including Disney. The so-called “don’t say gay” bill, abortion bans and prohibition of African American studies are just a few of DeSantis’s many extremist policies that have been met with costly lawsuits in a state where residents are already struggling with costs of living.

California governor accuses DeSantis of kidnapping over migrant flight to Sacramento

The California governor, Gavin Newsom, has weighed into the row between his state and Florida over the case of a group of 16 migrants who were left outside a Sacramento church.

A rights group said the group had been “lied to” and deceived after being transported from Texas to California. The circumstances are similar to a stunt orchestrated by Florida’s rightwing Republican governor last year in Martha’s Vineyard.

Now Newsom has mentioned kidnapping charges in relation to the incident. Here’s his tweet, criticising Ron DeSantis after California authorities pointed the finger at the Florida governor over the incident:

Updated

Cornel West, the philosopher, author, critic, actor and civil rights activist, has announced he is running for president.

West launched his campaign for the People’s Party with a Twitter video on Monday.

He said:

“I care about you. I care about the quality of your life, I care about whether you have access to a job with a living wage, decent housing, women having control over their bodies, healthcare for all, the escalating destruction of the planet, the destruction of American democracy.”

Watch his whole campaign launch video here:

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, is being sued by the SEC over allegations of mishandling customer funds and lying to regulators and investors.

Binance has hit back at the claims and my colleague Lauren Aratani is reporting all the latest on the lawsuit in our dedicated blog. You can follow latest updates here:

The day so far

Mike Pence has filed the paperwork necessary to run for president, though he will wait till Wednesday to make the campaign official with a speech in Iowa. Meanwhile in Washington, attorneys for Donald Trump have stopped by the justice department, where special counsel Jack Smith is reportedly nearing a decision on whether to recommend charges over the classified documents federal agents discovered last year at Mar-a-Lago. It’s unclear who the lawyers met with, but when we find out, we’ll let you know.

Here’s what else has happened today so far:

  • New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu has declined to jump into the race for the GOP’s presidential nomination.

  • Nikki Haley participated in a CNN-moderated town hall last night, but even they couldn’t get her to make her stance on abortion access clear.

  • Pence’s edge over other Republicans: he actually rides motorcycles.

Republican voters pining to send a governor to the White House needn’t worry Chris Sununu’s decision to forgo a run.

North Dakota governor Doug Burgum – who is little known outside his home state – is expected to also on Wednesday declare his candidacy for president, the same day Mike Pence kicks off his campaign in Iowa. Here’s a teaser video Burgum just posted:

Other governor options for Republican voters: Ron DeSantis, who is a distant second place to Donald Trump in the latest polls.

GOP governor Sununu says no to presidential run - interview

In an interview with CNN, New Hampshire’s Republican governor Chris Sununu said he will not run for the party’s presidential nomination next year.

“We’ve taken the last six months to really kind of look at things where everything is and I’ve made the decision not to run for president on the Republican ticket in 2024,” said Sununu, who was re-elected to a fourth two-year term as governor last year.

Sununu has maintained his popularity in what’s considering a blue-leaning swing state, and also attempted to distance himself from Trump, telling CNN last year that he thinks that “clearly moving on” from the former president.

You know who else was at the “Roast and Ride” in Iowa this weekend? The Guardian’s David Smith! He has the full story on what he aptly calls “a slice of pure Americana”:

There were hay bales and Harley-Davidsons. There was sliced pork and campaign paraphernalia. There were earnest speeches about defeating Democrats winning back the White House. But at the centre of it all was a Donald Trump-shaped hole.

The Republican presidential primary for 2024 got under way in earnest on Saturday when eight contenders – minus Trump – took part in Iowa senator Joni Ernst’s “Roast and Ride”, a combination of barbecue-rally and motorcycle ride.

The annual event is a slice of pure Americana. When a young pastor offered a prayer from the back of a pickup truck outside a big yellow barn owned by Harley-Davidson, bikers removed their caps, placed them over their hearts and bowed their heads. The convoy rode in staggered formation past churches, suburban houses with clipped lawns, shopping malls and rolling farmland to the Iowa state fairgrounds.

Mike Pence, set to make his entry into the primary official next week, was the only White House hopeful to actually take part in the charity parade. The former vice-president, who turns 64 next week, rode a cobalt blue bike and wore jeans, boots, a white helmet and a black leather vest with patches that said “Indiana”, “Pence”, “rolling thunder” and messages supportive of the military.

Pence was among the Republican aspirants who, speaking in front of bales of hay and an outline of the Iowa map, delivered speeches of about 10 minutes each inside a wooden-roofed building where about a thousand voters ate lunch on green table cloths. But none mentioned Trump by name, giving the impression of a party in denial.

First on the left, former vice-president Mike Pence, and first on the right senator Joni Ernst, at the “Roast and Ride”.
First on the left, former vice-president Mike Pence, and first on the right senator Joni Ernst, at the “Roast and Ride”. Photograph: Dave Kaup/Reuters

Say what you will about Mike Pence, but the former president was the only candidate to actually get on a motorcycle this past weekend, when several GOP presidential contenders went to the “Roast and Ride” in Iowa.

The event, organized by the state’s GOP senator Joni Ernst, was attended by Florida governor Ron DeSantis, senator Tim Scott and Nikki Haley, all official contenders. Pence hadn’t made his campaign official yet at the time of the rally, but distinguished himself by not just roasting, but also riding:

Mike Pence, looking pretty happy on the bike. His wife, Karen, is to the right.
Mike Pence, looking pretty happy on the bike. His wife, Karen, is to the right. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Updated

The Democrats have welcomed Mike Pence to the presidential race with a big smile and open arms.

Just kidding — they hate him. Pence may have broken with Donald Trump on January 6 and ended up running from a mob of his infuriated supporters, but the Democratic National Committee does not want voters to forget about the policies he supported as vice-president, Indiana’s governor, and a member of the House of Representatives.

Here’s what DNC chair Jaime Harrison had to say about Pence, now that he’s officially on the campaign trail:

In Mike Pence’s own words, he was a member of the extreme Tea Party ‘before it was cool,’ and he hasn’t slowed down since. Pence pushed an extreme agenda in Congress and the Indiana statehouse before becoming Donald Trump’s MAGA wingman for four years and then campaigning for election deniers last year. Now, he’s promising to take the Trump-Pence agenda even further, leading the charge for a national abortion ban, cutting Medicare, and ending Social Security as we know it.

Pence’s entrance will no doubt drag an increasingly MAGA 2024 GOP field even further to the extremes.

Pence makes presidential bid official

Former vice-president Mike Pence has officially entered the 2024 presidential race, pitting him against his former boss Donald Trump and a host of other candidates including Florida governor Ron DeSantis for the Republican party’s nomination.

The Federal Election Commission’s website shows Pence and his campaign committee, Mike Pence for President located in Carmel, Indiana, officially registering today. The former vice-president will publicly announce the bid on Wednesday in Des Moines, Iowa.

Donald Trump’s lawyers are at the justice department today to argue to top officials that the former president should not be charged over the classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago, the Washington Post reports.

The attorneys at the meeting include John Rowley and James Trusty, who last month sent a letter to attorney general Merrick Garland, asking for a meeting and complaining about the investigation into Trump, which is led by special counsel Jack Smith.

According to the Post, it’s unclear who at the justice department they are meeting today. While it’s not unusual for lawyers of people being investigated to seek a meeting with prosecutors before they decide on filing charges, the attorney general usually does not take part in such meetings, the Post reports.

Pence to officially enter presidential race today

Former vice-president Mike Pence will later today file paperwork to officially enter the presidential race, ahead of his public launch scheduled for Wednesday in Iowa, the Associated Press reports.

Pence, who served under Donald Trump but fell out with him when the former president pressed him to take part in his plans to disrupt the transfer of power to Joe Biden, will publicly kick off the campaign in Des Moines, Iowa on Wednesday with the release of a video and an in-person event.

Trump lawyers visit justice department as special counsel mulls charges over documents - report

CBS News reports that attorneys for Donald Trump are today visiting the justice department as special counsel Jack Smith nears a decision on whether to bring charges over the classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago resort:

The Guardian reported last week that Evan Corcoran, a lawyer for the former president, was waved off by Trump’s associates when he asked to search his office at Mar-a-Lago for classified documents, and instead only checked a storage room. When federal agents last August searched the property, the office was one of the areas where the classified documents were found.

In normal times, the ex-governor of a solidly red state would be expected to mount a competitive challenge for the GOP’s presidential nomination.

Not this year, apparently. Former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, who has criticized Donald Trump more harshly than most others on the campaign trail, is nowhere in the polls. Here’s what he had to say about that, and his chances for appearing in the first GOP presidential debate scheduled for 23 August, in an interview with Fox Business:

CNN may have deemed Nikki Haley prominent enough to warrant her own town hall, but it’s still tough out there for any Republican trying to take down Donald Trump.

Just take a look at this chart from poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight. Trump is at 53.9% support, compared to Ron DeSantis’s 21.1% – and that’s just for second place. The aggregator has Haley at a depressing 4.5%, below Mike Pence, Trump’s former vice-president who he has fallen out with.

Here’s the moment from the CNN town hall last night when Nikki Haley made her position on a national abortion ban clear – as mud:

Her waffling was yet another indication of how Republicans are now struggling with the decision by their conservative appointees on the supreme court to overturn Roe v Wade last year. Though the party has for years pledged to curb abortion access, now that they finally have the legal clearance to do so, they’re finding out that it’s not exactly a winning prospect among voters. Just ask all the GOP candidates who did not get elected in last November’s midterm election.

Though there’s no shortage of alternatives, polls consistently show Donald Trump as the most popular candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. As the Guardian’s Peter Stone reports, those familiar with his rhetoric and proposals are deeply worried about what a second term in the White House would mean for America:

As Donald Trump begins another campaign for the presidency, his extremist rhetoric and lies about the 2020 election signal that in a second term, Trump would attempt to thwart the rule of law at the justice department and other agencies in an effort to expand his power and attack critics.

Former DoJ officials, some Republicans and academics say that if Trump becomes the Republican nominee and is elected again in 2024, he would most likely appoint officials who would reflexively do his bidding, target dissenters he deems part of the “deep state” and mount zealous drives to rein in independent agencies.

Donald Ayer, a former deputy attorney general during the George HW Bush administration, told the Guardian: “Of all the many reasons Donald Trump’s candidacy should be rejected out of hand, none is more important than his utter disdain for the rule of law – the idea that we are a society governed by rules and not by the will of one person.”

When she announced her campaign, Nikki Haley made headlines by calling for mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump are both past that age, but, like many other Republicans, Haley has mostly directed the criticism at the sitting president.

Here she is on Fox News, implying that Biden wouldn’t make it through another four years in office:

Democrats accuse Haley of 'Maga agenda'

As Nikki Haley made her pitch to Republican voters last night, Democrats sought to remind the public that the former UN ambassador is not as different from Donald Trump as she may say.

“Haley spent an hour and a half doubling down on her Maga agenda – reminding Americans she supports a national abortion ban and ending Social Security and Medicare as we know it,” said Rhyan Lake, a spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee (DNC). “Take it from Team Haley – her extreme, anti-freedom candidacy is just as Maga as the rest of the 2024 GOP field.”

In the town hall, Haley attempted to distance herself from Trump and the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, saying, “He thinks it was a beautiful day; I think it was a terrible day.” But the DNC noted she has endorsed election denying Republicans across the country, including Nevada’s Adam Laxalt, and New Hampshire’s Don Bolduc, both failed Senate candidates.

Haley attacked Trump and Ron DeSantis for “not being honest” about the sustainability of social security and medicare, two major government aid programs. But the DNC said she has embraced cuts to the programs proposed by Paul Ryan, a former Republican speaker of the House. “Haley has been shamelessly campaigning to end Social Security and Medicare as we know it — which would hurt hard working families and seniors across the country.”

Haley stays vague on abortion, attacks Trump, DeSantis at town hall

Good morning, US politics blog readers. We heard more from presidential candidate Nikki Haley at a CNN-hosted town hall last night, who, like all Republicans not named Donald Trump, has a tough hill to climb to overcome the party’s frontrunner for the nomination. She criticized both the former president (also her ex-boss, since she worked as his UN ambassador) and Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor who is viewed as the next-best contender. But in some ways, Haley is more like Trump than she lets on. Pressed about her stance on abortion, she wouldn’t say what sort of restrictions on the procedure she would support, only that she’d aim to get some sort of legislation through Congress. That sounds a lot like the former president, who has demurred on saying whether he’d sign a national ban. Expect to hear more reactions to Haley’s town hall appearance as today goes on.

Here’s what else is going on today:

  • Joe Biden will host Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen at the White House at 1.30pm eastern time, then Super Bowl Champions the Kansas City Chiefs three hours later.

  • White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will talk to reporters, who will talk back to her, at 1.45pm.

  • There were no survivors from a plane that crashed in Virginia on Sunday after flying over Washington DC’s restricted airspace, causing the military to scramble jets and a sonic boom heard across the region.

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