President says he fears Bernie Sanders, as Indians label him ‘warmonger, imperialist, gangster’ during lavish Taj Mahal visit
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Donald Trump has told reporters Vermont senator Bernie Sanders is the 2020 rival he fears the most during his tour of India, which began with the president receiving a bear hug from Narendra Modi and a lavish welcome from the locals.
Prior to visiting the Taj Mahal, the president addressed a “Namaste Trump” rally before a 100,000-strong crowd at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad and praised the country’s economic progress, thriving Bollywood film industry and “very tough” prime minister - only to mangle the pronounciation of several key names, including that of legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.
Back in DC, the president has reportedly assembled a network of allies to help him remove anti-Trump “deep state” operatives he believes are working against him in the US government as his post-acquittal vengeance push continues.
US and other stock markets tumbled sharply on Monday amid worries about the Coronavirus, with the president firing off a 3 a.m. tweet from India claiming this: "The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!" At the White House, his aides are bracing from a new book by his second national security adviser, HR McMaster. (He fired the retired Army three-star general.)
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Bernie Sanders accuses influential Israeli lobby group of providing plaform for 'bigotry'
As Bernie storms ahead in the Democratic 2020 race following his win in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday, the top Trump challenger has stoked controversy by refusing to attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference, saying the lobbyist group provides a platform for "bigotry".
Sanders is Jewish but has attacked both AIPAC and the Benjamin Netanyahu government in the past.
"I am not anti-Israel," he told CNN at a town hall event last year. "But the fact of the matter is Netanyahu is a right-wing politician who I think is treating the Palestinian people extremely unfairly.
"What I believe is not radical. I just believe that the United States should deal with the Middle East on a level playing field basis."
AIPAC has since responded angrily.
Here's Clark Mindock on the candidate's remarks on the president over the weekend.
MSNBC host urged to quit after comparing Bernie Sanders win in Nevada to Nazi invasion
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews is under fire after comparing Bernie Sanders’ victory in the Nevada caucuses over the weekend to the Nazi invasion of France in 1940.
The Hardball host is now under pressure to resign after invoking the historical comparison during an on-air conversation with Brian Williams.
In the widely shared clip, he analyses the vote tally of Sanders and compares his strong early performance to the lacklustre voting numbers of Joe Biden and other moderates.
Roger Stone calls for removal of judge who sentenced him to prison
Well he would say that, wouldn't he?
Trump admits Bernie Sanders would be toughtest Democrat to beat
Speaking en route to the Taj Mahal a little while ago, Trump told reporters he believes Bernie Sanders would be his toughest opponent should he win the Democratic nomination.
"I actually think he would be tougher than most of the other candidates because he is like me but I have a much bigger base," the president said of Sanders while observing the race remains tight.
"It could go to the convention, it really could", he commented, before reverting to one of favourite conspiracy theories about the opposition.
"They are going to take it away from Crazy Bernie. They are not going to let him win," Trump said.
Apparently not especially blown away by that Wonder of the World, Trump has since sloped off to his hotel and resumed ramming out retweets from the GOP, the White House and Stephanie Grisham.
This is what the president had to say about tjhe growing threat represented by Sanders after his Nevada win at the weekend.
Trump White House bracing for HR McMaster's new memoir
With John Bolton's book forthcoming next month - if the White House ever finishes its review process - Trump is now facing the prospect of another former national security adviser turning out a potenitally damning memoir.
HR McMaster's Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World is published on 28 April and HarperCollins says it will be a “groundbreaking reassessment of America’s place in the world, drawing from McMaster’s long engagement with these issues, including 34 years of service in the US army with multiple tours of duty in battlegrounds overseas”.
Both Bob Woodward in Fear and Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig in A Very Stable Genius document McMaster's combative relationship with the president, with Trump said to have taken umbrage at the lieutenant general's "lecturing style" during briefings.
(AP)
Trump branded 'warmonger, imperialist, gangster' by Indian protesters
While this is the picture the president went to India to get...
(Al Drago/Reuters)
...his visit is not being unanimously welcomed. Protests have raged in Kolkata, where left-wing student actitvists have denounced him and his administration and told him to go home.
(Piyal Adhikary/EPA)
(Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty)
(Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty)
(Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty)
President mocked at Germany's Rose Monday parades
It's not just in Kolkata that Trump being ridiculed.
The US president is also being laughed at in Germany, where the traditional Rose Monday parades are underway. Trump has been likened to the despotic Roman emperor Nero on one float passing through Mainz and depicted cuddling up to Hassan Rouhani in Dusseldorf.
(Michael ProbstAP)
(Sascha Steinbach/EPA)
Chuck Schumer admits to spending nearly $9,000 on cheesecake
The Senate minority leader has pled "guilty as charged" in response to a New York Post story over the weekend about his wild spending on rich cheesecake made at his favourite Brooklyn bakery Junior's.
"It's a guilty pleasure. Don't look at the calories," he said, handing out slices to reporters on Capitol Hill.
White House refuses to deny Trump accused Boris Johnson of 'betrayal' in angry phone call over Huawei decision
John T Bennett has this intriguing report on the president's spat with a man he appeared to hope would be a key ally on the international stage. Or at least someone he could exchange shampoo advice with.
Chris Murphy: 'Trump is a gift to Russia'
Earlier on, we touched on Robert O'Brien's appearance on State of the Union with Jake Tapper, denying Russian election hacking.
Connecticut Democratic senator Chris Murphy was also on that show and offered the counter-argument.
"They don't just get involved in elections," Murphy said. "They are involved every single day. And analysis of what they have been doing on Twitter since 2016 has been pretty clear. They are weighing in over and over again in support of right-wing causes, in support of Donald Trump's political agenda.
"Of course, it stands to reason that they want Donald Trump reelected because he has been a gift to Russia,” the Senate Foreign Relations Committee member continued.
"He has essentially ceded the Middle East to Russian interests. He has accomplished more in the undermining of NATO than Russia has in the last 20 years. And he continues to effectively deny that they have an ongoing political operation here in the United States that, by and large, is intended to support Donald Trump and his allies."
He also expressed his concerns about the president's new national intelligence director in no uncertain terms.
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