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Ron DeSantis and Casey DeSantis

DeSantis In Free Fall Over Fundraising Scandal Tied To Wife's 'Charity'

One of the few contenders combative enough to take on President Donald Trump in a Republican presidential primary, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, is falling hard and fast, critics say.

DeSantis’ re-election was one of the few bright spots for Republicans who had predicted a “red wave” election in 2022 but saw GOP candidates get rejected up and down the ticket— with almost every Trump-endorsed candidate losing to a Democrat. In a blue map of victories that year, however, Florida remained solidly red with DeSantis carrying the state by 20 points despite a strong showing from Democratic challenger and former governor Charlie Crist.But that was then, and this is now, reports Axios, which posted a rundown on DeSantis’ surprising plummet within roughly two years.

"Be careful how you treat people on the way up because you may encounter the same people on the way down," said Curt Anderson, veteran consultant and top adviser to DeSantis' predecessor, Rick Scott, reports Axios. "... You see falls in politics, but not like this. It's stark. It's fast. It's a made-for-TV movie. Let's not forget: He was ahead of Trump in polling in 2022 and would've run against [President Biden or Vice President Harris] and won."But Axios reports DeSantis' stumble “began with his failed presidential primary bid against Donald Trump last year,” and his “vindictive and pugilistic style of politics left him further isolated in the Florida Capitol” at a time when he really needs allies.

Mere months ago, Desantis’ wife Casey DeSantis was considering a bid to succeed her husband as governor, but her state-backed charity, Hope Florida, is now enmeshed in a scandal after the charity received $10 million in secret settlement money from a Medicaid provider days before the charity sent that same amount to two DeSantis’-favored political groups.

In Mississippi, a Republican governor’s name can be on text messages involving the misuse of welfare money without that governor being charged or investigated. But in Florida, House Republicans and independent observers are openly alleging DeSantis’ arrangement amounted to an illegal siphoning of Medicaid funds.Now with his lame-duck popularity crumbling amid party in-fighting, his wife possibly compromised by scandal and no presidential appointment obvious, DeSantis’ career in the Republican Party is unsure.

“Ron DeSantis went from Rupert Murdoch and every Republican billionaire telling him he could be president to sniping at hecklers at a fish shack in Destin," said former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz. “It's quite a fall."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Jimmy Carter

'Piggish Is Too Kind': Trump Ripped For Slurring Late President Carter

President Donald Trump could not acknowledge Jimmy Carter today without using the death of the former President to dig at his own presidential predecessor Joe Biden.

“Jimmy Carter died a happy man. You know why? Because he wasn't the worst president. Joe Biden was,” Trump told a crew of reporters at the White House.

The statement drew immediate reaction from online critics from all over the world. Harri Ohra-aho, senior advisor for defense and former security director of the Finnish Military Intelligence Centre described Trump as too stupid to see anything as more than spectacle.

“Whatever one may think about the policies of previous presidents, this is probably the bottom line,” Ohra-aho posted. “Everything seems to be just a show for the current one.”

National Review senior editor Jay Nordlinger was similarly despairing, saying, “I don’t think an American president should talk this way. Then again, I could say this every day. And tens of millions of Americans lap up Trump like milk.”

Boston University College of Education Professor Jerry Berger had his own reaction, posting, “Piggish is too kind a word to describe this individual.”

The statement also presented an easy target for Occupy Democrats Executive Editor Grant Stern, who called the claim: “Half true. Half False. Trump is definitely the worst president, and it's not even close,” while Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) said, “Jimmy Carter, if he died a happy man, it was because he lived a life of service, and followed a path laid out by Jesus.”

Other critics, like Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist and Forbes writer Sophia Nelson could only muster a single-word reaction: “Jesus…”

Carter’s memory is etched in the minds of millions of people, regardless of political disposition. In 1982, he established the Carter Center to promote and expand human rights, which earned him a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Among his many accomplishments, Carter spent his retirement building homes for the homeless, and he is attributed as the chief architect behind the near eradication of the African Guinea worm, one of humanity’s only species-specific parasites.

He also likely did not vote for Trump.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Adam Schiff

Saying Trump Issues 'An Invitation To Corruption,' Schiff Promises Hearings

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA.) outlined how meticulously President Donald Trump has cultivated the potential for corruption in and around the Oval Office.

“There is a culture of impunity in the White House,” Schiff told MSNBC anchor Nicolle Wallace on Thursday. “They basically have defanged the justice department of any meaningful oversight by installing (Trump’s) criminal defense lawyers to run that department. They fired the truly independent inspector generals. They've done away with all the safeguards. So, in that environment, you have these people of very dubious morals who are essentially told 'there's no one watching. You can do whatever you want. No one's going to hold you accountable.' An invitation to corruption.

Trump appointed his legal defense lawyer Todd Blanche, from his hush money criminal trial, to serve as the second-highest ranking Justice Department official. In March, he also fired at least 20 leaders of federal offices created by Congress to hold administrations accountable.

Schiff also warned that, unlike past administration, the modern Republican Party is beholden to Trump. All but five Republicans voted in favor of an effort to dismiss Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial for “incitement of insurrection” a mere 20 days after Trump led the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol siege.

“Republicans didn't want to investigate Russia’s interference in our election. They didn't want to investigate the president's effort to extort [Ukranian President Volodymyr] Zelensky into helping him in the next election.”

Instead, it fell to Democrats to conduct investigations as a minority, and Schiff said that’s how it will go again this year.

“[T] his is what we're going to have to do now,” Schiff said. “We're likewise seeing people step forward. I did a hearing a few days ago with Rep. Jamie Raskin, where we had witnesses who both quit or were fired at the Justice Department because they saw corrupt things going on that they would not participate in, and I think that hearing was powerful. We need to do a lot more of that.”

“We're not without our tools, even in the minority,” he added.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Treasury Secretary Reportedly 'Looking For Exit' To Save Credibility

Treasury Secretary Reportedly 'Looking For Exit' To Save Credibility

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is allegedly leaping for a window after dashing his “credibility” against the rocks of Trump’s disastrous tariffs, claims MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle.

“Some [sources] have said to me, he’s looking for an exit door to try to get himself to the Fed, because in the last few days he’s really hurting his own credibility and history in the markets,” Ruhle told MSNBC’s Morning Joe, according to The Daily Beast.

Bessent, who built a $500 million fortune as a hedge fund manager before working for Trump and entangling his name in Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff, was not a full-throated supporter of earlier tariff proposals. After Trump announced his new trade duties this week and went to play golf, Bessent found himself urging international allies not to retaliate.

“I would advise none of the countries to panic. I wouldn’t try to retaliate because as long as you don’t retaliate this is the high end of the numbers and I think the market could have certainty that this is the number, barring retaliation,” Bessent told Bloomberg. “We got a ceiling, and we can see if there’s a different floor.”

Many international trading partners refused to let Trump trample them, however. China launched reciprocal tariffs, accelerating a trade war with US goods and sending the Dow Jones down more than 2,200 points by the Friday bell ring. Canada — once a staunch U.S. ally — also will match US tariffs, according to Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Ruhle said her sources claim Trump is “not listening” to his own treasury secretary, dangerously alienating one of the more serious voices familiar with market trends in the administration.

“[Bessent] actually understands how the markets work and, what’s happening right now, is only going to hurt markets," she said.

As president-elect, Trump claimed in November that Bessent “will help me usher in a new Golden Age for the United States.”

“Together we will Make America Rich Again, Prosperous Again, Affordable Again, and, most importantly, Great Again,” Trump said.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.