juin 5, 2024 - 6:00pm

→ Has an ex-Black Panther leader stumped for Trump?

In what may be the most surprising endorsement of the year so far, an ex-Black Panther party leader has appeared to pledge support for Donald Trump as America’s next president.

@carol.mitchell27

#davidhilliard #blackpanthers #donaldtrump #trump2024 #patriots #breakingnews #specialreport #fyp #votetrump

♬ original sound – Carol D. Mitchell

In a video posted on TikTok, David Hilliard described Trump as a “decent man” and a “friend to African Americans”. The former Black Panther leader said that he knew Trump when he was a college student in New York City, saying that he “gave money” to the radical group. “Trump’s a friend of African Americans, and I knew Trump from the 1960s in New York, where he comes from, and he’s a friend to African Americans,” said Hilliard. “I mean, he’s not a racist. He’s not a racist, fascist white man. He supported black people.”

To complicate matters, Hilliard’s grandson has since spoken publicly to deny that the former radical is a Trump fan, claiming that the interviewer “[took] advantage of my grandfather who suffers from dementia”. Whatever the truth, 2024 is already shaping up to be a typically weird election…

→ Farage Effect boosts Reform

The Farage Effect is taking shape quicker than ever this month. Having announced his intention on Monday to stand for election in Clacton (and broken poor Richard Tice’s heart), Reform UK’s new leader has already seen his party enjoy a bounce among voters.

New YouGov polling has Reform on 17% of the popular vote, just two points behind Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives and up two points from the previous week’s numbers. Even his bruising encounter with a milkshake on the campaign trail hasn’t dented Farage’s appeal. Imagine Reform’s polling boost if he was pitted against Sunak and Starmer on the debating stage

→ Europeans are losing faith in Pax Americana

As Joe Biden touches down in France today, he may find that he receives a rather muted response. That comes after a new poll found that only 6% of Western Europeans see the US as a “very reliable” guarantor of European security over the next decade.

The survey from the Eurasia Group found that nearly half of adults in the UK, Germany, and France (46%) view the US as at least somewhat unreliable, with the French and Germans most sceptical. Bon chance in Paris, Mr Biden…