In one of the more awkward live events in recent years, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis used Twitter Spaces, the platform’s audio conversations feature, to announce his run for the presidency in the 2024 elections. 

Despite the landmark nature of the event — a new chapter in the evolution of Twitter into a platform that makes and reports the news as well as allows people and organisations to share it — the proceedings were marred by technical glitches due to the sheer volume of users tuning in: over 600,000 at one point. This saw even DeSantis being dropped from the conversation, necessitating a scramble to get the discussion back on track. Despite this hiccup, the event supported 150,000 users once it was stabilised —  less reach than a “banger” Trump tweet or Tucker Carlson’s peak primetime audience on Fox, yet still a considerable number of people. ...  Continue reading

The Republican Party faces a reckoning as its association with serial fabulist George Santos takes a turn for the worse. The New York Representative, who is openly gay (though even this is in dispute) and maintains an interest in drag pageantry, was briefly viewed after his election as a beacon of Republican resurgence — a diverse candidate whose success before the voters suggested a broadening of the party’s base. 

Now, though, Santos has been arrested by federal authorities and stands accused of 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, stealing public funds, and lying on federal disclosure forms. He is increasingly a political pariah whose lingering presence taints the party he vowed to represent — and one that, while clinging to a slim majority in the House of Representatives, desperately needs his vote. ...  Continue reading

The violent incident that occurred in a Manhattan subway earlier this week has already become a heated topic for debate, providing a platform for people on both the Left and the Right to vindicate their various prejudices regarding urban decay, racism, public safety, and more. The event involved Daniel Petty, a 24-year-old straphanger, who was a Marine veteran, taking matters into his own hands and pinning down Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old man with a history of mental health issues who had been acting erratically, in a deadly chokehold.

For those on the Right, this incident can be seen as a clear example of the failure of progressive policies in addressing issues related to homelessness and mental health. They argue that the lack of adequate safety and community resources for the homeless population, such as Neely, is a direct result of laissez-faire liberal policies, which they believe are too lenient and have ultimately led to an increase in crime and instability in our cities. Others, such as Ben Shapiro, have claimed that the right of self-defence — the last defence against violent crime in largely unpoliced settings — is now at risk. Academic Wilfred X. Reilly cited the equally extensive coverage of the non-fatal shooting of Ralph Yarl, who was shot by an 84-year-old white man after ringing the doorbell at the wrong address, as evidence that “race-baiting” explains why this incident has received more attention than “any of the other 500 homicides in NYC in a year.” ...  Continue reading

Andrew Tate, who last week had his house arrest extended to May 29th by Romanian authorities, has certainly been “on one” of late. Over the past week, the former kickboxer and online manosphere personality has used social media to air his thoughts about “crypto kids who got rich in 2021 by scamming in shitcoins or NFTs” and “festihoes” — women who attend festivals with the intention of meeting prominent men — as well as to share now-deleted tweets about “some sort of severe reaction or poison”. The takeaway from his recent posts suggests a man increasingly paranoid and concerned about his safety, relationships, and the legitimacy of his online business. ...  Continue reading

On Monday, the talking heads kept rolling. Fox News announced via a terse statement that it had parted ways with Tucker Carlson, the channel’s top-rated host, a matter of minutes before CNN fired longtime presenter Don Lemon, who had already been downgraded to a co-host role on CNN This Morning.

Perhaps Carlson’s allegedly toxic work environment or leaked texts about Donald Trump played a role in his departure. Yet the bigger question remains: where does he go now?

While Lemon is yesterday’s man, his angry pearl-clutching a relic of the first Trump administration, for Carlson the immediate future is likely bright. He has shown a gift for repackaging “based” or “dissident” Right-wing trends and talking points, from raw egg “slonking” to the mind-freeing power of nicotine. He will surely have access to an enormous alternative media audience drawn not just from this group but also a significant percentage of his own television audience. That’s not to mention post-Left followers of the likes of Glenn Greenwald and others who admire Carlson’s capacity to resist the establishment line on issues like Ukraine. If he were to start his own podcast, say, he could quickly rival Joe Rogan in the online charts. ...  Continue reading

Elon Musk has criticised Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for spending $400 million on “get out the vote” campaigns, which he argued was a front for funding the Democrats. “Does that sound unbiased?” Musk asked. In an interview with Tucker Carlson that aired on Monday night, he emphasised the importance of free speech on platforms like his and Facebook’s, arguing that they had a duty in a functioning democracy. “Some things are priceless,” he said. “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy…[and] the speech needs to be as transparent and truthful as possible.” ...  Continue reading

In a speech yesterday about his arrest and indictment, Donald Trump notably failed to make use of a golden opportunity to reclaim the carnivalesque comic verve that characterised his 2016 campaign — unique abilities that allowed him to effectively target opponents and attract media attention. This continued shift in tone, where Trump comes off as bitter, is a potential liability to his aspirations to reclaim the presidency.

Trump’s previous charm offensive, which involved an idiosyncratic, conversational approach to public speaking, has been replaced with a more defensive posture. If he wants to win over independent voters who are on the fence about the 2024 election, he will need to revamp his rhetorical strategy to incorporate more of the oddball wit and Queens-accented effervescence that bolstered his earlier political career. ...  Continue reading

Donald Trump is nothing if not a trailblazer. The recent Manhattan indictment obtained by New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg, relating to hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels, marks the first time a former US president has faced criminal charges. However, much like the interminable Russiagate investigation and Trump’s record-setting two impeachment trials, this latest turn of events is significant.

DA Bragg is now completing the work that began a half-decade ago under his predecessor Cy Vance when he charged Trump with more than 30 counts related to business fraud. Although most acknowledge that there was a violation that occurred in relation to attorney Michael Cohen’s payment to Daniels and the Trump Organization’s reimbursement of him, the indictment itself is a mess. The statute of limitations for offences related to the payment to Daniels expired in 2021, the legal theory of jurisdictional authority is untested, and the charges themselves may be difficult to elevate from misdemeanours to felonies. Given Bragg’s stated disdain for “overcharging” defendants, it’s fascinating that the meat of his case against Trump rests on precisely that. ...  Continue reading