Politics

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. rapper Eminem has asked Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, a multimillionaire former biotech executive, to not use his music during his presidential campaign, according to a letter disclosed on Monday.

In the letter dated Aug. 23, which was reported first by the Daily Mail, BMI, a performing rights organization, informed Ramaswamy’s campaign at the rapper’s request that it will no longer license Eminem’s music for use by Ramaswamy’s campaign.

“BMI has received a communication from Marshall B. Mathers, III, professionally known as Eminem, objecting to the Vivek Ramaswamy campaign’s use of Eminem’s musical composition (the “Eminem Works”) and requesting that BMI remove all Eminem Works from the Agreement,” BMI says in the letter.

Ramaswamy’s campaign told CNN it will comply with the request to stop using Eminem’s music.

Ramaswamy, a businessman with no political experience, has been rising in some opinion polls and has branded his rivals as “bought and paid for.”

The 38-year-old tech entrepreneur was at the center of many of last week’s first Republican primary debate’s most dramatic moments.

Ramaswamy, a fierce defender of former U.S. President Donald Trump, faced plenty of incoming fire from his more experienced rivals, who appeared to view him as more of a threat than Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has been trailing Trump as a distant second for a long time in the Republican primary polls.

Trump, the overwhelming front runner in the primary contest, skipped the first debate last week. He gave an interview to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, which was released on X, formerly called Twitter, at the same time as the Republican debate.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald Trump said on Monday he would appeal the scheduling of a March 2024 trial over his alleged efforts to subvert his 2020 election defeat, though legal experts said such a move was not possible before a verdict is reached in the case.

“I will APPEAL,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. He did not say how or when the appeal would be made.

A trial court’s scheduling decision is not a legitimate basis for an appeal prior to a verdict being reached, according to legal experts.

During the hearing on Monday during which the March 4 trial date was set, Trump’s attorney, John Lauro, vowed to abide by the judge’s scheduling decision despite being unhappy with it.

The planned trial in Washington, D.C., is one of four criminal prosecutions the former president faces as he mounts a campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Mark Porter and Alistair Bell)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he will appeal the trial date of March 2024 in the case wherein he has been criminally charged over attempts to overturn his 2020 presidential election defeat.

“I will APPEAL,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

He did not mention further details of how or when the appeal will be made and called the probe politically motivated.

U.S. Judge Tanya Chutkan on Monday set a trial date of March 4 for the federal case in Washington, one of four criminal prosecutions the former president faces.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Mark Porter)

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By Steve Holland and Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden visited a Washington, D.C. public middle school on Monday, highlighting the federal government’s efforts to combat cratering U.S. student performance since the COVID-19 pandemic, as Republicans target public education in the run-up to the 2024 election.

Biden, who returned on Saturday from a week-long vacation, marked the first day of public school in the U.S. capitol with his own trip to Washington’s Eliot-Hine Middle School. He and first lady Jill Biden were greeted by excited young teenagers, shouts of “Joe Biden” and squeals as he walked into a classroom.

“The hardest thing is to come back after three months of not doing any work, not doing any homework, and all of a sudden…. everybody has a lot to catch up on from the end of the last year,” Biden told students.

The Capitol Hill area school for children aged 11 to 13 is working to boost its predominantly low-income students’ arithmetic with a tutoring program in partnership with George Washington University.

The Biden administration has pushed Congress to hike funding for public schools, including those that hire mental health professionals, through a bipartisan gun safety law last year. The vast majority of American kids, some 49.4 million in 2021, attend one of the country’s nearly 100,000 free public schools that run though 12th grade.

They’re mostly funded by local taxes, but Biden has also been directing more federal money into after-school programs, teacher apprenticeships, schools serving low-income students and public-private partnerships that bring tutors into classrooms.

Republicans, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, looking to elevate hot-button issues in the presidential campaign have made what American children are taught in these schools a key focus, and pushed for private schools that teach some six million kids to get more government funding.

This effort has included attempts to restrict trans athletes competing in school sports, altering school curriculums and, in some districts, removing books that teach about LGBTQ issues and the U.S.’s history of racism.

Former President Donald Trump and several of his rivals for the Republican nomination have suggested eliminating the federal Department of Education, a step that would require an unlikely act of Congress.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused lengthy school closures, sent teachers fleeing the profession amid pushback on mask mandates and other public health measures and frayed children’s mental health, reasons cited for sharp declines in U.S. reading and mathematics test scores since 2020.

Biden aides, who see this learning decline as a threat to long-term economic growth, hired an academic focused on the issue as an adviser to Biden this month.

Biden, 80, is seeking another four-year term in the 2024 election. The largest U.S. labor union, the National Education Association, a group of public school teachers numbering 3 million, endorsed him just a day after he announced his re-election bid.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Steve Holland and Jasper ; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Heather Timmons and Andrea Ricci)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald Trump said on Monday he would appeal the scheduling of a March 2024 trial over his alleged efforts to subvert his 2020 election defeat, though legal experts said such a move was not possible before a verdict is reached in the case.

“I will APPEAL,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. He did not say how or when the appeal would be made.

A trial court’s scheduling decision is not a legitimate basis for an appeal prior to a verdict being reached, according to legal experts.

During the hearing on Monday during which the March 4 trial date was set, Trump’s attorney, John Lauro, vowed to abide by the judge’s scheduling decision despite being unhappy with it.

The planned trial in Washington, D.C., is one of four criminal prosecutions the former president faces as he mounts a campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Mark Porter and Alistair Bell)

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By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald Trump will stand trial in March 2024 for trying to overturn his 2020 presidential election defeat, one day before Republican voters in more than a dozen U.S. states will decide whether to give him a chance to recapture the White House.

U.S. Judge Tanya Chutkan on Monday set a trial date of March 4 for the federal case in Washington, one of four criminal prosecutions the former president faces.

That is one day before “Super Tuesday,” a potentially decisive date in the Republican presidential nominating contest, when states from Maine to California will hold their nominating contests. Opinion polls show Trump leading his rivals by a wide margin.

Chutkan’s decision means that Trump will likely have to stand trial in at least three separate criminal cases while he is campaigning for the party’s nomination to take on Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 2024 election. A trial date in a fourth criminal case has not yet been set.

He is also a defendant in three civil trials scheduled to take place over the coming six months.

Trump’s lawyers had pressed for an April 2026 trial date, but Chutkan said they did not need that long to prepare.

“Mr. Trump will have to make the trial date work, regardless of his schedule,” Chutkan said.

Trump said he would appeal, but legal experts say scheduling decisions cannot be appealed until a verdict has been reached. Trump’s lawyer John Lauro said he would abide by Chutkan’s schedule.

Trump is due to stand trial in New York on March 25 on state charges of concealing a hush money payment to a porn star. Chutkan said she would consult with the judge in that case to work out any potential scheduling conflicts.

A third trial is scheduled for May 20, 2024 on federal charges in Florida, alleging that Trump illegally retained classified records after leaving the White House and tried to obstruct justice.

A trial date for the fourth criminal case in Georgia has not yet been set. Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis has requested a start of March 4, but Chutkan’s decision means that timeline will likely shift.

Trump did not attend Monday’s hearing. He has previously lashed out at Chutkan, saying, without evidence, that she is biased against him. Chutkan has warned that Trump should stop posting inflammatory statements online about witnesses or others involved in the case.

Trump has portrayed all four criminal prosecutions as politically motivated attempts to stop him from returning to power.

He has pleaded not guilty in three of those cases, and is due in Georgia on Sept. 6 to enter a plea in that case, according to a court filing on Monday. That case also stemming from his efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat.

One of his 18 co-defendants in Georgia, his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, is pressing to move his trial to federal court, where he might face a more sympathetic jury.

In Washington, Trump’s attorneys said they need time to sort through the government’s evidence, which totals about 12.8 million pages.

“This man’s liberty and life is at stake and he deserves an adequate representation,” Lauro said.

Prosecutors say much of the evidence consists of public materials, such as Trump’s statements and congressional records. They said on Monday that they have handed most of it over.

Chutkan said Trump’s legal team should have already gotten a good start. “Mr. Trump’s counsel has known this was coming for some time,” she said.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell)

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“The public has a right to prompt and efficient resolution of this matter,” she said.

If the date holds, it would come right in the middle of the Republican presidential nominating calendar and the day before Super Tuesday, a crucial voting day when the largest number of delegates are up for grabs.

Trump on Monday said he will appeal the trial date of March 2024 in the case wherein he has been criminally charged over attempts to overturn his 2020 presidential election defeat.

“I will APPEAL,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

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(Reuters) – Former President Donald Trump has raised nearly $20 million in the past three weeks, a period that roughly coincides with his indictment in federal and state cases connected to his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, Trump’s campaign spokesman said on Saturday.

Since appearing Thursday to have his mug shot taken in a racketeering and fraud case in Atlanta, Georgia, the former president brought in $7.1 million, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

On Friday alone, Trump brought in $4.18 million, making it the highest-grossing day of his campaign so far, Cheung said.

His mug shot, posted by a Georgia courthouse on Thursday evening, has been turned into T-shirts, shot glasses, mugs, posters and even bobblehead dolls by friends and foes alike.

The shot of Trump with a red tie, glistening hair, and an icy scowl was taken as the Republican presidential front-runner was arrested on more than a dozen felony charges, part of a criminal case stemming from his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump, who was elected president in 2016 but defeated by Democrat Joe Biden in 2020, is again seeking the Republican Party’s nomination for president.

Trump is currently facing four indictments, including two related to his false claims that the election was stolen and the Jan. 6, 2021 attack by his followers on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

He has denied all charges.

On Aug. 15, Trump was indicted by a Georgia grand jury after an investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis into his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden in the state.

On Aug. 3, he pleaded not guilty to charges brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith in federal court in Washington that he conspired to defraud the United States by preventing Congress from certifying Biden’s 2020 election victory over him and to deprive voters of their right to a fair election.

He has also pleaded not guilty to charges of unlawfully keeping classified documents after leaving office, and of falsifying business records in a case in New York related to the payment of so-called hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

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By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden will spotlight on Monday efforts to combat cratering U.S. student performance since the COVID-19 pandemic, as Republicans work to feature the emotionally charged issue of education in the 2024 campaign.

Biden, who returned on Saturday from a week-long vacation, will mark the time of year when U.S. parents send children back to school with his own trip to Washington’s Eliot-Hine Middle School.

The Capitol Hill area school for children aged 11 to 13 is working to boost its predominantly low-income students’ arithmetic with a tutoring program in partnership with George Washington University.

The Biden administration has pushed Congress to hike funding for public schools, including those that hire mental health professionals, through a bipartisan gun safety law last year.

Biden has also been directing more money into after-school programs, teacher apprenticeships, schools serving low-income students and public-private partnerships that bring tutors into classrooms.

“Since day one, President Biden has worked to help every school open safely for in-person instruction, accelerate academic achievement, and build communities where all students feel they belong,” the White House said in a memo on Monday.

Public education is largely funded and run locally in the United States and typically takes a back seat in the presidential campaign to jobs and prices at the gas pump.

But Republicans, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, looking to elevate hot-button issues in the presidential campaign have made children’s education a key focus.

This effort has included attempts to restrict trans athletes competing in school sports and campaigning to ban ideologically inflected “woke” books.

Former President Donald Trump and several of his rivals for the Republican nomination have suggested eliminating the federal Department of Education, a step that would require an unlikely act of Congress.

The COVID pandemic caused lengthy school closures, sent teachers fleeing the profession and frayed children’s mental health, reasons cited for sharp declines in U.S. reading and mathematics test scores since 2020.

Biden aides, who see this learning decline as a threat to long-term economic growth, hired an academic focused on the issue as an adviser to Biden this month.

Biden, 80, is seeking another four-year term in the 2024 election. The largest U.S. labor union, the National Education Association, a group of public school teachers numbering 3 million, endorsed him just a day after he announced his re-election bid.

Republicans are closely tied to efforts to steer more public education funding to parochial institutions and independently run charter schools.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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By Jarrett Renshaw

(Reuters) – A barrage of state and federal criminal charges leveled against your main political rival should be good news for any democratic leader facing reelection, but Donald Trump’s legal woes present U.S. President Joe Biden with a unique challenge in the months ahead, political strategists say.

Biden has so far remained mum as his Republican predecessor was charged with 91 felony counts in four indictments this year related to paying hush money to a porn star, unlawfully keeping classified documents and attempting to overturn the 2020 election. Don’t expect any change, Biden advisers say, until after decisions are handed down in those trials.

However, sustaining that strategy, during the most contentious and consequential judicial actions in U.S. presidential history, will be severely tested in the coming months, political strategists say.

Expect Trump to use a series of criminal trials from New York City to Georgia and Florida in the months ahead to fuel a campaign deeply rooted in grievance politics. Biden has sought to use a routine schedule of presidential events – promoting the economy and infrastructure investments – to draw a contrast with Trump’s chaotic legal woes.

The trials, some carried live on television, are likely to dominate news cycles, providing Trump an unorthodox platform to rally supporters who have put him at the top of the Republican primary field and believe the former president is being politically persecuted, despite the evidence.

Biden’s less dramatic reelection efforts will likely draw less valuable free air time, and any effort to provide some counterprogramming will be complicated by the Democratic president’s decision to not wade into the charges or use them to frame the potential dangers to democracy posed by Trump.

“It’s going to be very tricky and a real tough balancing act,” said Jimmy Seagull, a Democratic strategist working on congressional races.

CONVICTION ‘CHANGES EVERYTHING’

On the plus side for Democrats, the trials will keep the details of Trump’s unprecedented actions that led to the serious charges fresh in voters’ minds, giving Democrats and Biden an opportunity to provide a sharp contrast.

And all bets are off if Trump is convicted on any of the charges, officials say.

“A conviction changes everything. You will then see a more detailed, forceful effort by the president to connect the crimes to a broader threat to the nation,” said a senior Democrat working on Biden’s campaign, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly.

Until then, any Biden comment would fuel unfounded Republican attacks that the state and federal charges are politically motivated, and aides believe his silence reinforces a central tenet of his campaign: a return to normalcy.

“Anything he says or does could be perceived as putting a thumb on the scale and…would be exploited by Trump and his team to the detriment of the legal process. They don’t need to raise concerns. The news, perp walks, court appearances and evidence that continues to emerge say it all,” said Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist.

The White House and the reelection campaign are content to use the upcoming months – when Republicans are embroiled in a nasty nominating race – to pitch Americans on the success of Biden’s economic policies, interviews show.

His public approval rating held steady at 40% in early August, with concerns about the economy souring Americans’ opinion of his performance despite falling inflation, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll.

“Increasing the president’s economic poll numbers requires lots of time, repeating numbers and a lot of message discipline. We can always go back to Trump,” said a senior Democrat involved in the reelection effort, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly.

Instead, the reelection campaign will try to draw attention to differences between the two candidates, officials say.

On Thursday, as Trump was surrendering to Georgia authorities and posing for an unprecedented mug shot, Biden’s campaign account on the X platform posted: “Apropos of nothing, I think today’s a great day to give to my campaign.”

Asked Friday if he’d seen Trump’s mug shot, Biden, who was emerging from a Pilates class during his Lake Tahoe vacation, told reporters “I did see it on television – handsome guy.”

TRUSTED VOICE?

America’s other living presidents — Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter — have also stayed mum, leaving the country without a trusted voice of political and moral authority who can lay out the seriousness of the charges against Trump.

Democratic former congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio recently launched a national advocacy group called “We the People,” aimed at organizing voters who feel exhausted by partisan politics. He said there is an alternative path for Biden that recognizes the historic moment in America while preserving the integrity of the investigation.

“I’m sure their calculation is that everything gets politicized, but I do think a firm statement just saying ‘Look, regardless of where you stand on tax rate or government spending or education policy, this is so far beyond that conversation. Any direct attempt to undermine the United States of America is a slap in the face of anyone who served the country. We’re better than that,’” Ryan said.

He said Biden could then refer to the statement when asked repeatedly about the unfolding events in the coming months.

Biden could “be firm, be clear and be done,” Ryan said.

(Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw; Editing and additional reporting by Heather Timmons)

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