White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia Fumbles Response To Whether Trump Still Has Confidence In Her
White House press secretary Katie Zacharia on Friday stumbled to answer a question on “Fox & Friends” about whether she still has President Trump’s confidence in her new role after her first week on the job.
“I’m standing here, and I was able to travel with him through all of the midterm convention, excuse me, the midterm rallies, and I hope to be able to build the trust and confidence of everyone around me,” she said, misspeaking before correcting herself.
She did not say directly whether Trump has confidence in her.
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CBS Correspondent Apologizes, Deletes X Post Thanking El-Sayed Heckler
CBS News legal correspondent Jan Crawford apologized and deleted a social media post supporting a heckler at a recent event for Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
“Earlier, I tweeted a video from an Abdul El-Sayed town hall,” Crawford wrote in a Sunday social media statement. “I deleted that tweet because it was a violation of CBS News standards. I apologize.”
In her original tweet, Crawford thanked a man named Tommy for asking the Democrat to disavow the Muslim Brotherhood. She then criticized El-Sayed’s response.
“Sure. Yeah, absolutely,” El-Sayed said when Tommy posed the question. As HuffPost’s Kelby Vera reported, the Muslim Brotherhood is “a near-century old Islamist movement whose offshoots include both non-violent political factions and extremist groups like Hamas and al-Qaeda.”
El-Sayed also criticized the implication that he could have “dual loyalties.”
“Tommy, thank you. I had to watch this twice to catch Dr. Abdul El-Sayed’s nanosecond ‘yeah absolutely’ response,” Crawford wrote. “His subsequent uninterrupted three-minute diatribe proving your exact point is the kind of spectacular self own most ppl only dream about triggering. Congrats.”
Crawford’s comments reportedly drew “internal backlash at CBS News,” according to The Guardian’s media reporter Jeremy Barr. The newsroom has also been scrutinized for its rightward shift during Bari Weiss’ tenure as editor-in-chief.
A CBS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
'Appalling': Obama Denounces Trump Admin's Investigation Into Rep. Ilhan Omar
Former President Barack Obama on Sunday condemned the Justice Department’s investigation into Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), describing it as an “appalling” example of the Trump administration targeting a lawmaker for her political positions.
“The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president,” Obama wrote in a social media statement.
“The fact that any president, or any administration, is willing to engage in such transparent efforts to intimidate someone should outrage all Americans, regardless of how they feel about Congresswoman Omar’s political views,” he added.
The DOJ inquiry into Omar, which included a federal raid of her home, marks the latest instance of the Trump administration singling her out. For years, she’s faced racist attacks by the president and other Republicans.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, federal officials are scrutinizing Omar’s citizenship paperwork to build a case for denaturalizing her. The effort reportedly hinges on allegations that Omar was 18, and not a minor, when she was naturalized. Since Omar derived citizenship through her father’s application, she would have had to apply separately if she were an adult.
Omar has unequivocally denied the allegations, and officials previously found insufficient evidence to support similar claims during Trump’s first term, per The Washington Post.
“Unlike Joe Biden, President Trump has not weaponized the Department of Justice against his political foes. The Department is focused on restoring law and order and keeping Americans safe,” Lauren Bis, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement. Trump has also previously said that he had “nothing to do” with the search of Omar’s home.
DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Putin Wants To Ice Out Zelenskyy, Hold Peace Talks With Just Trump And Xi: Report
Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to meet with President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to discuss a deal to end his war on Ukraine, according to The Wall Street Journal.
And the proposed talks would reportedly not include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
A former Russian intelligence officer briefed on the matter told the Journal that Putin first floated the idea to Trump during an Oct. 9 phone call when they worked out a deal for the U.S. to buy Russian diesel.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that discussions about a potential summit were underway.
“There is no clear understanding yet regarding the meeting itself or its potential agenda, although all three parties acknowledge the hypothetical possibility of such a meeting taking place,” he said.
Read more in The Wall Street Journal:
GOP Heads Into Midterms With Deeply Unpopular President
With just two weeks until Election Day, many Republican candidates are struggling to gain traction.
Gas prices are soaring in response to Donald Trump’s war on Iran. Food and other consumer goods are skyrocketing in price due to high energy costs and the president’s tariffs. The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed above 7% this month, the highest level in nearly three years. And Trump’s response to this lack of affordability is to blame former President Joe Biden and urge voters to “pretend I’m on the ballot.”
Such a strategy seems poorly conceived.
For the past two years, the GOP has held power in the House, Senate and the White House, so there’s no one else to blame for rising inflation. A new Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll also shows the electorate has lost faith in the president. Trump’s approval rating fell to a new low of 33%, with 66% of respondents disapproving of the president, and 52% saying they strongly disapprove of him.
Even more worrying for the GOP, 71% of U.S. adults said they think the country is on the “wrong track,” which was the highest share yet in Trump’s second term. And for the first time in more than a decade, voters told pollsters they trust the Democrats to deal with the economy. In fact, if the election were held today, likely voters said they’d choose the Democratic congressional candidates over the Republican ones, 52% to 44%.
Airman Dead After Navy Football Game Stunt Goes Horrifically Wrong
A member of the U.S. Air Force is dead after falling to the ground during a rappelling demonstration ahead of the U.S. Naval Academy’s football game against the University of Texas, San Antonio, on Saturday.
Witnesses said the airman was about half-way through a descent from the rafters of the Alamodome stadium when the service member began sliding down their rope in “an uncontrolled manner” and made hard impact with the ground.
The airman was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries and later confirmed dead by Air Force officials, who told military news outlet Task & Purpose that the incident is under investigation.
Officials did not identify the airman but confirmed they were a part of the 6th Combat Training Squadron, Detachment 2 unit, which trains at Lackland Air Force Base, about 12 miles from where the incident happened.
Trump Drops 11th Hour Endorsement Of 'Warrior Prime Minister' Benjamin Netanyahu
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday endorsed embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late in his reelection campaign, a coveted boost because of Trump’s popularity but one that the American had withheld for months as the vote neared and the leaders’ strategies in the Middle East diverged.
Trump said in a post on social media that Netanyahu “has been a Great Warrior Prime Minister, and an even greater Partner for Peace in combatting the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Israelis are set to vote Oct. 27, in the first national elections since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
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Washington Post-Schar Poll: Most Arab Americans Optimistic About Their Future Despite Discrimination
An overwhelming majority of Arab Americans see a brighter future for themselves in the U.S., according to a Washington Post-Schar School poll, despite two-thirds who say they’re dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country.
Polling of this demographic is exceptionally rare. In order to be included in the survey, respondents had to confirm having ancestry in an Arab country as well as personally identify as Arab to be described as Arab American in the poll.
Those with ancestral roots across the Middle East and North Africa did not minimize the challenges or discrimination they face in the U.S.
For example, one in four reported they or a relative had struggled in the past two years with immigration issues, such as being questioned by airport security or having trouble entering or leaving the country.
But many held optimistic views about their quality of life and future. As a group, 78 percent said they have a good chance of improving their standard of living, compared with 40 percent of Americans overall.
And two-thirds of those surveyed say they consider themselves a “typical American,” and seven in 10 reported that being American is “very important” to their identity.
Read the full survey here.
Trump's Decision To Waive Russian Sanctions Outrages Congress
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to waive sanctions on Russia days before they were to take effect drew outrage Saturday from members of Congress, which had overwhelmingly passed the legislation in a bipartisan display of American support for Ukraine in the war with Russia.
Lawmakers from both parties blasted the executive order late Friday, the latest in a series of steps that the Republican president has taken drawing the United States closer to Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Trump recently announced a diesel deal with Putin to import Russian energy in a long-shot effort to curb high gas prices in the U.S. that are roiling the midterm elections on Nov. 3.
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