9 months ago
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South Carolina governor warns ‘chaos follows’ Trump in CNN town hall where rival Ron DeSantis says ex-president ‘didn’t deliver’ on abortion bans
Good morning, US politics blog readers. We are 10 days away from the Iowa Republican caucuses, where we will find out if Donald Trump’s persistent lead in polls will translate into votes. But his main rivals for the GOP presidential nomination aren’t letting his momentum deter them, and dialed up their attacks in two separate town halls hosted by CNN on Thursday evening. Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who served as Trump’s United Nation ambassador, said of her former boss, “chaos follows him” and warned “we won’t survive” another four years of him in office. Florida governor Ron DeSantis responded “of course not” when asked if he thought Trump was “pro-life” and said the former president “didn’t deliver” during his administration.
Earlier in the campaign, most of Trump’s Republican rivals hesitated to criticize him, wary of infuriating his substantial group of dedicated supporters. That dam appears to have broken for the two politicians seen as having the best chance, if anyone does, of beating him in Iowa on 15 January, and then in the New Hampshire primary set for 23 January.
Joe Biden will mark the start of his re-election campaigning with a speech in Pennsylvania that is expected to lean heavily on the anniversary of January 6 to warn voters of the perils of electing Trump again. The event is set for 3.15pm eastern time.
Democratic House lawmakers will also mark the January 6 attack with a press conference at 11am.
Employment grew by a greater-than-expected 216,000 jobs last month, defying expectations of a slowdown, according to just-released US government data.
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