THE ATLANTIC – Politics | Politics & Government

The actor and director Rob Reiner and his wife, the producer and photographer Michele Singer Reiner, were found stabbed to death in their home on Sunday. Yesterday, their son Nick, who has spoken about his bouts of drug addiction and homelessness, was arrested on suspicion of murder. With that news, a terrible event became doubly tragic. Reiner was beloved by almost everyone who knew him. On social media, friends described him as generous, kind, funny, and a caring soul. The One Tree Hill actress Sophia Bush called him an “almost indescribably wonderful man.” But none of that mattered to Donald Trump, who tore into the murdered Hollywood star. On Truth Social, President Trump described Reiner as “a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star.” He added, without a shred of evidence, that Reiner’s death was “reportedly due to the anger he caused… ...[TheTopNews] Read More.

In a normal presidency, the interviews that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles gave to Vanity Fair would trigger her resignation, maybe even the president’s impeachment. She admitted that President Donald Trump employs prosecutorial power for “score settling,” called Budget Director Russell Vought “a right-wing absolute zealot,” described Vice President J. D. Vance as “a conspiracy theorist for a decade,” and attributed Elon Musk’s erratic style in gutting federal agencies to his “avowed ketamine” use.Yet no one on the right is calling for anyone to resign, or even for a congressional investigation into these allegations. That is not because Wiles—who is credited with largely masterminding Trump’s victorious presidential campaign—lacks credibility, nor is it because she has denied these comments (she has accused the magazine of taking her words out of context, which is what people say when they know they were recorded). It is simply because these quotes, while… ...[TheTopNews] Read More.

Tina Peters is supposed to spend the next eight years of her life in prison. The former Colorado county clerk was convicted last year of charges tied to tampering with voting equipment under her control in 2020. President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for Peters’s release, warning of “harsh measures” if she remains incarcerated. But even a president obsessed with retribution, who granted blanket clemency to people convicted of federal offenses connected to the January 6, 2021, attacks on the Capitol, can’t erase Peters’s sentence. Her state-level conviction is beyond the reach of his federal pardon power. And so she sits in a Colorado prison, the most prominent MAGA prisoner still behind bars.The sprawling campaign to “Free Tina Peters” is testing Colorado’s authority to enforce its own laws without interference from a federal government that wants to undo a conviction handed down by a jury. Trump—aided by the Justice Department,… ...[TheTopNews] Read More.

During last year’s presidential campaign, Donald Trump coined a term for his pinballing speaking style—“the weave.” This was on display Tuesday in Pennsylvania, in remarks that included, but were not limited to, the topics of tariffs, U.S. Steel, fracking, wind turbines, electric-vehicle mandates, immigration, crime, gender policies, Obamacare, the Fed, his election victories, rare-earth negotiations, a D.C. terror attack, and “the lips that don’t stop” of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.The diffuse pattern is Trump’s signature. His fans have always loved it when he lights up all the bumpers; the chaos feels authentic, a rebellion against teleprompter politicians. This was true in Pennsylvania. The problem is, now that the engine of the U.S. economy is smoking, the American people are looking for a technician, not an improv comic. And Trump’s sprawling delivery doesn’t just distract from his economic message; it embodies the criticism he’s trying to rebut—that he isn’t… ...[TheTopNews] Read More.

The Indiana legislature does not keep its constituents at a great distance. As lawmakers convened in Indianapolis on Monday to consider a bill backed by President Donald Trump to redraw the state’s congressional map, all that separated them from protesters who had gathered in a corridor just outside the capitol chamber was a series of glass windows. Inside the room, chants of “Just vote no!” and “We want fair maps!” could be heard as clearly as the legislative debate.In an era when politicians typically operate at arm’s length from their voters, the public’s easy access to elected representatives is refreshing. In Indiana this week, it’s also a bit jarring. The state Senate is meeting under threat. Trump and his allies have vowed to target Republican lawmakers who vote against a redistricting plan that could wipe out the state’s Democratic congressional representation, protecting the U.S. House GOP majority. Over the past… ...[TheTopNews] Read More.