Raw Story

One of President Donald Trump's biographers revealed on Sunday that the president may have a difficult time getting rid of one of his cabinet secretaries because they play an important role in his relationship with the MAGA base.

Michael Wolff, who has written four books on Trump, discussed the latest controversy surrounding Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the latest episode of The Daily Beat's podcast, "Inside Trump's Head." Wolff's comments come just a few days after Kennedy instigated the firing of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director over vaccine policies.

Reports about Kennedy's involvement in the CDC director's firing led some to speculate whether Trump would get rid of him.

"I think it might be problematic to get rid of him at this point," Wolff said. "Certainly, know voices inside the white House, you know, continue to be very worried about this particular issue."

Wolff added that Kennedy is an important figure in the Trump world because of his views on vaccines. Kennedy has routinely spoken out against the efficacy of vaccines, including the COVID-19 vaccine that the first Trump administration developed. Kennedy's decision to join the Trump administration gave Trump credibility with MAGA on vaccines, Wolff argued.

"They're worried that Donald Trump is weak on the anti-vax issue," Wolff continued. "So, therefore, RFK Jr. is their protection against Trump's weakness on that issue."

Watch the entire clip below or by clicking here.

President Donald Trump has teamed up with a surprising character in his bid to help rebuild the Gaza Strip, according to reports.

Axios reported on Thursday that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been working with Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, on a plan to rebuild Gaza after Israel's war with Hamas ends. Trump has previously described the Gaza Strip as a prime real estate location, and Kushner has been linked to several real estate deals since leaving the White House during Trump's first administration.

News that Blair is being considered as a partner on the rebuilding plan shocked Emma Vigeland, co-host of "The Majority Report," and Brendan James, host of "The Blowback Show." They discussed the plans on a new episode of The Majority Report on Sunday.

"Blair being attached is never a good sign," James said.

The Washington Post reported on Sunday that at least part of the Gaza rebuilding plan involves the U.S. administering the state for a decade. The plan also envisions forming public-private partnerships to build electric vehicle plants, data centers, luxury resorts, and high-rise apartments.

James argued that the plan seems disconnected from the reality of the war in Gaza.

"The idea that anything in the near term could produce the conditions, again putting aside the just evil of the proposition, that could produce what Kushner or Trump or Blair would be aiming to do is ridiculous," James said. "People would get blown up every single day trying to build the Cracker Barrel or whatever. So I don't see that happening."

Watch the entire clip below or by clicking here.

A former federal prosecutor revealed the "atmospheric damage" that President Donald Trump's latest move could cause if it is successful.

The Trump administration recently raided the home of his former national security advisor, John Bolton, over claims that Bolton mishandled classified information. Glenn Kirschner, a former assistant U.S. Attorney, said on a recent episode of his podcast, "Justice Matters," that Trump may be emboldened to prosecute more of his rivals if Bolton is convicted of a crime.

"Here's what keeps me up at night," Kirschner said. "Maybe he committed some actual crimes and gets prosecuted for it, as he should be. That will breathe life into every Donald Trump assertion that all of these other people on his enemies list committed crimes and need to be held accountable, even though John Bolton may be the only one."

"So I think it could do such atmospheric damage in that way that you know that is one of my main concerns if Bolton is successfully prosecuted, though he still needs to be if he committed crimes," he continued.

Kirschner noted that the troubles between Trump and Bolton over classified information go back to Trump's first administration. Bolton published a memoir about his time in the White House called "The Room Where It Happened." Trump's first administration accused Bolton of publishing classified information in the book.

Bolton's case is also similar to that of retired Gen. David Petraeus. Petraeus was charged with mishandling classified information after his memoir was published. Petraeus pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor charge.

Watch the entire episode below or by clicking here.

Donald Trump's newest push to reform voting mechanisms is getting poor marks from a fellow Republican in politics.

Trump late Saturday night posted a statement on Truth Social about his plans to change the ways that Americans vote.

"Voter I.D. Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. NO EXCEPTIONS! I Will Be Doing An Executive Order To That End!!! Also, No Mail-In Voting, Except For Those That Are Very Ill, And The Far Away Military. USE PAPER BALLOTS ONLY!!! President DJT," the president wrote.

Stephen Richer, who ran elections in Arizona's largest county and sued Kari Lake for defamation, took apart Trump's plan on X on Sunday.

"For those who want to take this seriously," Richer said, first highlighting Trump's comment about "paper ballots only."

"Some form of paper ballot is used by about 97% of American voters. This represents the high-water mark in the past twenty years," he said. "Why is this important? Because use of paper ballots means that you will always an immutable, auditable paper trail. Worried about hacking? No problem. Just check the paper. Worried about tabulation machines getting the count wrong? No problem. Just check the paper. Worried about electronic Armageddon? Well, at least we still have the unchanged paper ballots."

Tackling Trump's comment that "Voter I.D. Must Be Part of Every Single Vote," Richer said, "Most states require some form of identification to vote. The complication is when we parse it out by type of ID. Does it have to be a photo ID? This poses a problem with a lot tribes. Can it be a signature? (this is what is done for a lot of mail ballots). Will the government issue new IDs? (This is a big no no with civil libertarians)."

On Trump's mail-in voting remark, Richer said, "This was the focus of the President's previous tweet on election administration. As I mentioned two weeks ago, it would almost certainly be unlawful to do this by executive order. And if it was done by Congress, it would represent a significant departure in how we've done election law in the past (largely left to the states). It would also be a humongous administration shift. States like Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Utah, etc. would have to rebuild pretty much their entire in-person voting infrastructure."

Richer then quoted Trump saying, "Except For Those That Are Very Ill, And The Far Away Military," and asked, "Does his caps automatically come on at the beginning of every word? Otherwise it's weird to think he's pressing the upper case button on his phone at the beginning of every word."

"This part represent a bit of a retreat from his absolute ban in his previous tweet. Federal law (UOCAVA) currently requires that military and overseas voters be eligible to vote by some form of remote delivery, beginning 45 days before Election Day. This is not limited to the 'Far Away' military," according to Richer. "It can be military living in the United States. The President's tweet would seemingly attempt to abolish that practice. The 'Very Ill' part seems like an administrative nightmare. Would election administrators require doctors' notes? That seems ludicrous. Doesn't make any exception for the temporarily away (e.g. a heck of a lot of Arizonans aren't in town on Election Day for the primary in the middle of summer). Doesn't make any exceptions for the old. Or for those who can't drive."

Richer also offered to go on MAGA news channel Newsmax, where he said he would explain "the facts as the exist on the ground and why an executive order would almost certainly be unlawful!"

See more here.

Following a mass shooting in Minnesota, Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) insisted he couldn't remember why he opposed a bill to increase school safety.

In a Sunday interview on ABC, Emmer attacked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) for not giving schools enough resources to prevent a shooting that killed two children in Minneapolis last week.

"It's going to be very important that the schools have the resources," he said.

"You talk about what can be done," host Martha Raddatz noted. "After mass shootings in Buffalo and in Uvalde, Texas, Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. It provided hundreds of millions of dollars for schools to expand mental health services, enhance safety measures. You did not vote for that bill. Why?"

"I don't remember the reasons that I didn't vote for that bill," Emmer replied. "I got to tell you, we did a lot for Uvalde, but you can't replace those children, Martha, you can't. And you can't help that community. We're talking about getting on the front end, Martha. We're talking about we need to have the resources."

"This bill sounds like it might have done that," Raddatz pointed out.

Watch the video below from ABC or click the link.

President Donald Trump celebrated the "true character" of former NFL coach Jon Gruden despite his resignation over reports that he used racist, sexist, and anti-gay slurs.

"Great playing Golf with Jon Gruden — A really nice guy, and true character!" Trump wrote on Sunday. The president included a photo of himself shaking hands with Gruden on a golf course.

Gruden resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021 after The New York Times unearthed emails that contained slurs.

In one email, the coach reportedly complained that NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith had "lips the size of michellin tires."

Gruden later told ESPN that the remark meant that Smith was a liar.

"I'm ashamed I insulted De Smith. I never had a racial thought when I used it," he insisted. "I'm embarrassed by what's out there. I certainly never meant for it to sound that bad."