Biden news live: Hunter Biden mocks Don Jr as Florida governor sues president
As he continues to promote his new memoir detailing his story of grief, addiction and recovery, Hunter Biden used an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s show last night to take a sideways shot at the Trump family, mocking Donald Trump Jr for accusing him of nepotism – an accusation he mocked as “wildly comical” given the source.
As he writes in his book: “Do you think if any of the Trump children ever tried to get a job outside of their father’s business that his name wouldn’t figure into the calculation? My response has always been to work harder so that my accomplishments stand on their own.”
Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, has begun a lawsuit against the Biden administration to overturn a no-sailing directive that is depriving his state’s cruise industry of billions of dollars. Mr DeSantis, who has long been a critic of lockdowns and social distancing restrictions, said at a press conference yesterday that “we don’t believe the federal government has the right to mothball a major industry for over a year based on very little evidence and very little data”.
Joe Biden’s sweeping moves yesterday to introduce tighter gun safety regulations have provoked strong reactions on all sides. Gun safety advocates are rejoicing in a president taking actions they’ve demanded for years, while the gun lobby and second amendment advocates are furious both at the actions themselves and that the president has taken them via executive order. Mr Biden says the onus is now on Congress to take more permanent actions.
The trial of Derek Chauvin for the killing of George Floyd yesterday saw an expert witness testify that the drug fentanyl did not play a role in his death, while another explained that Mr Floyd instead “had no oxygen in his body”. He also dismissed an argument from the defence that Mr Floyd might not have died of strangulation because an autopsy found no bruising at his throat.
Fox & Friends blames Harry and Meghan for Prince Philip’s death
As the news of Prince Philip’s death broke, a Fox News host immediately linked his passing to the recent interview his grandson and granddaughter-in-law gave to Oprah Winfrey.
“There are reports that [Philip] was enraged after the interview and the fallout from the interview with Oprah Winfrey,” said Brian Kilmeade on air, “so here he is trying to recover and he’s hit with that.”
The remark is already drawing mockery and outrage in equal measure.
Andrew Naughtie9 April 2021 13:09
We’re resuming our coverage of the trial of Derek Chauvin, who stands accused of the murder of George Floyd. You can follow the day’s events on our live blog.
Andrew Naughtie9 April 2021 12:50
First House Republican calls on Matt Gaetz to resign
Matt Gaetz has been hit with his first call to resign from a party comrade: Adam Kinzinger, one of only 10 Republican House members who voted for Donald Trump’s second impeachment.
Mr Kinzinger and Mr Gaetz have clashed before; Mr Kinzinger once bracketed his belligerent Florida colleague together with extremist Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, accusing both of wanting fame rather than believing in the outlandish ideas they propagate.
Andrew Naughtie9 April 2021 12:33
Governor tweets second amendment defence just before deadly shooting
Texas Governor Greg Abbott faces opprobrium after he tweeting out his strident views on Mr Biden’s gun control orders mere hours before four people were critically wounded and another killed by a shooter at a cabinet manufacturer in Bryan in his home state.
“This tweet didn’t even have time to circulate,” tweeted one user, “much less age before the “let my state freeze to death or die from COVID” Governor had to face a mass shooting. Responsible gun legislation is required.”
Andrew Naughtie9 April 2021 12:13
Signs of movement in cases against Capitol insurrectionists
CNN reports that federal prosecutors have been given the go-ahead from the Department of Justice to negotiate plea bargains with defendants charged with taking part in the 6 January storming of the US Capitol.
There is so much evidence, including hours upon hours of video, that many of the cases aren’t thought to be disputable enough to take to trial.
Andrew Naughtie9 April 2021 11:53
Hunter Biden’s TV book tour continues
Joe Biden’s son Hunter has been promoting his memoir of grief and addiction on the airwaves this week, and last night appeared with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel to talk about his experiences.
Explaining that he wrote the book “to humanise people suffering from addiction” and as “a love letter to the people that are loving someone that’s struggling with addiction. Because it’s so hard for them to understand why it is that their love just can’t get through”.
He and Mr Kimmel also found time to kick around the vicious criticism he’s taken from the Trump family – though Mr Biden insisted that “I don’t spend too much time thinking about them.”
Andrew Naughtie9 April 2021 11:35
New Tennessee law goes easy on handgun owners
Amid the fanfare over Joe Biden’s new gun orders came a major legal change in Tennessee, whose governor signed into law a bill that allows most adults over 21 to carry handguns with few checks or requirements.
Andrew Naughtie9 April 2021 11:15
Joe Biden calls for “calm” as Northern Ireland violence continues
The White House has added its voice to the list of governments calling on unionists and loyalists in Northern Ireland to end the violence that has now been going on for several days.
“We are concerned by the violence in Northern Ireland,” said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki yesterday, “wand we join the British, Irish, and Northern Irish leaders in their calls for calm.”
Andrew Naughtie9 April 2021 10:55
Tucker Carlson shares “replacement” theory and displays intimate Hunter Biden photos
It was a lurid night on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show. The host crossed two particularly shocking lines, both showing lurid pictures ostensibly from Hunter Biden’s laptop – something that critics have compared to “revenge porn” – and approvingly discussing the “great replacement” theory, a white supremacist canard that claims left-wing Democrats are conspiring to demographically re-engineer the US by allowing in Latino people.
On the latter point, he drew a strange comparison with childhood.
“If you were in sixth grade, for example, and without telling you your parents adopted a bunch of new siblings, and gave them brand new bikes, and let them stay up late or helped them with their homework and gave them twice the allowance that they gave you, you would say to your siblings, ‘I think we’re being replaced by kids that our parents love more.’”
Andrew Naughtie9 April 2021 10:34
Gaetzgate gets deeper
Matt Gaetz, the Florida congressman embroiled in an ever-more-complicated sex scandal involving at least one underage girl, is “feeling very uncomfortable” – at least according to the lawyer representing his sometime associate Joel Greenberg, who faces federal child sex trafficking charges of his own.
As a 2019 video resurfaced showing Donald and Melania Trump meeting another key player in the scandal, Jason Pirozzolo, Mr Gaetz tweeted out a strange statement from “we, the women of Congressman Matt Gaetz’s Office”.
“Congressman Gaetz has always been a principled and morally grounded leader,” it read. “At no time has any one of us experienced or witnessed anything less than the utmost professionalism and respect. No hint of impropriety. No ounce of untruthfulness.”
Meanwhile, a former staffer to Bill Clinton has taken out a billboard targeting Mr Gaetz with an outrageous statement…
Andrew Naughtie9 April 2021 10:13
