Trump pitches himself as crypto president with $12m tech fundraiser: Live updates

Former House Democrat Tulsi Gabbard appears to have thrown herself into consideration for secretary of state or defense secretary in a potential Donald Trump administration.

Alex Woodward has the details:

Donald Trump has narrowed down his search for a running mate and is focused on four potential vice president candidates, all of whom are men, according to a report.

Graeme Massie has the details:

…and it appears there is more than one post — this one from May 20, according to MSNBC’s Katie Phang:

The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money trial has alerted prosecutors and Trump’s defense team about a Facebook post from an apparent social meida troll announcing Trump’s conviction one day before a jury announced a guilty verdict.

A brief letter from New York Justice Juan Merchan on Friday tells the parties that the court “became aware of a comment” from a user named “Michael Anderson” that states: “My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted … Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!!”

In fairness, most Republican actions — particularly in the House of Representatives and on the state level — could be interpreted as an act of revenge these days. That’s because most of them feel Trump was wronged by the “Deep State” and Democrats, and that the multiple investigations and two impeachments are somehow proof of that.

But Trump has not been shy about his very personal desire for revenge.

Justice Juan Merchan, who presided over Donald Trump’s hush money trial in Manhattan, has notified the parties in the former president’s case that a rogue comment was posted on the New York court system’s Facebook page on May 29 — the day before Trump’s conviction.

The comment from a user named Michael Anderson, whose profile says he is a “professional s***poster”, reads: “My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted celebrate 🎉 Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!! ❤️ .”

Judge Merchan writes: “The comment, now labeled as one week old, responded to a routine UCS notice, posted on May 29, 2924, regarding oral arguments in the Fourth Department of the Appellate Division unrelated to this proceeding.”

Former federal prosecutor and NBC News contributor Joyce Alene notes on X: “The Justice is smart to advise the parties & hold a hearing on the record to resolve this. If it’s someone posting with no basis for it as it appears, the record will be clear (his bio says “professional s***poster”) & if there’s something to it, good to get it out & do justice.”

She continues: “Why does a clear record matter? Because Trump will raise this on appeal to argue for reversal. Now, both sides have notice of this issue & there’s an opportunity to get all of the details & facts out so that if there is nothing to this, it won’t affect the appeal.”

A cringeworthy new single proclaims Donald Trump the “chosen one” picked by God to lead the US – and its music video has racked up 85,000 views on YouTube in just three days.

Katie Hawkinson has the details…

While Donald Trump continues to lead in polling in Florida, a state he won in both 2016 and 2020 and which became his residence before leaving the White House, a new poll from Fox News shows some glimmers of hope for Joe Biden in the Sunshine State.

In 2020, Trump won Florida by almost 3.5 per cent, and today polling stands at Trump 50 per cent to Biden 46 per cent — about the same but within the margin of error.

Where things get interesting is that a majority of Floridians believe Trump got a fair trial in his hush money case in New York — though 64 per cent say it won’t make a difference either at all or not much to their vote. Pollsters believe this could add a percentage point to the Biden vote.

Where the polling gets interesting is in the state constitution ballot initiatives coming up in November. One enshrines abortion rights and one legalizes recreational marijuana — two-thirds of voters say they will vote “yes” on each.

Those who favor the amendments go for Biden by a margin of nine per cent for marijuana and 23 per cent for abortion rights.

Might those state issues drive people to the polls as abortion rights ballot initiatives did in California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, and Vermont?

To cap off bragging about killing Roe v Wade; saying that states should be able to punish doctors who perform abortion; that there should be “some form of punishment” for women who undergo abortions; and being OK with states tracking pregnancies, Donald Trump is now going to virtually address a group that believes abortion is “child sacrifice”.

Vanity Fair reports that on June 10th, the former president will “bring a virtual message to attendees of the Life & Liberty Forum” which The Danbury Institute is holding in Indianapolis.

The group’s website states: “We believe that the greatest atrocity facing our generation today is the practice of abortion — child sacrifice on the altar of self… Abortion must be ended. We will not rest until it is eradicated entirely… We are grateful to God and to the current slate of Supreme Court Justices for the successful overturning of Roe v. Wade. However, the battle is far from won.”

In a statement to Vanity Fair, the Biden campaign said Trump “loves campaigning with abortion ban extremists,” which appears to be objectively true.