Politics
Karoline Leavitt Just Totally Undermined Trump’s ‘I Didn’t Do It’ Claim
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s bold claim regarding President Donald Trump’s social media posts is raising new questions about a racist video featured on his account earlier this month.
On Wednesday, Leavitt was asked about a post on Trump’s Truth Social account that criticised Britain’s plan to turn over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while also securing a 99-year lease to keep a joint UK–US military base on Diego Garcia.
“The post should be taken as the policy of the Trump administration,” she said. “It’s coming straight from the horse’s mouth. When you see it on Truth Social, you know it’s directly from President Trump.”
Leavitt called that the “beauty” of Trump’s presidency and a sign of his “transparency.”
Just one problem: Her statement conflicts with Trump’s claim about a racist video featured on his Truth Social account earlier this month that depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as a chimpanzee and a gorilla.
The video was denounced by Democrats and Republicans alike, and Trump later deleted it. But he also never apologised, claiming it wasn’t his fault.
“I didn’t do it, by the way,” Trump told reporters while aboard Air Force One on February 6. “This was done by somebody else.”
Trump said he had seen part of the video, which he claimed was about “fraudulent elections,” and then passed it on without seeing the racist part.
“I guess probably nobody reviewed the end of it,” he said. “Somebody slipped and missed a very small part.”
Trump’s critics noted the glaring inconsistency and fired back on X:
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the Epstein buddy formerly known as ‘prince’, has been arrested this morning at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
Police arrived early this morning in unmarked cars. The exact reason for the arrest is still unannounced, though it is under the umbrella term of misconduct in public office. BBC correspondent Laura Manning speculated that:
My understanding is that there’s been a very significant development in the investigation into the Epstein files. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested this morning on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
That goes back to documents from when he was a trade envoy, that are alleged to have been passed to Epstein.
Knowing the priorities of the British state, it is more likely to be linked to his leaking of secrets to serial chiild-rapist Jeffrey Epstein than his alleged trafficking of women.
For more on the the Epstein Files, please read the Canary’s article on way that the media circus around Epstein is erasing the experiences of victims and survivors.
Featured image via the Canary
The Royal British Legion (RBL) have announced an Iraq War ’15 years on’ memorial event. The veterans charity, which is backed by major global arms firms, said the event would be held in Staffordshire in May 2025 at the National Arboretum.
The Arboretum is a national site for military remembrance, and is known for partnering with military-linked firms.
The Legion’s press release says:
We will remember the lives lost and those affected and pay tribute to the professionalism and dedication of the men and women who served, from the initial invasion to the crucial rebuilding of Iraqi institutions and infrastructure.
That last little bit is particularly deceptive. It makes Iraq sound like a humanitarian mission, rather than a war crime-riddled heist.
Iraq denials don’t hold water
In fact, one Iraq veteran told the Canary that the RBL’s claim was flat wrong:
When I was on Telic one [the Iraq invasion] there was a planned campaign of arresting anyone that had membership of the Ba’ath party (this was after the government had fell). In effect teachers, dentists, doctors, or anyone with a skilled job, had to be members of the party under the old regime, or they wouldn’t have been allowed to work.
In effect, anyone that knew how to do something in society was removed, and when we questioned this on the ground, we were told that this policy had come from the very top (Downing Street)
So it wasn’t just the military campaign it was also the removal of all people that ran Iraqi society. At the same time the army was pretty much made redundant.
The institutions and infrastructure wouldn’t have needed building up or repairing without this.
When we asked the RBL about their links to corporate sponsors, they told us:
The RBL Iraq 15 event will not have any corporate sponsors.
Which certainly doesn’t clear up the issue of their corporate sponsors as an organisation. And, when we asked the Iraq veteran about the Legion’s links to arms firms, he told us:
Yes the RBL are basically partnering with the arms business, which surely must be against the principles of when the organisation started.
The truth is that the Iraq War was illegal and killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of people. The war destabilised the entire Middle East region, leaving a lasting impact on those who carried it out. By all measures, it was an unmitigated disaster. Yet, bizarrely, figures like Trump’s secretary of state Marco Rubio are clamouring to revive colonialism. Regime change in Iraq clearly taught them that war is profitable for the West.
In the pockets of Big Death
Since the ousting of the pre-2003 government, Iraq has become a lucrative cash cow for certain players, including global arms firms — what I prefer to call Big Death. Welcome to the military charity-industrial complex.
What makes the Iraq event and comments from the Royal British Legion striking is that both the legion and the National Arboretum proudly state their connections to the global killing business.
BAE Systems is a major partner of the RBL — to the tune of £400,000. The Arboretum’s website names Amey, Key Systems, Briggs Equipment and Jaguar Land Rover among its partners and supporters. All of these firms make profit from war and global instability.
The press and RBL did not even attempt to reflect these galling truths in their coverage of the event.
Flattening Iraq: literally and ideologically
Instead, the Mirror led with stories about veterans horribly wounded in the war — yep veterans, not the countless Iraqis killed as a result of the war.
Certainly, these are awful and harrowing tales involving terrible injuries. But the point, my friends, is that the choice to focus on individual stories is deeply political.
In 2018 Professor Paul Dixon wrote a report called Warrior Nation: War, militarisation and British democracy. Dixon recently published a much-expanded book on the same issue.
In his original report, Dixon identified many different tactics used by pro-war groups and individuals to de-politicise and flatten discussions about war. One of these is ‘personalisation”.
As Dixon has it:
The personalisation of war refers to the focus on human stories and the plight of the troops. This may serve militarists well in ‘depoliticising’ the war (which is, ironically, to conceal the highly political motivations of those behind the war) diverting attention from wider questions as to why it was necessary to fight these wars.
He adds:
Personalisation can be combined with deflection in which opposition to the war is presented
as opposition to military personnel, militaristic ideals and the nation. War becomes ‘a fight to
save our own soldiers… rather than as a struggle for policy goals external to the military.’
These military elites, Dixon argues:
[often] claim to be non-political, [but] their history suggests a close relationship with the political right, sympathy for monarchy and imperialism, and hostility to liberalism, socialism, feminism and democracy.
The British military produces far-right ideologues? Quelle surprise.
Britain’s war machine
It might seem odd that major arms firms and the powerful UK military charities are so closely linked. But, this is what it has always been.
You could read about the historical links between the Legion and the military establishment in my second book Veteranhood. Except you can’t. Why? Because an Israeli AI bro bought the publishing house and now myself and load of my fellow authors are boycotting our own work and giving any future royalties to Palestinian causes.
And if you want to understand militarism in the UK and globally — and how it’s enmeshed with global capitalism — one of the best places to start is by scrutinising military charities (which are themselves big firms) in bed with the war trade.
Because underneath the rhetoric about remembrance, sacrifice, and courage you’ll find that what arms firms and these big charities really do is re-write, obscure, and mythologise as noble what is, in fact, the UK’s violent, counter-productive, imperialist foreign policy. Lipstick on the pig, if you like? They limit the space to critique those policies, to make them harder to challenge and to conflate criticism with disrespect for ‘the troops’.
The real face of that war is much less marketable, as another Iraq veteran told us:
I’m 38 now. I had only just turned 20 when i deployed, I redeploy most nights. Waking my partner up – kicking & screaming. You come home, but bits of it stay with you — and your family carries it too.
He pointed out the lack of accountability too:
Chilcot told us what went wrong, but nothing really changed at the top. Blair is still a free man. If remembrance means anything, it should mean telling the truth, rather than white washing the nations war crimes.
But the truth is, when you see and hear about the dead and wounded in wars like Iraq, the real disrespect lies in failing to criticise, probe, and challenge the ugly consequences of war.
Featured image via Peter Kennard and Cat Picton-Phillipps
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is exposing on X the dangerous impact Reform MP Richard Tice would have if he makes it to office.
Live on LBC, Tice stated that Reform would:
Will consider cutting the minimum wage for younger workers.
This demonstrates how disastrously out of touch Tice is with the very voters he’s trying to win over.
The post below from the TUC underscores the contrast between billionaire-funded Reform UK, and the real challenges facing ordinary people — just trying to make ends meet.
Young people: We can’t afford our rent.
Multi-millionaire Reform MP Richard Tice: We’re going to cut your pay. https://t.co/i9SoVTcAPb
— Trades Union Congress (@The_TUC) February 17, 2026
Richard Tice: “100% of nothing is nothing”
The original LBC interview went as follows:
Ben Kentish: If you were in government, would reform cut the minimum wage for young people to get more of them into work? Is that on the table?
Richard Tice: Well, we’ll be talking about that over the coming weeks. We’ve got to re-look at it because the evidence is immediately there within a matter of six to nine months. But this has had a catastrophic impact as well, of course, of the impact of national insurance contribution rises, employment rights, fears from the dreadful employment rights bill. All of these things have a cumulative impact, which means that employers are saying, why should I take the risk?
Kentish: A potential pay cut for millions of young workers on the minimum wage is something you are considering?
Tice: If you’re unemployed, I mean, 100% of nothing is nothing.
Kentish: But we’re talking specifically about the minimum wage here and whether it needs to be cut for young people.
Tice: But the wage is irrelevant if you’re not employed. If businesses are not employing you, so it’s much better to say, actually, we look at…
Kentish: But the young people who are employed on the minimum wage obviously would also be affected by a cut in the minimum wage.
Tice: And that’s why I’m not going to make policy on the hoof. That’s why you’ve got to look at the implications of this.
Kentish: But you’re looking at it.
Tice: We’ve got to look at all of this because they’ve got themselves in a terrible pickle and sometimes it’s then quite hard to unwind these things.
Kentish: And to young people who say, well, I’m in work, I’m earning the minimum wage, why on earth would I vote Reform if they think I should potentially earn even less than I’m getting?
Tice: That’s…
Kentish: What would you say?
Tice: Well, that’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is other young people are not being employed who could be and should be because of this extra cost. And it’s a significant disadvantage. But it’s now… it’s a complicated issue.
Unfortunately, Kentish misses another reality: giving bosses ‘recruitment discounts’ through low pay requirements doesn’t lift people out of poverty.
Many will still need benefits to survive, with taxpayers footing the bill for what rich employers refuse to pay. After all, workers can’t get their PAYE sent to offshore tax havens — they’re captured by the tax system from the get-go.
Once again, the majority are forced to bear the burden the super-rich continue to shrug-off.
As if it wasn’t completely clear already, if you vote #Reform, what you are voting for is taking money out of the pockets of the working class and giving it to millionaires and billionaires. It really is that simple. They are a bunch of absolute grifters who prey on stupidity https://t.co/dAHbz1C1TV pic.twitter.com/QzNQQBlGvm
— Jim Kavanagh (@Jimbokav1971) February 17, 2026
Says the immigrant from Dubai. Has he learned Arabic yet?
Reform couldn’t give a damn about the working class. They’re a private members’ club for billionaire tax-dodging wankers and offshore-trust boys who lecture 16 year old shelf-stackers to “tighten their belts for… https://t.co/kuCOsOtU1Z
— Atlanta Rey ❤️🔥🐦🔥 (@areyoflight) February 17, 2026
Reform stand with bosses, not workers
This interview exposes how a billionaire-backed party puts profit before people. In the past five years, “greedflation” has driven record returns for executives and shareholders, while ordinary households have faced tightening budgets and rising hardship.
The Canary’s own James Wright wrote yesterday:
The neoliberal system leaves 40 percent of Britons with less than £25 at the end of each week, a survey by the Cost of Living Action (COLA) group has found. This is a pittance and unlikely to stretch far under the cost of living crisis, where even employed people are finding themselves out of pocket.
He added:
Privatised essentials like energy and extractive supermarket chains are driving the cost of living crisis. British Energy companies alone have accrued £125bn since 2020, according to the End Fuel Poverty Coalition.
Meanwhile, profits for the German-owned supermarket, Lidl, rose by 297% since 2021. As for Aldi, its operating profit has risen by 50% and 72% since 2020.
While costs have increased due to climate change and other factors, supermarkets are using these pressures not to break even but to fatten profit margins – otherwise known as ‘greedflation’.
In other words, the fuel feeding the cost-of-living fire is the ‘privatisation tax’ on common essentials – not a natural disaster but a manmade problem.
Claiming the unemployed must accept lower pay might soothe some. But the rich’s growing wealth proves they could pay fairly — they just won’t.
It’s far more appealing for them to watch their bank balances swell than to invest in fairly paid staff — especially if it means sacrificing one of their many extravagances.
Therefore, Kentish rightly highlights that reductions to the minimum wage won’t only affect unemployed workers taking new jobs – they will ripple far wider. This makes clear, a Reform government will affect all workers at a time when people are feeling absolutely done in trying to keep going on shoestring budgets and rocketing private rents. As the TUC aptly pointed out in their subsequent post.
One X account posted a stark rebuke to those voting for Reform:
These Boomer Cunts thinking of voting Reform will have to look their Grandchildren in the eyes and say ‘Yes, I voted for your abject misery’.
Under Reform, workers pay will be slashed
As if we didn’t need another reason to see that these bellends have zero intention of tackling the issues impacting ordinary people countrywide.
In fact, this party is a gathering of the very people whose greed and influence created Britain’s economic hellscape in the first place.
We will not stop exposing the deep rot that runs through this deplorable party.
Featured image via Kent Online
I am writing today not just to let you know – as he himself has done in his final Tory diary – that Henry Hill is moving on from ConservativeHome after more than a decade with the site but to properly thank him.
Henry first joined ConHome in 2013 as an Assistant Editor, rising through News Editor to become Deputy Editor at the start of 2022. Across all of those roles, and all of those years, his output was prolific and wide-ranging.
Regular readers will know Henry for his writing on two subjects in particular. The first is constitutional and Union questions. His Red, White, and Blue column became a fixture for anyone trying to make sense of devolution, the integrity of the United Kingdom, and the often-tortuous politics of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. He wrote about these subjects with a seriousness that was not always fashionable and a clarity that made complex constitutional arguments genuinely accessible.
The second is housing – an area where Henry argued consistently and forcefully that the Conservative Party needed to grapple with the scale of the problem rather than look the other way. Whether or not readers agreed with every position he took, he helped ensure the debate had a home on these pages.
Beyond the daily output, Henry built a considerable profile outside ConservativeHome – writing for the Daily Telegraph, The Spectator, The Times, the New Statesman, CapX, UnHerd, The Critic, and others; as well as regularly appearing on programmes such as Newsnight, Sky Papers and Politics Live. Henry was also a familiar fixture in ConservativeHome’s Party Conference programme, where his chairing was sharp, well-briefed, and good-humoured (as long as your question wasn’t more of a comment!).
Henry leaves with our gratitude and our very best wishes for the future.
Thank you, Henry.
Trump ‘prepares for Iran strikes’ and warns Starmer not to give away Chagos Islands
“Donald Trump has demanded Sir Keir Starmer “not give away” Diego Garcia in a fresh attack on his Chagos Islands deal. The US president warned the Prime Minister that he was making a “big mistake” by entering into a 100-year lease with Mauritius. It is the latest in a series of about-turns from the president on the deal, which he previously called an act of “great stupidity” before giving it approval earlier this month. Mr Trump said Diego Garcia, the shared US base, was crucial for possible air strikes on Iran, which experts predict could take place within days, despite peace talks.” – Daily Telegraph
- Trump pulls support for Chagos Islands deal – The Times
- Trump renews attack on Starmer’s plan to cede UK ownership of Chagos Islands – FT
- Brits evicted from sovereign territory 6,000 miles from home – The Sun
- Trump ‘identifies timeline for strike on Iran’ – Daily Mail
- President sends fighter jet squadron to ‘kick the door down’ in Iran – Daily Telegraph
- Trump’s Chagos rant means he’s preparing to bomb Iran – Daily Telegraph
- And Trump prepares to unleash ‘weeks-long blitz on Iran within days’ – The Sun
- British couple jailed by Iran for 10 years, family says – BBC News
- Obama thought Trump was a joke – Daily Telegraph
Comment
Starmer ‘not being honest’ on defence spending, say ex-military chiefs
“Sir Keir Starmer is not being honest with the British public over defence spending, former military chiefs have claimed. In a damning open letter, retired heads of the Army and Navy and an ex-MI6 boss warned the Prime Minister that the Armed Forces had been “hollowed out by years of chronic underfunding”. They said that instead of receiving more money because of Labour’s planned increase in defence spending, funding pressures such as pay rises for servicemen and high inflation meant the Ministry of Defence (MoD) was being forced to make cuts. Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is locked in talks with the MoD, which is demanding more money to cover the estimated £28bn shortfall in its budget.” – Daily Telegraph
- Double defence spending or face war, Starmer warned – The Times
- Reeves just gaslit millions of Brits – and made voting Tory an option again – Daily Express
- Reeves to do ‘as little as possible’ in Spring Statement despite pressure to spend – Daily Telegraph
- Retail chiefs warn of fresh job losses as Labour prices people out of work – Daily Telegraph
Comment
Tech firms must remove ‘revenge porn’ in 48 hours, warns PM
“Deepfake nudes and “revenge porn” must be removed from the internet within 48 hours or technology firms risk being blocked in the UK, Keir Starmer has said, calling it a “national emergency” that the government must confront. Companies could be fined millions or even blocked altogether if they allow the images to spread or be reposted after victims give notice. Amendments will be made to the crime and policing bill to also regulate AI chatbots such as X’s Grok, which generated nonconsensual images of women in bikinis or in compromising positions until the government threatened action against Elon Musk’s company.” – Guardian
- Zuckerberg insists Meta does not target children in landmark trial – Daily Telegraph
Attacks on Romeo ‘driven by misogynistic jealousy’
“A vicious briefing war has broken out over the imminent appointment of Dame Antonia Romeo as cabinet secretary after her allies accused Foreign Office mandarins of “misogynistic” briefings against her. Romeo’s supporters accused Foreign Office officials of orchestrating a briefing campaign against her in an attempt to derail Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to appoint her as the first female head of the civil service. Her appointment is expected as early as next week but has triggered a backlash from current and former senior civil servants. Foreign Office sources hit back at her allies, dismissing accusations that the department’s officials were behind the briefing campaign against Romeo as “nonsense”. – The Times
- Mandelson ‘fuelled whisper campaign’ against Sunday Times – The Times
Starmer blames councils for scrapping elections
“Sir Keir Starmer has blamed councils for the cancellation of local elections. The Government had justified the delays by claiming that a looming reorganisation of 30 local authorities would have made elections expensive, complicated and unnecessary. However, Labour was accused of disenfranchising voters to avoid a wipeout by Reform UK and the Greens on May 7. The policy was reversed following The Telegraph’s Campaign for Democracy, which called for the delayed elections to go ahead. Asked about the reversal on Wednesday, Sir Keir said: “I think it’s important to remind ourselves that the decision to cancel was a locally-led decision in the sense that each authority could decide.” – Daily Telegraph
Comment
- If Starmer is ousted, Labour could still win the next election. Here’s how that would work – Larry Elliott, Guardian
>Today:
>Yesterday:
BBC argues Trump failed to prove defamation
“Donald Trump failed to show the BBC defamed him in its edit of his Jan 6 speech, the broadcaster said in its argument for his lawsuit to be thrown out. Mr Trump sued the BBC in December seeking $5bn (£4bn) in damages for defamation after The Telegraph revealed a Panorama documentary had edited the speech he gave to his supporters before they stormed the US Capitol building in Washington, DC on Jan 6, 2021. In his legal complaint filed in Miami’s court for the Southern District of Florida, the president described the programme as a “brazen attempt” to influence the outcome of the presidential election between Mr Trump and Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate.” – Daily Telegraph
Other political news
- Children face review of right to special needs support at 11 – The Times
- Reform UK would bring back two-child benefit cap, says Jenrick – FT
- ‘Tories walking different streets to me,’ says Jenrick – Daily Mail
- Child poverty figures in the UK expected to be revised down – BBC News
- UCL students win £21mn over Covid disruption in watershed UK settlement – FT
- Pubs to stay open til 2am for all World Cup knockout rounds – The Sun
News in Brief
Keir Starmer has sent another stern message to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor over his links to dead paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The prime minister and former director of public prosecutions has told the BBC that “no one is above the law” when asked about the ongoing police probes into Epstein.
It comes after Andrew featured in the Epstein files, a huge dossier looking into the disgraced financier released last month by the US Congress.
Several different UK police forces have now launched a series of probes into the documents.
Surrey Police are investigating into a claim from a 2020 FBI report related to a child abuse claim against Andrew and convicted sex trafficker, Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Thames Valley Police are looking into claims Andrew shared confidential information with Epstein when the then-prince was the UK’s trade envoy.
Officers are looking into the private flights to and from Stansted Airport potentially linked to Epstein.
Norfolk Police are looking into various documents which have been flagged to them, but say they have not received any allegations and are not currently investigating any probes.
So BBC Breakfast’s Naga Munchetty asked the prime minister if Andrew, who was stripped of his titles over his Epstein links, should “voluntarily come forward to the police”.
Starmer replied: “I think that is a matter for the police, they will conduct their own investigations.
“But one of the core principles in our system is that everybody is equal under the law. And nobody is above the law. That applies across the board.
“That is the principle. It is long-standing principle. It is a very important principle of our country, our society, and it applies and it has to apply in this case thin the same way as it applies in any other country.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves had a similar message for Andrew on Wednesday, saying: “The former prince has got a lot of questions to answer on a whole range of issues.”
Appearing in the files is not an indication of wrongdoing. Andrew has not addressed the recent claims, but he has previously denied any wrongdoing.
The former prince is also facing fresh calls from some US officials – and the family of his prominent accuser Virginia Giuffre – to testify before the Oversight Committee about Epstein.
He reached an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre four years ago, with no admission of liability. Giuffre died by suicide in 2025.
Starmer also urged anyone “with relevant information” to give evidence to the US Congress last November, in a veiled reference to the former prince.
Katie Price’s team has clarified reports that she and her new husband are expecting a baby.
Last month, the former glamour model and reality star made headlines when she announced that she’d married entrepreneur Lee Andrews in Dubai just one week after meeting him in real life.
On Wednesday, in a pointed Instagram post aimed at her new husband’s ex, Katie claimed she is “having his child”.
Lee then shared a picture of himself and Katie on his own account, alongside a message claiming they were the “perfect couple soon to be triple”, adding a pregnant emoji, leading several outlets to run headlines claiming that the Celebrity Big Brother winner is pregnant.
However, her spokesperson has now set the record straight, confirming to Yahoo that this is not the case.
HuffPost UK has contacted Katie’s team for additional comment.
Katie is currently a mum to five children.
She welcomed her eldest son Harvey, whose father is the retired footballer Dwight York, in May 2002, followed by a son and daughter, Junior and Princess, during her marriage to her first husband, the pop singer Peter Andre.
After marrying and divorcing the ex-cage fighter Alex Reid, she had two more children, a son and daughter named Jett and Bunny, with her third husband, the builder and former stripper Kieran Hayler.
In recent years, Katie has also been engaged to the reality stars Kris Boyson, Carl Woods and JJ Slater, with whom she was reported to have split just a few weeks before marrying her fourth husband, Lee.
Lee recently shot down speculation that his and Katie’s marriage wasn’t legally binding, insisting to his Instagram followers: “We’ve had the most wonderful wedding. We are married. It’s official, and I’m the happiest man in the world. Lots of love to everyone.
“That might clear up a lot of the 99 percent of the junk that’s in my requests.”
Politics
Critics Rip JD Vance Over ‘Most Cartoonishly Evil Laugh’ After Question About 2028 Election
Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday appeared on Fox News to saber-rattle against Iran, criticise Democrats and try to convince struggling Americans that President Donald Trump’s economic policies are working — but will only pay off at some nebulous time next year.
Critics on social media were most unnerved by one moment in particular, however, as his appearance on The Story with Martha MacCallum turned to the 2028 presidential election, and Vance let out what one user called “the most cartoonishly evil laugh I’ve ever heard.”
The laugh in question came after MacCallum asked Vance if he wishes Trump would just endorse him already and after she played a recent clip of Trump calling him “fantastic” — only to gush over Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the “great job” he’s been doing.
“I think it’s so interesting the media wants to create this conflict where there just isn’t any conflict,” Vance said on Tuesday. “Marco’s doing a great job, I’m trying to do as good of a job as I can, the president’s doing a great job, we’re going to keep on working together.”
MacCallum pushed back: “But surely as vice president you’d like to be president.”
Vance ultimately answered the question with the kind of diplomatic noncommittal one might expect from loyal members of Trump’s inner sanctum, but only after releasing what another user called “the forced laugh that first year theater kids practice before auditions.”
“Hahahaha,” Vance guffawed. “Would I? Well, look, I think, again, I’m going to try to do as good of a job as I can right now. So one of the things that I don’t like about this question and this entire perspective is I’ve been in this job for all of a year.”
He continued, “About six months ago — sorry, a year and six months ago — I asked the American people to give me this job that I have right now. Why don’t I do as good of a job as I can in this job, we’ll worry about the next job some time in the future.”
Some critics reacted with unbridled scepticism Tuesday and argued Vance “has not been given permission” to truthfully answer the question, noting he appeared to land in some rather hot water after telling NBC News in 2024 that Trump would veto an abortion ban.
“I’ve learned my lesson on speaking for the president before he and I have actually talked about an issue,” Vance later admitted during an interview on “Meet the Press” after Trump said he had never discussed the issue with him and that Vance wasn’t “speaking for me.”
Vance on Tuesday heaped mounds of praise on Rubio, describing him as his “closest friend in the administration.” He also claimed Iran is “not yet willing to actually acknowledge” the red lines Trump has set for them, which saw US crude oil prices jump by more than 3%.
The vice president went on to slam Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who warned during a panel discussion Friday at the Munich Security Council of Trump’s “authoritarian” plans for the world, for stating the US would support Taiwan if China were to invade it.
Critics are still struck by his laugh, however, as Vance appears to be an obvious Republican front-runner for 2028 — that is, unless Trump’s numerous comments about a third and unconstitutional term are far more serious than he recently claimed they were.
Trump’s own supporters erupted in a chant of “four more years” during his most recent public appearance, at a Black History Month event.
French President Emmanuel Macron has called out the free speech arguments touted by social media giants to justify controversial content on their sites in bruising remarks that put the European leader on a collision course with the Trump administration.
Speaking in New Delhi on Wednesday, Macron described the free speech defense as “pure bullshit” as he criticised digital companies for using algorithms as an excuse for publishing hate speech and misinformation.
His comments come as European countries consider legislation to block some content, often to protect children, amid fierce criticism of their approaches from US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former Trump aide Elon Musk.
The UK government has threatened action against Musk’s X platform over its AI assistant Grok creating nonconsensual sexual deepfakes, and Spain has asked prosecutors to investigate X, Meta and TikTok over their role in producing and spreading AI-generated child sexual abuse material.
In his remarks on Wednesday, reported by Bloomberg News, Macron criticised social media companies for “having no clue about how their algorithm is made, how it’s tested, trained and where it will guide you.
“The democratic consequences of this bias could be huge,” the president continued.
Macron added: “Free speech is pure bullshit if nobody knows how you are guided to this so-called free speech, especially when it is guided from one hate speech to another.”
Rubio recently hit out at a “global censorship-industrial complex” he said was trying to pressure US tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints.
“The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship,” he posted on X.
In a notably hostile speech in Munich last year, Vance scolded many of America’s allies in Europe for suppressing free speech.
He called the European Union “commissars” and claimed they would “shut down social media during times of civil unrest the moment they spot what they’ve judged to be, quote, ‘hateful content.’”
Musk, the world’s richest man who touts himself as a “free speech absolutist,” this month attacked Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, amid his threat to ban teenagers from social media.
“Dirty Sánchez is a tyrant and a traitor to the people of Spain,” Musk wrote on X.
We hope you love the products we recommend! All of them were independently selected by our editors. Just so you know, HuffPost UK may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page if you decide to shop from them. Oh, and FYI – prices are accurate and items in stock as of time of publication.
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Unfortunately, the wet and cold weather and increased drying of clothes indoors can combine with reduced ventilation, irregular temperatures in our homes, and rising damp, to exacerbate the issue.
If you, like so many of us, are fighting the good fight against mould in your home, here are some of the best-reviewed buys out there that help to get the job done.
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