*By Carlo Versano*
There is an unspoken tradition in Washington that the president faces the press a day after a midterm election that revokes power from his party in Congress. When Democrats gained control of both houses in 2006, a humbled President George W. Bush called it a "thumping." In 2010, an equally-chastened President Barack Obama admitted his party took a "shellacking."
No such thing happened on Wednesday.
President Trump vacillated between subdued and combative as he called Tuesday's election ー in which Democrats took control of the House and several pivotal governorships ー a "very close-to-complete victory."
Trump took credit for the GOP's ability to maintain control of the Senate and blamed certain losses of House Republican candidates on their disloyalty. He praised Rep. Nancy Pelosi, calling her "very smart," but then warned House Democrats that he would have Senate Republicans probe their conduct, should they use their newfound subpoena power to investigate him.
In a nearly two-hour-long press conference from the East Room of the White House that began with a low-key statement but quickly deteriorated into a rollicking Q&A, the president ratcheted up his antagonism of the gathered press corps. He called CNN's Jim Acosta a "rude, terrible person" and excoriated PBS' Yamiche Alcindor for asking "a racist question" when she attempted to probe him on whether his rhetoric was emboldening white nationalists.
As the president spoke, the AP called the contested Montana Senate race for Jon Tester, one of the Democrats that Trump was reportedly most hoping to defeat.
Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin has been sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison for the murder of George Floyd, whose dying gasps under Chauvin’s knee led to the biggest outcry against racial injustice in the U.S. in generations.
President Joe Biden has announced a bipartisan agreement on a pared-down infrastructure plan that would make a start on his top legislative priority and validate his efforts to reach across the political aisle.
An appeals court has suspended Rudy Giuliani from practicing law in New York because he made false statements while trying to get courts to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in the presidential race.
The final edition of Hong Kong’s last remaining pro-democracy paper sold out in hours, as readers scooped up all 1 million copies of the Apple Daily.
After weeks of regulatory crackdowns and public denouncements, the Chinese government has delivered a crushing blow to bitcoin mining in the country.
Apple Daily was forced to shut down Thursday after five editors and executives were arrested and millions of dollars in its assets were frozen as part of China’s increasing crackdown on dissent in the semi-autonomous city.
The Supreme Court has ruled that a Pennsylvania public school wrongly suspended a cheerleader over a vulgar social media post.
Gov. Ned Lamont has signed a bill making Connecticut the 19th state to legalize recreational use of marijuana, which remains an illegal drug under federal law.
The Tokyo Olympics are not looking like much fun: Not for athletes. Not for fans. And not for the Japanese public.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis on Tuesday.
