*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.
China has launched the main module of its first permanent space station that will host astronauts long term.
This time the Food and Drug Administration is under pressure from African American groups to remove the mint flavor, which is popular among Black smokers.
Fresh off a high-profile loss against Amazon in Bessemer, Alabama, the union movement in America is more fired up than it's been in a generation.
The headlines from President Biden's first speech to Congress, plus why he's got reason to be sounding optimistic about the state of the pandemic. And would you let a Walmart worker stock your fridge?
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dropped by 13,000 last week to 553,000, the lowest level since the pandemic hit last March and another sign the economy is recovering from the coronavirus recession.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stuck to his guns on Wednesday following a two-day policy meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee.
Former President Donald Trump is defending Rudy Giuliani, his longtime personal lawyer, after federal investigators executed search warrants at Rudy Giuliani’s Manhattan residence and office.
President Joe Biden declares “America is rising anew” as he calls for an expansion of federal programs to drive the economy past the coronavirus pandemic and broadly extend the social safety net on a scale not seen in decades.
Jill and Carlo discuss the CDC's updated mask guidance, a deeper dive into the catastrophe in India, what POTUS will pitch to Congress, and the biggest public health breakthrough of the decade that you haven't heard about.
India’s official death toll has passed 200,000, but the true number is likely far higher.
