Good morning, and welcome to live coverage of today’s political news.
Donald Trump has had quite a morning of it already. The president called into Fox & Friends for an extraordinary, at times bizarre, 55-minute interview during which Trump:
•Reiterated the conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election
•Said his own EU ambassador’s sworn testimony was “total nonsense”
•Called Nancy Pelosi “crazy as a bedbug”
•Suggested he wanted to be impeached, saying: “I want a trial”
•Complained that former Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovitch took too long to hang his picture in the Ukraine embassy
•Said people praised Yovanovitch – a highly regarded official – because “she’s a woman, you have to be nice”
•Described Rudy Giuliani as “one of the great crime fighters of all time”
The Fox & Friends hosts were largely bystanders during what effectively became a Trump monologue.
Trump sounded slightly hoarse as he ran through some of his greatest hits: his 2016 election victory, how much he has invested in the military and the highly dubious claim that “no one” has done as much during their first term.
We’ll get some video clips up shortly. It really was something to behold.
In other political news … the Democratic candidates are fanned out around the key primary states today – no rest for the wicked, etc. Each of them will be out hassling potential voters in their own unique ways.
Iowans can look out for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, while those in New Hampshire are treated to Tulsi Gabbard, Cory Booker, Bill Weld and Amy Klobuchar.
Andrew Yang, and presumably his Gang, is in South Carolina; Marianne Williamson, who apparently is still running, is in Arkansas for some reason; and Joe Walsh, ploughing a lonely furrow in his Republican primary bid against Trump, is in Texas.
