President Joe Biden’s approval rating sank to a new low in a Marquette University Law School poll released this week.
According to the survey of 1,063 adults across the country, just 34% of the country approves of the way Biden “is handling his job as president,” while 66% disapprove, putting him underwater by a shell-shocking 32 points.
That’s the worst net approval rating Biden has posted in the poll since taking office. It appears that the president’s decision to go back on his word and pardon his son, Hunter Biden, for any crimes he may have committed over a more than decade-long period, may have contributed to his plummeting popularity. Just 29% of respondents said they approved of the pardon, while 71% disapproved.
Fifty-three percent, meanwhile, say that they approved of the way President-elect Donald Trump handled his job during his first term in office.
The plunge in the president’s approval was also fueled by soaring inflation – which started spiking in the summer of 2021
Biden has not achieved a positive net approval rating since July 2021. His previous low of -30 came this summer.
The president’s approval stands in the mid-30s to low-40s in the latest national surveys, including the most recent Fox News national poll, where Biden stands at 41% approval.
The president has faded from the news cycle over his last half-year or so in office after he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race in late July
Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer attend medal ceremony via Wikimedia Commons
A new biography on Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) exposes new details surrounding his tense relationship with former President Donald Trump.
Michael Tackett, deputy Washington bureau chief at the Associated Press, drew from nearly three decades of McConnell’s political career using sources including recorded diaries by the elder statesmen and past interviews. In the finished book, The Price of Power, which hits shelves on October 29, Tackett uncovered several shockingly negative assessments of the ex-president by McConnell, who has publicly expressed his support and endorsed him in the 2024 election.
After Trump lost the election in 2020, McConnell congratulated his former Senate colleague President Joe Biden and warned his fellow Republicans not to challenge the election results. But behind the scenes — and as Trump tried and failed to overturn the election results — he apparently couldn’t wait to see the last of Trump:
Privately, he said in his oral history that “it’s not just the Democrats who are counting the days” until Trump left office, and that Trump’s behavior “only underscores the good judgment of the American people. They’ve had just enough of the misrepresentations, the outright lies almost on a daily basis, and they fired him.”
“And for a narcissist like him,” McConnell continued, “that’s been really hard to take, and so his behavior since the election has been even worse, by far, than it was before, because he has no filter now at all.”
Before those Georgia runoffs, McConnell said Trump is “stupid as well as being ill-tempered and can’t even figure out where his own best interests lie.”
An account of the aftermath of January 6, which had McConnell in a secure location while his aides “barricaded” in the office, revealed an emotional moment between the former Senate Majority Leader and his staff:
McConnell then went to his office to address his staff, some of whom had barricaded themselves in the office as rioters banged on their doors. He started to sob softly as he thanked them, Tackett writes.
“You are my family, and I hate the fact that you had to go through this,” he told them.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested that billionaire CEO Elon Musk push for balanced budget and congressional term limit amendments to the U.S. Constitution, rather than build a new political party.
Musk, who has been outspoken about the need to rein in government spending, announced that he is launching a new political party called the America Party.
“Backing a candidate for president is not out of the question, but the focus for the next 12 months is on the House and the Senate,” he noted in a post on X.
Backing a candidate for president is not out of the question, but the focus for the next 12 months is on the House and the Senate
The governor suggested that if Musk funds candidates in competitive Senate and House contests, Democrats will likely win.
But DeSantis acknowledged that the GOP has an issue with people running on spending less, but then failing to do so. “There’s a gap between the campaign rhetoric, and then the performance,” he said.
He explained that he does not believe “electing a few better people” will alter the “trajectory” on the debt issue.
DeSantis said that the “incentives” in D.C. will “lead to these outcomes, really, regardless of the outcome of elections at this point,” asserting that a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution is needed.
Musk “would have a monumental impact” if he got involved, DeSantis said.
Billionaire Elon Musk announced the launch of his new political party on Saturday, but has yet to share any further details on how he plans to navigate the red tape to establish a viable alternative.
Musk on Saturday appeared to confirm his intention to launch his “America Party,” after posting a poll to his X account the prior day asking followers whether or not he should create the new party.
“By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it! When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” he wrote. “Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”
By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!
When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is once again sounding alarms ahead of a major election—this time warning that Republicans aligned with Donald Trump could attempt to manipulate voting systems in the 2026 midterms.
In a sit-down interview with MSNBC’s Ali Vitali, the former House Speaker—long one of Trump’s most vocal critics—predicted Democratic success in the upcoming elections but cautioned supporters to stay vigilant against what she suggested could be underhanded GOP tactics.
“There are so many things that you can do to protect the election, and they are being done, whether it’s litigation or legislation or just mobilization, communication, all of that. But in addition to that, we have to be on guard as to what they may try to do to the technology. They may try to creep into the technology and create a false count,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi, who has spent years opposing Trump and his political movement, framed her concerns as part of a broader battle over the integrity of American democracy. She has consistently accused Trump and his allies of undermining democratic norms—particularly following the 2020 election—and her latest comments reflect that ongoing distrust.
Her remarks come as Democrats continue to push back against Republican-led redistricting efforts and the SAVE Act, a GOP-backed bill that would require stricter voter identification. While the legislation has passed the House, it faces steep odds in the Senate.
Pelosi didn’t hold back in her assessment of Republicans’ motivations.
“Pelosi accused Republicans of having ‘no commitment to the rule of law and doing things the appropriate way.’”
Despite her warnings, Pelosi struck a confident tone about Democratic prospects, outlining what she sees as the party’s core mission heading into the midterms.
“We have three purposes now. One is to win the midterm. Two is to make sure the elections are safe. And three, tell people what we will do when we win. That is the mission,” she said.
The longtime Democratic leader also reflected on the party’s future, predicting that a woman will eventually become president—though she does not expect to see it herself. She credited Vice President Kamala Harris with energizing voters during the 2024 election cycle.
“She turned out so many more people than who would have voted,” Pelosi said.
The latest Monmouth University poll shows that former President Donald Trump is tied with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as the leading choice for the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nominee.
According to The Hill, the Monmouth University poll found a third of Republican voters saw Trump, who kicked off his campaign in November, as their top presidential pick, and another third favored DeSantis, who has yet to formally announce he’s running.
Former president Mike Pence scored just 2 percent support and Nikki Haley — who is set to become the only other big-name Republican officially in the ring with Trump — earned just 1 percent.
Trump closed the gap with DeSantis from a similar poll back in December that put the Florida governor ahead by 13 points, with 39 percent support compared to 26 percent for the former president. Trump has since climbed 7 points, and DeSantis has fallen 6 points.
But despite the uptick in voters backing Trump for the GOP nomination, DeSantis takes the win in a hypothetical primary matchup between the two, earning 53 percent to Trump’s 40 percent.
“Both Trump and DeSantis are well-liked by the party’s rank and file, but it’s likely that voter opinion of Trump is more firmly set than it is for DeSantis right now. The unknown factor is whether DeSantis can maintain this early edge if and when he gets on the campaign trail,” Monmouth University Polling Institute director Patrick Murray said in a report.
The Florida governor is said to be close to his final decision on whether he’ll run in 2024 and is widely expected to jump in the ring.
Florida state Sen. Ileana Garcia (R), a longtime supporter of former President Trump and co-founder of Latinas for Trump, is publicly criticizing the tone and tactics surrounding the administration’s latest immigration crackdown—warning that internal divisions and inflammatory rhetoric could cost Republicans in the midterms.
“I do think that he will lose the midterms because of Stephen Miller,” Garcia told The New York Times in an interview published Tuesday, referring to Trump’s White House deputy chief of staff and one of the architects of the administration’s hard-line immigration strategy.
Garcia, who has consistently supported strong border enforcement and backed Trump’s efforts to regain control of the southern border, stressed that her concern is not with securing the border itself, but with how the policy is being communicated and executed. She placed particular blame on Miller for what she described as unnecessarily aggressive rhetoric that risks alienating persuadable voters—including Hispanic Republicans who favor border security but reject what they see as dehumanizing language.
The comments follow a volatile weekend in Minneapolis, where federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti during a protest tied to the administration’s immigration actions. The incident came just weeks after another fatal shooting involving federal authorities in the same city, when ICE officers shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good earlier this month.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti “attacked” federal law enforcement officers, while Miller went further, describing Pretti as “a would-be assassin” who “tried to murder federal law enforcement.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later sought to distance President Trump from Miller’s remarks, telling reporters Monday that she had not heard the president “characterize Mr. Pretti in that way” and emphasizing that the incident remains under investigation.
Garcia pushed back sharply on Miller’s framing in a post Monday on X.
“Distorting, politicizing, slandering – justifying what happened to Alex Pretti contradicts the American values the administration campaigned on. He was neither a domestic terrorist nor an assassin,” Garcia wrote.
“Allowing individuals like Stephen Miller, among others, who represent the government and make hard-line decisions, to make such comments will have long-term consequences. … This is not what I voted for!” she added.
Garcia’s criticism carries weight within Republican circles. She helped rally Latina voters for Trump during his 2016 campaign and later served in the Department of Homeland Security during his first term. While she has consistently supported deportations of criminal illegal immigrants and stronger border controls, she has previously warned against what she called “inhumane” tactics used to meet deportation quotas, arguing that they undermine public trust and conservative messaging on law and order.
Her remarks highlight a broader debate within the GOP as Republicans campaign on border security ahead of November’s high-stakes midterms. While voters continue to rank immigration and public safety among their top concerns, some party leaders are increasingly wary that overheated rhetoric—especially following deadly confrontations—could distract from Republicans’ core argument: restoring order at the border, enforcing the law, and keeping communities safe.
As fallout from the Minnesota shootings continues, political observers warn that how Republicans handle immigration enforcement—and how they talk about it—may prove just as important as the policies themselves in determining control of Congress this fall.
Casa Rosada (Argentina Presidency of the Nation), CC BY 2.5 AR via Wikimedia Commons
Democrats are chomping at the bit to announce their campaign for president but there seems to be one obstacle, President Joe Biden.
Biden, who is currently the oldest president in history, will be 81 years old when the next election occurs and some Democrats say he isn’t the best candidate to lead the country or stand a chance of defeating Trump who has all-but-confirmed his own 2024 plans. (RELATED:New Report Indicates Trump Will Postpone 2024 Campaign Announcement)
One Democrat desperately vying for the presidency is none other than California Governor Gavin Newsom. According to sources close to the politician, Newsom is “absolutely” planning to run for president in 2024 if Biden opts out.
“After this midterm election is over, he absolutely is going to announce that he is running for the presidency once Biden announces that he is not running,” a top California fundraiser close to the Newsom family told the Wrap. “No ifs, ands or buts. He will run if Biden does not.”
Governor Newsom’s political ambitions have been the subject of scrutiny over the past few months as he has sought to distinguish himself early on as a presidential contender by meeting with prominent donors, sparring with Republican lawmakers, and calling out his party’s inaction on hot-button issues like abortion and climate change.
One of the Wrap’s sources, a Los Angeles philanthropist who backed Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential bid in 2020 and supported her during her time as district attorney in San Francisco, said some in the party have questioned whether she will be the automatic forerunner if Biden chooses to step aside.
“There’s going to be a ton of people coming out against Kamala if Biden doesn’t run,” the source said.
President Biden recently called his own 2024 campaign into question during an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” when he declined to say if he absolutely planned to run for a second term.
“In terms of election laws,” Biden said, “it’s much too early to make that kind of decision.”
“Look, my intention, as I said to begin with, is that I would run again,” Biden responded to CBS anchor Scott Pelley. “But it’s just an intention. But is it a firm decision that I run again? That remains to be seen.”
The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
PARIS — French nationalist leader Marine Le Pen announced Tuesday that she will run for president in 2027 after a Paris appeals court upheld her conviction for misusing European Union funds but reduced her sentence and shortened her ban from holding public office, allowing her to remain on the ballot.
The ruling preserves one of Europe’s most consequential political candidacies at a time when Le Pen and her National Rally party are leading opinion polls ahead of next year’s election. With President Emmanuel Macron constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term, the race is widely viewed as the strongest opportunity yet for France’s nationalist movement to capture the presidency.
Court Upholds Conviction, Reduces Penalty
The appeals court affirmed Le Pen’s conviction for diverting European Parliament funds to pay National Rally employees instead of parliamentary assistants.
Judges sentenced her to three years in prison, with two years suspended and one year to be served under electronic monitoring, along with a €100,000 fine. The court also shortened her period of political ineligibility, clearing the way for her presidential campaign.
Le Pen immediately vowed to challenge the decision before France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation.
Under French law, that appeal suspends enforcement of her sentence — including the electronic monitoring requirement and political restrictions — while the case is reviewed, allowing her to campaign without immediate legal constraints.
‘Tonight, I Am a Candidate’
Appearing on French television shortly after the ruling, Le Pen left little doubt about her intentions.
“Tonight, I am a candidate in the presidential election,” she declared, while maintaining that she had committed no crime and describing the prosecution as politically motivated.
WATCH:
The legal battle is expected to continue for months, but the appeals ruling removes the most immediate obstacle to her fourth presidential campaign.
Recent polling by major French firms has consistently placed either Le Pen or her National Rally protégé, Jordan Bardella, between roughly 31% and 36% in first-round voting — historically high numbers this far ahead of a presidential election. Pollsters say National Rally has never polled this strongly so early in a campaign.
Several surveys also indicate Le Pen would be highly competitive in a second-round runoff against leading centrist contenders, including former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe.
Relationship With Trump Has Changed
Although Le Pen praised Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory and was once viewed as one of his closest political allies in Europe, she has deliberately distanced herself from the president in recent years.
As she works to broaden her appeal among mainstream conservative and center-right French voters, Le Pen has sought to present National Rally as a governing party rather than a protest movement.
That strategy has included publicly criticizing Trump on several occasions. During a dispute last month between Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Le Pen sided with Meloni and described Trump’s remarks as “very insulting.” She has also broken with the president on aspects of U.S. military intervention and European defense policy.
Legal Battle Continues
The case stems from allegations that National Rally improperly used millions of euros in European Parliament funds between 2004 and 2016 to pay party staff working in France rather than parliamentary assistants assigned to Brussels.
Le Pen has consistently denied intentionally violating the rules and says the prosecution reflects an effort to sideline one of France’s leading opposition figures.
Whether France’s highest court ultimately upholds or overturns the conviction remains uncertain. For now, however, the appeals ruling has ensured that the country’s leading nationalist candidate will remain in the race, setting up what is expected to be one of Europe’s most closely watched elections in a generation.
Former Democratic Rep. Peter Deutsch of Florida publicly endorsed former President Donald Trump on Monday, specifically calling out the Biden administration’s weak stance on global conflicts.
Deutsch, who served Florida’s 20th Congressional District for six terms from 1993-2005, endorsed Trump during a campaign call commemorating the anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel, according to The Hill.
“I feel very comfortable today publicly announcing that I’m endorsing Donald Trump to be reelected as president,” Deutsch said, The Hill reported. “Driving force for me to make this decision is what I believe is the most important factor in being president, which is really world peace.”
SCOOP @J_Insider via @matthewkassel: Former Democratic congressman Peter Deutsch, who represented Florida in Congress from 1993-2005 (and ran for Senate), endorsed Trump for president today.https://t.co/7sARniDPNW
“And I think that Kamala Harris and the Harris-Biden administration in terms of what they have done and are doing … make the world a dramatically less safe place,” Deutsch added.
On Monday, Trump participated in an October 7th remembrance event and released a statement:
“Today, President Trump will commemorate the one-year anniversary of October 7th with a visit to Ohel Chabad Lubavitch, the final resting place of Rabbi Schneerson in New York, and he will give remarks at an October 7th Remembrance Event in Florida. The atrocities, including the slaughtering and capturing of innocent Israelis and Americans, that took place on October 7th would have never happened if President Trump were still in the White House. For Americans and Israelis alike, it’s imperative that President Trump is re-elected so he can end the bloodshed caused by an emboldened Iranian terrorist regime, which is stronger and richer today from the Harris-Biden Administration’s incompetence and weak policies.” – Karoline Leavitt, Trump Campaign National Press Secretary
Casa Rosada (Argentina Presidency of the Nation), CC BY 2.5 AR via Wikimedia Commons
California Democrats have plans to redraw the state’s districts in a long-shot attempt to threaten Republicans’ majority in Congress.
According to California Democrats, the move was prompted by news that Texas might try to redraw its districts to gain more Congressional seats. Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott has “directed the state Legislature to discuss redistricting in an upcoming special legislative session,” KCRA noted. California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom said of Texas, “They’re playing by a different set of rules.” (RELATED: Trump Eyes Redistricting Blitz To Add 5 More GOP Seats In Texas Before 2026)
On Wednesday, the California Democratic congressional delegation met with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and reportedly discussed ideas for gaining even more seats to overturn the perilously slim majority Republicans hold in the House, Punchbowl News reports.
“The games they play aren’t working and the more people get educated on what’s going on, the more they’re going to fight back,” California Assemblymember Leticia Castillo of Riverside, who left the Democratic Party and became a Republican, said of California’s Democrats.
In 2010, California voters overwhelmingly supported Proposition 20, a constitutional amendment that stripped politicians of the ability to draw their own districts and instead handed that responsibility to an independent redistricting commission.
But now, California Democrats—led by Governor Gavin Newsom—are exploring ways to claw back that authority, effectively undoing the will of the people. As Punchbowl News reported, Newsom sees two potential paths to tilt the balance of power in his party’s favor.
The first plan would involve Newsom calling a special session of the Democratic supermajority legislature to put a proposition on the ballot that would “pause” or completely eliminate the independent commission’s authority. It would then be up to voters—again—to decide. But Democrats are reportedly weighing whether to sweeten the deal by bundling the measure with conservative-friendly policies like a voter ID requirement, which is broadly popular among Republicans. Critics point out that this could be a costly and deceptive move, as it would require millions in campaign funds to push the message through California’s media markets.
The second strategy would be even more brazen: simply redrawing the maps mid-decade by claiming California’s constitution doesn’t explicitly prohibit it. Newsom himself has called this a “novel legal question,” but it would almost certainly invite a legal battle. Such a move would represent a major break from precedent and an alarming use of loopholes to override voters’ intent.
One potential legal barrier is the Voting Rights Act, which protects majority-minority districts—particularly Latino-majority seats—from being dismantled. Redrawing those lines could dilute minority voting power and ignite a broader constitutional showdown.
Targeted GOP districts that have reportedly been discussed include these GOP Congressmen:
Ken Calvert
Kevin Kiley
Darrell Issa
Young Kim
David Valadao
Doug LaMalfa
“We want our gavels back,” Rep. Mark Takano, who would be the new chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee should Democrats regain the majority in the House, stated. “That’s what this is about.”
