List of All Articles with Tag 'erica'

Elián González has the same big, expressive eyes he did 23 years ago when an international custody battle transformed him into the face of the long-strained relations between Cuba and the United States. Now 29, González is stepping into Cuban politics. He recently entered his country’s congress with hopes of helping his people at a time of record emigration and heightened tension between the two seaside neighbors. “From Cuba, we can do a lot so that we have a more solid country, and I owe it to Cubans,” he said during an exclusive interview with The Associated Press. “That is what I’m going to try to do from my position, from this place in congress — to contribute to making Cuba a better country.” González has given only a handful of interviews since he was unwittingly thrust into the geopolitical spotlight as a boy. In 1999, at just 5 years old, he and his mother were aboard a boat of Cuban migrants headed toward Florida when the boat capsized in the Florida Straits. His mother and 10 others died while González, tied to an inner tube, drifted in open water until his rescue. Granted asylum under U.S. refugee rules at the time, González went to live with his great uncle, a member of the Cuban exile community in Miami that is often a center of fierce criticism of Cuba's government. In Cuba, his father begged then-President Fidel Castro for help. Castro led protests with hundreds of thousands of people demanding little Elián's return. Anti-Castro groups in Miami pressed for him to stay in the U.S. The tug-of-war quickly gained the world’s attention and became emblematic for the testy feelings between the two neighboring nations. Then-U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno ruled the boy should be returned to his father, but González’s relatives refused. AP photojournalist Alan Diaz captured the moment when armed immigration agents seized González in a Miami home, and the photo later won a Pulitzer Prize. “Not having my mom has been difficult, it has been a burden, but it has not been an obstacle when I have had a father who has stood up for me and been by my side," González told AP. He is a father himself now, of a 2-year-old daughter. He works for a state company that facilitates tourism to the island nation his mother left, underscoring the alternate track his life has followed since his homecoming. What’s more, he recently became a lawmaker. In April, González was sworn in as a member of Cuba’s National Assembly of People’s Power, effectively Cuba’s congress. He represents Cárdenas, a town in Matanzas province about 80 miles east of Havana where he lived until his mother took him to sea. He still lives in the province. Dressed in black pants and T-shirt, with a discreet braided bracelet on his right hand and his wedding ring on his left, González was interviewed in Havana’s Capitol, the renovated seat of congress. “I think the most important thing is that I have grown up like other young people. I have grown up in Cuba,” he said. For years, his father made it nearly impossible to get close to the child. From afar, the boy could sometimes be seen playing with other children or accompanying his father to political events. Castro would visit him on his birthday. Over the years, González was a military cadet and later became an industrial engineer. Because Cuba's congressional positions are unpaid, he will continue to work his tourism job. The legislative body has faced criticism for lacking opposition voices and for carrying out the agenda set by the country’s leadership. González's legislative term comes amid historic emigration from the crisis-stricken Caribbean island, as many young Cubans seek a new life in the U.S. — just as his mother did. It also comes at a moment of heightened tensions between the two nations. There have been allegations that Cuba hosted a Chinese spy base, which Cuba adamantly denies. Meanwhile, Cuba claims Biden has yet to ease tough policies enacted by Donald Trump that target the island, while the U.S. points to resumption of some flights and sending of remittances. Amid a deepening political and energy crisis in Cuba, González cast blame on decades of American sanctions stifling the island's economy as the root of many of Cuba's problems, echoing many in the government. He said he believes in Cuba's model of providing free access to education and health services among other things, but acknowledged there is a long way to go for that to be perfected. Despite harsh prison sentences doled out by Cuban courts, punishments defended by the communist government, González said his people have the right to demonstrate. But he added that the causes of current crises should be analyzed before condemning the state. He also had kind words for the hundreds of thousands of Cubans who, like his mother, chose to emigrate. “I respect all those who made the decision to leave Cuba, I respect those who do so today, just as I do my mom,” he said. “My message will always be that (those who leave) do all they can to ensure that Cuba has a status (without sanctions) equal to any country in the world.” Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Jersey Shore towns say state's marijuana law handcuffs police and emboldens rowdy teens AP Week in Pictures: Latin America and Caribbean In workaholic Japan, 'job leaving agents' help people escape the awkwardness of quitting

Navajo Nation police officers are searching for Native Americans who have been victimized by what the state of Arizona calls "fraudulent Medicaid providers."

Robert F Kennedy Jr., the longshot presidential candidate and latest scion of the storied Kennedy political dynasty, appears to be leaning in to the “Democrat in name only” label that is beginning to follow his campaign. The 2024 hopeful appeared on cable news network NewsNation on Wednesday, where he offered a revealing look at his strategy up until this point and appeared to offer an olive branch to former President Donald Trump. "I'm proud that President Trump likes me, even though I don't agree with him on most of these issues," said Mr Kennedy. "Because I don't want to alienate people, I want to bring people together. I'm proud that all these people like me and that I have independent supporters and Democratic supporters." Mr Trump previously had called him “a very smart guy” who had been “very nice to [him]” in comments to reporters on Monday. "Every Democrat says, 'I want to end the polarization. But how do you do that without talking to people who don't agree with you? How do you do that without appealing to people? My purpose is to find the issues, the values that we have in common other than focus on the issues and the personalities that keep us all apart,” Mr Kennedy went on to claim. At the same time, he declined to agree to support the eventual winner of the 2024 Democratic primary, suggesting that party loyalty is low on his list of priorities. Mr Kennedy spoke with moderator Elizabeth Vargas and members of an audience selected with help from a nonpartisan organisation; Democratic voters peppered him with questions on numerous topics including his well-reported support for conspiracy theories and misinformation about vaccines. Mr Kennedy has long insisted that he is not “anti-vaccine”, but at Wednesday’s event insisted repeatedly that the FDA and other medical authorities were lying about the safety of many vaccinations. For that reason, as well as the fact that the incumbent Democratic president is running for re-election and heavily favoured to win, mainstream media networks and reporting outfits have struggled internally with how best (if at all) to cover Mr Kennedy’s campaign. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has scheduled no primary debates for the 2024 season, and is not likely to do so, much to the chagrin of Mr Kennedy and fellow 2024 Democratic hopeful Marianne Williamson. Mr Biden, 80. is the oldest president to ever hold office and will be 86 when he finally leaves office should he win and serve for a full second term. Many polls have shown that a sizeable chunk of the Democratic Party — not to mention independents — would prefer that the Democratic Party nominate a younger successor, just as most Americans would prefer that the 2024 GOP nominee be someone other than Donald Trump. He remains the heavy favourite to win a Democratic primary, however, and polls showing Mr Kennedy and Ms Williamson with signficant support do not take into consideration the fact that other, more well-known Democrats with stronger national political operations would quickly jump into the presidential field should Mr Biden bow out. Among those other Democrats thought to be eyeing national ambitions in 2024 and beyond include Mr Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, as well as others like governors Gretchen Whitmer and Gavin Newsom. Read More Trump demanded to get ‘my boxes’ back from feds as indictment loomed Meet Jesse Watters, the Fox News host helming Tucker Carlson’s primetime slot Judge rejects Donald Trump's request to toss out defamation claims by columnist Accused Jan 6 rioter arrested near Obama’s home after making threats towards ‘public figure’ Editor apologises for publishing RFK Jr anti-vaxx screed: ‘I should have been fired’ YouTube removes Robert F Kennedy Jr video featuring bizarre claim that polluted water makes children transgender

The man replacing a coveted prime-time cable television slot once occupied by right-wing figurehead Tucker Carlson is a longtime Fox News presence who honed his reputation on the network with brash man-on-the-street interviews and derisive commentary attacking Democratic officials and his liberal rivals. Jesse Watters has been with the network for more than two decades, wearing the influence of a generation of Fox News stars and right-wing radio figures that preceded him. The changeup follows Carlson’s departure from the network in the aftermath of a pair of lawsuits and a $787.5m settlement reached with a voting machine company that sued Fox and its leadership for defamation. A rotating lineup of hosts filled the 8pm hour in the weeks that followed. Watters – who helmed the previous hour – will permanently fill that later slot in the network’s schedule with his Jesse Watters Primetime. “Unlike Carlson, he lacks a well-defined ideological agenda, apart from looking for ways to ‘own the libs’ on whatever the news of the day is,” according to MSNBC columnist Paul Waldman. “There may be plenty of Fox viewers who will happily tune in to that for an hour each night. But Watters is effectively an internet troll who happens to be on TV,” he wrote. “If you want a detailed breakdown of the latest right-wing obsession, he’s not the one you’d seek out; if on the other hand you merely want someone to smirk while delivering a zinger about Hunter Biden, Watters is your man.” Like Carlson, Watters comes from a prominent media family and is a product of exclusive East Coast private schooling. But unlike Carlson, who arrived at Fox after on-air roles at competing networks MSNBC and CNN, Watters is something of a Fox company man, moving up in the ranks over more than 20 years while adopting the hostile posture and talking points of some of its biggest stars, with a self-satisfied grin. Watters ascribes his political awakening to watching Republican members of Congress on C-SPAN. From there, he devoutly listened to right-wing radio and pundits like Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, whose influence is seared into his provocative personality. By 2011, Watters helmed his own recurring segment on Bill O’Reilly’s The O’Reilly Factor. His “Watters World” reports would rely on man-on-the-street interviews, quick edits and frequent cutaways to movie clips to ridicule frequent right-wing targets, from college campus culture to people experiencing homelessness. Those reports and his other statements on the network over the years have drawn widespread criticism and accusations of sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and election denialism, including incendiary statements aired days before the attack on the US Capitol. In one of his segments in 2015, Watters interviewed homeless New Yorkers at Penn Station to accuse them of breaking the law. He would go on to declare homeless people an “invasive species” on his own programme in 2022. A 2016 “Watters World” segment from Manhattan’s Chinatown was widely derided as a racist and stereotype-driven production that prompted a rare response from Watters. “My man-on-the-street interviews are meant to be taken as tongue-in-cheek and I regret if anyone found offense,” he said. That same year, it was revealed that he was accused of stalking and harassing journalist Amanda Terkel seven years earlier, an incident that led to an altercation between Watters and another journalist at an afterparty following a White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. “I was at this party trying to enjoy myself. This guy came up to me. He starts putting it in my face,” Watters later said. “I was friendly at first, and then he started getting a little obnoxious. Things happened, and I regret it happened, and that’s all it is.” On The Five, the network’s roundtable talk show on which Watters has been a longtime co-host, he claimed without evidence in 2019 that women reporters sleep with sources “all the time” in an apparent reference to the portrayal of a journalist in the film Richard Jewell. In 2021, Watters encouraged the audience at a conservative political conference to “ambush” Dr Anthony Fauci and deliver a figurative “kill shot” against the nation’s leading infectious disease expert. Fauci, then the chief White House medical adviser, called on Fox to fire Watters. The network defended him in a statement and promoted him a few weeks later. He also has repeatedly defended Mr Trump, including a warning that “people better be careful” and that “the left” doesn’t “understand what they’re getting themselves into” following news of the former president’s criminal indictment in New York City. The Independent requested comment from Fox regarding Watters’ statements. A spokesperson for the network provided a network statement announcing the lineup changes. “FOX News Channel has been America’s destination for news and analysis for more than 21 years and we are thrilled to debut a new lineup. The unique perspectives of Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, and Greg Gutfeld will ensure our viewers have access to unrivaled coverage from our best-in-class team for years to come,” Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said in the statement. Right-wing media watchdog group Media Matters has chronicled Watters’ controversial on-air statements throughout his time at the network. “Crowning odious Jesse Watters as the new face of Fox News is a reflection of Fox’s dogged commitment to bigotry and deceit as well as an indication of their desperation to regain audience share,” Media Matters president Angelo Carusone said in a statement. “It won’t work, though. Fox’s audience abandoned the network post-Tucker, and those viewers never returned,” he added. “Jesse Watters’ buffoonish segments of bigotry and culture war vitriol won’t fix that problem for Fox; he’s a liability and a ticking time bomb. Read More Fox News ousts eight remaining Tucker Carlson show staff as Jesse Watters takes over primetime spot White House condemns Fox News chyron calling Biden ‘wannabe dictator’ as broadcaster walks back accusation Trump reacts angrily as Fox News anchor directly tells him: ‘You lost the 2020 election’

As Donald Trump’s lawyers began preparing for a federal indictment, the ex-president was allegedly still hoping to get the documents and boxes seized from Mar-a-Lago back, according to a report. Mr Trump referred to the classified material as “my boxes” and “my documents” and asked his lawyers to retrieve the material, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Rolling Stone. The Independent has reached out to Mr Trump for comment. Throughout special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Mr Trump’s alleged mishandling of the material and after his indictment, the ex-president has maintained his innocence and claimed ownership over the documents under the Presidential Records Act. “Under the Presidential Records Act — which is civil, not criminal — I had every right to have these documents,” Mr Trump said in a speech at his New Jersey golf club following his arraignment on federal charges. Last year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized multiple boxes of documents, of which 21 were labelled “Top Secret” and some contained information related to nuclear weaponry of the United States Mr Trump was indicted on 37 counts related to willful retention of national defence information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal and making false statements and representations. The FBI forcibly seized the classified material after discovering Mr Trump had allegedly not turned over documents from his time in office. “In addition to having every right under the Presidential Records Act, is that these boxes were containing all types of personal belongings — many, many things, shirts and shoes, everything,” Mr Trump added. Under the Presidential Records Act, Mr Trump was required to turn over all records to the National Archives or go through the proper steps to dispose of records that no longer held administrative, historical, informational or evidentiary value. To do so, Mr Trump would have had to seek the views of the Archivist of the United States. Over and over again on Truth Social and in speeches, Mr Trump has cited this law, incorrectly, to assert his ownership. Even in the indictment, which was unsealed earlier this month, one of Mr Trump’s attorneys testified to federal investigators that the former president did not want to hand over the classified material when the federal government requested it. The attorney alleged that Mr Trump told him “I don’t want anybody looking through my boxes” and allegedly suggested they “just don’t respond at all” to investigators requesting Mr Trump return the boxes. Mr Trump was arraigned on his indictment earlier this month in Miami, Florida. Read More Prosecutors are prepared to hit Trump and his allies with new charges, sources say Top Trump aide revealed as individual he allegedly showed classified map, report says Trump news - live: DoJ prepared for more charges as insider trading scheme uncovered at Trump Media SPAC New ad mocks Trump’s excuse that he was too ‘busy’ to hand back boxes of secret government intel Is Donald Trump going to prison? Trump fumes about ‘illegally leaked’ CNN tape of him boasting about classified documents

A shocking scene played out in the wealthy Washington DC neighborhood of Kalorama on Thursday as a man was chased by police and Secret Service while he ran towards the home of former President Barack Obama — and as the man warned authorities that he had an explosive device. According to the DC Metropolitan Police Department, 37-year-old Taylor Taranto was arrested near Mr Obama’s home on Thursday. CBS News reported that he fled after being spotted by Secret Service, who had apparently been alerted to his intentions after Mr Taranto made “threats during recent livestreams on social media”. Mr Taranto had an active arrest warrant related to the attack on the Capitol when he was captured near the former president’s home, according to CBS. DC police confirmed to The Independent that Mr Taranto had been charged with being a fugitive from justice pursuant to another arrest warrant, and that officers had conducted an explosives sweep of his vehicle. “This afternoon, MPD and our federal law enforcement partners arrested 37-year-old Taylor Taranto, of no fixed address, in the 2400 block of Kalorama Road, Northwest. He has been charged with Fugitive from Justice, pursuant to an arrest warrant. Arresting officers requested MPD's Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team to perform a vehicle sweep of the individual's van near the location of the arrest. There is no active threat to the community and this incident remains under investigation,” wrote an MPD spokesperson. It wasn’t immediately clear if Mr Obama or any members of his family were home at the time of the incident. The former president was in DC just two days ago for lunch with his former VP, incumbent President Joe Biden, as the latter begins the long work of running for re-election. The Independent has reached out to US Secret Service for further details. Read More Biden’s economy pitch: Campaign like Reagan while refuting Reagan’s policies Affirmative action is out in higher education. What comes next for college admissions? DeSantis accused of breaking the law with Texas border trip

The former sheriff’s deputy who failed to act during the Parkland high school shooting in 2018 when 17 people were killed has been found not guilty of child neglect and other charges. Scot Peterson moved away from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as children and teachers were inside with the gunman. The ex-Broward County sheriff’s deputy was found not guilty on seven counts of child neglect, three counts of culpable negligence in connection to the deaths and injuries of 10 people on the third floor of the school where the massacre took place, The New York Times noted. Mr Peterson was also acquitted on a perjury charge after telling police that he only heard a few gunshots and that he didn’t see any students fleeing the area. A father of one of the victims has told the former deputy to “rot in hell” and he was branded as the “coward in Broward” after facing criticism from some fellow officers for supposedly being too scared to take action. The gunman, Nicholas Cruz, was sentenced last year to life in prison several years after the shooting that killed 17 people and injured another 17 on 14 February 2018 – Mr Peterson was the only armed resource officer at the school on that day. Mr Peterson, 60, became emotional on Thursday as the Broward County Judge read the verdict at the Fort Lauderdale court. A few family members of the victims were in the courtroom as the verdict was announced. More follows...

President Joe Biden on Thursday said he “strongly, strongly disagree[d” with the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the use of affirmative action programmes in college admissions decisions and condemned the six-justice majority that did so as “not a normal court”. Mr Biden’s harsh words for the highest court in the land came in response to a reporter’s query on whether the court was acting as a “rogue court,” just after he addressed the landmark decision in brief remarks before departing the White House for New York. Speaking from the Roosevelt Room in the West Wing, the president echoed the dissenting Justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, in his reaction to the ruling, which ends the long-standing precedent that allowed colleges and universities to use affirmative action to help establish a diverse group of accepted students. “Discrimination still exists in America. Today’s decision does not change that,” Mr Biden said in a brief press conference. He added: “I believe our colleges are stronger when they’re racially diverse. Our nation is stronger because we are tapping into the full range of talent in this nation. We cannot let this decision be the last word.” The rulings come from two consolidated cases, Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina and Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College. Both cases were brought forth by the anti-affirmative action organisation Students for Fair Admissions. That group, which is headed by conservative legal strategist Edward Blum, has for years made attempts to give the court’s GOP-appointed majority a chance to gut previous court precedents which have been used to justify limited use of race-based preferences in college admissions. While the court upheld such programmes in a decision nearly two decades, ago, the newly-emboldened conservative majority swept away any legal justification for them in Thursday’s opinions. In a 6-3 and 6-2 decision, the Court’s conservative majority sided with Students for Fair Admissions claiming the use of race-conscious admissions was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Now, higher education institutions will no longer be allowed to consider race as a factor in admissions. Instead, students who wish to have their race or culture considered in their application will have to volunteer the information like in their personal essay. At the end of the press conference, Mr Biden responded to a question about the court’s decision to strike down a long-standing precedent: “This is not a normal Court.” Leaders from Harvard said in a letter that they would “comply” with the court’s decision but emphasised that “deep and transformative teaching, learning, and research depend upon a community comprising people of many backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences.” Mr Biden said he is directing the Department of Education to analyse best practices for high education institutions to create more inclusive and diverse student bodies without using race as a conscious factor in admissions and recruiting. The Harvard Black Students Association called the court’s decision, “detrimental”, adding that it “poses a significant threat to the future of the Black community on and beyond our campus.” “It is evident that the college application system cannot maintain holistic evaluation without taking into consideration how race profoundly influences our experiences, perspectives, and identities in multifaceted ways,” the Harvard Black Students Association wrote. Derrick Johnson, the president and CEO of the NAACP, said in a statement: “In a society still scarred by the wounds of racial disparities, the Supreme Court has displayed a willful ignorance of our reality.” Discussions around affirmative action have generated debate among Republicans and Democrats for years. Those in support of it believe it is necessary to create fair and equal opportunity for students of color because higher education institutions have failed at creating diverse student bodies. Those against affirmative action believe it puts other students, like white or Asian American students, at a disadvantage. Former president Donald Trump celebrated the ruling calling it “everyone was waiting for” in a post on Truth Social. “We’re going back to all merit-based – and that’s the way it should be!” Mr Trump wrote. Mr Trump appointed three of the six conservative Justices on the Court while serving as President of the United States – Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Mr Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, also expressed support for the Court’s decision, writing on Twitter, “I am honored to have played a role in appointing three of the Justices that ensured today’s welcomed decision.” He added: “There is no place for discrimination based on race in the United States, and I am pleased that the Supreme Court has put an end to this egregious violation of civil and constitutional rights in admissions processes, which only served to perpetuate racism.” The ruling will likely have repercussions beyond higher education institutions, extending to elementary, middle and high schools as well as workplaces and more as it opens a door for challenges to racial diversity programs. Read More Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson delivers searing civil rights lesson in dissent to affirmative action ruling How the government that promised to ‘stop the boats’ has lost control of its immigration policy Clarence Thomas says he doesn’t have a ‘clue’ what diversity means as Supreme Court takes aim at affirmative action One year after the anti-abortion ruling, the White House keeps a spotlight on the issue

Three investors in the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that took Trump Media public have been indicted for insider trading concerning the deal, making $22m in illegal trades. Michael Shvartsman, Gerald Shvartsman and Bruce Garelick were named in a federal indictment unsealed on Thursday (29 June) in Manhattan federal court. All three were charged with trading in securities of Digital World Acquisition Corporation (DWAC) based on non-public information about the company’s planned business combination with Trump Media & Technology Group — founded by former President Donald Trump — the parent company of social media platform Truth Social. All three were arrested this morning in Florida. More follows… Read More 3 charged in insider trading case related to taking ex-President Donald Trump's media company public White House reveals Biden uses CPAP machine for sleep apnea Jesse Watters confuses Ukraine and Iraq in attempt to mock Biden

Donald Trump is now suing E Jean Carroll for defamation, one month after he was found liable for sexually abusing her in a Manhattan department store and then defaming her by denying the attack took place. The former president filed a counterclaim on Tuesday claiming that she defamed him when she stood by her rape accusation in an interview with CNN one day after the jury verdict. The counterclaim was in response to the first of two lawsuits the magazine columnist brought against Mr Trump. In a civil trial in the second lawsuit last month, a jury awarded Ms Carroll $5m in damages. Meanwhile, Rudy Giuliani has confirmed that he recently spoke to federal investigators as part of their probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Mr Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, was part of Mr Trump’s legal team who made false claims of election fraud. In other news relating to the former president’s legal troubles, Mr Trump’s new defence regarding the recording of him talking about classified military plans at his Bedminster golf club in 2021 was that it was “bravado” and there were no secret papers present among his other documents. Read More Kevin McCarthy knows he crossed the line with Donald Trump Trump's GOP support dips slightly after his indictment over classified documents, AP-NORC poll finds ‘Any Republican not named Trump’: Paul Ryan says former president is only candidate who would lose to Biden

The CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the parent company of Bud Light, said the beer should be about bringing people together after it faced months of backlash following its brief partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. In an appearance Wednesday on the programme CBS This Morning, CEO Brendan Whitworth said the company has become entangled in “divisive” conversations it should not be a part of. “I think the conversation surrounding Bud Light has moved away from beer, and the conversation has become divisive,” Mr Whitworth said. “And Bud Light really doesn’t belong there. Bud Light should be all about bringing people together.” At the moment, that is not what’s happening. Bud Light last month lost its spot at the top of the beer sales charts to Modelo as some conservative customers continue to boycott the beer following the advertisements featuring Ms Mulvaney. Mr Whitworth declined to answer directly when asked whether the campaign featuring Ms Mulvaney was a mistake. “There’s a big social conversation taking place right now, and big brands are right in the middle of it and it’s not just our industry or Bud Light,” Mr Whitworth said. “It’s happening in retail, happening in fast food. And so for us what we need to understand — deeply understand and appreciate — is the consumer and what they want, what they care about, and what they expect from big brands.” Despite being given ample opportunity to do so, Mr Whitworth did not directly defend the corporation’s decision to partner with a trans influencer or to support the trans community more broadly at a time when that community is facing a barrage of legislation targeting its rights in states across the country. “Bud Light has supported LGBTQ since 1998, so that’s 25 years,” Mr Whitworth said. “And as we’ve said from the beginning, we’ll continue to support the communities and organisations we’ve supported for decades. But as we move forward, we want to focus on what we do best: which is brewing great beer for everyone.” The controversy over corporations’ politics is not limited to Bud Light. Disney, Target, Nike and a number of other brands have also been the target of the right’s ire in recent years for taking stances on social issues at odds with conservatives. Target recently announced its decision to remove some Pride month merchandise from its stores after facing criticism from conservatives for its relative support of the LGBTQ+ community. The Starbucks Workers Union, meanwhile, accused Starbucks of restricting Pride decorations from certain stores. Read More I came out as a teen in the 90s — there’s still a long road ahead for LGBT+ youth Starbucks workers at 150 stores to strike over alleged ban on Pride decor

Gov Ron DeSantis of Florida said in an interview on Fox News on Wednesday morning that he supports eliminating multiple federal government agencies including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Mr DeSantis, who has struggled to gain traction since launching his presidential campaign in the spring, didn’t hestitate when the network’s Martha MacCallum asked him if he is in favour of eliminating any government agencies. “So we would do Education, we would do Commerce, we would do Energy, and we would do the IRS,” Mr DeSantis said. “And so if Congress will work with me on doing that, we will be able to reduce the size and scope of government.” A number of Republican presidential candidates over the years have said they would like to eliminate various federal agencies, without any success. As Mr DeSantis indicated, it is Congress that establishes departments and agencies and Congress that would have to vote to eliminate them. But Mr DeSantis said that if Congress doesn’t allow him to cut agencies like the IRS — a move that could plunge the country’s tax collection system into chaos and hamper federal oversight — he is prepared to use those agencies to advance his political aims. “What I’m also going to do, Martha, is be prepared, if Congress won’t go that far, I’m going to use those agencies to push back against woke ideology and against the leftism that we see creeping into all institutions of American life,” Mr DeSantis said. Mr DeSantis, who talks frequently about “woke ideology” on the campaign trail, pointed to his record in Florida as an example of how he would like to use federal agencies as president. “For instance, with the Department of Education, we reversed all the transgender sports stuff — women’s sports should be protected,” Mr DeSantis said. “We reversed policies trying to inject the curriculum into our schools. That will all be gone. We will make sure we have an accreditation system for higher ed, which is not trying to foment more things like DEI and CRT. So we will be prepared to do both. Either way, it will be a win for conservatives.” Under Mr DeSantis’ leadership, Florida has curtailed free speech in schools, radically changed its tenure system, and passed abortion and gender-affirming care bans. Mr DeSantis himself has sparred with Disney over its social stances and endorsed violence against immigrants. All that has not made Mr DeSantis a particularly popular national figure. An average of recent polls from FiveThirtyEight shows that just over 36 per cent of Americans view Mr DeSantis favourably, while more than 45 per cent view him unfavourably. He’s currently trailing former President Donald Trump by a wide margin in the Republican primary race. Read More DeSantis proposes Disney trial schedule that puts start date in 2025, after elections DeSantis supporter blames Trump camp for leaking racist and antisemitic messages Watch as LA immigrant groups hold solidarity rally in protest of Florida law DeSantis proposes Disney trial schedule that puts start date in 2025, after elections DeSantis supporter blames Trump camp for leaking racist and antisemitic messages