‘Be ready for action’: SC slams yoga guru Ramdev as he issues ‘unconditional apology’ over Patanjali’s misleading ads
The apex court also refused to accept the apology tendered by Patanjali last month, saying, “We are not happy with your apology”.
Lok Sabha Polls 2024: Big boost for Congress in Telangana as BRS MLA Kadiyam Kavya joins party, named Warangal candidate
Kavya and Srihari, who is a sitting BRS MLA, joined the Congress on Sunday in the presence of Chief Minister and state Congress president A Revanth Reddy.
RFK Jr. says Biden ‘much worse’ threat to democracy than Trump
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Monday that he believes President Biden presents a greater threat to democracy than former President Trump. Kennedy Jr. said during an appearance on CNN’s “OutFront” that Biden is a “much worse” threat to democracy than Trump because the current president has been “weaponizing” federal agencies to censor his political opponents. “I can make the argument that President Biden is much worse,” Kennedy Jr. said. “And the reason for that is President Biden is the first candidate in history, the first president in history that has used the federal agencies to censor political speech or censor his opponent.” “The greatest threat to democracy is not somebody who questions election returns but a President of the United States who will use the power of his office to force the social media companies Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, to open a portal and give access to that portal to the FBI, CIA, the IRS, the NIH, to censor his political critics,” he added. RFK JR SAYS HE MEETS BALLOT THRESHOLD IN ANOTHER KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE Kennedy Jr. initially challenged Biden for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination before launching a White House bid as an independent in October to take on Biden and Trump in the 2024 election. The comments come after Biden has made repeated claims that Trump is a threat to democracy over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, for which the former president has been charged at the federal level. Trump, who has falsely alleged over the past three and a half years that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him due to voter fraud, said in December that Biden is the “real threat.” CNN host Erin Burnett pressed Kennedy Jr. on how Trump’s alleged role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election results was not a threat to democracy. Kennedy Jr. admitted that the allegations against Trump do represent a threat to democracy, but that Biden’s efforts to stifle speech are still worse. TRUMP CALLS CLAIMS HE’S A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY A ‘HOAX,’ SAYS BIDEN IS THE REAL THREAT: ‘I WILL SAVE DEMOCRACY’ “I think that is a threat to democracy if we’re trying to overthrow the election, clearly a threat,” he said. “But the question was ‘Who was a worse threat to democracy?’ And what I would say is I, you know, I’m not going to answer that question and argue that President Biden is because the First Amendment, Erin, is the most important.” When asked to clarify if he could make an argument that Biden is worse for U.S. democracy than Trump, Kennedy Jr. responded, “Absolutely.”
Why evangelicals are wedded to Trump as he makes a more biblical appeal
The fervent embrace of Donald Trump by evangelical voters is both beyond dispute and something of a mystery, at least to those eternally puzzled by the former president’s appeal. Now the New York Times says he is mixing religion and politics to entice followers into the “Church of Trump.” Perhaps that’s why he reposted a Washington Times opinion column this Easter weekend with the headline “The Crucifixion of Donald Trump.” Now a few caveats are in order. Candidates have been commingling religion and political motives for a very long time. Jimmy Carter, who taught Sunday school, openly touted his faith when he won the presidency in 1976. HOWARD KURTZ: ‘NOT MANY MINDS LEFT TO BE CHANGED’ AHEAD OF 2024 ELECTION Over the weekend, President Biden sent “warmest wishes to Christians around the world celebrating Easter Sunday. Easter reminds us of the power of hope and the promise of Christ’s Resurrection. As we gather with loved ones, we remember Jesus’s sacrifice. We pray for one another and cherish the blessing of the dawn of new possibilities.” The church-going Catholic president is of course entitled to talk about the holiest day of the year. The Trump campaign accused Biden of desecrating Easter with a proclamation on National Transgender Visibility Day, but it was just a coincidence that the observance, which has been celebrated for 15 years on March 31, fell the same day as Easter this year. Trump, who has been collecting royalties on sales of $59.99 Bibles, calling it his favorite book, had a more mixed holiday message: “HAPPY EASTER TO ALL, INCLUDING CROOKED AND CORRUPT PROSECUTORS AND JUDGES THAT ARE DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO INTERFERE WITH THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2024, AND PUT ME IN PRISON, INCLUDING THOSE MANY PEOPLE THAT I COMPLETELY & TOTALLY DESPISE BECAUSE THEY WANT TO DESTROY AMERICA,” taking shots at “DERANGED” AND “SICK” Jack Smith and also ripping Fani Willis and Alvin Bragg. The Times piece says Trump tends to end his rallies like an “evangelical altar call”: “We will pray to God for our strength and for our liberty. We will pray for God and we will pray with God. We are one movement, one people, one family and one glorious nation under God.” This, says the paper, reflects his attempt “to transform the Republican Party into a kind of Church of Trump.” Only later does the story acknowledge that Trump “has mostly been careful not to speak directly in messianic terms” – kind of a key detail. Now obviously Trump can’t control what others say about him, though I’m sure he welcomes some of these comparisons. SUPREME COURT THROWS A CURVE BALL IN HEARING ON LEGALITY OF ABORTION PILLS A real estate broker at the CPAC conference said Trump has “definitely been chosen by God.” A restaurant worker in South Carolina said “they’ve crucified him worse than Jesus.” Now we get to the part about Trump as unlikely evangelical hero: “He has been married three times, has been repeatedly accused of sexual assault, has been convicted of business fraud and has never showed much interest in church services.” The Washington Times column makes a stark Easter reference, saying much like Pontius Pilate “tried to placate the mob by merely beating Jesus nearly to death, the judge ‘relented’ by lowering the bond required to a paltry $175 million and gave Trump an additional 10 days to secure it.” (That’s factually inaccurate; it was an appeals court that slashed Judge Arthur Engoron’s draconian bond demand by 60 percent.) The column did add that “Donald Trump is no Jesus. He’s committed a sin or two along the way. He can be brash and rude. He is, however, living proof that certain elements of mankind, in a quest for power, are willing to sacrifice, are willing to crucify another human being.” Andrew Sullivan, no fan of Trump, tries to find a middle ground. On his Substack, he says the new, more intensified version today is “an explicit fusion of a particular strand of Christianity with the identity of the entire country and the transformation of a secular politician into an anointed instrument of God’s will. It makes voting an act of religious faithfulness, not democratic deliberation.” HOW THE MEDIA DOWNPLAYED TRUMP’S MAJOR VICTORY ON THE MASSIVE BOND BUT PLAYED UP HIS NEW YORK TRIAL DATE But he’s unhappy with liberal Christianity as well: “The constant refusal of mainstream and online conservatives to break from the ever-crazier fringes to their right is an exact mirror of the cowardly toleration of the woke fanatics on the center-left. But while the left now draws on the energies of the new religion of neo-racism, the right still has the depth and range of Christianity to plunder, use and abuse its opponents with… “But once the populist devils are unleashed, and there is never any cost to moving ever-rightward or ever-leftward, the old hatreds emerge,” especially among those who feel marginalized and view their country under the control of “sinister forces.” The ethos of Christianity is that we’re all sinners. So if evangelical Trump supporters want to view him as a flawed vessel who is nonetheless superior to Biden on the issue of abortion, that’s their right. And if they also choose to view Trump as persecuted, it’s another challenge for the media to grasp his unshakable appeal among those who might otherwise abandon a repeatedly indicted candidate with a different name.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju condemns renaming of several areas in Arunachal Pradesh by China
Citing a media report that mentioned China’s renaming of several locations in Arunachal Pradesh, Congress chief Kharge said that when China resorts to such provocation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tries to seek refuge by creating a false narrative on Katchatheevu.
Sultanpur constituency Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha Election 2024: Know important dates, candidates, past results and more
The date of voting for the Sultanpur Lok Sabha Constituency Election is on 25 May ( Phase 6 ). And the date of counting and results for the Sultanpur Lok Sabha Constituency is on 4th June.
SC seeks EC, Centre’s response on ‘complete count’ of VVPAT slips
The Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) is an independent vote verification system which permits an elector to see whether his vote was cast correctly.
Kannauj Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Check key candidates, date of voting and other important details
As parties gear up for the electoral showdown, all eyes are on the constituency’s electoral verdict, which will have far-reaching implications for Uttar Pradesh’s political landscape.
Judge rejects Hunter Biden request to toss federal tax charges
A federal judge in Los Angeles on Monday rejected Hunter Biden’s request to dismiss tax charges accusing the president’s son of a four-year scheme to avoid paying $1.4 million in taxes while living an extravagant lifestyle. Among the claims that U.S. District Judge Marc Scarsi, were that federal prosecutors caved to pressure from Republicans or that younger Biden had immunity from a previous plea deal he had negotiated. The move comes after Hunter’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, made his case before the judge for three hours. Judge Scarsi said he would issue a ruling by April 17. Hunter Biden, 54, has pleaded not guilty to failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019, while allegedly spending millions of dollars on drugs, escorts, exotic cars and other big-ticket items. PROSECUTORS SLAM HUNTER BIDEN ATTORNEYS IN FEDERAL COURT: ‘YOU ATTACK THE FACTS’ The trial is tentatively scheduled to begin June 20 with jury selection. Hunter Biden, the first child of a sitting president to face criminal charges, also faces a separate criminal case in federal court in Delaware over his alleged purchase of a handgun while he was using illegal drugs. He has pleaded not guilty and made similar arguments to dismiss the charges in that case. Fox News’ David Spunt and Reuters contributed to this report.
Iowa woman gets 4 months in ballot-stuffing scheme to help husband
The wife of an Iowa county supervisor was sentenced Monday to four months in jail after being convicted in a scheme to stuff the ballot box to support her husband’s unsuccessful campaign for a congressional seat. Kim Taylor also was ordered to serve four months’ home confinement following her release from prison and to pay $5,200, KTIV-TV reports. MIGRANTS IN IOWA CONSIDER LEAVING OVER A BILL THAT COULD SEE SOME ARRESTED AND DEPORTED Prosecutors said Taylor, a Vietnam native who was convicted in November of 52 counts related to voter fraud, approached numerous voters of Vietnamese heritage with limited English comprehension and filled out and signed election forms and ballots on behalf of them and their English-speaking children. They said the scheme was designed to help her husband, Jeremy Taylor, a former Iowa House member, who finished a distant third in the 2020 race for the Republican nomination to run for Iowa’s 4th District congressional seat. Despite that loss, he ultimately won election to the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors that fall. No one testified to seeing Kim Taylor personally sign any of the documents, but her presence in each voter’s home when the forms were filled out was the common thread through the case. Jeremy Taylor, who met his wife while teaching in Vietnam, has not been charged, but has been named as an unindicted co-conspirator.