Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is booked and busy.
Campaigning in New Hampshire, Haley said Thursday that Ron DeSantis’ ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill in Floriday didn’t go ”far enough”. She will continue to try and distinguish herself today from GOP rivals, and is holding two events to lay the groundwork for her campaign. She is thefirst Republican to formally challenge Donald Trump to be the GOP’s 2024 nominee. Several others are speculated to join Haley soon.
Here’s what else is happening in politics:
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Arizona appeals court rejects Kari Lake’s challenge of election loss
An Arizona appeals court has rejected Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s challenge of her November loss to Democrat Katie Hobbs.
It is the second court ruling that finds no evidence to support Lake’s continued claims that she won. In fact, Hobbs defeated the former television news anchor by 17,117 votes, less than one percentage point.
“Lake’s arguments highlight Election Day difficulties, but her request for relief fails because the evidence presented to the superior court ultimately supports the court’s conclusion that voters were able to cast their ballots, that votes were counted correctly, and that no other basis justifies setting aside the election results,” the appellate opinion reads.
— Stacey Barchenger, Arizona Republic
Fox hosts didn’t believe 2020 election fraud claims
Hosts at Fox News had serious concerns about allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election being made by guests who were allies of former President Donald Trump, according to court filings in a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against the network.
“Sidney Powell is lying,” about having evidence for election fraud, Tucker Carlson told a producer about the attorney on Nov. 16, 2020, according to an excerpt from an exhibit that remains under seal. Fellow host Laura Ingraham told Carlson that Powell is “a complete nut. No one will work with her. Ditto with Rudy,” referring to former New York mayor and Trump supporter Rudy Giuliani. And Sean Hannity, meanwhile, said in a deposition “that whole narrative that Sidney was pushing, I did not believe it for one second.”
The internal communication was included in a redacted summary judgment brief filed Thursday by attorneys for Dominion Voting Systems. Dominion, which sells electronic voting hardware and software, is suing both Fox News and parent company Fox Corporation for deliberately making and amplifying false claims about Dominion and the 2020 election.
— Associated Press, Ella Lee
Haley says DeSantis’ ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill didn’t go ‘far enough’
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki said Florida’s controversial education bill that restricted discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools didn’t go “far enough,” during a town hall event in Exeter, New Hampshire, on Thursday.
“Basically what it said was you shouldn’t be able to talk about gender before third grade,” said Haley, without mentioning Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed the bill into law, by name. “I’m sorry, I don’t think that goes far enough.”
Haley’s comment on the bill could offer a preview of the potentially bitter Republican 2024 primary fight to come, as DeSantis is speculated to launch his own presidential bid in the near future.
– Ken Tran
Biden remains ‘healthy, vigorous 80-year-old,’ White House doctor says after physical
President Joe Biden remains a “healthy, vigorous 80-year-old male who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency,” the White House physician said Thursday after the president received his first physical in a year and a half.
One small lesion, however, was removed from the president’s chest during the examination and will be sent for a traditional biopsy, Biden’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, said in a letter that otherwise mostly reflected his last medical checkup from November 2021.
Biden’s routine physical has taken on extra scrutiny as the octogenarian is widely expected to announce a reelection bid in the coming weeks or months. Already the oldest person to assume the presidency, Biden would be 86 at the end of a second term.
O’Connor observed that Biden’s gait remains stiff but has not worsened in the past year. He also occasional bouts of gastroesophageal reflux, which cause him to clear his throat often and may contribute to occasional cough and sinus congestion, the report said.
Biden weighs 178 pounds and had a blood pressure rate of 128/76 and pulse rate of 69, the physician’s report said. That’s six pounds less than the 184 pounds he weighed in 2021.
– Joey Garrison and Michael Collins
More:Biden remains ‘healthy, vigorous 80-year-old,’ White House doctor says after physical exam
Sen. Fetterman checks into hospital for ‘severe depression’
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., was checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for clinical depression, according to his office.
“While John has experience depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks,” Adam Jentleson, his chief of staff, said in a statement Thursday.
The Pennsylvania Democrat, who suffered a stroke during the 2022 campaign, was discharged from another hospital earlier this month after reportedly feeling lightheaded during a Democratic retreat.
Fetterman’s office said he did not suffer from another stroke.
– Phillip M. Bailey
More:Sen. John Fetterman checks into hospital for clinical depression, his office says
Supreme Court removes Title 42 immigration case from its calendar
The Supreme Court on Thursday removed from its calendar a major case involving a pandemic-era policy that allows for the rapid removal of migrants, known as Title 42.
The high court took the unusual step without explanation, though the Biden administration argued in a brief this month that the case might become moot given that it intends to cancel emergency declarations tied to COVID-19 the program relies on.
The justices had been set to hear arguments in the case March 1.
The administration intends to end the pandemic-era policy that allows for the rapid removal of migrants. And in November, a federal court required the administration to stop those removals. But a group of conservative state officials who say their states would be adversely affected want to step into the case and defend the use of Title 42.
– John Fritze
More:Biden tells Supreme Court that states should stay out of legal fight over Title 42 policy
Biden says unidentified objects likely not related to China or foreign surveillance
President Joe Biden said the three unidentified objects shot down over North American airspace were likely not related to China’s balloon surveillance program, but likely tied to either “private companies, recreation or research institutions.”
“We don’t yet know exactly what these three objects were but nothing right now suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon program or that they were surveillance vehicles from another country,” Biden said in remarks on the takedowns that occurred over the last weekend.
“The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research,” said Biden.
– Ken Tran
Related:Mysterious flying objects shot down over North America likely not spy balloons, Biden says