R/I ~ AA
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Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN
Updated 6:17 AM ET, Mon November 15, 2021
(CNN)Donald Trump is tightening his malignant hold on American politics as Joe Biden battles to stabilize his own problem-plagued presidency by celebrating the kind of political win his predecessor never managed.
It often feels like the 45th President never left the stage, given the corrosive and complicated impact of his poisoned legacy on Washington. The traumatic aftermath of his term will take a new twist on Monday when his political guru Steve Bannon is expected to surrender after a federal grand jury indicted him last week for ignoring a subpoena from the House probe into Trump’s coup attempt. In the latest jarring flashback to that terrible day on January 6, Trump defended rioters who chanted “Hang Mike Pence” after his vice president refused to throw the election, in audio of an interview conducted for a new book by Jonathan Karl released by ABC News.
Trump, as he relentlessly solidifies plans for a likely 2024 presidential run, is meanwhile stepping up efforts to increase his dominance over the Republican Party, vowing to oust lawmakers who backed Biden’s bipartisan $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package. The current President will hold a high wattage signing ceremony for the measure at the White House on Monday, which will include at least two Republican senators who will show up in defiance of Trump. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, an incessant target of the ex-President, who also voted for the bill, will not, however, take part in Biden’s victory lap. The event will be a reminder that Trump’s own inept attempts to pass such infrastructure reform turned into an object of ridicule.
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Carl Sagan
Article URL : https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/15/politics/donald-trump-steve-bannon-january-6-joe-biden-infrastructure/index.html