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A view of the damage caused by wildfires in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii.

Senator Brian Schatz via Instagram/via REUTERS

Maui fires fan political flames

With 96 people confirmed dead, more than a thousand still unaccounted for, and an estimated $5.6 billion in rebuilding costs, last week’s Maui wildfires are shaping up to be one of the US’ most devastating natural disasters. The catastrophe may also set the scene for nasty political battles in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election.

Over the weekend, Republican US Rep. Lauren Boebert questioned why President Joe Biden remained on vacation in Delaware, railing on X, formerly known as Twitter, that "There is a total crisis in Maui. 3,000 destroyed homes. 80 people dead. Where's Joe Biden? On vacation of course. There is no bottom for this president.”

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US Capitol building.

Reuters

Poll: American support for Ukraine aid is falling

New polling data has found that the majority of Americans now oppose Congress sending more support for Ukraine. As of mid-July, the US has sent the country upwards of $75 billion in aid.

The CNN/SSRS poll showed that a narrow majority – 55% of Americans – oppose Congress sending more cash to Ukraine, and that half of Americans think the US has already “done enough” to help the country fend off Russian aggression. In the days right after Russia’s February 2022 invasion, by comparison, nearly two-thirds of Americans favored giving more help to Ukraine.

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Reuters

What’s driving (some) Republicans to donate to a Democrat?

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been raking in donations from GOP donors since he announced he would be challenging Joe Biden to be the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee. He has also been making headlines for propagating conspiracy theories and refusing to toe the party line.

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Biden vs. Trump redux: what we know so far
Biden vs Trump redux | Quick Take | GZERO Media

Biden vs. Trump redux: what we know so far

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: A couple of obvious points to begin with US elections. One, of course, they take far too long. Two, they cost far too much money. Three, we are so, so tired of both of those facts because they are such a distraction from being able to get policy done for almost 50% of the entire electoral calendar. Having said all of that, this is a particularly unfortunate upcoming election because we have two candidates that very few people are enthusiastic about. It's Biden versus Trump redux. That's not absolutely certain yet, but you would bet on it. And a couple of points that I think are a little less obvious.

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Bharara: Clarence Thomas' donor trips may not be illegal, but not a good look
Clarence Thomas non-disclosure broke no rules, but optics aren't good | GZERO World

Bharara: Clarence Thomas' donor trips may not be illegal, but not a good look

US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has come under fire for failing to disclose taking luxury trips paid for by a billionaire Republican donor. How big of a problem is this for him, SCOTUS, and the judiciary?

Preet Preet Bharara, former US attorney for the Southern District of New York, says that Thomas probably didn't violate any actual rule related to conflicts of interest. But the optics are bad — especially coming on the heels of his wife's involvement with the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. "At a time when confidence and trust in the integrity of the court is low, it's not a great thing to do," Bhararara tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.

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Trump's indictment is problematic
Trump indicted | Quick Take | GZERO Media

Trump's indictment is problematic

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: Hi everybody. Ian Bremmer here, and at least a few comments from me on the Trump indictment. You didn't hear anything from me about this a couple weeks ago. Of course, former President Trump had announced that he was going to get arrested a week ago Tuesday and when I heard that, I thought that that one thing that guaranteed was that he was not going to be arrested a week ago Tuesday, so he didn't really need to talk about it. But then after that passed and nothing happened, he said, "I'm not going to get arrested. They don't have a case. They've thrown away. These guys are idiots." And then I started to get worried. I'm thinking, well, if he's saying it's not going to happen, that means may well. And of course that is where we now are, that for the first time in American history though, this happens all over the world in many other countries, but the US had been exceptional in this regard.

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Indictment boosts Trump GOP standing and strengthens Democrats
Trump's Indictment & its impact the 2024 presidential election | US Politics In :60 | GZERO Media

Indictment boosts Trump GOP standing and strengthens Democrats

Jon Lieber, head of Eurasia Group's coverage of political and policy developments in Washington, DC shares his perspective on US politics:

Former President Trump has been indicted. Now what?

This week, a jury in Manhattan indicted for former President Trump for allegations related to hush money payments that he made during his presidential campaign to a woman that he allegedly had an affair with. And the question is: what's next? So there's probably two major political fallout implications from this action. The first is that every other Republican in the country, including those running against Donald Trump in the presidential primary, are going to likely take Trump's line, that this is a political persecution, and it's being done by a hostile progressive prosecutor in Manhattan who's against him. And there's no way that Trump can get a fair trial. This probably helps Trump standing inside the Republican Party and could be a major tailwind to push him over the finish line in the Republican nomination.

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Biden shifting to center ahead of 2024 reelection bid
Biden's attacks the center, as 2024 reelection efforts heat up | US Politics In :60 | GZERO Media

Biden shifting to center ahead of 2024 reelection bid

Jon Lieber, head of Eurasia Group's coverage of political and policy developments in Washington, DC shares his perspective on US politics:

How are President Biden's reelection plans affecting his policies?

The 2024 presidential election is already heating up, with the Republican field growing more crowded by the week, and President Joe Biden angling for a reelection campaign, despite speculation about his advanced age. So far, Biden has only drawn one potential primary challenger, 2020 candidate Marianne Williamson, who he can likely ignore. And as of today, it looks very likely that he'll be the Democratic nominee, with an announcement of his campaign coming sometime this spring, perhaps as soon as April. After two years promoting progressive policies like student loan forgiveness and a massive climate and healthcare bill, Biden is now attacking to the center, with pivots to the center in three critical areas: crime, immigration, and spending.

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