Redistricting scrambles Florida primary as Alaska awaits Dan Sullivan vs Dan Sullivan

Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.

Attention turns to Florida and Alaska, where primaries later on Tuesday will highlight Republican-led redistricting efforts that have scrambled congressional maps.

Today’s contests will also help shape the fiercely contested midterms this fall to determine control of Congress, where Republicans retain a narrow edge, and offer a referendum on president Donald Trump’s second term, AFP reported.

In the Alaska Senate race, incumbent Republican senator Dan Sullivan, a Trump ally seeking a third term, is facing another candidate, curiously also named Dan Sullivan.

Republicans have argued the second Sullivan, who’ll be appearing on the ballot as “Daniel J Sullivan Jr,” is a sham candidate running at the behest of Democrats to cause confusion. Dan J Sullivan Jr, a retired teacher, has denied the charge.

Also in the race is former US representative Mary Peltola. She was the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress, and she would become the first Alaska Native senator if she wins in November.

Meanwhile, in Florida, a GOP-led redrawing scrambled the congressional map, which has created some awkward matchups.

Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, first elected to Congress in 2004, is running for a new seat in Florida’s 20th congressional district, centered in Broward County, after her existing seat was redrawn to favor Republicans.

Donald Trump voted by mail in Florida’s Republican primary, Politico reports, citing Palm Beach County voting records. The White House has confirmed the president’s mail-in vote, according to the New York Times, which added that this is at least the third time the president has mailed his ballot.

A northern California county plans to hire Tina Peters, the prominent Colorado election denier recently released from prison, to work on elections. Shasta county, a conservative region home to 182,000 people, has emerged as a center of the US election denialism movement in recent years. California governor Gavin Newsom’s office said the state is investigating Peters’ hiring.

CNN has said it stands behind reporter Kristen Holmes after Trump repeatedly told the CNN reporter to “be quiet” and accused her of being “a fake reporter” during questioning over conditions onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. Shortly after the president reprimanded Holmes, the White House invoked her children in a social media post further attacking the reporter when she asked about comments from Democratic senator Jon Ossoff in a speech on Sunday. He had told a crowd that Trump “doesn’t want to do the job” and instead “wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar”. It was an apparent reference to Natalie Harp, the president’s executive assistant.

Trump again threatened to bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of his effort to end the US-Israel war on Iran, as the two-month window to negotiate peace with Iran expired on Monday with no end to the conflict in sight. “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” Trump told Fox News.

Trumpsaid that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had responded to his overtures after he ordered the US to scale back military exercises withSouth Korea. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump was asked why Kim had not responded to his overtures.

White House launches personal attack on CNN reporter over question to Trump

Sam Levin

The White House launched a personal attack against a CNN reporter on Monday with a social media post that mentioned her children and accused her of asking a “disgusting and inhumane question”.

A White House post targeted Kristen Holmes, a senior White House correspondent for the network, after she asked Donald Trump to respond to a widely shared comment by Democratic senator Jon Ossoff in a speech on Sunday.

The Georgia senator told a crowd that Trump “doesn’t want to do the job” and instead “wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar”.

The comment was an apparent reference to Natalie Harp, the president’s executive assistant, fueling scrutiny of her perceived closeness to Trump.

When Holmes asked Trump in the Oval Office to respond to Ossoff’s remark, the president dismissed her, calling the senator a “Pee-wee Herman lookalike”.

The White House’s “rapid response” social media account posted a clip of the exchange and tagged Holmes, calling her a “disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to her alleged profession”.

The post went on to criticize her for taking a “cheap shot” at a staffer, adding: “These scumbags are the lowest of the low.”

Redistricting scrambles Florida primary as Alaska awaits Dan Sullivan vs Dan Sullivan

Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.

Attention turns to Florida and Alaska, where primaries later on Tuesday will highlight Republican-led redistricting efforts that have scrambled congressional maps.

Today’s contests will also help shape the fiercely contested midterms this fall to determine control of Congress, where Republicans retain a narrow edge, and offer a referendum on president Donald Trump’s second term, AFP reported.

In the Alaska Senate race, incumbent Republican senator Dan Sullivan, a Trump ally seeking a third term, is facing another candidate, curiously also named Dan Sullivan.

Republicans have argued the second Sullivan, who’ll be appearing on the ballot as “Daniel J Sullivan Jr,” is a sham candidate running at the behest of Democrats to cause confusion. Dan J Sullivan Jr, a retired teacher, has denied the charge.

Also in the race is former US representative Mary Peltola. She was the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress, and she would become the first Alaska Native senator if she wins in November.

Meanwhile, in Florida, a GOP-led redrawing scrambled the congressional map, which has created some awkward matchups.

Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, first elected to Congress in 2004, is running for a new seat in Florida’s 20th congressional district, centered in Broward County, after her existing seat was redrawn to favor Republicans.

Donald Trump voted by mail in Florida’s Republican primary, Politico reports, citing Palm Beach County voting records. The White House has confirmed the president’s mail-in vote, according to the New York Times, which added that this is at least the third time the president has mailed his ballot.

A northern California county plans to hire Tina Peters, the prominent Colorado election denier recently released from prison, to work on elections. Shasta county, a conservative region home to 182,000 people, has emerged as a center of the US election denialism movement in recent years. California governor Gavin Newsom’s office said the state is investigating Peters’ hiring.

CNN has said it stands behind reporter Kristen Holmes after Trump repeatedly told the CNN reporter to “be quiet” and accused her of being “a fake reporter” during questioning over conditions onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. Shortly after the president reprimanded Holmes, the White House invoked her children in a social media post further attacking the reporter when she asked about comments from Democratic senator Jon Ossoff in a speech on Sunday. He had told a crowd that Trump “doesn’t want to do the job” and instead “wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar”. It was an apparent reference to Natalie Harp, the president’s executive assistant.

Trump again threatened to bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of his effort to end the US-Israel war on Iran, as the two-month window to negotiate peace with Iran expired on Monday with no end to the conflict in sight. “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” Trump told Fox News.

Trumpsaid that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had responded to his overtures after he ordered the US to scale back military exercises withSouth Korea. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump was asked why Kim had not responded to his overtures.