Freddy Gray

Freddy Gray

Freddy Gray is deputy editor of The Spectator and the editor of the US edition. He hosts Americano on YouTube.

Sunday

Freddy Gray

Can Marco Rubio now catch Donald Trump? It’s a big ask

It was obvious that Donald Trump would win the South Carolina Republican Primary tonight. Polls are never that far off. Still, it’s a shocking result. In the build-up to the vote, Trump did almost everything a Republican candidate is not meant to do: he blamed George W. Bush for 9/11, he spoke well of Planned Parenthood, he came out in support of a healthcare mandate, and picked a fight with the Pope. And he still barnstormed the Palmetto state. The news of the night is Marco Rubio, who scraped second place. He now looks like the only hope of stopping Trump. There will be a strong establishment and GOP donor push to try to ensure that he mops up votes from the rest of the field in order to take down Trump.

Freddy Gray

After Nevada, it’s hard to see how Hillary Clinton loses

Bernie Sanders's quixotic tilt at the White House needed an upset in the Nevada Caucuses tonight. But Hillary Clinton won. Now the Former First Lady, after a wobbly few weeks, is very much back in what Americans call the catbird seat. Sanders's populist success has been staggering, but he has never quite threatened to destroy the Democratic elite in the way that Donald Trump is trampling all over the moribund Republican establishment. It's been well-documented that he is struggling to win over enough Black and Hispanic Democrats, who tend to be more loyal towards the party machine than their white contemporaries. The entrance and exit polls from Nevada suggested that Bernie, after a late surge, had earned a majority of Hispanic votes, but it remains to be seen if that was true.

Wednesday

Freddy Gray

The Pope vs The Donald. Who will win?

It's pretty extraordinary that a leading contender for the American presidency has just effectively threatened the Pope with terrorism. But then, Donald J. Trump is no ordinary Republican frontrunner. Everything about his campaign is outrageous -- and that's why he is winning. Today, the Pope, returning home from Mexico, told reporters that he thought Trump's intention to build a wall between America and Mexico was unChristian.

Tuesday

Freddy Gray

The Jeb Bush family nostalgia tour isn’t working

Remember when Tony Blair begged Labour supporters not to go for Jeremy Corbyn? Remember how well that turned out? Yesterday in South Carolina, USA, George W. Bush did something not too dissimilar. He didn't copy Blair's 'even if you hate me' line. Instead, Dubya urged his party, which is seemingly hellbent on destroying itself, to go back to the future. He encouraged them to pick another Bush, namely his brother Jeb. It seems like madness. Everybody knows that Jeb Bush's candidacy has from the start been crippled by his name. Americans don't want another Bush in the White House. Republicans may not be quite as hostile towards George W.

Sunday

Freddy Gray

Did Donald Trump go too far against Jeb Bush last night? Probably not

If Jeb Bush is to have any chance of winning the Republican nomination in 2016, he needs a 'media moment'. He needs an exchange of arguments or insults with Donald J. Trump in which he indisputably comes out on top. If you listen to Team Bush's boosters, that moment happened last night. But they would say that. Trump and Bush clashed fiercely over foreign policy and the legacy of Jeb's brother, George W. Bush. And the crowd booed Trump. Trump said that the Bush II administration had lied over Iraq. 'They said there were weapons of mass destruction,' he said. 'There were none and they knew there were none. There were no weapons of mass destruction.

Friday

Freddy Gray

The strange tale of Evgeny Lebedev and the Independent

What sad news that the Independent is closing. In September last year, I did an investigation into the strange, celebrity-orientated world of the paper's young owner, Evgeny Lebedev. What was intriguing was that, although Indie journalists were willing to talk -- off the record -- about Lebedev's eccentricity, almost everybody I spoke to was keen to stress that, on the business side, Evgeny had done a great job. And in Amol Rajan, it is generally accepted, he had found an innovative, daring and original editor. The Indie's losses had been dramatically reduced under the leadership of the younger Lebedev and his father, Alexander, the oligarch. Did the money dry up? Was the downsizing and flogging off of the i paper always part of the plan?

Thursday

Freddy Gray

How Bernie trumps Hillary

‘Anybody here got any student debt?’ asks Bernie Sanders halfway through his speech at a rally in a small university on Monday. He then starts conducting a fake auction. ‘What are some of the numbers you got? You? 35,000. You? 55,000? Who else? A young lady here… 100,000 dollars. You win! I don’t know what you win, but you win!’ The students all hoot and chant. ‘Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!’ Sanders cracks an avuncular smile, then starts talking again about how rich the rich are. It’s hard not to like Sanders. It’s hard not to ‘Feel the Bern’, as the mantra goes. He is 74 years old, and angry at the injustice of the world in a lovable old-codger way. The kids like that.

Wednesday

Freddy Gray

The irony of Bernie Sanders: why American kids love the 74-year-old socialist

Manchester, New Hampshire ‘Anybody here got any student debt?’ asks Bernie Sanders halfway through his speech at a rally in a small university on Monday. He then starts conducting a fake auction. ‘What are some of the numbers you got? You? 35,000. You? 55,000? Who else? A young lady here… 100,000 dollars. You win! I don’t know what you win, but you win!’ The students all hoot and chant. ‘Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!’ Sanders cracks an avuncular smile, then starts talking again about how rich the rich are. It’s hard not to like Sanders. It’s hard not to ‘Feel the Bern’, as the mantra goes. He is 74 years old, and angry at the injustice of the world in a lovable old-codger way. The kids like that.

Freddy Gray

Populism rules: Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump triumph in New Hampshire

Manchester, New Hampshire Populism won tonight in New Hampshire. Rage against the elite won tonight in New Hampshire. Class warfare came out on top. Bernie Sanders, who wants a 'political revolution' to tackle 'the billionaire class', thrashed the former First Lady, Hillary Clinton. Donald J. Trump, the billionaire who tells everyone that only he can stop the elite buying Washington, thumped all his rivals. The consolation for both party old guards is that New Hampshire is a strange old state. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNeK-mFnJK0 The Clinton campaign was expecting defeat tonight -- even a heavy defeat. In fact, having spent the last few days here, I was unable to see much of a Clinton push.

Tuesday

Freddy Gray

US election 2016: New Hampshire primary – as it happened

New Hampshire The Spectator's deputy editor Freddy Gray is currently in New Hampshire. Here's his report from the evening as the results of the primary came in. 3.13am Things slowing down now, folks. Thanks for reading. Story of the night is Bernie Sanders, just, and the Donald's mind-blowing win a close second. A goofy 74 year old socialist just destroyed Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, and is tearing the Democratic party apart. And a 69-year-old billionaire is eviscerating the Republican party. Trump looks invincible, but the Cruz campaign is not to be underrated. Hillary has had a bad night, but she may have just about saved her candidacy with a stronger than usual speech. Expect the comeback narrative to start now. 3.

Sunday

Freddy Gray

Oh dear. Marco Rubio had a shocker in Saturday’s debate

Poor Marco Rubio. At the vital moment, he seems to fluff his lines. In the final months of 2015, America's lumpencommentariat kept predicting 'Marco's moment’. For months, such talk sounded like nothing but hype. Then the Iowa caucuses happened, and Rubio finished a much-stronger-expected third. Finally, his time seemed to have come. Rubio  emerged as the pragmatic choice; the man to prick the Trump bubble; the man to knock out Ted Cruz. The Republican establishment had their man. Phew! Then came last night’s big debate in New Hampshire — and Rubio was awful. As expected, Chris Christie -- a failing candidate with nothing to lose -- went after him in the early exchanges. Rubio seemed ill-prepared, even a bit scared.

Friday

Freddy Gray

Why is Jeb Bush still running?

Washington, DC The Bush family hates to lose. Yet Jeb Bush — child of one president; brother of another — must know that, barring a miracle, his bid for the White House has failed. In fact, it has been a disaster. Bush started out as overwhelming favourite. He had the Grand Old Party top brass behind him. He had all the money a candidate could wish for. But his candidacy just would not take off. His biggest problem, as everyone knows, is his name. After Iraq and the financial crash, the Bush brand is toxic. Bush tried reinventing himself as ‘Jeb!’, but that was a naff PR stunt. Jeb! was monstered by Donald Trump, who called him the ‘low-energy’ candidate. On Monday in Iowa, he got only 3 per cent of the vote.

Thursday

Freddy Gray

The Donald isn’t dead yet

[audioplayer src="http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/fightingovercrumbs-euroscepticsandtheeudeal/media.mp3" title="Freddy Gray and the Republican Party Overseas' Kate Andrews discuss what's next for the GOP" startat=695] Listen [/audioplayer]If Donald Trump had won in Iowa on Monday night, everybody would still be saying what a brilliant candidate he is. His decision to shun that Fox News debate, just four days before the caucuses, would be seen as a tactical masterstroke. Looking at his poll lead ahead of the New Hampshire primary next week, journalists would be saying that he had effectively secured the Republican party nomination. He didn’t win, though. He came second, almost third, and now the narrative about the Trump phenomenon can be turned upside down.

Wednesday

Freddy Gray

Sorry establishment Republicans, The Donald isn’t dead yet

If Donald Trump had won in Iowa on Monday night, everybody would still be saying what a brilliant candidate he is. His decision to shun that Fox News debate, just four days before the caucuses, would be seen as a tactical masterstroke. Looking at his poll lead ahead of the New Hampshire primary next week, journalists would be saying that he had effectively secured the Republican party nomination. He didn’t win, though. He came second, almost third, and now the narrative about the Trump phenomenon can be turned upside down. Trump’s refusal to abide by the established rules of campaigning was foolhardy. Ducking the debate was a big mistake. The victory of Ted Cruz, the conservative ‘grassroots’ candidate, proved the enduring power of organised politics.

Tuesday

Freddy Gray

With Hillary Clinton’s hopes in the balance, will Joe Biden now enter the race?

What now for Hillary Clinton? The rumour in Washington last week was that, given her weak position in New Hampshire and the never-ending saga of her emails, if she lost in Iowa, Vice-President Joe Biden would enter the race and spare the blushes of the Democratic establishment. Well, Hillary didn't lose. But she didn't win either. She effectively drew with Bernie Sanders in last night's caucuses in Iowa. Which leaves her candidacy in limbo. Does she still have the confidence of the Democratic machine? Now that Hillary's hopes are in the balance, will Biden at last take the plunge and declare his candidacy? It is understood that, if he entered the race, Biden would have the support of his friend and ally Barack Obama.

Freddy Gray

Donald Trump loses, Marco Rubio surges — but don’t forget who actually won last night

The experts knew all along: Donald Trump was never going to win. You can't trust those caucus and primary polls. Calm down, everybody. The great winner is actually a loser. He couldn’t even beat someone as unattractive as Ted Cruz. If only things were that simple. The truth is that Trump, with no serious 'ground game' to speak of in Iowa, came second. It is more than possible that his campaign will now disintegrate. It's also possible that he will find a way to bounce back and press home his enormous poll lead in New Hampshire next week. But even if Trumpmania does now vanish in a great puff of orange smoke, his candidacy has shaken the Republican Party, and American politics, to the core.

Monday

Freddy Gray

Can Marco Rubio win tonight?

Marco Rubio wins tonight in Iowa — by coming third. That, I suspect, will be the on dit among the commentariat this evening in America. And it might not be wrong. According to the latest polls, Rubio is the only candidate to have gained momentum in the run up to today’s caucuses. If the polls aren’t off — big if, I know — he should emerge as the only viable ‘establishment' candidate that can stop Trump or Cruz. He will emerge as the hope of the rational versus the irrational, the pragmatist’s choice against the stupid and crazy. At least that’s how the ‘narrative’, as strategists like to call it, could develop.

Friday

Freddy Gray

The absent Donald Trump didn’t lose last night – which probably means he wins

So, did Donald Trump outfox Fox? Shunning the crunch TV debate four days before the opening Iowa caucuses, setting up a rival show with CNN, and thumbing his nose at the most powerful right-of-centre media organisation in the world looked at first like madness. Then it looked like genius. And then, meh, well, who knows? At his rival Veterans event, Trump’s speech was bizarre as usual. “I’ve got to be honest I didn’t want to be here tonight,’ he said. ‘But you have to stick up for your rights when you are treated badly’. It’s difficult to know if Trump believes that his spat with Fox anchor Megyn Kelly — which is what he’s referring to — is the real reason he avoided the debate, or if he is deliberately conning his audience.

Freddy Gray

The absent Donald Trump didn’t lose last night — which probably means he wins

So, did Donald Trump outfox Fox? Shunning the crunch TV debate four days before the opening Iowa caucuses, setting up a rival show with CNN, and thumbing his nose at the most powerful right-of-center media organisation in the world looked at first like madness. Then it looked like genius. And then, meh, well, who knows? At his rival Veterans event, Trump’s speech was bizarre as usual. “I’ve got to be honest I didn’t want to be here tonight,’ he said. ‘But you have to stick up for your rights when you are treated badly’.

Thursday

Freddy Gray

Donald Trump will be the elephant not in the room during tonight’s Republican debate

It’s easy to get carried away about televised political debates. But tonight’s Fox News/Google Republican Party showdown really could be a significant moment in American history. By ducking the debate, and picking a fight with Fox, Donald Trump appears ingeniously to have sucked all the media oxygen out of the event. All the headlines continue to be about Trump, and Fox can expect a ratings drop. The elephant in the room will be the elephant not in the room. Still, with less than four days to go until the opening Iowa caucuses, Trump's absence presents a major opportunity for Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, the second and third-placed candidates in the polls. Without Trump dominating proceedings from centre stage, both men are bound to have chances to grab the limelight.