Matt McDonald

Matt McDonald

Matt McDonald is the managing editor of The Spectator’s US edition.

Eight GOP presidential candidates who aren’t Trump to debate in Milwaukee

From our US edition

The Republican National Committee confirmed late Monday night the presidential candidates who would face each other in Wednesday night’s debate. They are: North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, former vice president Mike Pence, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina senator Tim Scott. Former president Donald Trump, who leads every poll comfortably, will not be in attendance. Trump had hoped to send surrogates to vouch on his behalf in the spin room — which, in an apparent tribute to Watergate, will be in the players' parking garage of the Fiserv Forum.

milwaukee debate who qualified

Why everyone is delighted the US women’s soccer team is out

Americans awoke on Sunday morning to find themselves bathing in wave after wave of schadenfreude. In Melbourne, the unthinkable had happened: the US Women’s National Team had been defeated – and eliminated from the football World Cup. The online criticism was unrelenting. ‘They really are equal to the men’s team,’ said The Spectator World’s Stephen L. Miller. ‘Any men’s team that was as cocky as this US women’s soccer team and got eliminated this early in a shocking upset would get absolutely obliterated by sports media,’ tweeted radio host Clay Travis.

‘The seal is now broken’: Trump’s post-arraignment speech at Bedminster

From our US edition

Former president Donald Trump decried what he characterized as the “fake and fabricated charges” brought against him by the Department of Justice in a half-hour speech on the evening of his arraignment Addressing a crowd of around 900 loyalists at his Bedminster resort in New Jersey, Trump referred to Jack Smith’s indictment of him as “election interference” and “political persecution.” “This day will go down in infamy,” he told his adoring fans, claiming that Biden wanted to see him spend “400 years in prison” for “possessing my own presidential papers.

donald trump arraignment speech

The most amusing parts of the Donald Trump federal indictment

From our US edition

The Department of Justice has unsealed the federal indictment of former president Donald Trump. Special Counsel Jack Smith details how the classified documents Trump improperly took from the White House included "information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries; United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack.

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Donald Trump: I have been indicted, again

From our US edition

Donald Trump has been indicted by the Department of Justice following an investigation by Special Counsel Jack Smith into classified documents he took while exiting the White House, according to a Truth Social post from the former president. This would be the first time a former president has ever faced federal charges. Trump has been charged with seven counts in the indictment, according to multiple reports. "The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax, even though Joe Biden has 1850 Boxes at the University of Delaware, additional boxes in Chinatown, D.C.

donald trump indicted

Get in loser, we’re canceling Bluey

From our US edition

When I saw on Twitter that Bluey was the latest victim of cancel culture, naturally my first thought was "who did she say the N-word in front of?" For those not in the know, Bluey is an Australian cartoon dog who stars in an eponymous kids' TV show that airs on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the BBC and, in the US, Disney+. She and her family go on a series of adventures that guide viewers through a healthy mix of toilet humor and confronting difficult emotions, in a tenor suitable for the under-tens.

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Jury finds Donald Trump sexually abused author

A New York federal jury has found Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation against the author E. Jean Carroll. The jury ordered the former president to pay Carroll $5 million (£4 million) in compensatory and punitive damages. Trump was not found liable for the more serious charge of rape leveled against him by Carroll. 'We are very happy,' Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan told the press as she left the courthouse with her client. Carroll did not address reporters. In her suit, Carroll had alleged that Trump had raped her in the dressing room of a Bergdorf Goodman store in New York in the mid-1990s. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan posed jurors a questionnaire in order to assist them in reaching a verdict. The questions read: 'Did Ms.

How Liz Truss is wooing Washington

Many Brits who’ve outstayed their welcome in the Old Country head across the Pond for pastures new and the chance of a fresh start. The Pilgrims, Thomas Paine, John Oliver. Could former prime minister Liz Truss be the next to follow that well-trodden path?  Since her astonishing fall from grace last September, when she managed just forty-four days as prime minister, Truss has found a couple of excuses to come to Washington. The latest DC think tank to welcome to the most impactful economic mind of the last decade is the Heritage Foundation, who had Truss give their 2023 Margaret Thatcher Freedom lecture last week.  The auditorium was three-quarters full when Truss took to the stage, in a Tory-blue dress, skin-tone heels and that much-speculated-about necklace.

Does Joe Biden have CTE from rugby?

From our US edition

President Biden is being an American tourist in Ireland this week. In comments to the Irish Parliament in Dublin today, the president touted the merits of rugby, a sport in which Ireland is currently the top-ranked side in the world, over the American brand of football. "I'd rather have my children playing rugby now for health reasons than I would have them playing football," the president said. "Fewer people get hurt playing rugby." Biden is a rugby enthusiast, having played while at college at Syracuse. He made a point of video-calling the Ireland men's team after their historic defeat of New Zealand in Chicago in 2021. (In the video, Biden's brother James is sporting an Ireland hat and coat.

joe biden rugby concussion

The media is too gleeful about anonymous ‘law enforcement sources’

From our US edition

This week I hosted my colleague Amber Athey on our District podcast to talk about her first book, The Snowflakes’ Revolt: How Woke Millennials Hijacked American Media. I began by asking her about the Donald Trump indictment, news of which broke on Thursday night via the New York Times and Associated Press, before Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s office had announced the grand jury’s decision. The Times were regularly updating their coverage prior to Bragg’s confirmation about how four, and then five, sources with knowledge had tipped off their reporters about the decision.

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Developing: Donald Trump indicted

From our US edition

Donald Trump will be the first former president to face criminal charges following a vote from a Manhattan grand jury. In a statement, Trump referred to the move as "Political Persecution," "Election Interference" and a "Witch-Hunt" that will "backfire massively on Joe Biden." District Attorney Alvin Bragg of New York County is set to indict Trump in the coming days following a five-year probe into whether an $130,000 payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels constitutes a campaign finance violation and potential felony. Tacopina told the Associated Press of the grand jury's decision to indict. The specific charges are not known at this stage. "The indictment of Donald Trump is no cause for joy," tweeted Clark Brewster, a lawyer for Daniels.

trump indicted

Prince Andrew wants to groom the American media

From our US edition

The job of a royal — if you can call it that — is to serve the public. Back across the Pond, the late Queen was revered for what was repeatedly branded her “quiet dedication” to “the British people.” Which is why it’s so disheartening to hear that her son Prince Andrew “favors a US broadcaster” for an attempted comeback interview. The Mirror writes that he has been "approached by at least two major US broadcasters with offers of an interview taking place in the UK." In going stateside, the Duke of York would be denying the smallfolk of the United Kingdom the chance to fully relive one of the best television moments of the century to date.

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Vivek Ramaswamy’s ‘anti-woke’ campaign caper

From our US edition

New Hampshire Vivek Ramaswamy accepts it: running for president is “a weird thing to do as a thirty-seven-year-old.” The biotech multimillionaire and anti-woke capitalism crusader is a surprise entry into the 2024 Republican primary after announcing on Tucker Carlson’s show on Tuesday. He went straight from Carlson’s Florida studio to early-voting New Hampshire. I arrived in the snow-dusted city of Rochester at 9 a.m. on Wednesday to watch him kick off his first full day of campaigning — and to work out what the author of Woke, Inc. hoped to bring to the race. Around thirty or so were gathered in Potter’s House bakery watching Vivek gear up for his third Fox hit in fourteen hours.

vivek ramaswamy

Nikki Haley’s long shot

From our US edition

Manchester, New Hampshire Sorry fellas: GOP girlboss Nikki Haley is going to be the next president. At least according to former New Hampshire candidate for Senate Don Bolduc, who knows a thing or two about calling elections. Bolduc introduced Haley at two New Hampshire town halls in the week she entered the 2024 Republican primary. The second was held Friday at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, a regular stop for candidates visiting the early primary state. The packed room was treated to a soundtrack of late-boomer classics from Blondie, Tom Petty and the Detroit Spinners. On her way in, Haley stopped by the overspill area in the foyer to thank the surplus guests for coming. "Next time we'll have a bigger room," the candidate promised.

nikki haley

The shocking Hunter Biden twists in the Twitter Files

From our US edition

Two of the week’s biggest news stories are unfolding in hermetically sealed chambers. The left half of the country, and the international press, is aghast at the criminal referrals from the January 6 Committee, while the right ignores the panel’s findings as a foregone conclusion, part of a witch hunt against Donald Trump.

hunter biden twitter files

Could Georgia decide the midterms?

30 min listen

This week Freddy is joined by Matt McDonald, US managing editor of The Spectator, who is covering the midterms from Georgia. What will the result of the run-off be there and could this decide who takes control of the Senate?

Georgia gets ready to runoff… again

From our US edition

Atlanta, Georgia Here we go again. For the second time in as many years, Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock is headed to a runoff. Neither he nor his Republican opponent Herschel Walker has secured 50 percent of the vote in Georgia, the state office confirmed Wednesday afternoon. The pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church and the Heisman Trophy-winning running back will face off again for the US Senate seat on Tuesday December 6. As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Jolt newsletter made clear on Wednesday morning, “split-ticket voters” were the key to pushing the Senate race to a runoff.

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How Stacey Abrams blew it

From our US edition

Atlanta, Georgia “Ms. Abrams, public opinion polls in our state show support for the right to abortion, Medicaid expansion and banning assault weapons. You are on the side of public opinion on each of these issues, yet you are behind in almost every poll. Why?” Conservatives snorted at veteran Georgia newsman Chuck Williams when, in his decidedly Appalachian tones, he asked that as his opening question during Stacey Abrams’s first debate with Brian Kemp. Many on Twitter considered it the ultimate softball: why don’t voters like you as much as us journalists, Ms. Abrams? You’re so great! I didn’t see it that way — Williams’s question could be read as a damning indictment of Abrams’s fortunes in the years since she first stood for the Georgia governorship.

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