Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union, Portman—who recently announced that he will not seek reelection in 2022—spent much of the interview hemming and hawing over whether or not he’d support impeaching former President Donald Trump for inciting the insurrectionist Capitol riot earlier this month.

“If you don’t vote yes aren’t you excusing it? You say it is inexcusable,” anchor Dana Bash confronted the outgoing senator. “If you don’t vote yes, one could argue you are doing just that. You are excusing the behavior.”

Watch the video above, via CNN.

Read the rest of the piece at The Daily Beast.

Greene, a QAnon supporter, has pushed conspiracy theories about 9/11, the murder of Democratic staffer Seth Rich, school shootings, and the 2017 Las Vegas country music festival shooting, among other things, as documented by Media Matters for America. In addition, CNN reported that on Facebook she “repeatedly indicated support for executing prominent Democratic politicians in 2018 and 2019.”

And yet when asked whether Greene is “fit to serve” given her history, Arkansas’ Republican governor balked.

“I don’t think we ought to punish people from a disciplinary standpoint or a party standpoint because they think something a little bit different,” Hutchinson replied.

Republicans have made Greene a member of committees that handle the budget and education and labor issues. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) recently said her comments are “disturbing” and that he “plans to have a conversation” with her about them. But just after Greene was elected, McCarthy also falsely claimed she had denounced her QAnon views.

When pressed about Greene’s conspiracy-mongering, Hutchinson said he wouldn’t vote for her, but added that it would be in the best interest of the Republican Party if she wasn’t primaried in 2022.

Watch the video above, via ABC.

After discussing coronavirus vaccinations in Mississippi, Todd asked the governor if he believed President Joe Biden “won fair and square.”

“I believe President Biden is our president,” Reeves replied, sidestepping the question.

“A lot of people will notice you didn’t…say either way whether he won fair and square,” Todd responded. “Do you believe the election was won fair and square by Joe Biden?”

“There is no question that President Biden is our president,” Reeves repeated, adding how he is against the expansion of mail-in voting in certain states because it “opens things up for fraud.”

“But the fact is that Biden won those states, he was certified in those states, he was certified by the Congress.”

And with that, after Reeves not only refused to answer a very simple question but also shared his opinions on voter fraud without offering any evidence to support his claim, Todd told the governor: “Appreciate you coming on, as you have in the past, and for sharing your perspective with us.”

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.

“President Trump’s popularity has never been stronger than it is today, and his endorsement means more than perhaps any endorsement at any time,” read a statement from the former president’s Save America PAC.

“President Trump has agreed to work with Leader McCarthy on helping the Republican Party to become a majority in the House,” it went on.

McCarthy posted a similar sentiment on Twitter following the meeting, saying “United and ready to win in ’22.’ His meeting with Trump comes after McCarthy initially said that the former president bore some responsibility for the deadly Capitol riot on January 6 – he later suggested the whole country was to blame.

“The president bears responsibility for [the] attack on Congress by mob rioters,” McCarthy had said. “He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding.”

It’s long been understood that McCarthy’s ambition is to become Speaker of the House and breaking with Trump is not a strategy that will win him support from the GOP grassroots. Though Trump was a historically unpopular president among all voters, he continues to enjoy high approval among Republicans.

Biden has paused licenses for oil, gas and coal extraction on some 700 million acres of federal lands – a move that has enraged some Republicans, who have accused the president of destroying jobs and livelihoods. The administration argues that its policies will create jobs as the U.S. begins to tackle climate change.

“We’ve already waited too long to deal with this climate crisis,” Biden said. “We can’t wait any longer. We see it with our own eyes, we feel it. We know it in our bones.”

“I’m signing today an executive order to supercharge our administration’s ambitious plan to confront the existential threat of climate change … we must lead the global response,” the president added.

Former President Donald Trump rolled back environmental regulations during his four year term while frequently downplaying the dangers of climate change and embracing fossil fuels. The Biden administration rejoined the Paris climate agreement on day one. Trump had left the international accord and claimed that it was damaging to U.S. interests.

“Today, the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, formally opened the Office of the Former President,” the new office said in a statement sent to journalists this week.

Former President Donald Trump has officially opened the 'Office of the Former President,' which will manage his correspondence, public statements, and activities to "carry on the agenda of the Trump Admin. through advocacy…" pic.twitter.com/jCyPccOntw

— Aaron Parseghian WTSP (@AaronParseghian) January 25, 2021

“The Office will be responsible for managing President Trump’s correspondence, public statements, appearances, and official activities to advance the interests of the United States and to carry on the agenda of the Trump Administration through advocacy, organizing, and public activism.”

The office’s logo seems to be the crest of the executive office of the President of the United states rendered in black and white. It remains to be seen if Trump can use this symbol in this way without any legal ramifications. Former presidents tend not to use official imagery on their websites or for their foundations.

Trump remains suspended from a slew of social media platforms, including his former favorite communications tool, Twitter. The company has made clear that any attempts to circumvent his ban using other accounts will fail, so his new office may have to stick to old fashioned press statements.

Schumer told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Monday that McConnell, who was until recently majority leader and is still widely considered one of the most powerful men in the Republican Party and the country, would not control the Senate.

He complained that during negotiations McConnell “went to the floor and said, ‘I won’t do it unless you Democrats do this.’ ‘Demand what I want.’ He’s not the majority leader. He’s the minority leader. And he is not going to get his way. We are not going to do what he wants and that is universal, Rachel, in my caucus.”

“We will not let Mitch McConnell dictate to us what we will do and not do. Period. And these first five days have shown that. And as I said, my caucus is totally united from one end to the other that we’re not letting him go forward,” Schumer went on.

He went on to explain that Senate Democrats would look at legislation on its merits, though he recognized that a bipartisan approach might be difficult.

“Isn’t the lesson there that it’s not worth trying to get bipartisan legislation because it will weaken it and make it worse and they’re never going to vote for it, anyway?” Maddow asked.

“Our north star has to be the legislation itself. It has to be big and bold and strong. If Republicans work with us to get good, strong, legislation, yes, but I agree with you,” Schumer said.

Just don’t tell them how the theme of Biden’s inaugural address on Wednesday was, above all else, unity.

Biden said:

To all those who supported our campaign, I am humbled by the faith you have placed in us. To all those who did not support us, let me say this: Hear me out as we move forward. Take a measure of me and my heart. And if you still disagree, so be it.

That’s democracy. That’s America. The right to dissent peaceably, within the guardrails of our Republic, is perhaps our nation’s greatest strength.

Yet hear me clearly: Disagreement must not lead to disunion. And I pledge this to you: I will be a President for all Americans. I will fight as hard for those who did not support me as for those who did.

More than 96% of the vote in Roberts County, Texas went to Trump in last year’s election–the highest of any county in America. The CNN segment, which aired Saturday morning, did not include any specifics from residents as to how Biden should, as one man put it, “quit being so divisive.”

Watch the video above, via CNN.

Stephanopoulos immediately kicked off Sunday’s This Week interview with Paul by asking him a “threshold” question about the results of the election, wondering aloud if he accepted that President Joe Biden’s victory was legitimate and “not stolen,” something former President Donald Trump and his allies have baselessly insisted and which eventually resulted in an insurrectionist riot.

“Well, what I would say is that the debate over whether or not there was fraud should occur, we never had any presentation in court,” the Kentucky lawmaker deflected. “Most of the cases were thrown out for lack of standing, a procedural way of not hearing it.”

Watch the video above, via ABC.

Read the rest of the piece at The Daily Beast.

“We had a situation where science was distorted and/or rejected. And a lot of pressure was put on individuals and organizations to do things that were not directly related to what their best opinion would be, vis-a-vis the science,” Fauci explained.

“I had pressure put on me, but I resisted it.”

Fauci’s comments marked his first interview since the Trump administration ended, and the nation’s leading infectious disease doctor sounded relieved to no longer be shadowed by certain figures.

Some in the administration, Fauci said, were “saying things that just were not consistent with the science.”

“I didn’t want to be at odds with the president, because I have a lot of respect for the office of the presidency,” he said regarding the difficult position he was in. “But there was conflict at different levels with different people and different organizations, and a lot of pressure being put on us to do things that just were not capable with the science.”

Fauci added that he had wanted to appear on Maddow’s show during his time in the Trump administration but had been “blocked.”

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.