‘We're losing our young people': DNC Vice Chair David Hogg on his effort to primary Dems
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New York Post
41 minutes ago
- New York Post
Trump-approved portrait hangs in Colorado Capitol after ‘purposefully distorted' version was replaced
A self-approved portrait of President Trump now hangs in the Colorado Capitol – replacing an earlier version he ripped as 'purposefully distorted' and 'truly the worst.' The new portrait, created by Arizona-based Christian worship artist Vanessa Horabuena, is displayed in the third-floor rotunda of the Denver building's wall of past presidents, occupying the same spot where Sarah Boardman's original painting had hung since 2019. The latest display, donated by the White House, mirrors Trump's intense official presidential photo, depicting him leaning slightly forward with a furrowed brow and a steely gaze. 4 Trump's new portrait, created by Arizona-based Christian worship artist Vanessa Horabuena. AP 'Thank you to the Highly Talented Artist, Vanessa Horabuena, and the incredible people of Colorado,' the commander in chief posted on Truth Social Tuesday. 'Now on display at the Colorado State Capitol!' The previous portrait, featuring a much younger version of Trump, was removed from the famed wall back in March after the president randomly took to social media to criticize it – despite its six-year run on display. The original painting was commissioned after former Colorado Senate President Kevin Grantham, a Republican, raised more than $10,000 through a GoFundMe account during Trump's first term. 4 Trump's original portrait was removed after he lambasted the painting in March. Denver Post via Getty Images 'Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the State Capitol, put up by the Governor, along with all other Presidents, was purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before,' Trump raged in March. 'The artist also did President Obama, and he looks wonderful, but the one of me is truly the worst. She must have lost her talent as she got older.' 4 Portraits of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump displayed at the Colorado State Capitol. Denver Post via Getty Images The Colorado Building Advisory Committee, not the governor, oversees the portraits. Boardman, who received backlash following the president's scathing comments, previously told The Denver Post that it was important for her portraits of both Trump and Obama to appear 'apolitical.' 4 Wall of presidential portraits in the Colorado State Capitol featuring Trump's latest creation. AP Colorado Democrats, who are in charge of the legislature, eventually agreed to take the painting down at the request of local Republican leaders. Lois Court, a former state lawmaker who chairs the Capitol Building Advisory Committee, said she received the Trump-endorsed portrait over a month ago and decided on Thursday to hang it this week. 'There was a blank on the wall,' she said. 'It seemed inappropriate. We knew that the White House had sent us this replacement and it simply made sense to put it up.' With Post wires
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Michael Goodwin: Cuomo remains NYC's best shot to keep socialist Mamdani from being mayor – or the city will never be the same
He lost the primary by a stunning 12-point blowout, but as strange as it sounds, the ball is again back in Andrew Cuomo's court. Is he going to run a serious campaign in the general election, or is he ending his political career with a humiliating defeat? That's the key question for him, but it's also vital for the November election. Cuomo's answer is crucial because the Democrats' full-blown socialist nominee, Zohran Mamdani, is a heavy favorite to win. If he does and is able to implement even half of his radical agenda, New York will never be the same. It's teetering under the flawed leadership of Mayor Adams, but Mamdani is a human wrecking ball whose City Hall would make these troubled days look like a Golden Age. His policies would destroy Gotham's economy and shred the fragile social fabric. Nepo baby disaster His plan to freeze rents on 1 million privately owned apartments would turn the housing crisis into an unfixable disaster. What private developer is going to build apartments if it means losing money on the whims of a nepo-baby mayor who never held a job in the private sector? And if government becomes the major builder, look to the perpetually troubled Housing Authority projects for a vision of the hellscape future. Follow The Post's coverage of the NYC mayoral race Mamdani's racist plan to tax white-owned property higher than others and his support for antisemitic policies are beyond the pale. On top of his backing for the BDS movement, his refusal to condemn the odious phrase 'globalize the intifada' offers tacit support for violence against Jews in Israel and around the world. He's also a 33-year-old elitist who joined the 'defund the police' mob and has talked about dismantling the jail system. Next to him, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is a throw-away-the-key champion of law and order. New York has never had a mayor so far out of the mainstream. The closest was Bill de Blasio, and Mayor Putz was the worst leader the city had in 50 years. Which brings us back to Cuomo. The November ballot essentially comes down to a four-person race. In addition to Mamdani on the Dem line, Cuomo and Eric Adams hold independent lines, and Curtis Sliwa is the GOP nominee. Cuomo I believe, is the only one with a realistic chance of defeating Mamdani. Yes, yes, I know that's a hard sell in the immediate aftermath of the thumping the former governor suffered last week. Mamdani beat him by 7 points on the straight vote counting, and the final margin grew to 12 points when the ranked-choice votes were tabulated. Full of regrets The difference reflected the cross-endorsement arrangements Mamdani made with like-minded lefties that enabled him to pick up much of their support when they were eliminated. But the key was the record turnout of 100,000 new voters from ages 18 to 30, who went overwhelmingly for the Queens lawmaker. Polls didn't pick up the surge until the very end, with Cuomo consistently a dominant front-runner since March. One result was that Cuomo was too cautious, acting like an incumbent playing not to lose instead of playing to win. His Rose Garden strategy of skipping candidate forums and granting few interviews reflected what the polls were saying: that his lead was safe. It wasn't and I'm told he's now full of regrets and admits he ran a terrible race. He acknowledged as much in a brief statement to me late Tuesday, in which he said the 'buck stops with me' and that 'I should have focused on a simpler affordability message even in these complex times.' After saying that 'Effective social media is paramount,' he added, 'We're going through the data, but there's no question a fall campaign needs to be a different effort informed by the lessons of this one.' His points reflect the fact that his ads, including those of his well-funded PAC, were good enough in a vacuum, but never countered his opponent's appeal to new voters. In addition, Cuomo was saddled with his own disgraceful exit from Albany four years ago over sexual harassment allegations. He also carries the baggage of his fatal Health Department order requiring nursing homes to take COVID patients, and he never owned and apologized for either, apparently assuming they were too far in the past to matter. He's wrong, and to run in the fall, he must express honest regret to voters. Poll optimism Still, there is already one poll looking ahead that is giving his team some optimism. It was conducted in the first two days after the primary, but got little attention. It deserves more. The Cuomo-aligned Honan Strategy Group found that, going into the general, Cuomo and Mamdani are essentially tied at 39%, with Adams at 13% and Sliwa at 7%. The survey considered two major scenarios: First, if Cuomo didn't actively campaign, Mamdani would have a lead of 15 points over Adams. Second, if Adams effectively decided to drop out, Cuomo would lead Mamdani by four points. In part that's because Cuomo did well among black voters, and would do even better absent Adams. One important finding was this sentence from the pollsters: 'We examined voter sentiment towards the leading candidates among General Election voters, and found that only Andrew Cuomo has a positive favorability rating of 56% to 43% unfavorable.' They found 'Mamdani is more negative than positive, at 48% unfavorable to 40% favorable.' Remember, these results were obtained in the aftermath of Mamdani's victory. Another key takeaway is that 66% of likely fall voters have an unfavorable opinion of Adams, with only 23% favorable. Two-thirds disapprove of his job performance, and '75% agree with the statement that Eric Adams is corrupt and should not run for reelection.' Those findings suggest Adams has almost no chance of winning. The numbers haven't escaped the Cuomo camp, which also believes Sliwa cannot win. Party infighting Part of their confidence in a potential comeback is that Cuomo, although elected four times as a Democrat — once for attorney general and three times as governor — has long had a tense relationship with the party's progressive wing that dominates primaries. Clearly, that wing has grown dramatically in the city, but his team believes the mix of general election voters would be more moderate and more receptive to his ideas. They also believe the fear over a Mamdani mayoralty, even among top Dem officials, works in his favor. One part of his agenda that could be important is Cuomo's plan to hire 5,000 more police officers and keep the popular and successful Jessica Tisch as commissioner of the NYPD. The contrast with Mamdani's anti-police rhetoric and 'defund' record deserves more attention than it got during the primary. My prediction is that Cuomo, after licking his wounds and sounding out key donors and supporters, will throw himself into the November race. At this point, foolish pride is the only thing he has left to lose.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
With Tillis out, NC Senate race projected as a ‘toss-up.' What experts anticipate.
With Republican Sen. Thom Tillis announcing Sunday that he won't run for reelection, many experts are considering how the political landscape in North Carolina may change — including possibly making way for a Democratic Senate win for the first time since 2008. According to The Cook Political Report, a politics analysis organization that predicts congressional and gubernatorial races nationwide, the upcoming Senate race is now a 'toss-up.' North Carolina is now the top opportunity for Democrats to win a Republican-held seat in 2026, the group said. But a lot depends on who each party nominates. 'Republicans could have to sort out a messy primary field to succeed Tillis that is sure to produce a nominee further to the right than the outgoing GOP senator,' the Cook Political Report's Jessica Taylor wrote. Tillis' withdrawal from the 2026 race came as he made clear his opposition to Trump's flagship bill, the 'One Big, Beautiful Bill' Act. Tillis, who has served in the Senate since 2015, voted against the bill when it passed the Senate on Tuesday. He also gave a passionate speech on the Senate floor. 'What do I tell 663,000 people in two or three years when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding's not there anymore?' Tillis said on the Senate floor. 'It is inescapable that this bill in its current form will betray the promise that Donald J. Trump made in the Oval Office or in the Cabinet room.' Susan Roberts, political science professor at Davidson College, said that she was surprised by Tillis' announcement. 'It's kind of the 'June shock' rather than the 'October surprise,'' Roberts said in an interview with The News & Observer. Tillis' announcement leaves many anticipating what the 2026 Senate race will look like. 'I think it's an opportunity for both Democrats and Republicans. The primaries are going to be very important,' Artemesia Stanberry, a political science professor at North Carolina Central University, told The N&O. Some have been eyeing a possible bid for the seat by former Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat who served as governor for two terms. Cooper received national attention last summer while being considered as a possible running mate by Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign. The results of the 2024 election prove that, despite Tillis' decade-long tenure, Democrats can win statewide elections, Stanberry said. Although North Carolina voted for President Donald Trump, Democrats won the seats of governor, attorney general and lieutenant governor. Roberts said the Republican primary winner would be whoever outdoes the competition in their 'fidelity' towards Trump. One 'unknown variable' in the race could be Lara Trump, President Donald Trump's daughter-in-law, according to Roberts. Lara Trump, a Wilmington native, hosts the Fox News show 'My View with Lara Trump.' Both Roberts and Stanberry expect that the North Carolina Senate race could likely be the most expensive campaign nationwide in 2026. Campaign budgets could soar because many of the potential candidates have fundraising experience, Roberts said. 'We won't go out of the spotlight, for sure,' Roberts said. If Cooper runs, he's likely to win the primary, Roberts said. And she anticipates that in a matchup with a Republican, Cooper would be able to sway many of the state's unaffiliated voters, the state's largest voting bloc. Cooper has won two elections for governor in years when Trump won the state. During the 2024 presidential election, around 37% of eligible voters, just under 3 million, in North Carolina registered unaffiliated. That designation is especially popular for younger voters. Stanberry said that she's heard many young people express that they were impressed that Tillis voted against the 'One Big, Beautiful Bill Act' because it demonstrated him 'standing on principle.' 'I think that may attract a lot of young voters. Whether it will attract them to a Republican nominee or a Democratic nominee, we shall see.'
