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Arizona GOP bows to election denialism in bid for unity
His candidacy for chair got a last-minute push from Trump, whose intervention may have widened his margin over far-right activists.
DeWit’s new perch may help improve the party’s standing with local conservative donors and the Republican National Committee, which has suffered in recent years under Kelli Ward. The change in leadership comes at a pivotal moment for the newly competitive state, where Arizona Republicans will have another shot at flipping a U.S. Senate seat and will be pivotal in the electoral college.
DeWit, 50, who entered the race in December, pledged to improve fundraising, recruit precinct committee people, stay neutral in primary races and run a transparent operation. He noted his willingness as treasurer to take on establishment party figures, like former governor Doug Ducey (R). In one-on-one calls to more conventional Republicans, DeWit cast himself as the only candidate who could move the party past the intensity of election denialism.
But when he took the stage Saturday, DeWit tailored his message for a pro-Trump “Make America Great Again” audience. He touted endorsements from some of the state’s loudest evangelists of Trump’s election falsehoods. Kari Lake, the former TV news anchor who lost her gubernatorial bid, failed secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem (R), state Sen. Wendy Rogers, (R) former national security adviser Michael Flynn and above all, Trump. Additional hard-line validators included former Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio and former acting attorney general Matt Whitaker.
“We will take our elections back, we will bring election integrity back to Arizona with me as the chairman,” DeWit said. At the same time, he positioned himself as the unity candidate, urging the assembled party officials to remember that “the real enemy are the Democrats.”
DeWit, who handed out fake hundred dollar bills with his photo plastered on them from his time as state treasurer, got a last-minute boost from Trump in an endorsement delivered dramatically from the stage by Lake in a speech that opened the day’s proceedings. During a phone call with Trump on Saturday morning, she told him she was supporting DeWit, Lake aide Colton Duncan told The Washington Post. Trump “was very enthusiastic and spoke highly of him.”
“President Trump told Kari she could speak on his behalf to announce that Jeff has his ‘complete and total endorsement’ while she was onstage,” Duncan said.
Most activists expected the six-way race to come down to DeWit and Steve Daniels, chair of the far-right Patriot Party of Arizona. He campaigned on getting rid of vote-counting machines and restricting voting to one day.
Daniels began and ended his speech on Saturday with appealing to harness the fury over elections, as if to out-Trump the Trump-endorsed candidate. “One day, one vote, in person, with ID, on paper, no machines, no mail-in ballots, precinct-level polling, precinct hand count,” he said. “I will secure elections or I will die trying.”
In the end, DeWit won with 71 percent, while Daniels placed a distant third.
“I’m you, I’m a grass roots warrior,” DeWit said after his landslide victory was announced. “We’re going to unify and we’re going to get back to beating Democrats and winning elections.”
The party avoided the pandemonium that consumed an assembly of GOP activists from Maricopa County earlier this month, where a fight over counting the votes by hand or machine delayed the proceedings until the meeting ran out of time. Ahead of Saturday’s vote, officials appeared to consolidate behind using machine tabulators with a hand backup. The voting machines were on the floor for everyone to see.
“The tabulators provided a good baseline for the hand counts,” Dan Farley, another candidate for chair who withdrew to endorse DeWit, said in a Friday email to supporters. In endorsing DeWit, Farley said Saturday, “It would be healthy for our party to have a decisive winner today.”
Saturday’s meeting was only briefly disrupted when Ward at least twice asked security to eject activists who challenged her on the rules. “I will recognize people when the time is appropriate, not when the mob starts yelling,” she said, to cheers. “We aren’t going to have a repeat of what happened in Maricopa County today.”
The dynamic resembled Friday’s election for RNC chair, where Ronna McDaniel won a fourth term by presenting herself as best equipped to unite the party’s factions, crushing an uprising claiming to better represent the grass roots. Arizona’s RNC members were on the losing side, supporting challenger Harmeet Dhillon.
“I don’t feel like most of them listen,” Arizona RNC member Lori Klein Corbin said at the state party meeting on Saturday. “And I think that we may pay the price as a party on the national level.”
But in handing the gavel off to DeWit, Ward assured the assembly, “The party’s in good hands.”
The balancing act that won DeWit the chairmanship is poised to define his tenure as the state party struggles to hold together dedicated Trump supporters, pragmatists who want to move on from Trump and newcomers energized by Trump’s false claims of election fraud. DeWit’s ability to please multiple constituencies was tested during the campaign as his business ties to influential state Republicans came under scrutiny. DeWit ran a technology company that developed apps for Trump-aligned youth group Turning Point Action and its affiliates. The company’s board includes both of Arizona’s RNC members. DeWit said he left the position on Jan. 3.
And in leaked audio circulated on social media in recent weeks, DeWit can be heard saying people urged him to run to stop Daniels and distancing himself from Trump.
“I’m off the Trump train, I’m DeSantis,” DeWit says in the undated tape. “I worked for Trump and everything. I’m not good with those people because I didn’t support their idiot Blake Masters,” he added, referring to the U.S. Senate candidate who had Trump’s endorsement but lost in November.
DeWit said in an interview with The Post Saturday that the audio is “a fake tape chopped up” from a private conversation he had last year with a Daniels backer.
“The part he cut is the very beginning, where I said, ‘People are saying that I am off the Trump train because I wouldn’t support Blake Masters,’” DeWit said. “I’ve never seen a dirtier campaign tactic than recording a private phone conversation and creatively editing it to try to win an election. It’s despicable.”
A Trump spokesman said the outcome showed the enduring power of the former president’s intervention. “There is nothing more impactful in politics than President Trump’s endorsement,” the spokesman said. “Contrast that with recent endorsements from other people this past weekend that didn’t move one single vote,” referring to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential 2024 rival who backed Dhillon’s unsuccessful bid for RNC chair.
The race to lead the state GOP began in earnest after the midterm November elections, which delivered defeats in crucial seats, including for the U.S. Senate, governor and attorney general. Many conservative activists don’t accept the losses and point to legitimate problems with printers that took place on Election Day in Maricopa County and a raft of unproven claims of systemic malfunctions.
Lake, who lost her race for governor by more than 17,000 votes, continues to stoke claims her election was stolen in 2022 and is scheduled to headline a “Save Arizona Rally” on Sunday. Though her legal efforts have been unsuccessful, many conservative activists aligned with Trump have embraced her explanations, viewing them as the only reasonable answer to an inexplicable loss against Democrat Katie Hobbs.
Disbelief in Trump’s 2020 defeat kindled new interest in the political process, prompting many Republicans to fill precinct committee seats where they demand action on overhauling election systems. Other more pragmatic conservatives who have worked in the party trenches for years are exasperated with that approach and fear it could cost them another U.S. Senate seat and control of the state legislature in 2024.
At Saturday’s meeting, state party members voted to reject a resolution recognizing the legitimacy of the 2020 election.
Also on Saturday, the Arizona Democratic Party elected Yolanda Bejarano, an ally of Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), as its new party chair, trouncing the choice of Hobbs.
Truss appointed as Britain’s PM, Johnson bows out
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LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) – Liz Truss took over as British prime minister on Tuesday, facing one of the most daunting set of challenges for an incoming leader in post-War history led by soaring energy bills, a looming recession and industrial strife.
Truss, the fourth Conservative prime minister in six years, flew to the royal family’s Scottish home to be asked by Queen Elizabeth to form a government. She replaces Boris Johnson who was forced out after three tumultuous years in power.
“Ms Truss accepted Her Majesty’s offer and kissed hands upon her appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury,” Buckingham Palace said.
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The 47-year-old former foreign secretary will later address the country from Downing Street before appointing her government. Johnson urged the country and his warring party to unite behind the new leader.
Truss inherits an economy in crisis, with inflation at double digits, the cost of energy soaring and the Bank of England warning of a lengthy recession by the end of this year. Already, workers across the economy have gone on strike.
Her plan to revive growth through tax cuts while also potentially providing around 100 billion pounds ($116 billion) for energy has rattled financial markets, prompting investors to dump the pound and government bonds in recent weeks.
She also enters the latest crisis to buffet Britain with a weaker political hand than many of her predecessors.
Having held a place in the cabinet of senior ministers for eight years, she defeated rival Rishi Sunak in a vote of Conservative Party members by a tighter margin than expected, and more of the party’s lawmakers initially backed her rival.
Johnson, who tried to cling on to power in July despite ministers resigning en masse over a series of scandals, told reporters and politicians gathered in Downing Street early on Tuesday that the country must unite.
“This is it folks,” he said in his farewell speech. “What I say to my fellow Conservatives, it’s time for politics to be over, folks. It’s time for us all to get behind Liz Truss and her team and her programme.”
After speaking outside the famous black door, he left London to travel to northeast Scotland and tender his resignation to the 96-year-old queen before Truss followed him into Balmoral Castle. read more
Queen Elizabeth welcomes Liz Truss during an audience where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government, at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, Britain September 6, 2022. Jane Barlow/Pool via REUTERS
Johnson used his departure speech to boast of his successes, including an early vaccine programme during COVID-19 and his staunch support for Ukraine in its battle against Russia.
He also listed “delivering Brexit” as one of his main achievements, although polls now show that a majority of people think leaving the European Union was a mistake.
FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS
Britain, under Conservative rule since 2010, has stumbled from crisis to crisis in recent years and there is now the prospect of a long energy emergency that could drain the savings of households and threaten the futures of businesses still weighed down by COVID-era loans.
Household energy bills are due to jump by 80% in October, but a source familiar with the situation has told Reuters that Truss may freeze bills in a plan that could cost towards 100 billion pounds ($115.33 billion), surpassing the COVID-19 furlough scheme.
It is not clear how Britain will pay for the support but it is likely to increase government borrowing.
The scale of the package, plus the fact the energy crisis could run for a couple of years, has spooked investors.
The pound has fared worse against the U.S. dollar than most other major currencies recently.
In August alone sterling shed 4% against the greenback and it marked the worst month for 20-year British government bonds since around 1978, according to records from Refinitiv and the Bank of England.
Britain’s public finances also remain weighed down by the government’s huge coronavirus spending spree. Public debt as a share of economic output is not far off 100%, up from about 80% before the pandemic.
($1 = 0.8671 pounds)
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Writing by Kate Holton; additional reporting by Michael Holden, Alistair Smout, Andy Bruce, Paul Sandle and Muvija M; editing by Angus MacSwan
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
‘RRR’ Roars To Record-Breaking Bows – International Box Office – Deadline
S.S. Rajamouli’s highly-anticipated Telugu title RRR has come roaring out of the gate, both at home and abroad. With an estimated 137 crore ($18M) on Friday in India, the epic smashed records to set the best opening day for a local film ever. In so doing, Rajamouli topped his own previous record-holder in the market, 2017’s Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. Worldwide, the opening day in India, along with North America and other offshore launches, came in at an estimated 223 crore ($30.5M)
While these figures come from a combination of local producers and analysts, it is notoriously difficult to get solid numbers out of India, particularly when a movie is released in four different language versions as is the case with RRR. Some areas also report net figures while others rely on gross versus share of ultimate takings. (For such a productive, important and avid theatrical market, it would be nice to find an eventual balance.)
Still, while some estimates vary in local reporting, RRR is being celebrated as a record-breaking blockbuster. Talent has been high-fiving, and giving thanks, all day.
#RRRMovie smashes day 1 record collections, crossing Baahubali 2
India’s Biggest Blockbuster has a new name 🔥🌊🤩#RoaRRRingBlockbuster #penmovies pic.twitter.com/4VKKrrhEAA
— PEN INDIA LTD. (@PenMovies) March 26, 2022
Thank You 🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/689w1QMl2w
— Ram Charan (@AlwaysRamCharan) March 26, 2022
Already, as Deadline reported on Friday, the Jr NTR/Ram Charan-starrer has had a blow-out start Stateside and is eyeing a nearly $12M opening there.
The film, which had to withstand Covid delays, and whose title can also translate to Rise! Roar! Revolt!, tells the story of friends who discover they are on opposite sides of India’s struggle for independence. Deadline’s review called it “one action crescendo after another, never dull but not exhausting either” and “a truly great story.”
We’ll have more as the numbers shake out.
Country music legend Dolly Parton BOWS OUT of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination
Dolly Parton has withdrawn her nomination for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, saying she doesn’t feel she has ‘earned that right.’
The 76-year-old country legend was announced as one of this year’s nominees in February, along with other 16 others, including Eminem, Carly Simon, Lionel Richie, Dionne Warwick, Pat Benatar, Duran Duran, and Beck.
In a statement shared on her social media accounts on Monday, she explained she was removing herself from the ballot because she didn’t think she deserved to be considered at this time.
‘Dolly here! Even though I am extremely flattered and grateful to be nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I don’t feel that I have earned that right,’ she wrote. ‘I really do not want votes to be split because of me, so I must respectfully bow out.’
Dolly Parton, 76, announced in a statement shared on social media on Monday that she was withdrawing her nomination for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
The country singer, whose career has spanned five decades, explained that she is ‘extremely flattered and grateful to be nominated,’ but she doesn’t feel the has ‘earned that right’
Parton, who was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999, added that she’d like to be considered for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the future
Parton, who was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999, shared she would like to be considered in the future if she ever makes a rock album.
‘I do hope that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will understand and be willing to consider me again — if I’m ever worthy,’ she wrote. ‘This has, however, inspired me to put out a hopefully great rock ‘n’ roll album at some point in the future, which I have always wanted to do!
‘My husband [Carl Dean] is a total rock ‘n’ roll freak, and has always encouraged me to do one,’ she added. ‘I wish all the nominees good luck and thank you again for the compliment. Rock on!’
Parton’s announcement comes less than two weeks after the release of her first novel, ‘Run, Rose, Run,’ and its companion album. She co-wrote the thriller about a singer-songwriter on the run with bestselling author James Patterson.
Parton noted that she didn’t want to take votes away from the other nominees, which include Eminem (left) and Carly Simon (right)
The country star also shared that she is now inspired to record a rock album, something her husband, Carl Dean, has been encouraging her to do for years
The iconic singer’s career has spanned over five decades following the release of her debut album, ‘Hello, I’m Dolly,’ in 1967.
She has 11 Grammy Awards, 50 nominations, and a Lifetime Achievement Award under her belt and a laundry list of other achievements.
Parton is known primarily as a country singer, but in recent years, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has taken to nominating and inducting artists from other genres who have had an impact on popular music.
Artists must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years before they’re eligible for induction.
Parton is known primarily as a country singer, but the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has taken to nominating and inducting artists from other genres who have had an impact on popular music
Parton’s announcement comes less than two weeks after the release of her first novel, ‘Run, Rose, Run,’ which she co-wrote with James Patterson, and its companion album
‘This year’s ballot recognizes a diverse group of incredible artists, each who has had a profound impact on the sound of youth culture,’ John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said when announcing this year’s nominees.
‘Their music not only moved generations, but also influenced the sound of countless artists that followed.’
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 inductees will be voted on by a body of roughly 1,000 artists, industry members, journalists, and historians, as well as fans.
The musicians with the highest votes will be announced in May ahead of the induction ceremony in the fall.
Last year, singer Tina Turner, rapper Jay Z and 1980s female pop group The Go-Go’s were among those chosen for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Dolly Parton Bows Out of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nomination
Among the 17 nominees eligible for inclusion alongside Parton were others who stretch the traditional definition of rock music: Eminem, A Tribe Called Quest, Lionel Richie, Carly Simon, Dionne Warwick and Kate Bush were selected for the ballot along with bands like Judas Priest, MC5, Rage Against the Machine and New York Dolls.
Ballots were sent in February to the more than 1,000 artists, historians and music industry professionals who choose their top five inductees each year, with the winners — typically between five and seven in total — scheduled to be announced in May. This year’s induction ceremony was slated for the fall.
The Rock Hall asks its voters to consider an act’s music influence and the “length and depth” of its career, in addition to “innovation and superiority in style and technique.” Following complaints about its treatment of female and Black musicians over the years, the Rock Hall has recently expanded its tent to include artists from rap, pop, R&B and beyond, including Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Jay-Z and the Notorious B.I.G. Artists in both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock Hall include Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Brenda Lee, among others. Parton was inducted into the Country Hall of Fame in 1999.
On its website, the Rock Hall praised Parton as a “living legend and a paragon of female empowerment,” adding that her “unapologetic femininity belied her shrewd business acumen, an asset in the male-dominated music industry.”
A 2019 look at the organization’s nearly 900 inductees found that only 7.7 percent were women.
Other artists have balked at inclusion in the club before: John Lydon, better known as Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, thumbed his nose at the band’s induction in 2006, with the band opting not to show. In 2012, when Guns ’n Roses made it, Axl Rose said he would decline to participate and asked that he not be inducted in absentia. Both acts were inducted anyway.
Didi bows to China pressure, will delist from NYSE months after its debut
Just five months after its debut, ride-hailing giant Didi Global said it plans to withdraw from the New York Stock Exchange and pursue a Hong Kong listing, a stunning reversal as it bends to Chinese regulators angered by its US IPO.
The company’s shares were down around 15% after swinging between gains and losses in premarket trading as investors initially bet the move would appease Beijing and serve as a catalyst for a revival of its business prospects at home. Shares of the company plunged by day’s end, closing down 22%..
“Following careful research, the company will immediately start delisting on the New York stock exchange and start preparations for listing in Hong Kong,” Didi said on its Twitter-like Weibo account on Friday.
Didi did not explain its reasons for the plan but said in a separate statement it would organize a shareholder vote at an appropriate time and ensure its New York-listed stock would be convertible into “freely tradable shares” on another internationally recognized stock exchange.
Sources told Reuters last month that Chinese regulators had pressed Didi’s top executives to devise a plan to delist from the New York Stock Exchange due to concerns about data security.
Didi’s board convened on Thursday and approved the US delisting and HK listing plans, said two sources with knowledge of the matter.
Didi pushed ahead with a $4.4 billion U.S. initial public offering in June despite being asked to put it on hold while a review of its data practices was conducted.
The powerful Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) then quickly ordered app stores to remove 25 of Didi’s mobile apps and told the company to stop registering new users, citing national security and the public interest.
Didi, whose apps, in addition to ride-hailing, offer products such as delivery and financial services, remains under investigation.
Redex Research analyst Kirk Boodry, who publishes on Smartkarma, said there is an expectation Didi may need to buy shares at the $14 IPO price to avoid legal issues and at the very least will pay more than the shares current trading price.
However, there was still uncertainty over what the delisting means for investors. “There may also be some hope that by doing this, Didi management will improve its regulatory relations, but I am less confident on that,” Boodry added.
The upending of Didi’s New York listing – likely to be a difficult and messy process – illustrates both the huge clout that Chinese regulators possess and their emboldened approach to wielding it.
Billionaire Jack Ma also ran afoul of Chinese authorities after blasting the country’s regulatory system, leading to the dramatic scuppering of a mega-IPO for Ant Group last year.
Did’s move will likely further discourage Chinese firms from listing in the United States and could prompt some to reconsider their status as U.S. publicly traded companies.
“Chinese ADRs face increasing regulatory challenges from both U.S. and Chinese authorities. For most companies, it will be like walking on eggshells trying to please both sides. Delisting will only make things simpler,” said Wang Qi, CEO at fund manager MegaTrust Investment (HK).
Didi is planning to proceed with a Hong Kong listing soon and is not looking at being taken private, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
It aims to complete a dual primary listing in Hong Kong in the next three months and delist from New York by June 2022, said one of the sources.
The sources were not authorized to talk to the media and declined to be identified. Didi did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment, and the CAC has yet to comment on its announcement.
“Not long after the IPO U.S. investors had been trying to sue DiDi for failing to disclose its ongoing talks with the Chinese authorities. This is unlikely to be taken any better,” said William Mileham, an equity analyst at Mirabaud. “It appears that DiDi are not waiting to be dual-listed, but could well be de-listed from the U.S. before it starts trading on the HK stock exchange.”
Listing in Hong Kong, however, might prove complicated, particularly in a tight three-month timeframe, given Didi’s history of compliance problems and the scrutiny it has faced over unlicensed vehicles and part-time drivers.
The Hong Kong bourse does not comment on individual companies, a spokesperson said. Shares on the exchange however jumped 4% on prospects of a Didi listing.
Didi provided 25 million rides a day in China in the first quarter, according to its IPO prospectus. It made its New York debut on June 30 at $14 per American Depositary Share, but those shares had slid 44% by Thursday’s close, valuing it at $37.6 billion.
Its main shareholders are SoftBank’s Vision Fund, with a 21.5% stake, and Uber Technologies Inc, with 12.8%, according to a filing in June by Didi.
Sources have also told Reuters that Didi is preparing to relaunch its apps in China by the end of the year in anticipation that Beijing’s cybersecurity investigation of the company would be wrapped up by then.