Former President Trump is determined to stop a trial for attempted election fraud. He relies on the Supreme Court. More information in the news blog.
The most important things at a glance
The USA will elect a new president in November. The party primaries are currently underway, at the end of which one candidate will be nominated. It is considered likely that the Democrats will become the incumbent Joe Biden and the Republicans put up the former president Donald Trump will be sent into the race. Here you will find an overview of the polls and the US electoral system; you can read all new developments here:
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US media: Trump's results far behind poll numbers
2.30am: Donald Trump is the clear winner so far in the Republican primaries. But the final results differ from the forecasts in surveys. Democratic consultant Tom Bonier spoke on Platform X about Trump “continuing to underperform.” In Michigan, Trump was 15 percent behind the survey results from the US online platform “FiveThirtyEight”.
The US magazine “Newsweek” and the American broadcaster MSNBC also see similar differences in South Carolina and New Hampshire. Although Trump continues to lead the race for the Republican presidential nomination, it is questionable how many voters will follow him in the presidential election. Justin Wolfers, a professor of politics and economics at the University of Michigan, told Newsweek that recent primary results provided examples of Trump underperforming “dramatically.”
Judge removes Trump from ballot in Illinois
1.15am: A judge in the US state of Illinois has ordered that Donald Trump cannot appear on the ballot in the Republican primary, CNN reports. He justified this with an article in the Constitution that prohibits participation if a candidate was involved in an insurrection and refers to the storming of the US Capitol in January 2021. However, the implementation of the decision is initially suspended in order to allow Trump to do so leave a chance for an appeal. The former US President was also excluded from the election in Maine and Colorado for the same reason – an appeal hearing is still pending in both cases.
Supreme Court accepts Trump's appeal on immunity issue
11:35 p.m.: The US Supreme Court has agreed to consider former President Donald Trump's request for immunity from prosecution. The court said Wednesday it would address the question “whether and, if so, to what extent, a former president enjoys immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct allegedly related to official acts during his term in office.” The court scheduled the hearing for April 22nd.
The judges also stated that, against the background of this review, the trial against Trump, originally scheduled for March 4th, on charges of election fraud in 2020, would be put on hold for the time being. At the beginning of February, a federal appeals court rejected Trump's request to that effect, clearing the way for a trial over the ex-president's attempts to retroactively overturn his election defeat against current President Joe Biden in 2020.
Author Williamson is getting back into the Democratic primary campaign
9:21 p.m.: Author Marianne Williamson is re-entering the US Democratic presidential race. “We are seeing a car accident in slow motion,” says the 71-year-old in a video. “There is a fascist at our door at the moment,” she warns, referring to former US President Donald Trump, who is running for the Republican nomination. Biden is not doing enough to defeat Trump in the November election. Williamson added: “We need a ceasefire now.” It remained unclear whether the statement referred to the Gaza war.
