Thomas was born in 1948 in Pin Point, Georgia, a small, predominantly black community near Savannah founded by freedmen after the Civil War. He was the second of three children born to M. C. Thomas, a farm worker, and Leola "Pigeon" Williams, a domestic worker. They were descendants of American slaves, and the family spoke Gullah as a first language. Thomas's earliest known ancestors were slaves named Sandy and Peggy, who were born in the late 18th century and owned by wealthy planter Josiah Wilson of Liberty County, Georgia. Thomas's father left the family when Thomas was two years old ..read more

Justice Amy Coney Barrett is offended by those questioning the impartiality of the Supreme Court. “This Court is not comprised of a bunch of partisan hacks,” she announced at a recent event at the University of Louisville’s McConnell Center, named for Senator Mitch McConnell. “Judicial philosophies are not the same as political parties.” For Barrett to insist on her nonpartisanship at a center named for the legislator whose procedural hardball was instrumental in securing her seat suggests that, although Barrett’s peers have praised her legal mind, her sense of irony leaves something to be des ..read more

  But as Mr. Trump thrashed through his first months in office, Mr. Carlson found himself with an unexpected programming challenge: Fox was too pro-Trump. The new president watched his favorite network religiously, and often tweeted about what he saw there, while Fox broadcasts reliably parroted White House messaging. No one was more on message than Sean Hannity, then Fox’s highest-rated, who frequently devoted his show to Mr. Trump’s daily battles with Washington Democrats and the media. Newly planted in Fox’s newly vacated 8 p.m. time slot — previously held by the disgraced star Bill O ..read more

  Tucker Carlson burst through the doors of Charlie Palmer Steak, enfolded in an entourage of producers and assistants, cellphone pressed to his ear. On the other end was Lachlan Murdoch, chairman of the Fox empire and his de facto boss. Most of Fox’s Washington bureau, along with the cable network’s top executives, had gathered at the power-class steakhouse, a few blocks from the office, for their annual holiday party. Days earlier, Mr. Carlson had set off an uproar, claiming on air that mass immigration made America “poor and dirtier.” Blue-chip advertisers were fleeing. Within Fox, Mr ..read more

  Eyeing a possible White House bid, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declined on Monday to weigh in on one of the most divisive issues in the GOP: Could then-Vice President Mike Pence have “overturned” the 2020 presidential election? Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly insistedthat Pence could have changed the outcome of the election by upending the congressional certification of the results, overturning President Joe Biden's win. On Friday, Pence rebutted his former boss, saying Trump was "wrong" to suggest he had the authority to change the outcome of the election. Asked Monday with ..read more

For DeSantis, the pandemic offered the opportunity to distinguish himself from Trump. In January [2022], Jonathan Chait described his strategy in New York magazine: Where Trump was tiptoeing around vaccine skepticism, DeSantis jumped in with both feet, banning private companies like cruise lines from requiring vaccination, appointing a vaccine skeptic to his state’s highest office, and refusing to say if he’s gotten his booster dose. DeSantis “may or may not actually be more delusional on Covid than Donald Trump,” Chait wrote, “but it is a revealing commentary on the state of their party that ..read more

  President Trump delivered an urgent warning to his staunchest supporters in Florida Wednesday night at a pulsating political rally: Don’t let Ron DeSantis lose the governor’s race next week. Not with Mr. Trump’s 2020 re-election plans potentially hinging on the country’s biggest presidential battleground state. “This is my state also,” Mr. Trump reminded them, alluding to his golf properties and winter home in Palm Beach and his one-point victory in 2016. That Mr. DeSantis is the Republican nominee for governor is a testament to Mr. Trump’s strong endorsement and popularity with conserv ..read more

  DeSantis was born on September 14, 1978, in Jacksonville, Florida, the son of Karen (nee Rogers) and Ronald Daniel DeSantis. He is of Italian descent, as his great-great-grandmother and great-great-grandfather were from Italy. His great-great-grandfather Salvatore Storti immigrated to the United States in 1904, eventually settling in Pennsylvania. His great-great-grandmother Luigia Colucci moved to the U.S. to be with her husband in 1917. DeSantis's mother was a nurse and his father installed Nielsen TV rating boxes. Hisfamily moved to Orlando, Florida, before relocating to Dunedin, Flo ..read more

  President Joe Biden has already ordered significant changes to US immigration policy. But he has not issued an order that Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan claims he did. Jordan said on Facebook and Twitter on Saturday [January 2021] that Biden issued a new order to release "all" undocumented immigrants. Similarly, Jordan said in a Monday interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo that Biden "has decided he's going to release 14,000 illegals." Fourteen thousand is the approximatenumber of people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention around the country. Jordan's source for the ..read more

  Over the course of the past year, congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, has engaged in a systematic effort to cast doubt on the integrity of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. He also led efforts to create an image in the minds of Trump supporters of Jan. 6 as the “ultimate date of significance” (his words, repeated several times). He helped spearhead the effort to oppose certification of the election in Congress. He has continued to promote the “Big Lie” even after the events on Jan. 6 and subsequent FBI and Department of Homeland Securi ..read more