- Analysis
The GOP is gaining post-Trump. Trump? Not so much.
A new poll shows why.
By Aaron BlakeMarch 14, 2022 - Analysis
Biden and the fraught history of presidents promising no war
Biden has repeatedly said he won't send troops — and has often eschewed the caveats and wiggle room other presidents have utilized.
By Aaron BlakeMarch 14, 2022 - Analysis
Putin now among most hated world figures in recent U.S. history
Putin's unpopularity in the United States is now comparable to Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro and Ayatollah Khomeini.
By Aaron BlakeMarch 11, 2022 - Analysis
Sean Hannity’s remarkable, failed attempts to get Trump to call Putin ‘evil’
Hannity asked Trump whether Putin was “evil,” an “enemy" or finally merely just “capable of evil things.” Trump affirmed none of them.
By Aaron BlakeMarch 11, 2022 - Analysis
Why Washington shut down Poland’s offer to give Ukraine fighter jets
There are hard limits to what the West is willing to do to help Ukraine.
By Amber Phillips and Miriam BergerMarch 10, 2022 - Analysis
These no-fly zone polls still won’t fly
After a poll showed 74 percent supported a no-fly zone, a pollster tried to get at what support would be if people actually understood the idea. And support dropped -- kind of.
By Aaron BlakeMarch 10, 2022 - Analysis
As GOP scurries from Trump’s Putin praise, Trump Jr. offers a novel explanation
As even Trump allies have made clear this was a very bad idea, Trump Jr. assures his father didn't mean it. Explaining the clean-up effort.
By Aaron BlakeMarch 10, 2022 - Analysis
A judge uses Tucker Carlson’s own words against Fox News
The judge says Carlson's skepticism of Sidney Powell's voting-machine claims is the best evidence that Fox meets a key legal standard for defamation.
By Aaron BlakeMarch 9, 2022 - Analysis
Finland and Sweden weigh expanding Biden’s NATO ‘ring of freedom’ around Russia
Biden was a major NATO promoter in the Senate. Now Russia's invasion is pushing neutral countries to consider joining it. What happens next?
By Aaron BlakeMarch 8, 2022 - Analysis
Could the Supreme Court give Republicans more control over how to run elections?
Conservatives are closer than they’ve ever been to making the law of the land a once-marginal legal theory that gives state politicians more, unchecked power in how elections are run.
By Amber PhillipsMarch 8, 2022 - Analysis
Tucker Carlson goes full blame-America on Russia’s Ukraine invasion
The Fox News host's Putin-sympathetic view has yet to catch on, but it apparently won't fail for lack of trying
By Aaron BlakeMarch 8, 2022 - Analysis
Biden administration cautiously approaches accusing Russia of war crimes
It has been slow to join domestic and international allies in lodging the accusation. But that posture is getting more difficult to maintain.
By Aaron BlakeMarch 7, 2022 - Analysis
Why Biden is getting some praise from Republicans on his handling of Ukraine
Yet there are some Republicans trying to tease apart a relatively small aspect of Biden’s response — whether to ban Russian oil.
By Amber PhillipsMarch 7, 2022 - Analysis
Why you should think twice before sharing that viral video of an apparent Russian POW
Defenders of the practice note that the statements seem uncoerced. Human rights groups say that doesn't matter.
By Aaron BlakeMarch 7, 2022 - Analysis
Trump muses about a really bad — and evidently illegal — idea to bomb Russia using Chinese flags
Experts say it likely violates international law. And that's if you can get past the idea that Russia would ever mistake F-22s for Chinese aircraft. (They wouldn't.)
By Aaron BlakeMarch 6, 2022 - Analysis
A shift in Americans’ willingness to pay more for Russia sanctions
After another week of Russian attacks in Ukraine, national polls show that the public has unified more in support for sanctions on Russia, and one survey finds a clear majority are willing to absorb higher prices at the pump.
By Scott ClementMarch 4, 2022 - Analysis
Lindsey Graham calls for assassinating Putin — while offering comparisons that show how fraught that is
And you need only look to the historical examples he cites: Brutus and Claus von Stauffenberg.
By Aaron BlakeMarch 4, 2022 - Analysis
The GOP’s roller-coaster ride with Putin
There was a time when it was okay with him -- after he interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump. But other than that, it's unclear why conservative pundits erred on the side of sympathizing with him.
By Aaron BlakeMarch 3, 2022 - Analysis
The heated Jan. 6 email exchange between Trump’s and Pence’s lawyers, annotated
A Trump lawyer and a Pence lawyer sparred heatedly before and after the Jan. 6 insurrection about having Pence overturn the election. Here's their exchange, with analysis and context.
By Aaron BlakeMarch 3, 2022 - Analysis
4 big moments from the Texas primary
And what they can tell us about the state of both parties going into November's midterm elections.
By Amber PhillipsMarch 2, 2022