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