WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is out to win votes by scoring some laughs at the expense of Donald Trump, unleashing mockery with the goal of getting under the former president's thin skin and reminding the country of his blunders. Like a comic honing his routine, the Democratic president has been testing and expanding his jokes over the past few weeks. It started with jabs about his Republican opponent's financial problems, and now Biden regularly pokes fun at Trump's coiffed hair, his pampered upbringing and his attempt to make a few extra bucks by selling a special edition of the Bib ..read more

ATLANTA (AP) — As Donald Trump campaigns for a return to the White House, he often reaches back more than 40 years and seven administrations to belittle President Joe Biden by comparing him to 99-year-old Jimmy Carter. Most recently, Trump used his first campaign stop after the start of his criminal hush money trial in New York to needle the 46th president by saying the 39th president, a recently widowed hospice patient who left office in 1981, was selfishly pleased with Biden's record. “Biden is the worst president in the history of our country, worse than Jimmy Carter by a long shot,” Trump ..read more

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — State Rep. Phil Lyman was selected as the Utah Republican gubernatorial nominee at the party's convention Saturday, though political observers say incumbent Gov. Spencer Cox remains the likely favorite in the upcoming primary. Lyman, a former county commissioner turned legislator best known for organizing an illegal ATV ride in 2014 in protest of a federal land decision, won about two-thirds of votes from the nearly 4,000 delegates, who tend to skew to the right. Utah GOP voters generally prefer moderates in statewide elections, however, so the more moderate Cox, who took ..read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to deliver an election-year roast Saturday night before a large crowd of journalists, celebrities and politicians against the backdrop of growing protests over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war. In previous years, Biden, like most of his predecessors, has used the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner to needle media coverage of his administration and jab at political rivals, notably Republican rival Donald Trump. But with protesters pledging to gather outside the dinner site, any effort by Biden to make light of Washington’s foib ..read more

(The Hill) — Vice President Harris opened up about criticism over her laugh in an upcoming interview. Harris, in an interview with "The Drew Barrymore Show" that will air Monday, acknowledged that people often like to make fun of public figures when they trip or fall, and then mentioned the talk about how she laughs. "You were asking me earlier about what it means to be, like, the first woman. And, you know, it’s funny, because people still got to get used to this, right?" Harris said in the clip, obtained by Mediaite. "I mean, my staff, for example, sometimes they’ll show me little things tha ..read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is returning to the Middle East on his seventh diplomatic mission to the region since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began more than six months ago, the State Department said Saturday. Blinken is traveling to Saudi Arabia on Monday, just two days since arriving back in Washington after a trip to China. Blinken will attend a World Economic Forum conference and meet with Arab foreign ministers in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. An Israeli foreign ministry official says Blinken will visit Israel on Tuesday, a stop not mentioned in the State Department ..read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — Five people were shot late Friday outside a nightclub in the nation’s capital, police said. The shootings happened around 11:30 p.m. in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington. Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Chief Ramey Kyle said officers were called after a dispute started inside the nightclub and “spilled into the street.” The five people who were shot had non-life-threatening injuries, he said. Police arrested a suspect nearby and recovered a firearm, Kyle said. Police did not immediately provide additional details about the suspect or what prompted the disp ..read more

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump says he wants to hold a major campaign event at New York's Madison Square Garden featuring Black hip-hop artists and athletes. His aides speak of making appearances in Chicago, Detroit and Atlanta with leaders of color and realigning American politics by flipping Democratic constituencies. But five months before the first general election votes are cast, the former president's campaign has little apparent organization to show for its ambitious plans. The Trump campaign removed its point person for coalitions and hasn't announced a replacement. The Republican Party ..read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden had a question. “Is it true?” Biden asked Sen. Alex Padilla, referencing the roughly 25% of U.S. students in kindergarten through high school who are Latino. Padilla said the question came as he was waiting with the president in a back room at a library in Culver City, California, before an event in February. It was exactly the kind of opening Padilla was hoping to get with the Democratic president. Biden was weighing his reelection campaign, executive actions on immigration and what to do about a southern border that has been marked by historic numbers of ..read more

Pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses are getting very different responses from elected officials in red and blue states.   Texas is seeing pushback after immediately responding to a peaceful demonstration with arrests, and Florida's Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has threatened expulsion for students who engage in unsanctioned activism, while New York has made clear the National Guard will not be called in as authorities negotiate with the flagship Columbia University encampment.   “In general, officials are dispersing these camps before they can form more forcefully in re ..read more