Feb 3, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Despite Trump-Bloomberg feud, risers are a common debate secret

Photo: Fox News

President Trump used his Super Bowl interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, taped at Mar-a-Lago, to accuse Michael Bloomberg of wanting "a box for the debates to stand on," which led Bloomberg's campaign to say Trump was "lying."

Here's the thing: TV networks routinely offer a riser to debate participants. For example, former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, who has since dropped out, used one at September's Democratic debate in Houston.

Photo: Heidi Gutman/Disney via Getty Images

Go deeper: Trump-Bloomberg feuding reaches new levels

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Zach Dorfman of the Aspen Institute, author of Codebook
3 mins ago - Politics & Policy

The hazy line between politics and influence campaigns

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

The recent firestorm over the New York Post’s publication of stories relying on data from a hard drive allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden shows the increasingly hazy line between domestic political “dirty tricks” and a foreign-sponsored disinformation operation.

Why it matters: This haziness could give determined actors cover to conduct influence operations aimed at undermining U.S. democracy through channels that just look like old-fashioned hard-nosed politics.

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Maria Arias
53 mins ago - World

"I stood up for that": Pope Francis voices support for same-sex civil unions

Pope Francis at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Photo: Vatican Pool - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

Pope Francis voiced his support for same-sex civil unions for the first time as pope in the documentary “Francesco,” which premiered Wednesday at the Rome Film Festival, per the Catholic News Agency.

Why it matters: The pope’s remarks represent a break from the position of the Roman Catholic Church, which has long taught that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered" and contrary to natural law.

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Barak Ravid, author of from Tel Aviv
2 hours ago - World

Countries waiting to see if Trump wins before moving on Israel normalization

The delegation lands at Israel's Ben Gurion airport. Photo: Jack Guez/AFP via Getty

The White House is attempting to leverage momentum from Israel's normalization deals with Bahrain and the UAE to get more Arab countries on board before the U.S. election.

Driving the news: President Trump wants Sudan's removal from the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list to be accompanied by a pre-election announcement on Israel.

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