Maryland governor: GOP is a "circular firing squad" in trying to appease "dear leader" Trump
09 May 2021
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) criticized his party leadership's loyalty to former President Trump on "Meet the Press" Sunday, saying the GOP has becoming a "circular firing squad."
Why it matters: Hogan, a Trump critic, and said many Republicans are weary of criticizing the former president for fear of "retaliation" from Trump or the GOP, as House Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) has experienced.
- The debate over Trump's post-election hold on the GOP has gotten stronger since the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol, write Axios' Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei.
What they're saying: “It bothers me you have to swear fealty to the dear leader or you get kicked out of the party. It just doesn’t make any sense,” Hogan said.
- "It’s sort of a circular firing squad where we’re just attacking members of our own party instead of focusing on solving problems, or standing up and having an argument, that we can debate the Democrats on some of the things the Biden administration is pushing through.”
Go deeper: Pollster Frank Luntz says Trump may cost GOP the House in 2022
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.