Shane Goldmacher, one of our national political correspondents, looks at the Republican candidates who spoke this week at their party’s unusual midterm convention, called a “Trumpapalooza.” Some other vulnerable candidates avoided it because of President Trump’s unpopularity.

The president demonised Democrats in an attempt to wangle votes in midterms despite backlash over Iran war

With his approval rating at a historic low, Donald Trump has brought down the curtain on the Republicans’ first ever midterm convention by pleading with supporters to do him “the biggest favour” and “pretend” they are voting for him in November’s US elections.

The president is facing a growing backlash over rising prices and the war in Iran. Sweeping losses for the Republican party could effectively turn Trump into a lame duck for his final two years in the White House.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Callaghan O’Hare/Reuters

© Photograph: Callaghan O’Hare/Reuters

© Photograph: Callaghan O’Hare/Reuters

On the second night of the Republican gathering in Dallas, Vice President JD Vance was the headliner. But President Trump returned to center stage.

© Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

Vice-president dog-whistled, exaggerated claims of success and echoed Trump talking points to excited audience

JD Vance made a clear pitch that he should be the heir to Donald Trump on Thursday night, closing out the Republicans’ midterm convention with a blistering speech that featured exaggerated claims of success, criticism of Democrats as “lunatics” and an aggressive dismissal of a protester waving a Mexican flag.

Speaking in Dallas, the vice-president showed he could channel the basest instincts of his boss, filling his remarks with dog whistles and echoing Trump’s false claims that Democrats “cheered” the 7 October massacre of Israelis.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Former Anthropic employee Jacob Coxon said AI will become ‘superhuman systems’ that can cause human extinction by the end of the decade

Just a day after three Anthropic researchers warned that artificial intelligence could kill off humanity within the decade, lawmakers have begun lashing out about the risks of the burgeoning technology.

Ted Cruz, a republican senator from Texas, said in an interview on ABC’s The View, that AI poses a “catastrophic risk” and that he “read that whole tweet thread that that developer put out. It was highly concerning.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters