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There isn’t a day goes by that Donald Trump doesn’t prove the maxim that there is no such thing as bad publicity. The 45th president of the United States of America claims that he shouldn’t face charges over the 2021 Capitol Hill insurrection because – as a former president – he should have immunity for everything he did while in office. It’s reminiscent of the claim made by his predecessor Richard Nixon that: “Well, when the president does it … that means that it is not illegal.”
This will be up to the US Supreme Court to decide. This week the court ruled it would hear his arguments for why he should have immunity for everything he did as president. If they find that’s the case, he will not have to face trial over the events of January 6. But even if the court – which is stacked with justices that he appointed as president – decides he has no immunity, he may now not face trial until after November’s election.
Closer to home, close observers of the House of Commons may have seen Lee Anderson sitting on the government benches at prime minister’s questions this week, despite having lost the party whip over remarks the leadership deems unacceptable and for which he has refused to apologise. It seems as if some in the party of government are still struggling to come up with a working definition of Islamophobia.
Both Labour and the Tories were handed their hats at Thursday’s much-trailed byelection in Rochdale, appropriately enough by the titfer-sporting George Galloway, who won with almost 40% of the votes cast. The man endorsed as Labour’s candidate for what had been a safe seat, Azhar Ali, was disendorsed before the election, without time for the Labour leadership to be allowed to nominate a successor. More broadly though, the result will leave Keir Starmer and his team wondering how exactly they can deal with a growing split in the party over its approach to the conflict in Gaza.
This week we also marvelled at the Nasa mission to redirect an asteroid by sending up a spacecraft to collide with it, something intriguingly described as “like an ant hitting two buses”. We quailed at the prospect of the retirement age being raised to 71. And we pondered the importance of maps – which tell us as much about who we are as where we are.
From our colleagues around the world meanwhile, we looked at mounting concerns that the conflict between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda could escalate into a regional war. We asked whether the US is overestimating China’s power and we wondered why billionaires are building bunkers and buying islands. Could they be preparing for the worst or just setting up their own private fiefdoms?
As ever, do try to make time to listen to our podcast. The latest edition of The Conversation Weekly is a personal tale of intellectual humility which reminds us of the importance of being open-minded.
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