Articles written by Meg Kinnard


Sorted by date  Results 1 - 25 of 63

  • Trump is increasingly directing personal attacks against independent rival Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

    MEG KINNARD|May 10, 2024

    COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Donald Trump is known for leveling constant and often personal attacks on top rivals such as Joe Biden. Lately, he's increasingly taking that same approach against independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Among the recent jabs, Trump this past week posted a roughly four-minute video online in which he called Kennedy "fake," a "Democrat 'Plant'" and "Radical Left Liberal who's been put in place" to help the Democratic president. Trump railed against Kennedy's family as "a bunch of lunatics." "He is not a R...

  • Trump declines to endorse a national abortion ban. He says limits should be left to the states

    JILL COLVIN and MEG KINNARD|Apr 5, 2024

    NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump said Monday he believes abortion limits should be left to the states, outlining his position in a video in which he declined to endorse a national ban after months of mixed messages and speculation. "Many people have asked me what my position is on abortion and abortion rights," Trump said in the video posted on his Truth Social site. "My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both. And whatever...

  • Nikki Haley suspends her campaign and leaves Donald Trump as the last major Republican candidate

    STEVE PEOPLES and MEG KINNARD|Mar 6, 2024

    NEW YORK (AP) — Nikki Haley suspended her presidential campaign on Wednesday after being soundly defeated across the country on Super Tuesday, leaving Donald Trump as the last remaining major candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination. Haley didn't endorse the former president in a speech in Charleston, South Carolina. Instead, she challenged him to win the support of the moderate Republicans and independent voters who supported her. "It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support h...

  • Nikki Haley hasn't yet won a GOP contest. But she's vowing to keep fighting Donald Trump

    STEVE PEOPLES and MEG KINNARD|Feb 21, 2024

    GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — There are no wins on the horizon for Nikki Haley. Those close to the former United Nations ambassador, the last major Republican candidate standing in Donald Trump's path to the GOP's 2024 presidential nomination, are privately bracing for a blowout loss in her home state's primary election in South Carolina on Saturday. And they cannot name a state where she is likely to beat Trump in the coming weeks. But in an emotional address on Tuesday, Haley declared, "I refuse to quit." And in an interview, she vowed to stay i...

  • Nikki Haley is sharpening contrasts with Donald Trump in the South Carolina primary's closing days

    MEG KINNARD|Feb 16, 2024

    COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Nikki Haley is using the closing days of her South Carolina Republican primary matchup with Donald Trump to hone her argument that she is the lone remaining candidate who can unite Americans, despite the former president's electoral wins thus far and his popularity in her home state. It's a tall order for Haley as South Carolina prepares to vote on Saturday. Trump's 2016 primary win helped cement his front-runner status, and he boasts support from all of the state's top elected leaders and all but one of its congressional...

  • Despite 2 losses, Nikki Haley tries to claim victory thus far in the Republican presidential race

    MEG KINNARD|Jan 24, 2024

    NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Despite losing both Iowa and New Hampshire to Donald Trump,Nikki Haley is nevertheless trying to frame those losses as a victory and vowing to head off a "coronation" of Trump as the 2024 Republican nominee. The path through the next states to vote, however, may not be any easier. "The political class wanted us to believe that this race was over before it even began," Haley posted Tuesday night on X, after a speech in which she noted she was far from ready to cede any ground. "You proved them wrong, and I am so g...

  • Nikki Haley questions Trump's mental fitness after he appears to confuse her for Nancy Pelosi

    MEG KINNARD|Jan 19, 2024

    COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Nikki Haley on Saturday questioned whether Donald Trump is mentally capable of serving as president again after he repeatedly seemed to confuse her with former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a campaign speech. As she campaigned in Keene, New Hampshire, Haley referenced Trump's speech the night before, in which he mistakenly asserted that Haley was in charge of Capitol security on January 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the building seeking to stop the certification of his loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Tru...

  • A one-on-one debate between Haley and DeSantis could help decide the Republican alternative to Trump

    MEG KINNARD|Jan 10, 2024

    WAUKEE, Iowa (AP) — After spending much of the Republican presidential primary flanked by lower-polling rivals, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis will be alone on the debate stage Wednesday for the first time as they wage an increasingly contentious push to become the primary alternative to Donald Trump. The stakes are high for both Haley, the former U.N. ambassador, and DeSantis, the Florida governor. They hope that a strong debate performance in Iowa will lift their campaigns in the final days before Monday's caucuses, where a strong showing c...

  • Nikki Haley has bet her 2024 bid on South Carolina. But much of her home state leans toward Trump

    MEG KINNARD|Dec 27, 2023

    GILBERT, S.C. (AP) — Standing inside a rustic barn a short drive from the state capital, Henry McMaster shocked many South Carolina Republicans seven years ago by backing Donald Trump for president. Then the lieutenant governor, McMaster became the first statewide-elected official in the country to endorse Trump in 2016. The event was in Lexington County, the adopted political home of then-Gov. Nikki Haley, who had repeatedly criticized Trump and endorsed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Trump would win the 2016 primary in South Carolina and eventuall...

  • Nikki Haley doesn't mention slavery when asked what caused the Civil War. She later walks that back

    MEG KINNARD|Dec 27, 2023

    COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was asked at a New Hampshire town hall about the reason for the Civil War, and she didn't mention slavery in her response. She walked back her comments hours later. Asked during Wednesday night's town hall in Berlin what she believed had caused the war — the first shots of which were fired in her home state of South Carolina — Haley talked about the role of government, replying that it involved "the freedoms of what people could and couldn't do." She then turned the question ba...

  • Donald Trump will look to upstage Clemson grad Nikki Haley at her alma mater's football rivalry game

    BILL BARROW and MEG KINNARD|Nov 26, 2023

    COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Donald Trump is using a college football rivalry weekend to bask among his supporters in a state and region that are key to his presidential fortunes, while potentially upstaging his Republican opponent Nikki Haley on her home turf. The former president and current front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination will be on hand Saturday when South Carolina hosts Clemson, Haley's alma mater, in the annual Palmetto Bowl. Trump's campaign has not detailed his itinerary. But if his visit is similar to his trip to Ames, Iowa f...

  • South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott abruptly ends 2024 presidential bid, shocking even his campaign staff

    MEG KINNARD|Nov 12, 2023

    COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott abruptly announced late Sunday that he was dropping out of the 2024 race, a development that surprised his donors and stunned his campaign staff just two months before the start of voting in Iowa's leadoff GOP caucuses. The South Carolina senator, who entered the race in May with high hopes, made the surprise announcement on Fox News Channel's "Sunday Night in America" with Trey Gowdy, one of his closest friends. The news was so unanticipated that one campaign worker told The A...

  • Prosecutors in all 50 states urge Congress to strengthen tools to fight AI child sexual abuse images

    MEG KINNARD|Sep 6, 2023

    COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The top prosecutors in all 50 states are urging Congress to study how artificial intelligence can be used to exploit children through pornography, and come up with legislation to further guard against it. In a letter sent Tuesday to Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate, the attorneys general from across the country call on federal lawmakers to "establish an expert commission to study the means and methods of AI that can be used to exploit children specifically" and expand existing restrictions on c...

  • How the Georgia indictment against Donald Trump may be the biggest yet and other case takeaways

    NICHOLAS RICCARDI and MEG KINNARD|Aug 16, 2023

    The fourth indictment of former President Donald Trump may be the most sweeping yet. The sprawling, 98-page case unveiled late Monday night opens up fresh legal ground and exposes more than a dozen of Trump's allies to new jeopardy. But it also raises familiar legal issues of whether the First Amendment allows a politician to try to overturn an election. Already, Trump and his supporters are alleging the indictment is the product of a politicized, corrupt process to hobble him as he competes for the GOP nomination to face President Joe Biden...

  • With Trump newly indicted, here's what to know about the documents case and what's next

    MEG KINNARD|Jul 28, 2023

    Former President Donald Trump has been indicted on three additional charges in a case that accuses him of illegally possessing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, allegations that add fresh detail to the criminal case initially issued last month. Here's a look at the charges, the special counsel's investigation and how Trump's case differs from those of other politicians known to be in possession of classified documents: WHAT ARE THE NEW CHARGES? There are three new charges against Trump, as well as a new defendant in the case....

  • Nikki Haley's husband begins Africa deployment as she campaigns for 2024 GOP nomination

    MEG KINNARD|Jun 18, 2023

    CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Nikki Haley's husband deployed Saturday for a yearlong stint in Africa with the South Carolina Army National Guard, a mission that will encompass most of the remainder of her campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. "He's always been my rock," she said after a deployment ceremony for about 200 soldiers at The Citadel, a military college in Charleston. "We have both lived a life of service, and so when he goes off to deploy, my support is completely with him. If I happen to be running for president, h...

  • Who is Tim Scott? Here's what to know about the newest 2024 GOP presidential candidate

    MEG KINNARD|May 21, 2023

    NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — As Sen. Tim Scott enters the 2024 GOP presidential field, he will be eager to introduce himself to voters who might not know much about him. Here is what you should know about the South Carolina Republican: FOREMOST: FAITH Raised by a single mother, Scott, 57, talks often of how Frances Scott worked long hours as a nurse's assistant to provide for her two sons. It was a meager existence, the senator said, but it was centered around their strong Christian faith. At age 18, Scott became what he terms a "born-again b...

  • In 2024 campaign, kingmaker role again for South Carolina?

    MEG KINNARD|Feb 26, 2023

    CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina is accustomed to increased attention in the years leading up to presidential elections, with the state hosting the South's first voting contests for several of the last cycles. But even by those standards, 2024 feels different. Democrats elevated South Carolina to the top of their presidential primary calendar, leapfrogging Iowa and New Hampshire. Republicans, meanwhile, could potentially have two homegrown South Carolina presidential candidates in the race, a prospect that has already caused friction a...

  • Nikki Haley announces run for president, challenging Trump

    MEG KINNARD|Feb 15, 2023

    CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, announced her candidacy for president on Tuesday, becoming the first major challenger to former President Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination. The announcement, delivered in a tweeted video, marks an about-face for the ex-Trump Cabinet official, who said two years ago that she wouldn't challenge her former boss for the White House in 2024. But she changed her mind in recent months, citing, among other things, the country's e...

  • Trump opens 2024 run, says he's 'more committed' than ever

    MEG KINNARD and HOLLY RAMER|Jan 29, 2023

    COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump kicked off his 2024 White House bid with stops Saturday in New Hampshire and South Carolina, events in early-voting states marking the first campaign appearances since announcing his latest run more than two months ago. "Together we will complete the unfinished business of making America great again," Trump said at an evening event in Columbia to introduce his South Carolina leadership team. Trump and his allies hope the events in states with enormous power in selecting the nominee will o...

  • Trump's tax returns to be discussed by congressional panel

    JOSH BOAK and MEG KINNARD|Dec 21, 2022

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to publicly release years of Donald Trump's tax returns, which the former president has long tried to shield. Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., has kept a close hold on the panel's actions, including whether the panel will meet in a public or private session. And if lawmakers move forward with plans to release the returns, it's unclear how quickly that would happen. But after a yearslong battle that ultimately resulted in th...

  • Vocabulary of voting: A glossary guide to the 2022 midterms

    MEG KINNARD|Nov 6, 2022

    WASHINGTON (AP) — What's behind some of the notable nomenclature facing voters trying to decipher the who/what/why/when/where of casting their ballots this year? Here are some key terms to know ahead of the midterm elections: ADVANCE VOTING The term "advance voting" is preferred in states where voters have several options to vote before Election Day. It can mean a few different things: mail-in ballots, absentee ballots and early, in-person voting. ABSENTEE BALLOTS Voters who can't go to the polls on Election Day itself often vote absentee, g...

  • Appeals court: Graham must testify in Georgia election probe

    MEG KINNARD|Oct 21, 2022

    COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham must testify before a special grand jury investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and others illegally tried to influence the 2020 election in Georgia, a federal appeals court said Thursday. The ruling by a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals paves the way for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to bring Graham in for questioning. She wants to ask the South Carolina Republican about phone calls he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in the...

  • EXPLAINER: What is Louisiana's 'jungle primary'?

    MEG KINNARD|Oct 19, 2022

    On Nov. 8, Louisiana voters go to the polls, just like in states across the country — only they'll technically be voting in a primary election that includes candidates from all corners. Their votes may determine which candidates will occupy offices at all levels of the state's government, or which candidates go on to a runoff. Here's a look at Louisiana's unique system, unofficially called a "jungle primary," and discussions around changing it: WHAT IS A 'JUNGLE PRIMARY'? In what's thought of as a traditional primary, political candidates o...

  • Hurricane Ian heads for Carolinas after pounding Florida

    MEG KINNARD and ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON|Sep 30, 2022

    CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A revived Hurricane Ian set its sights on South Carolina's coast Friday and the historic city of Charleston, with forecasters predicting a storm surge and floods after the megastorm caused catastrophic damage in Florida and left people trapped in their homes. With all of South Carolina's coast under a hurricane warning, a steady stream of vehicles left Charleston on Thursday, many likely heeding officials' warnings to seek higher ground. Storefronts were sandbagged to ward off high water levels in an area prone to i...

Page Down