America is a place where there’s now an ‘immunity to the unacceptable’

Published

2 years ago

May 11, 2023

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At the heart of the latest twist in the Trump story is a question you can pose a few different ways.

Is there a line for Donald Trump? Is there a point of no return for the former president? Could a sex offender be president?

So often it’s said that the people of the rural counties in just a few of America’s states are those who can swing the country’s direction.

In the shadow of Virginia’s Blue Ridge mountains, Donald Trump has always found his loyalists and there are, of course, those who will never be moved.

Driving south along the west side of the Shenandoah National Park, I passed a house that’s barely visible behind the Trump flags, banners and yard signs. One said “Behead Biden”.

But beyond this unwavering loyalty, what about the more nuanced Republican voters?

Shenandoah County has voted for a Republican presidential candidate in every election since 1932.

The whole electoral district in this part of Virginia has not supported a Democrat for president since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.

‘Everyone makes mistakes. Nobody’s perfect’

In a break from mowing her lawn in the small town of Mount Jackson, Bobbi Rosenberger agreed to a quick chat.

Self-deprecating, she wondered aloud if her hat would make her look like a “redneck” – her word.

The conservative values here are as strong as they get. It’s a Republican heartland, and the conversations are a lesson for those who choose to ridicule or dismiss the people here as thoughtless Trumpian rednecks, as so many do.

“I am not stuck in my political designations. I follow what candidate I think would be best,” she told me.

“I am not going to pigeonhole myself into one candidate. I want to see who decides to run. I probably would vote for Trump. But I want to see all the other candidates before I make my final decision.”

I asked about the fact that a jury has concluded that he is a sex offender. Her answer was telling. Yes, she was willing to forgive him but that’s a judgement based as much on how much she despises the alternative.

“Everyone makes mistakes. Nobody’s perfect.”

In our conversation, her despair about what she sees as the damaging, liberal, woke direction of the country under Biden was palpably clear.

“Biden is a shameful disgrace as a leader for our country. Someone who cannot even give a speech properly, who can’t hold the train of thought. He obviously has dementia.”

Some don’t believe the sex offender story. They think the complainant, E Jean Carroll, was just after the money. They buy the Trump line that it’s all a witch-hunt.

Others accept that his moral compass might be off, but it doesn’t matter to them.

They feel his ‘no bull’ attitude represents them. He is their street fighter, he says it like it is, he isn’t like other politicians. Warts and all, they’ll take him over all the others.

‘Welcome to America’

Up the road, on the back of his tractor, I met Bobby Jones.

“It’s sad to see – the Republicans and the Democrats; it ain’t like it used to be where they had just small differences. Now they stand like two completely different countries,” Mr Jones said.

I asked about the latest Trump twists.

“I’m not gonna say he’s a good man or bad man,” he told me.

“All I’m saying is that on my standard of decency, he at least did try to help get rid of abortion.

“He did try to help keep jobs going. He did try to keep jobs in the United States. He tried to look out for the people. If he did something immoral, I don’t agree with that. I think it’s terrible. But look at what Biden is doing. Have mercy here!

“In DC and all the northern areas we hear about how they vote for the Democrats. Well, how can they with all that going on?” he asked.

A few fields away, another revealing conversation with factory worker Rick Lutz.

“He’s just paying the price because they are scared of him. They just want to crucify Trump. Like I said, they’re all dirty. But I like Trump better!” Mr Lutz told me, adding with a laugh: “Welcome to America.”

You might think the most damaging part of this latest twist in the Trump story was his own response, in recorded evidence played at the E Jean Carroll trial, where he was asked about comments he’d made in 2005 in the infamous Access Hollywood tapes.

“It’s true with stars that they can grab women by the pussy?” he was asked by E Jean Carroll’s lawyer.

Trump replied, “Well if you look over the last million years, I guess that’s been largely true. Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately or fortunately.”

Or fortunately?

It so often feels like America has got to a place where the entrenchment, the polarisation and the distrust of the other is so deep that nothing shifts views. It is a place where there’s now an immunity to the unacceptable.

US

Trump’s tariffs hit the West’s busiest port – with traffic down by nearly a third

Published

16 hours ago

May 10, 2025

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Trump's tariffs hit the West's busiest port - with traffic down by nearly a third

Driving south from Los Angeles along the coast, you can’t miss the San Pedro port complex. Dozens of red cranes pop up from behind the freeway.

The sound of industry whirs as containers are unloaded from hulking ocean liners on to waiting lorries and freight trains that seem to never end.

The port of Long Beach combines with the port of Los Angeles to make the busiest port in the western hemisphere.

The colourful metal containers contain anything and everything, from clothes and car parts to fridges and furniture. Around $300bn of cargo passes through here every year and 60% of it is from China.

But at the moment, it’s far less busy than usual. Traffic is down by a third, compared with this time last year.

In the closest part of the mainland United States to China, this is Donald Trump‘s new tariffs policy in action, the direct result of frozen trade between the two countries.

“For the month of May, we expect that we’ll be down about 30% from where we were in May of 2024,” Noel Hacegaba, the port of Long Beach chief operating officer, tells Sky News.

“What that translates into is fewer ships and fewer containers. It means fewer trucks will be needed to transport those containers from the port terminal to the warehouses. It means fewer jobs.”

‘We’re barely surviving’

Helen Andrade knows all about that. She and her husband, Javier, are both lorry drivers. Helen only got her license in the last few years, so when work dries up, she is likely to be impacted first.

“I’m lying awake at night worrying about this,” she says.

“We’re barely surviving and we’re already seeing work slowing down. In my case, there are two incomes that are not going to come in. How are we going to survive?”

Helen adds: “I’m scared for the next two weeks, because over the next two weeks, I’m going to see where this is going, whether I have saved up enough money, which I know that I have not.”

In Long Beach, one in five jobs is connected to the port. But what happens in the port doesn’t stay here.

The shipments reach every part of the country and already, a shortage of certain items imported from China and price hikes are taking hold.

A short drive away is downtown LA’s toy district, a multicultural area consisting of a dozen streets of pastel-coloured buildings, home to importers and wholesalers of toys, much of which is imported from China.

One woman in a toy warehouse is reading a Chinese newspaper. She points to a headline about the 145% tariffs.

“I can’t afford this, I can’t afford this, I’m going to have to put prices up,” she says, exasperated.

Empty shelves

Around the corner is a party shop, selling gift bags and wrapping paper. There are empty shelves which would otherwise have been full.

“These empty spaces are where we stopped importing from China because the tariffs are too high,” says the owner, Jacob Mok.

He tells Sky News: “I’ll keep watching China and America negotiations. I hope as soon as possible they reach a deal because this is very hard for us.”

Jacob is not alone. The impact is being felt throughout the supply chain.

US trade secretary Scott Bessent will meet his Chinese counterpart in Switzerland this weekend.

Pressure is growing on Mr Trump’s team to strike a deal with China and do it quickly.

US

From Chicago’s south suburbs to Rome: Dolton’s faithful say ‘Bob’ was the boy destined to be pope

Published

16 hours ago

May 10, 2025

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From Chicago's south suburbs to Rome: Dolton's faithful say 'Bob' was the boy destined to be pope

He was the boy from the small town with big dreams of becoming pope.

Robert Prevost, or “Bob” as they knew him in Dolton, south Chicago, was the youngest son of Louis, a teacher, and Mildred, a librarian.

Devoted in their faith, they were prominent figures in St Mary’s Church.

Scott Kuzminski remembers “Millie”, the chorister, with the “voice of an angel”, and her son with a calling on his life.

“Some children dream to be the top soccer player, or rich or something, and he dreamed he was going to be the Pope,” he said.

The railroad runs through this sleepy suburb, now destined to become a place of pilgrimage.

That’s an answer to prayer for Kathleen Steenson, who believed from childhood that her church would give the world a pope.

She said: “Our faith in this little parish is so strong… and in my little mind, I thought, the next pope has got to come from here because we’re such a great little community.”

St Mary’s Church, where the Pope served as an altar boy before entering the priesthood, is derelict now, symbolic of the challenges.

But to many, this is holy ground, illuminated by the colours cast by the sun shining through the stained glass.

And at the Cathedral of the High Name in the heart of Chicago, there’s a renewed sense of optimism.

“It’s a miracle and a great blessing,” a man leaving a celebratory mass for the new pontiff told me.

A woman, who had also been in the congregation, added: “I hope that he can help people to see beyond the divisions of the country and remember the poor.”

“It’s not just the virtues that he extols,” said another man, “I’m hoping he’ll bring inspiration to all of us to preach love and that the people in Washington will listen.”

Earlier this year, Cardinal Prevost, as he was then, questioned President Trump’s stance on immigration and vice president JD Vance’s interpretation of Christianity.

Leo XIV is the first Pope from North America, but spent years as a missionary in Peru, South America.

And it’s his pastoral heart that’s giving cause for hope in a deeply divided America.

US

Lawyer for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs claims there was ‘mutual violence’ between him and ex-girlfriend

Published

16 hours ago

May 10, 2025

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Lawyer for Sean 'Diddy' Combs claims there was 'mutual violence' between him and ex-girlfriend

A lawyer representing Sean “Diddy” Combs has told a court there was “mutual” domestic violence between him and his ex-girlfriend Casandra ‘Cassie’ Ventura.

Marc Agnifilo made the claim as he outlined some of the music star’s defence case ahead of the full opening of his trial next week.

Combs has pleaded not guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of
transportation for prostitution. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

Ms Ventura is expected to testify as a star witness for the prosecution during the trial in New York. The final stage of jury selection is due to be held on Monday morning.

Mr Agnifilo told the court on Friday that the defence would “take the position that there was mutual violence” during the pair’s relationship and called on the judge to allow evidence related to this.

The lawyer said Combs‘s legal team intended to argue that “there was hitting on both sides, behaviour on both sides” that constituted violence.

He added: “It is relevant in terms of the coercive aspects, we are admitting domestic violence.”

Ms Ventura’s lawyers declined to comment on the allegations.

US District Judge Arun Subramanian said he would rule on whether to allow the evidence on Monday.

Combs, 55, was present in the court on Friday.

He has been held in custody in Brooklyn since his arrest last September.

Prosecutors allege that Combs used his business empire for two decades to lure women with promises of romantic relationships or financial support, then violently coerced them to take part in days-long, drug-fuelled sexual performances known as “Freak Offs”.

Combs’s lawyers say prosecutors are improperly seeking to criminalise his “swinger lifestyle”. They have suggested they will attack the credibility of alleged victims in the case by claiming their allegations are financially motivated.

The trial is expected to last around eight weeks.