Joel Embiid had 28 points, 11 rebounds and six assists as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 121-105 on Tuesday at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Philadelphia had 15 steals, with Jimmy Butler leading the 76ers with five.
Brandon Ingram had 36 points on 16-of-20 shooting for the 26-25 Lakers, who have lost four of their last five. The 33-18 76ers have won six of their last eight.
Los Angeles played without LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma and Lonzo Ball, who were all sidelined with injuries.
What’s Next?
The Lakers will play eight of their next nine games on the road but don’t have to leave town for the first, which is against the L.A. Clippers on Thursday. The 76ers will go up the coast to face the Golden State Warriors on the same day.
This article will be updated to provide more information soon.
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Seoul, South Korea – For the United States and its geopolitical goals in East Asia, few scenarios would be better than a trilateral alliance with Japan and South Korea that could keep China in check and contain nuclear-armed North Korea.
But plans for a united front continue to buckle under the weight of South Korea and Japan’s bitter shared history, analysts say, strengthening Beijing’s hand in the region and threatening efforts to rein in Pyongyang’s nuclear programme ahead of a second summit between US President Donald Trump and the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un.
Relations between Seoul and Tokyo have remained icy since Japan’s 1910-45 colonisation of the Korean peninsula.
In recent months, the two sides have also been sparring over a military confrontation off the Korean peninsula amid ongoing debates over Japan’s treatment of forced Korean labourers and its abuse of “comfort women” – a Japanese euphemism for girls and women forced into prostitution – during World War II.
“The US has been trying to promote trilateral cooperation including South Korea and Japan,” said Ryu Yongwook, a professor of international relations at the National University of Singapore.
“But the progressives in South Korea and the conservatives in Japan cannot be genuine friends.”
Radar spat
On Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe omitted the usual mention of South Korea in his annual policy address, focusing instead on improving ties with Beijing and Pyongyang.
The speech followed Japanese allegations that a South Korean warship in December used its fire-lock radar on one of its patrol jets. Seoul denied the claim, and the issue has been snowballing since, with Seoul accusing Tokyo of making multiple aggressive fly-bys of its navy.
Both countries have uploaded videos to YouTube to back their claims.
Few are surprised by what Ryu called the recent “childish fight” between the two neighbours given their bitter past.
“But it’s not going to go away,” added Ryu, noting that decades-old grievances between the two US allies seem impossible to reconcile.
South Korea honours ‘comfort women’ on Seoul buses (2:34)
In November, a Seoul court angered Tokyo after ruling that forced labourers had the right to sue Japanese companies for compensation. Tokyo insists the issue was settled under a treaty signed in 1965.
Meanwhile, a 2015 deal addressing the issue of “comfort women” inked by both countries also unravelled last year after Seoul announced it would dissolve a foundation funded by Japan, essentially quashing what it called a “flawed” agreement.
Japanese officials are now complaining of so-called “Korea fatigue”, as issues between the two sides continue to present stumbling blocks to progress, said Tetsuo Katani, a senior fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs.
For the US, managing an alliance alongside two countries with such sensitive histories has never been easy. But past US administrations at least realised the value in creating a united front in the region to counter perceived threats from North Korea and China.
“During an earlier South Korean-Japanese dispute, the Obama administration quietly but quite firmly played a mediator role behind the scenes, sending strong messages to both Tokyo and Seoul,” said Bruce Klingner of The Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC.
But under Barack Obama’s successor, interest seems to be waning, according to some analysts.
Trump’s “America First” approach and treatment of allies has “created distrust in the US role in South Korea and Japan”, said Lee Sangsoo, head of the Korea center at the Institute for Security and Development Policy.
Former Secretary of Defence James Mattis suggested Trump’s treatment of US allies as a key reason behind his sudden resignation in December. An ongoing tussle over getting South Korea to pay more for military cost-sharing is also raising fears of US troop withdrawal from the peninsula.
Historic year of inter-Korea relations sees drop in tensions (2:19)
In the absence of a united policy front on North Korea and other security concerns, leaders in the region may be eyeing a future in East Asia where the US plays a less prominent role, analysts say.
In his Monday address, Japan’s Abe spoke of taking matters on North Korea into his own hands, meeting Kim directly to address their diplomatic troubles.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who met Kim three times last year, has also been acting quickly to improve ties with North Korea, despite calls by the US to move in step with denuclearisation. Moon may have hurt US trust when he called on leaders in Europe to ease sanctions on North Korea last October, which European officials brushed aside.
With a second summit between Trump and Kim in the wings, the US’s splintering alliance is “not going to help” their efforts to negotiate with North Korea, Ryu noted. It’s also “not going to hurt Beijing’s interest”, either, if the three-way alliance shows signs of crumbling instead of presenting a united front.
But some analysts expect that the three sides will see the importance of keeping this alliance together, difficult as it may be.
This week, observers speculated that US Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris may have broached the topic of frictions between Seoul and Tokyo with officials in Seoul at a meeting on Monday, but this has not been confirmed.
“These two countries need to cooperate on security issues such as the North Korean nuclear issue and the rise of China as potential security concern,” said Ryu.
“In near future, both South Korea and Japan will come together and put these minor issues on the sideline and at least find a semblance of cooperation.”
Tesla is tweaking its Model X and Model S lineup again.
As spotted by Electrek, the automaker has launched cheaper versions of its Model X and Model S with a 100kWh battery pack, now that you can’t buy the 75kWh iteration.
It’s now selling the Model S for $85,000, with its range locked by software to 310 miles (498 kilometres). The Model X goes for $88,000, with a 270-mile (434-kilometre) range.
The updated Model X offering.
Image: Mashable screenshot
You can still buy the regular 100kWh versions of the Model X and Model S, which adds better range. These cars will cost $8,000 more, and will have the “Extended Range” title tacked at the end of their respective model names, and come slightly cheaper than they were previously.
The faster models, which used to be known as the Model S and Model X P100D is now the “Model S and X Performance,” and are priced at $112,000 for the Model S and $117,000 for the Model X.
Tesla has also unbundled “Ludicrous Mode” from these performance models, so if you want that acceleration you’ll have to cough up $20,000 for the upgrade.
These price changes come after CEO Elon Musk suddenly ended sales of the cheapest versions of the Model S and Model X at the start of January, which both had a 75 kWh battery pack. Now, Tesla only produces one type of battery for the Model X and Model S.
The slimming of options is part of Tesla’s bid to simplify its manufacturing processes — which included the cutting of seven standard colors down to five last September — as it tries to hit missed production targets and looks to turn a profit.
Tesla also cut down part of its workforce earlier this month, and its Q4 2018 earnings call on Wednesday should help paint a clearer picture of the automaker’s future after a very, very challenging year.
Jahlil Okafor had 27 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks as the New Orleans Pelicans upset the Houston Rockets 121-116 on Tuesday at Toyota Center in Houston.
James Harden had 37 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and four steals for the 29-21 Rockets. The 23-28 Pels snapped a three-game losing skid.
New Orleans played without Anthony Davis, Julius Randle and Nikola Mirotic, each of whom were sidelined with injuries.
Jahlil Okafor Gives Pelicans Hope Amid Anthony Davis Drama
The following were Okafor’s 2017-18 stats two years after the Philadelphia 76ers drafted him third overall: 6.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in 12.6 minutes per game.
The following are Okafor’s 2018-19 stats over his past five contests since he entered the starting lineup for Davis: 21.2points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in 33.0 minutes per game.
Davis’ days with the Pels are numbered after he requested a trade over the weekend, perAdrian Wojnarowskiof ESPN. But Okafor may be able to give the Pels life after AD.
With starting center Clint Capela out with a thumb injury, the Rockets are playing small with 6’8″ Kenneth Faried and 6’6″ PJ Tucker manning the paint. But during the Pelicans’ upset win Tuesday, Okafor made the Rockets pay.
On Twitter, Tim MacMahonof ESPN.com called Okafor “the best player on the floor” through three quarters.Jay Kingof The Athletic praised his work ethic, citing his improved shape and skill set.Trevor Laneof Lakers Nation even praised Okafor’s defense against Harden on one sequence.
It’s only been five games, and Okafor’s chances of ever having a Davis-like impact seem remote at best. But he is starting to look like a long-term answer down low for the Pels, who have a lot of questions to figure out as they move on without Davis.
Clint Capela’s Absence Proves He’s Rockets’ 2nd-Most Important Player
The Rockets have stayed afloat without Capela, going 5-3 since he was sidelined with a torn right thumb ligament. But the common thread in the three defeats is hard to ignore.
In a 145-142 loss to Brooklyn on Jan. 16, Nets starting center Jarrett Allen had 20 points and 24 boards.
Five days later, Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid had 32 points and 14 boards in 27 minutes in a 121-93 victory.
Including Okafor, the opposing starting centers in the Rockets’ last three losses have averaged 26.3 points and 16.7 rebounds.
Faried, who recently signed with Houston as a free agent, wasn’t around for the loss against the Nets. He’s a vacuum cleaner on the boards and has shown a good rapport with Harden for easy buckets.
However, larger bigs like Okafor can give Faried problems. He did have 19 points and 11 boards Tuesday, but he also can’t play all 48 minutes, which led to PJ Tucker seeing some time at center.
The Pels outscored the Rockets 70-40 in the paint and outrebounded them 55-45. Those figures are irrelevant when Harden, Eric Gordon and others are draining three-pointers with aplomb, but against the Pelicans, the Rockets shot only 39.6 percent from the field.
Faried can hold down the fort for now and should be an excellent backup when Capela returns. But the Rockets need Capela at 100 percent for any shot to make a deep playoff run. According to Basketball Reference, the 7-footer is first on the team in offensive rating, second in win shares/48 minutes and second in player efficiency rating. He’s also made 63.1 percent of his shots this season.
Nine-time All-Star Chris Paul is an excellent floor general and defender who will go into the Basketball Hall of Fame someday. The team needs him healthy down the stretch to have a shot at making a deep playoff run as well. But the Rockets have sorely missed Capela in their last three losses, and they won’t go far without him come mid-April.
What’s Next?
Both teams face the Denver Nuggets next. New Orleans will host them on Wednesday, and Houston will play at Denver on Friday.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks with the media after touring the W.H. Bagshaw Company in Nashua, New Hampshire on Tuesday. | Scott Eisen/Getty Images
The billionaire looked a lot like a 2020 candidate in his early state visit.
DOVER, N.H. — Michael Bloomberg looked alot like a traditional presidential hopeful on Tuesday with a well-attended speech in New Hampshire, a factory visit and a walking tour of local businesses. But he didn’t sound much like a Democratic candidate.
Other than his sharp criticisms of Donald Trump on climate change, the government shutdown and the president’s governing style, the New York billionaire seemed intent on testing the limits of how far he could deviate from Democratic Party orthodoxy.
Story Continued Below
Some of the most popular issues among Democratic candidates — tuition free college, Medicare for all and a wealth tax — were among the proposals Bloomberg deemed unrealistic, too expensive and even unconstitutional during his one-day New Hampshire swing.
The billionaire slammed a Medicare for All proposal floated by 2020 candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, saying the country could “never afford” replacing the employer-offered health care system in its entirety.
As for tuition free college, former New York City mayor was similarly dismissive. “Free college tuition would be a nice thing to do but unfortunately professors want to get paid,” Bloomberg said. “It’s totally impractical.”
The Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat managed to find some common ground: he supports citizenship for Dreamers, and green cards for other undocumented immigrants. He also supports Medicare for those without health insurance, but he does not want to do away with the employer-provided model. He calls for a more progressive tax rate, but sees the wealth tax advocated by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) as going too far.
Bloomberg says he is putting together the details of a Green New Deal, but offered few details aside from an emphasis that it should be ‘practical.’
“I believe that that plan should be bold and ambitious and most importantly achievable,” Bloomberg said in Manchester. “I’m a little bit tired of listening to things are pie in the sky, that we never are going to pass, are never going to afford. I think it’s just disingenuous to promote those things. You’ve got to do something that’s practical.”
Bloomberg’s jibes at his potential rivals Tuesday stood out in a campaign where candidates and would-be candidates have largely avoided criticism of one another so far, saving it all for President Trump.
Later in the day, Warren hit back at Bloomberg’s claim that her wealth tax proposal is “probably unconstitutional.”
“Billionaires like Howard Schultz and Michael Bloomberg want to keep a rigged system in place that benefits only them and their buddies. and they plan to spend gobs of cash to try and buy the presidency to keep it that way. Not on my watch,” the Massachusetts Democrat said in a tweet.
Bloomberg, who has not yet announced his intentions for 2020, started Tuesday with a speech to a crowded room at St. Anselm’s College, a key stop for any candidate hoping to make their mark in New Hampshire. He played up his local roots — Bloomberg grew up in Medford, near Boston.
In the afternoon, he toured a factory in Nashua, where he spoke with workers about jobs and the economy and held court with dozens of reporters. Later in the day, he went up to Dover for a downtown walking tour with Bill Shaheen, a Democratic National Committeeman and the husband of Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. In the evening, Bloomberg headlined a house party in Concord.
Tuesday’s trip was Bloomberg’s second visit to the Granite State this cycle. He also sparked 2020speculation in an trip to New Hampshire in October.
Bloomberg says he’s still undecided about a 2020 run.
“You just get a feel if you can relate,” Bloomberg said of his New Hampshire visit.
No one candidate would knock him out of the running, the New York billionaire said. He’s focused on whether his talents would be most useful in the race or working with Bloomberg Philanthropies. The billionaire funds Everytown for Gun Safety, which advocates for gun reform, and donates to the Sierra Club to shift the country from coal to clean energy sources.
Asked for his opinion of fellow billionaire Howard Schultz, who said he’s seriously considering running as an independent in 2020, Bloomberg said the former Starbucks chief has no chance of winning. Bloomberg considered an independent run of his own in 2016, but ultimately decided against it.
“You can’t win as an independent,” Bloomberg said. “All it would do would be to reelect Donald Trump.”
“Back in 2016 I said I did not want to be the one to give us Donald Trump, so I did not run as an independent,” Bloomberg continued. “And you got Donald Trump anyways. At least my obit won’t be ‘He’s the one who gave us Donald Trump.’”
Ever watchful of its competitors (and not so concerned about your privacy), Facebook has been paying people so it can keep tabs on their phone and internet usage.
As unearthed by TechCrunch, the research program dubbed “Project Atlas” sought users who would be willing to install an app that gave Facebook unfettered access to their iOS or Android phones for $20 a month, plus referral fees.
Facebook recruited users aged 13-35 years old via beta testing services like Applause, BetaBound and uTest, with the latter company running ads for a “paid social media research study” on Instagram and Snapchat.
Facebook hid its identity but had intermediaries like uTest advertise to teens on Snapchat & Instagram that they could earn money via “social media research” aka selling their privacy. 3/ pic.twitter.com/9ohODeYXxM
In the case of Applause and Betabound, Facebook isn’t explicitly mentioned on the sign-up pages for these studies. These pages do, however, disclose what kind of information will be extracted from users, and boy, it’s pretty extensive.
The below extract is from Applause’s project disclosure:
By installing the software, you’re giving our client permission to collect data from your phone that will help them understand how you browse the internet, and how you use the features in the apps you’ve installed. This data will only be used by our client, and won’t be shared with unaffiliated third parties. This means you’re letting our client collect information such as which apps are on your phone, how and when you use them, data about your activities and content within those apps, as well as how other people interact with you or your content within those apps.
The kind of data Facebook could access includes private messages and chats from apps, internet searches, emails, web browsing activity, and location information, as noted by Guardian Mobile Firewall’s Will Strafach.
As part of the study, users were even asked to provide screenshots of their Amazon purchases. Again, it’s a lot of information for a measly $20 gift card.
For underage users, Applause requires parental permission, and Facebook is mentioned in the consent agreement. There’s also this line about the company tracking your children.
There are no known risks associated with this project, however you acknowledge that the inherent nature of the project involves the tracking of personal information via your child’s use of Apps. You will be compensated by Applause for your child’s participation.
Usually when apps are tested on iOS, developers go through Apple’s TestFlight, the tech giant’s program to administer app tests.
In this case, Facebook circumvented TestFlight, instead directing participants to download the Facebook Research app from one of its sites.
Users are then asked to install an Enterprise Developer Certificate, then to “Trust” Facebook, which is meant for companies to distribute apps among their own employees.
As highlighted by TechCrunch, the Facebook Research app sent data to an address which is affiliated with Onavo, a VPN app which was pulled by Facebook last August after Apple warned that the app violated its policies on data gathering.
they didn’t even bother to change the function names, the selector names, or even the “ONV” class prefix. it’s literally all just Onavo code with a different UI. pic.twitter.com/ruqH69pUfq
Onavo was employed by Facebook to gather data on how users utilized competitor apps like Snapchat, as revealed in documents last December. As noted by Strafach, Facebook’s Research app appears to be a “poorly re-branded build of the banned Onavo app.”
As per its App Store guidelines, collecting information from other apps installed on a user’s a device is something that is a clear no-no with Apple, and one can expect that Apple is set to butt heads with Facebook again.
Mashable has contacted Facebook and Apple for comment.
Over the weekend, a tweet gained traction in which one such Venom fucker came for the neck of the “Ted Bundy fuckers” trying to defend themselves by comparing the two monster-loving fandoms.
Because one is a fictional, extraterrestrial symbiote from the Marvel universe, while the other is a convicted serial killer executed for the rape and murder of dozens of women in the 1970s.
Like we said, it’s a goddamn point.
don’t y’all ugly ass ted bundy fuckers dare compare urselves to venomfuckers. venom would eat y’all for stanning a whole ass criminal smh
Back in the day, Bundy had droves of actual female fans declaring their love for him during his murder trial, even leading him to propose and marry a woman while he was trying to defend himself against the charges. But the level of online horniness sparked by the doc even made Netflix urge viewers to find less murder-y guys to lust after on their service.
take me back to when everyone talked about wanting to get rawed by venom i don’t wanna see weirdos woobifying ted bundy
Meanwhile, Venom-sexuals became a thing all the way back in April 2018, when the first trailer for Sony’s film centered on the Marvel character dropped. If anything, it seemed like his fuckability was in spite of the fact that the symbiote happened to share a body with Hollywood heartthrob Tom Hardy.
And when it comes to Venom fuckers, who are we to judge? The writer of this very article also vehemently defended wanting to fuck that fish guy from The Shape of Water.
Sure, director Guillermo del Toro’s creature never went around eating people’s heads like Venomlikes to. But, like, a symbiote’s gotta eat. And there’s nothing hotter than a man (sentient alien creature?) who knows what he wants and goes for it.
LRT: really wasn’t ready for the 2019 venom vs bundy discourse but here we are
What’s very much not hot, though, is the real-life crimes of killing actual human beings.
Or, to quote another Venom stan on Twitter, “The big difference between Venom and Ted Bundy is that Venom is a FICTIONAL CHARACTER and Ted Bundy was a REAL PERSON WHO REALLY KILLED AND TORTURED WOMEN.”
But the Venom Fucker v Ted Bundy Fucker War of 2019 is about so much more than determining who has the higher moral ground.
Really, it’s about the friends we made along the way while watching two niche monster-fetish communities fight each other tooth and nail.
Doncic has become the NBA’s breakout star of the 2018-19 season. The reigning Euroleague MVP had the second-most fan votes among Western Conference players (4,242,980 votes) for the All-Star Game, trailing only LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers (4,620,809 votes).
It’s fitting Doncic and Young would be two of the featured players in the NBA’s annual showcase game for its young stars. The two were traded for each other during the 2018 draft and are leading their respective teams as rookies.
For the second straight year, Lakers guard Lonzo Ball may be forced to miss the Rising Stars Challenge. He’s expected to miss four to six weeks with a sprained ankle suffered on Jan. 19 against the Houston Rockets. The early end of that timetable would have him back during NBA’s All-Star Weekend from Feb. 15-17.
Sacramento Kings guard Bogdan Bogdanovic is back in the game after being named MVP when he scored 26 points in the World’s 155-124 victory last year. He can become the first player to win the award twice in the 25-year history of the Rising Stars Challenge.
Other returning stars include Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers, De’Aaron Fox of the Kings, Lauri Markkanen of the Chicago Bulls and Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics.
The 2019 Rising Stars Challenge will take place on Feb. 15 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
At least two people have been killed and four others wounded in a grenade attack on a mosque in southern Philippines, according to local officials.
The attack in Zamboanga city took place in the early hours of Wednesday, just days after deadly twin blasts at a Roman Catholic cathedral and a vote backing wider Muslim self-rule in Mindanao, the country’s volatile southernmost region.
“A grenade was lobbed inside a mosque killing two persons and wounding another four,” regional military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Besana told AFP news agency of the attack in Zamboanga.
Rappler, a Philippine news outlet, cited an initial police report as saying that “an unidentified suspect turned off the nearby streetlight then threw a grenade inside the mosque … city where Muslim religious leaders were resting”.
The victims were reportedly sleeping inside the mosque at the time of the attack, which drew immediate condemnation from authorities.
“There is no redeeming such blasphemous murder. It is the highest form of cowardice and obscenity to attack people who at prayer,” said regional leader Mujiv Hataman.
“We call on people of all faiths… to come together to pray for peace.”
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
INSIDE STORY: Can there be peace in the southern Philippines? (24:35)
The attack comes as the Philippines was on high alert after two explosions during a Sunday church service at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Jolo town, Sulu province, killed at least 21 people and wounded more than 100 others.
Authorities have not said if the two attacks are related.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group claimed responsibility for the cathedral blast, one of the worst incidents of violence in Philipinnes’ restive south.
President Rodrigo Duterte blamed Abu Sayyaf, a domestic armed group that has pledged allegiance to ISIL and has carried out bombings, kidnappings and beheadings in Mindanao, for carrying out the church bombing.
“Nobody, but nobody, could perpetuate that kind of terrorism in that area,” he said this week during a visit to the region.
Last week, a referendum on expanded autonomy for the mainly Muslim region returned an overwhelming “yes” vote amid hopes the plan would bring development, jobs and peace to a region long plagued by poverty and instability.
A long-running feud over New York City real estate may play a part in the ongoing attacks on Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
He’s not a household name. He’s not running for president. Yet Richard Blumenthal keeps getting under President Donald Trump’s skin.
Every few months, the president unleashes on the Connecticut Democrat by ridiculing his military service record, a surprising attack on a rank-and-file Democratic senator by the commander in chief.
Story Continued Below
Blumenthal dutifully votes against many of the president’s nominees and is quick to raise questions about his administration and even the president’s family, yet is not exactly as well-known as Sens. Elizabeth Warren or Chuck Schumer, two of Trump’s other favorite targets. But Trump’s beef against Blumenthal is multifaceted, spanning from family drama to digs at the senator’s military service — though Trump has faced questions about his own deferments during the war.
There’s also Blumenthal v. Trump. The former Connecticut attorney general took the high profile step of suing the president in 2017 for allegedly violating the Foreign Emoluments clause of the Constitution. So when the president attacks Blumenthal, he does so with the same intensity that he goes after someone like Warren or House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).
On Monday, the president tweaked the second-term Democrat again, his 12th tweet attacking Blumenthal in the past two years. That’s 11 more than Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who is running for president, has received from Trump. The president often tweets about Blumenthal after the senator makes a public comment about the president.
“How does Da Nang Dick (Blumenthal) serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee when he defrauded the American people about his so called War Hero status in Vietnam, only to later admit, with tears pouring down his face, that he was never in Vietnam. An embarrassment to our Country!” Trump fumed.
The missive came just minutes after Blumenthal told Rachel Maddow on Monday that he had issues with Donald Trump Jr.’s “truthfulness” in testimony before the Judiciary Committee.
Several senators, including the Connecticut senator himself, said they were at a loss as to why the president would respond to Blumenthal in such a fashion, even given Blumenthal’s long-running animus toward the Trump administration.
“You’ll have to ask him. My only comment is ‘there he goes again,’ really too ludicrous to merit a response,” Blumenthal said in an interview.
Trump’s beef against Blumenthal has many parts. There is his military service. But Blumenthal’s in-laws and Trump share a tangled web, a family feud that goes back decades into the New York real estate scene and has accelerated the president’s attacks on Blumenthal.
The senator has admitted in the past he misstated serving in Vietnam, though he served in the Marine Corps Reserve during the war.
“Trump gets a bad rap for not serving in the military,” said a former senior White House official, so when he realized Blumenthal had his own issue, the president “seized” on it.
But Blumenthal’s in-laws and Trump go way back in New York real estate circles. Trump and Blumenthal’s father-in-law, Peter Malkin, were competitors in the Manhattan real estate market and eventually clashed over a deal involving control of the iconic Empire State Building.
Those clashes have intersected with Blumenthal’s status as a Democrat who is among “the most vocal on Trump’s potential legal liability,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).
“Their families traveled in the same circles,” Murphy said. And Blumenthal “is picking a scab regularly that Trump’s particularly sensitive about. Dick’s on TV a lot talking about the Mueller investigation. He doesn’t pull any punches.”
The Democratic senator is among the chattiest in the Capitol, quick to find ways to weigh in on the issue of the day. His colleagues say he’s keen on the Schumer press strategy of identifying and seizing buzzy issues. He’ll often spend long sessions going back and forth with reporters in the basement of the Capitol.
And Trump’s attacks on Blumenthal only amplify the voice of a senator who’s often finding ways to break into the news.
“For Blumenthal’s audience it probably helps him” to come under attack, said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.).
Murphy said the family history between Blumenthal and Trump was best left to his senior colleague, but Blumenthal is not eager to address either Trump’s specific criticism of his military service nor the president’s fixation with him.
“The simple answer is. I have no idea,” Blumenthal said on Tuesday. “I’m the last person to ask what is on Trump’s mind.”
The real estate dispute stretches back more than 20 years, when Trump in 1994 claimed that he purchased 50 percent of the title to the Fifth Avenue skyscraper, which was controlled by Malkin and his partner, Leona Helmsley. In 1995, he sued to get the lease broken by accusing Helmsley of violating its terms due to improper upkeep of the historic building.
Both parties battled for ownership in court until a Manhattan judge denied Trump’s petition in 1999. Trump’s attorneys accused Malkin and Helmsley of allowing the building to become “second-rate” and infested with rodents. Trump appealed, lost, and eventually agreed to sell his portion of the lease to Malkin for $57.5 million in 2002, according to reports at the time.
That’s so long ago that most senators and White House aides have no idea it occurred or that it colors Trump’s beef with Blumenthal. But Trump isn’t one to give up a grudge so easily, especially when Blumenthal is so quick to mix it up with the president. He called the president an “unindicted co-conspirator” at the end of 2018 for covering up hush money payments.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Asked why Trump goes after Blumenthal, a former Trump campaign aide replied: “It’s the way [Blumenthal] talks on TV. He speaks with certainty.”
Blumenthal “was saying Trump was going to be indicted by the end of the year. So from Trump’s point of view, he likes characterizing this guy as a total fraud so that every time he speaks nobody takes him seriously,” the aide said.
And people who know Blumenthal say the relationship is all the more awkward because they ran in similar New York-area social and political circles, particularly when Trump was still donating to Democrats.
“Trump’s lineage was in the Democratic Party for a long time so they have a lot of overlapping relationships in New York and Connecticut,” said a GOP lobbyist.
Trump first went after Blumenthal in February 2017, after the senator met with then-Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch and said Gorsuch called Trump’s attacks on the judiciary “demoralizing.” Ever since then, the president has whacked Blumenthal at regular intervals, almost always concentrating on his military service.
“You’ll notice that the president is very repetitive,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). “He latches onto something and he never lets go.”
Of course, Hirono has been just as critical of Trump over the past two years. Asked why Trump has gone after Blumenthal so much and not her, she answered: “I don’t know, you should ask him.”
Then after a pause, she thought better of it: “Well, no, don’t.”
Daily Trends Hunter 